Younglife Turkey Trot 5K 11-14-09

The 7th Annual Griffin Younglife Turkey Trot 5K was held this Saturday.

I learned of this race from a post on the Macon Tracks Forum and decided I wanted to run it, just for a fun 5K to do on a weekend that our kids aren’t with us. I went ahead and registered, only to learn that 2 more 5K’s were being held much more locally on that same day.

Even though it was an hour drive, I figured the race would give us something different to do… a change of scenery at least.

Saturday morning we sacrificed yet another morning of sleeping in (do I even know what that is?). We were up by 5, of course I needed my prerace “warm up” shower and Me & Chuck needed or pre-race fuel: coffee, a bagel & peanut butter. We left the house soon after 6 in order to get to Griffin at least an hour before the race started (8:30). I wanted make sure we could find the place and be able to do my warm up for about 20 minutes.

Chuck was in charge of directions & driving, so of course we got there with no problems. The race was held at the Wyomia Tyus Olympic Park. It was a beautiful park and a beautiful morning to run. The temp. was in the mid 40’s, the sun was out, and the wind was calm.

We got our race numbers and tee shirts, which were surprisingly technical tees. I didn’t expect to get a Segoi tee with a $15 entry fee! Even though they didn’t have any small size tee’s, they said they would mail me one when they came in.

I asked the race organizers if they had a course map anywhere. A guy on a mountain bike showed us the course, turns out he just rode the course and would be leading the runners on the course during the 5K. TURNS OUT this is a TRAIL/ CROSS COUNTRY 5K. OOPS. I was under the impression that this was somewhat off road, but I didn’t know it was ALL off road. At this point I was sure this wasn’t going to be a PR course. Who cares right? It would be fun.

After a quick trip to the potty, Chuck & I were off to run our warm up, and sort of scout out the area. We finished jogging and waited a few minutes until start time.

The course was CRAZY! We started off on a paved golf cart trail uphill. Went straight down a steep hill and ran into the grass. Wet, uneven grass with ruts all in it. We ran around the edge of a soccer field (some sort of soccer tournament was being held that morning) and up another hill in the grass. We made a left turn and entered a trail like area where the ground was covered in about ankle deep leaves. We couldn’t even see the ground or the possible roots & ruts under the leaves. At this point it was KILLING me to keep an 8:40 pace. This isn’t even my tempo run pace! I tried to high step it over the leaves, the last thing I wanted was a twisted ankle!

Chuck managed to get up ahead of me very early in the race, probably from back when we first started running on the grass. He gradually pulled away further and further. I didn’t even let that bother me, he’s always been faster and more confident on the trails.

After running on the leafy trail, we came back out onto some grass UP hill only to turn right again onto another trail. This one was much clearer, as far as no leaves on the ground. Only now there were visible roots to contend with, wooden bridges, switchbacks, hills, and mud puddles. Fun Stuff.

At about 2.5 miles we came out of the trail (which was beautiful yet painful) and back onto an open grassy area. Only to do what? Run up another hill in the grass. Ahhhh. Only to be lead on a deceiving wet pea gravel driveway. It seemed that running on the gravel would be better than running in the grass. Nope. The gravel was saturated and just sunk under your feet like sand. So, I hop off the gravel only to sink in water in the grass and soak my shoes completely. Back on the gravel. I was huffing and puffing and dying, only to look at my pace. 10:15??? WHAT? This is bad. I knew my time would be horrible, but the terrain was sucking the life out of me. By now, where is Chuck? I don’t know, I can’t even see him anymore!

Completing the torturous pea gravel hill, we are rewarded with SIDEWALK at a decline, yes. It was wonderful. I picked the pace up a little, only to turn left and go again up a hill, but still on sidewalk so I was thankful for that. I know where I am, and I know the end is probably .25 of a mile away. Sweet. I see a young girl in front of me. I’m not betting on having a great time. I did pass quite a few people in the middle of the race on the trail. A few of which might have possibly been in my age group. So, I decided that my last effort would be to pass the high school girl in front of me and not be passed by anyone else.

I trudged up the sidewalk, we cross a road and get back on the golf cart trail we started on. There is a guy in the road stopping cars for us to cross. Behind me I hear foot steps. I hear the guy say “Go {insert female name?}” . I didn’t turn around. I had no idea how old this chick was. Although I decided she would not pass me. I revved up the speed… mentally I was doing track work and I was just going to go for a 400 meter interval. Give it all I had. I passed the girl and never even heard the footsteps behind me again. It was a blonde girl that came in behind me was wearing black tights with blue shorts over the tights.

My finishing time was 28:25. I was disappointed. Thinking I should have done better than that. I do felt like my effort for the whole race was as good as I could give. The course was very tough.

Chuck managed to finish a good 30 seconds before me. Punk : )

We waited around for the award ceremony. My mom got 2nd place Masters Female.
I got 1st in my age group, which they did by 10’s (30 – 39 Female). And guess who walked up to get her 2nd place medal???? Blonde girl with the black tights and blue shorts! Ha!

Poor Chuck, beat both of us, but didn’t bring home any hardware… His age group is tougher. He wouldn’t let us live that down all the way back to Byron.

Chuck and I ended the day with dinner at the Mellow Mushroom. We ate the best Pizza and drank delicious cold beer. I even had desert, white chocolate macadamia nut cookie sundae. After dinner we went to a movie and ate popcorn. I ate so much that I was in pain.

We ended the evening by watching the Bulldogs play, and actually WIN! Well, I didn’t make it through the end of the game. The early morning, the run, the food, and the beer put me in a coma. What a wonderful Saturday!