Turkey Burner

Everyone except my sister (who had to work) piled into the car this morning and rode out to "downtown" West Chester for the Turkey Burner 5k. We looked around for the registration area but couldn't find it and got the sense that this was going to be a fairly low key race. No porta-potties or water stations or spectators, just a start and a finish and a few boxes of oversized tees. Not that this was a bad thing, in fact it was somewhat refreshing.

I got in a short warmup, walked over to the start with the rest of my family, and as typically happens the race commenced before I realized it. I gunned it from the get-go and thought about a strategy. I think my only goal was not to have a concrete goal.

There was a handful of younger runners (turns out the race was organized as part of a high school senior project), many of whom were quite fast. A couple in particular gave the vibes of local track stars. They shot off the front and I latched onto a group who stringed out behind them them. Not sure about mile splits, but the first mile sure felt fast.

I struggled to hang onto the initial pace and it became a game of back and forth with the two or three within reach. In an unexciting next couple miles I finally reached the finish in 18:52, throwing in a solid surge over the last 100 meters. It's a 2-second PR for the 5k distance which is pretty cool because, like the 10k from a few weeks ago, I haven't put in any specific training. While one thing I've enjoyed about my running lately is the absence of a plan, it was also what made today's race difficult. The mental component is very strong, more so in shorter races like this. I think if I had stronger mental focus (such as prompted by a clear goal) I could push myself through the tougher paces a little better. I've been itching to schedule some workouts but it's really a function of what my goals will be.