Race Information

• Name: SOME Turkey Trot
• Date: 11/23/2023
• Distance: 5km
• Location: Washington, D.C.
• Website: https://trotforhunger.org/
• Time: 19:43

Goals

Goal	Description	Completed?
A	Sub 20:00	Yes
B	PR (sub 21:40)	Yes

Splits

Mile	Time
1	6:15
2	6:28
3	6:23
0.1	0:37

Training

I’m just coming off of my marathon training block for NYC and was salivating at the idea of using a turkey trot to test my 5K and potentially go sub-20. I’ve been eyeing sub-20 for a while but haven’t been focused on anything speed related due to marathon training or injury. The only test I had was a 44:10 tuneup 10k from my training plan. I knew this meant I was close to sub-20 for 5k but was still really intimidated by the pace. I went in telling myself that I would settle for a PR if I realized I went out too hot in mile 1.

Pre-race

This is easily going to be the most entertaining part of the report and the entire reason I decided to write a report. We were flying to DC the day before the race and I already knew this was going to be painful. We woke up at 5AM (day before the race) to get to the airport extra early in case of Thanksgiving day rush. Due to the time change, we ended up arriving into DC at 11PM. Then, we hit a bunch of traffic while leaving the airport and didn’t get to the hotel until midnight. Grabbed a quick vending machine meal (hot pockets) and called it a night - ended up getting to bed at 1:30 AM. The plan was to wake up at 7AM, leave the hotel by 7:30 and arrive to bib pickup by 8:15. This would give me enough time to squeeze in a 2-mile warmup right before the race start at 9:15AM. Well, it went pretty smoothly to get out of the hotel and there wasn’t much traffic due to it being Thanksgiving morning. Arrived right on time - 8:15AM.

I decided to adjust my original plan and sit in the car a bit longer since it was cold out and I figured I could only needed 5 mins to pickup by bib and then 20 to warmup. Started walking over to bib pickup at 8:30 and was getting hype. The vibe was amazing, so many cheery people bustling to get to the start line on a chilly Thanksgiving morning. I got to the bib pickup tent and I could not believe my eyes. There were about 15 lines and they were all 30+ people long. THIS WOULD TAKE FOREVER. How are this many people doing same-day bib pickup?

I begrudgingly joined the line at 8:40 and was nervous about fitting in my warmup now, but I knew it was essential. The line was so slow, and I stood there helplessly watching the time tick by.

It was 37 degrees (F) and I was dressed for racing - not prepared to stand around. At one point, the lady in front of me in line even turned around and asked, “Aren’t you cold?”

At 9AM, they called for all sub 25 runners to start lining up and I was only about halfway through the line. Nerves are building. Next came the 10 second countdown at 9:14:50. I was now about 8 people away from the bib pickup table. There goes my opportunity to start with the fast group. It was now 9:15, and I hadn’t even warmed up! Finally, got my bib at 9:30AM - what a f nightmare! I decided that I could still do my warmup since I already missed the start, and most fast runners were almost finished. I took an easy jog down to the Washington Monument, took some pics, and did some strides on the way back - I really enjoyed this.

6:25 pace felt hard during strides and now I was getting in my head. What I didn’t anticipate in my plan, was that the start line would close. I got back to the start line right at 9:45 - when it was scheduled to close. I was literally one of the last people let in, and then they started dismantling the start area. What a crazy race morning, and next up was attempting a sub-20 5k!

Race

I went out hot, I felt a bit uneasy being in no man’s land and surrounded by walkers or people pushing the strollers. I was so late that I didn’t even have to do much weaving on mile 1 and came through in 6:15! This gave me a rush of confidence as I still felt strong at this point. I told myself that I could ease off on mile 2 a and still get sub-20. Well, at this point I actually starting hitting some crowding and started having to weave a lot more. I almost came to a full stop at one point because of a wall of walkers.

It’s always really tough on me mentally when I have to stop during a race and restart at race pace. I came through mile 2 in 6:28. At this point, I started feeling it, my dashboard was starting to light up, but I knew it should hurt now and I needed to keep pushing.

A bit of backstory is that I ran this race in 2019 with zero training and the end of mile 2 is where I stalled and needed to run/walk to the end with a 29:xx finish. I was hurting now and started having flashbacks to that race. Everything within my wanted to stop now, but I was determined to prove that I could conquer my old self and run all the way to the finish.

I was now in the thick of the crowd and still weaving. It was a straight shot to the finish, and I decided to move to the far left to avoid anymore weaving. It was now do or die, I knew sub-20 was in the cards if I could just keep my legs turning over. I started pumping arms and breathing heavily. The crowd support was really good at the point and gave me the final push. Made it!! 19:43

Post-race

I immediately grabbed a water and walked to the finish area. A random couple asked me to take a pic of them, which was perfect because I definitely wanted a pic and my post-race photographer (wife) was not there.

My wife was sneakily tracking me on Garmin and texted a few mins after I finished, to ask how it went (how cute). I could not stop smiling. I went to pick up my race shirt and started driving back to the hotel to get ready for Thanksgiving festivities. I knew I was going to be exhausted for the rest of the day, but it was so worth it!

Made with a new race report generator created by /u/herumph.