Galloping Gobbler - Run


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Ft. Wayne, Indiana
United States
42F / 6C
Precipitation
Total Time = 27m 16s
Overall Rank = 109/2100
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 6/92
Pre-race routine:

I got up and had a light breakfast and some coffee and took a granola bar for the trip to the race site.
Event warmup:

At the race I spent a few minutes talking to some friends and then began stretching and ran a mile to warm up. The WU was some pacing stuff and to get a good sweat going so I was ready to race at the gun. The warm was timed well as I completed it about 5-7 minutes prior to the gun.
Run
  • 27m 16s
  • 4 miles
  • 06m 49s  min/mile
Comments:

The field has grown a lot since I first ran this race 4 years ago and the start corral was more crowded than usual. the timing mats forced everyone into a much smaller area than in years past and this caused my start to be a little slower than I might have liked.
I positioned myself toward the front of the corral but not to close. (I was trying to make sure all the faster runners had their room to smoke me. I wish several other had this much consideration for others.) After the gun, I was able to get to the side of the road where there was not a lot of traffic and begin passing many of the slower people in front of me.
Once out of the mass of people it seemed to clear out a lot and I had plenty of room to pass and be passed. (The start gate being narrow forced everyone into a small chute and congested the start but once out of the chute most people went as wide as the street.) I began to check my watch for pacing info and saw that I was at 6:01 for the first .25 mile, way too fast. I started to slow some to regain control of my plan but it was difficult to back it down. As I progressed I was slowly backing down but this may have had more to do with the hills than proper pacing techniques.
Once into the cemetery, I started the up and downs and tried to run smart by not trying to smoke the hills. It proved to be more successful than the first mile of pacing.
The back of the course has some steeper hills and I was able to negotiate them fine. It seemed I had found a good pace at this point. Te last mile was a longer, less steep climb that I was able to keep a strong finishing pace.
I finished the run in front of enough people to get a nice fresh loaf of Pumpkin bread. They gave these out to the top 180 finishers. This was my first time getting this prize.
What would you do differently?:

I would have paced a little better at the beginning of the race. I got excited and took advantage of the curb and space to pass and kind of lost control.
Post race
Warm down:

Very funny. I need to do these but I found someone to talk to and spent my cool down period talking.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

I had a longer than usual swim last night that took more out of me than I should have allowed. I did some longer sets that had me a bit sore this today. Next time I will back this down some more to stay more fresh for the race.

Event comments:

I love this race for some reason. I am not positive why.The field has grown a lot since I first ran this race 4 years ago but it is very fun to see all the families out exercising together.
I am glad this race is growing but I hope it doesn't get much bigger. Much bigger and I think there could be some pretty good logistical issues, such as parking and space in the corrals. That said I don't think they should limit the field either.





Last updated: 2010-08-17 12:00 AM
Running
00:27:16 | 04 miles | 06m 49s  min/mile
Age Group: 6/92
Overall: 109/2100
Performance: Good
Avg. HR 171
Course:
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5] 5