Counting Down the Seconds

Now that I've established a new running base (which is half my weekly distance before injury), I decided it was time to rededicate myself to the track. So I showed up last night at Balboa Stadium for the SDTC's annual Turkey Trot.

Everyone arrives at 5:30 to record their predicted time for two miles. Then we warm up and remove any watches or other time-telling devices. At 6, we take off, with runners moving into Lane 1 by the time we've done our first rotation. A timer calls out our first split just to help people sense their pace. On the final lap, we move to Lane 9, and note the official stopwatch time as we finish. The man and woman who come closest to meeting their prediction win a big frozen turkey.

I ended up running the entire time with my friend Vicki, and I ran my mouth the entire time too. Now, this actually helps me in tempo runs. I can maintain a faster pace if I talk. But it does have its drawbacks, mainly you easily loose track of your laps. By our fifth rotation, the fastest runners were already finishing on the other side. By our eighth and final lap, we thought we had one more to go. Once we realized the error, we retreated and crossed in 18:21. My predicted time was 18:30.

The female winner was within 7 seconds, which meant I came close to bringing home the bird. Then again, if we'd finished properly, I would have been about much farther off. But my friend Vicki would have missed her time by a mere second.

Needless to say, I kept my mouth shut during the subsequent workout.