Thursday morning, how could I forget, was the Pilcher Park Poultry Predictor in Joliet. As far as turkey trots are concerned, I never used to do them before a few years ago. I never would run after August, after the Rock N' Roll half marathon. Well, times have changed and I've done a few different turkey trots around Thanksgiving. I love to run ON Thanksgiving so I feel better about all the food I'm going to eat. This year I opted to do the Poultry Predictor. The run was inexpensive and the point was to predict your finish time. The people that came the closest would win a pie or turkey (they probably gave out 40+). So it doesn't matter if you are the fastest or slowest, you only win if you come closest to the predicted time. Sweet! I might finally win something! You couldn't use your garmins or any watches. There were no clocks on the course or at the start/finish.
I met up with a bunch of F'N Runners. Our F'N Runners were actually scattered all around and several different turkey trots but since there are so many of us...we still managed to round up a nice size group at the Poultry Predictor. And we mostly all wore our shirts too so it's always fun to see us out on the course.
F'N Runners at the Poultry Predictor |
The temps were pretty decent that day. It was going to be a high in the 60's and was probably about upper 40's for the run (I can't remember now). I predicted a finish time for me at 38:25. That was about a 9:36 pace. This run was a 4 mile run and I felt that that pace was slightly challenging but not impossible. The run was through a nature preserve and a rather beautiful area to run in. It was a little difficult trying to figure out what pace I was running and there were no indicators of the distance we traveled throughout the run either. I kept thinking that I didn't want to run too fast or too slow because...A. I needed to finish the run and.. B. I wanted to come close to my predicted time.
I actually really enjoyed this run. I liked the "rustic, old-school" feel it had. I liked the fact that I could win a prize even though I wasn't the fastest. Turns out, I was way ahead of my predicted time. I came in at 37:02 (predicted was 38:25) for an average pace of 9:15. I was very happy with that time. It's actually a 4 mile PR for me. I've only done 1 other 4 mile run and it was last years turkey trot in Palos. I was having knee trouble and ended up at about 44 minutes. In fact, a couple days after last year's turkey trot, I tried running and ended up walking 2 miles home in tears because of my knee pain and took 3 weeks off until I found out it was runner's knee. lol.
Anyway, I did not win a pie but my friend Becky did! She was only 2 seconds off of her predicted time!
Friday, I headed out to Waterfall Glen in Darien to run the 9+ mile loop with friends. There were Yankee Runners, Frankfort/New Lenox Runners, Bloggers, etc. It was nice to meet a few different people.
Black Friday Waterfall Glen Group |
Elevation Chart from my Garmin at Waterfall Glen |
The 9+ mile loop at Waterfall Glen. I like loops... lol |
Booo, i ended up being at my moms and missing this run! It looks so fun!
ReplyDeleteNice job on the hilly 9.3 miles! Sitting is the worst thing for my legs after a run (especially one like yours). I can imagine how your legs felt after your 5+ hour car ride. Not very good!
ReplyDelete