Run with Eric + workout

2008 Oceanside Turkey Trot 5K

This is the 3rd year I've done the Oceanside Turkey Trot 5K. It is always a good time. There are two 5K races, an 'open' race at 7:15 am and a 'locals-only' event at 8:15am. In addition, there is a 1 mile kid's race, which I was thrilled to be participating in with my eldest, Caty, who is now 4 years old.

Last year, I did the open 5K and ran a 17:45. Late summer and early fall of last year, I was running a lot in preparation for the Long Beach Marathon in late October and a lot of that fitness carried over. This year, I am still in a build phase and have only been averaging roughly 30 miles a week of running. My speed workouts have been similar to last year at this time, so I was hopeful for a similar performance - with some luck maybe a few seconds faster.

I took advantage of an extra hours sleep this year and decided to do the 'locals' race. My warmup was uneventful, 2 miles easy, some striders and ready to go about 10 minutes before the race start. Mile 1 too fast. 5:29. At about the 1.8 mile mark, the elastic broke on the group I was with and I fell off their pace. Mile 2 - 5:44. My legs just didn't have any snap and by the third mile, I was simply hanging on. Mile 3 - 5:53. Final time, 17:50. Good for 12th overall and 2nd in my age-group.

After the race, I did a quick warm-down and met up with my family to get ready for Caty's race.

While the sun was shining through the clouds most of the morning, by 9am the sky was getting dark and at about 9:30 the rain started. Despite the rain, Caty was upbeat and ready to go. So we made our way to the race start. Then the rain really started coming down. We were soaked... and Caty was having a ball. The air horn blasted and we were on our way.

Such a trooper... Caty said she was a 'little bit' tired a couple times, but when I offered to stop, she said, "No daddy, we have to run to the finish line." We had a great time jumping in every puddle and saying hello to everyone that we passed by. And she even finished with a sprint to the line. All in all, we had a blast... and I am certain that we'll do it again next year. Hopefully, it won't rain. And next year, Chloe will be old enough to do it as well.

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2008 Oceanside Turkey Trot 5K + workout