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Posts Tagged ‘NYC Marathon’

Turkey Trot 5K 2016 Race Recap

Posted in ElliptiGO, Race goals, Race reports, Racing, Running, tagged , , , , , , , on November 6, 2016| 1 Comment »

Five years ago I first ran the local school district’s Turkey Trot 5K. (Five years ago? How can that be?!) I couldn’t run it again until now because the date always conflicted with my fall marathon training. But it fit in nicely this year since my next marathon is not until February 4, the Death Valley Marathon. I didn’t train specifically for a 5K and I only tapered two days for this race, so I didn’t have a great idea of what I should set for my race goal. It’s a hilly course so I knew I couldn’t expect to come close to my 5K PR of 22:19 set at the Downtown Anaheim 5K over a year ago, but I at least wanted to beat my time from the 2011 Turkey Trot, 24:37, and I hoped to come in under 24 minutes.

It was a gorgeous morning for racing. Cool but not cold, sunny but not blinding.

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292 finishers participated in this lovely neighborhood race.

The junior high choir sang a beautiful rendition of the national anthem, and then promptly at 8 a.m. we set off with the sound of the blow horn. So many youngsters took off at a blistering pace and my job in the beginning was not to trample any little kids. You would think I would learn not to get swept up in the excitement and go out too fast with them, but when I first checked my Garmin the pace said something in the 6 minute mile range! Oops. I reined it in over the rest of the mile and the mile splits for the race ended up being 7:39, 8:02, and 7:57. Maybe someday I’ll master 5K pacing and not suffer so much in the 2nd and 3rd miles!

I raced the big finish line clock down the home stretch to come in just under 24 minutes as I hoped. My Garmin said 23:56. But then I checked the official race results and my time said 24:07. So unsatisfying! That’s the problem with races that are not chip timed, I guess. I shouldn’t care so much, but I do, so I ended up writing the timing company to ask why my result didn’t match the finish line clock (I don’t expect my result to match my Garmin, but I do expect it to come within a few seconds of what the finish line clock said). At any rate, I was happy with my effort in the race and pleased to win 1st in my age group out of 20 women ages 40-49 (I am 45).

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The first place medal came with $15 in gift certificates to A Snail’s Pace running shop in Brea.

Saturday is my long run day and my plan called for a long bike ride (this plan from Smart Marathon Training sometimes substitutes long rides for long runs, which I find very refreshing). So after the race I drove to a paved path and rode the ElliptiGO for an hour and 40 minutes.

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Oh how I love a dedicated bike path!

That hour and 40 minutes on the ElliptiGO was truly easier and more fun than running a race for 24 minutes, let me tell you! I listened to running podcasts (Another Mother Runner had on Dean Karnazes and The Runner’s World Show talked about Running While Female) and enjoyed all the thumbs-up I got for the ElliptiGO, which remains a curiosity on the trails.

Are you watching the NYC Marathon today? Because I don’t have cable I’ve had to content myself with following the live coverage on Twitter. Hooray for American Molly Huddle coming in 3rd for the women in her marathon debut with a time of 2:28:13!

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Race an Alternative to the Canceled NYC Marathon

Posted in Marathon, Racing, Running, tagged , , , , , , , , on November 3, 2012| 3 Comments »

First and foremost, my heart goes out to all those affected by Hurricane Sandy. It’s hard for me to imagine the physical, emotional and financial toll the storm has taken.

NYC Marathon Cancellation and Donation Drive

I was pleased to see that the NYC Marathon resources and materials are being diverted to the recovery effort wherever possible, and that the New York Road Runners are leading a “Race to Recover” donation drive.

Race to Recover

The Race to Recover charity drive explains:

NYRR, in partnership with the Rudin Family and the ING Foundation, has established the “Race to Recover” Marathon Fund to aid New Yorkers impacted by Hurricane Sandy. Over $2.6 million has been raised, including a $1 million donation by NYRR. We are asking you to join us by making a $26.20 donation, or whatever you can afford, to help bring recovery and hope to those communities and families most affected. Proceeds will go to Hurricane Sandy Relief, administered by the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City. You can also donate to the relief effort through NYRR’s fundraising platform, CrowdRise, which includes the American Red Cross and other charities. From your mobile phone, text “redcross” to 90999 to donate $10 through your wireless carrier.

I’ll be donating to the Red Cross through my husband’s employer’s matching program.

That said, my heart also goes out to the 47,000+ runners who were slated to run the marathon tomorrow, November 4. The ING NYC Marathon is such an iconic race and a difficult one to gain entry to. Furthermore, with my first marathon coming up on November 10, I know how hard those runners have trained to run the race and how disappointing it must be to miss it. Let’s keep in mind, it is possible for the runners to feel complete empathy and compassion for the people living and working in the hurricane-affected areas and yet at the same time feel the different yet still significant feelings of their own loss in light of the marathon cancellation.

Some Good News

Runners who are looking for an alternative to the canceled marathon have some options for racing a substitute marathon. The Santa Barbara International Marathon, scheduled for Saturday November 10, 2012, is offering a discount registration for registered NY Marathon participants. Email the race director for more details.

The Tucson Marathon is offering an $85 entry fee to its December 9th event. Enter the discount code NYC2012 when checking out and the organizers will donate $10 per entry to relief efforts in the New York/NJ area. Proof of NYC Marathon registration will be required at packet pickup.

ETA: SkinnyRunner and her readers shared some more discount registration opportunities: (1) The BCS Marathon on December 9 in Bryan/College Station, Texas is offering marathon and half marathon registration for just $25. (2) The Dallas Running Club provides a reduced registration fee of $60 for its half on November 4. (3) An article regarding the November 11th Malibu International Marathon says “MIM will offer early bird prices using the Malibu4NYC code and 25 percent of the proceeds from each race entry will go back to the AmeriCares Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund.” (4) The Rock ‘n’ Roll series states, “Thus we would like to extend a 20% discount to any 2012 ING NYC Marathon entrant who would like to run either our Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon & ½ Marathon on Sunday, November 11 or our Zappos.com Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Marathon & ½ Marathon on Sunday, December 2, and we will also make an additional matching 20% donation to Hurricane Sandy Relief from each entry.” (5) The Soldier Marathon on November 10 in Columbus, Georgia is offering FREE transferability of NYC Marathon registration.

Here’s a partial list of other fall marathons to investigate (whether or not they offer a registration discount).

How to Adjust Training for a Marathon Race Plan B

That’s all well and good you say, but you’ve already tapered for the NYC Marathon. How are you supposed to train for another race that is one, two, three or four weeks out from now? Coach Jenny Hadfield at Runner’s World magazine laid out four alternative marathon race plans just for you.

What do you think of the decision to cancel the NYC Marathon? Do you know of any other race registration discounts?

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