Cleveland Turkey Trot

The weather wasn't in our favor but I felt good on this Thanksgiving morning while running the Cleveland Turkey Trot. We had rain, strong winds, and cold temperatures to help make for a miserable morning. But, after running through the first mile in 5:31, my mind was set on running this 5 mile race as hard as I could, despite the adverse conditions.

I felt strong and confident in maintaining a sub 6 minute per mile pace. And to help boost my confidence I was able to run with the lead woman from the early miles of the race. We traded places to help protect one another from the strong winds at times until it was time to kick it in to the finish.

To see if I was able to nip the win from Allison, who probably is a track or cross country star, to the finish see the results page. I finished first in the male 45-49 division.

One thing I noticed about myself during the race was that I was so focused that I couldn't say, no thank you, to the volunteers handing out water at the aid stations. I didn't have the extra energy to say anything. I did shake Allison's hand and congratulated her at the finish. I also thanked the volunteers in the finishing area.

Some stats:
* Breakfast - about 2.5 hours before the race - Oatmeal cereal with soy milk, banana, and apple sauce.
* Time leading up to the start I drank about 24 ounces of HEED sports drink and 15 minutes before the start I had a PowerBar Gel.
* Ran about 1.5 miles easy jog for warm up before the start including 3 x 100 yard stride outs.
* First place age group finish was good for a 15 dollar gift certificate to Malley's Chocolates.