Turkey PR

Chicago Turkey Trot Nov.24, 2011 9am

Today was my 3rd Chicago Thanksgiving day TT in Lincoln Park. This is a very large event for a local turkey trot, but Chicago is a very large city where running is popular. There were 5940 runners in 2 waves. Got to the area and drove around for a bit before finding a free parking space that was a good ways away that gave us a nice warm up. Got my warm clothes off and put them in the gear check. It was a bit brisk, lower 40'sF with wind. Waited in the usual porta potty line and had about 10 min to spare to get to the start for a warm up. The crowd in the corral kept me warm enough until after the star spangled banner and then the go signal. Went out near the front and heard a couple guys talking about what their goals were and they mentioned 31 min which was good for me since I was shooting to better my 2009 time here of 32:21. The first mile split said 5:39 which seemed odd since it didn't feel like I just PR'd at the mile. Mile 2 was 12:34 which confirmed for us that that first split was measured short. So I felt like I was right where I wanted to be pace wise to get my goal of sub 32min. The wind was quite stiff but it seemed to aid us after the turn before mile 2. Mile 3 was 18:50, mile 4 was 25 something and I was too focused to retain the exact split (no garmin.) Once we made the U-turn on the last mile the wind was an in your face type struggle. I kind of held the pace and left some room for a final push. I felt like I kept the pace steady and it was confirmed as I approached the finish. Got the 8K PR I was looking for with a 31:33, good enough for an AG win in the 50-54 and 71st overall. The residual effect of the marathon cycle definitely helped here. Used my Asics Hyperspeed flats that I've had for over two years and have only used twice previously indoors, I'm strongly considering them for longer races. Feeling really good transitioning into Boston 2012 cycle. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Steve, congratulations on the AG win and the PR! Great job. That's a pretty huge field, and a big event for a Turkey Trot.
Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Congratulations on your PR!

fostever wrote: Feeling really good transitioning into Boston 2012 cycle. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Yeah, I'd feel pretty good too with that performance - really strong run! Thanks for the report and congrats on the PR/age group win - I think I'm just as impressed with the 71/5940 - a lot of younger people thinking "damn, that guy is fast!".

Nice! I'm curious about the course (having lived in that area for several years in an earlier running life). Congrats on the AG bling!

Nice PR and AG win!

Jerry, who hasn't run any TT.

Congrats on an excellent run! See you in april.

Congratulations Steve, you continue to set PRs, great job.

Michael Enright wrote:Nice! I'm curious about the course (having lived in that area for several years in an earlier running life). Congrats on the AG bling!

Starts and finishes on Cannon drive and runs north then winds south of the Lincoln park Zoo and then back north on the running/bike path to turn around at Belmont then back south to finish/start. This is near the Diversy golf driving range if you are familiar with that. We do all of our long runs here in the summer so it's familiar territory.

Nice run. Sounds like a good distance. Great PR.