Gobbler Grind

In November 2008 I lined up for the Gobbler Grind Half-Marathon. At the time it was my first race of that distance and my longest run ever. Since then of course, I've covered that distance many times in training and have completed five races of that distance or longer, including the full marathon at the same event in 2009.

November 21 2010 saw me line up for the third straight year, this time, as in 2008, for the Half. This year, Jill and my two daughters were in attendance also, to run the 5k (a separate race at the same event, effectively covering the first 5k of my run).

Here was the problem with this year. First of all, I was, I felt, undertrained. I've seemed to develop a knack of twisting my ankle over the last few weeks and this has slowed me down both in speed and volume. On top of that, I've been eating like I'm doing a universal junk food audit, and yesterday topped it off when we celebrated Thanksgiving early and I anti-carbo loaded with turkey, potatoes and the usual trimmings. More like preparation for a bigger pair of pants than a Half Marathon.

Still, I love this race. After the first 5k around a corporate complex, paved trails weave in and out of wooded areas and under and over bridges until two or three more miles of road and then a return on the same trails to the finish line. I wouldn't say the course is overly challenging, but it's not slam dunk piss easy either. There's no major hills except for a long steady incline on the road section in the middle, but it's rare that you encounter a truly long flat area. Plenty of little bumps. Added to that, while this year was by far the warmest of the three "Grinds" I've done, it was also far and away the windiest.

My youngest was going to walk-run the race with Jill, who's been fighting allergies and flu and wasn't up to a full run. My oldest daughter's a cross-countryer so she started with me (and soon pulled away - she would later finish 4th in her age group, and probably could have finished higher but she thought she'd missed a turn and double backed to me, costing herself probably 30-45 seconds at least in the process).

Really, almost immediately, I knew this was going to be a tough race. My goal going in was 1:45, much slower than my PR, but all I felt capable of. I knew even that was going to be pretty difficult, but I muscled around the first 5k in about 8:10 pace, not too far off. I kept expecting things to start to ease up, but my lack of energy, somewhat bloatedness for the ill-advised turkeyfest the day before, and the incessant wind meant it never really did. The incline on the road mid-section I found far more challenging in years past too. True, I was actually running faster than I did the last couple of years, but I'd run faster in training over 10-11 mile distances, so it was rather frustrating to know that I didn't quite "have it" on this day.

Still, the miles did tick slowly but surely by and as always I was encouraged when I returned to the trails with about a 5k still to run. Somehow, I passed people still on their way out, some 5 miles behind. It made me think back to my first marathon in Arizona when I had to walk almost half of the distance. Seemed to last forever then, and it was nowhere near as windy. Poor them I guess, but they seemed happy enough, so who am I to speculate.

My legs were out of steam and I was absolutely ready for the race to be over, and thankfully, finally it was. I managed to keep going the whole way and even put in a little kick at the end - though was once more blown away by a fellow competitor in the home straight, a rather deflating pattern.

My final time was 1:46:59, about 2 minutes outside my goal, but I was relatively satisfied. A perusal of the finish times revealed times were slower in general than the last couple of years, probably because of the wind. I should have prepared better, but all in all, it was still a respectable time and I held my pace of 8:10 the whole way so it was nice to power through and stay consistent. I have to say it was also great to run with Jill and the kids even if I only really saw them at the beginning and end. The kids were proud of themselves, and with medals and tech shirts given out to all participants, even the 5kers, everyone was a winner. My guess is I'll be back for Grind #4 in 2011.