ALSO Youth Turkey Trot 2019

The last time I ran an A1A race, I wrote about how I had created some false memories of all the previous times I had run it. I discovered this year that I did the same for this turkey trot! Matt, Steph, and I have run the ALSO Youth Turkey Trot three times, and this year made the 4th, but those year weren't consecutive. Here I was thinking this was a Thanksgiving tradition, but actually the years we ran were 2012, 2013, and 2018.

2018

2013

2012

It's weird how memories work, isn't it?

Anyway, this was the 10th annual, so this year there were medals! Steph opted out this year because, although this race is stroller-friendly, she and Gordon are operating on very little sleep thanks to little Mr. Wyatt. I don't really blame her! They actually didn't make it into town until after our race.

BABY SPAM!

Matt and I went to packet pickup the day before at a local Fleet Feet. Some things on sale caught Matt's eye and he ending up buying his first ever pair of running shorts. He always runs in regular gym shorts. Now he's a convert; after running in his new shorts he's already looking to buy more!

The race start was at 8am. There's been construction on the road where the race begins for years now, so we left the house at 6:45ish and arrived right around 7:20. We had plenty of time to park and use the bathroom. We also checked our water bottles; the race was attempting to cut down on waste and offered a reusable cup check, which was super neat.

How could I NOT request this photo?!

This year, I told Matt we needed to line up at the front of the corral. We always get stuck behind so many children and walkers who don't know race etiquette. I think that made all the difference.

I wasn't sure what to expect performance-wise. I never seem to be at my best for this race and I never set a goal because the bridge is intense. But I saw early on that I was holding a pretty steady pace without having to think much about it.

We are not in this photo even though we started pretty close to the front!

Within the first mile, on our way up the Ringling Bridge, a woman in front of me slid on some of the grates and took a pretty intense tumble. I stopped to help her up and see if she was okay. (She ended up passing me later on so she was fine!) At that point I thought, "Well, I've been running on my bridge but it barely compares to this one, and now I've already stopped once, so this may be a slower race."

Still, I felt really good on the rest of the first ascent. I waved to Matt as I began the descent and saw him passing on his way back up. This year, they moved the start/finish so the turn around to go back up the bridge had to be moved, too. Rather than getting off the bridge and running on flat land for a bit, we turned right around at the bottom and climbed again!

I am actually in this photo but good luck finding me.

Not far from the top, I was having a lot of trouble breathing. My heart rate was out of control! I decided to take a quick walk break.

Can you blame me?! Also, interesting to see that quick stop just before the mile mark, where I helped the lady who fell.

Once I crested the top, though, it was all downhill. I wasn't sure how I'd be able to finish the last half mile or so without walking; I felt completely depleted and exhausted. I was trying to do math and figure out if I was coming in sub-30 or not and was totally failing. My brain refused to work. Somehow, though, I managed to talk myself out of a final walk and keep it in high gear through the end.

I was so psyched to see the clock! My terrible math had not given me an ounce of hope that I'd be so safely sub-30! This was a huge course PR for me.

Actually really pleased with these splits.

My pace matched my bib number! 19/77 in my AG. I'll take it!

Matt and I collected our medals and water, took some photos, and then headed back to my parents' house to officially start Thanksgiving.

Matt finished 10th of 49 in his AG, with a time of 24:21.

As usual, I enjoyed the challenge of this race and was happy to support ALSO Youth. Hopefully I'll be back again next year!

ABK

The Bridge

Way back when I first started having calf pain, one of the first things I did was stop running the bridge. Elizabeth and I had been running it about four days a week during half marathon training. I attributed that bridge to my increased paces and stronger endurance when I first started running, and it has always been my favorite means of speedwork.

It was a weekly staple for me, but I haven't run it since December 2016.

Monday afternoon, while deciding where to run, Elizabeth suggested it. And I decided to take the bull by the horns.

It took me all of 2 seconds to agree. I appreciated that she pushed me out of my comfort zone!

We chose to park closer than usual to take the normal route from four miles to three. It was cool and windy thanks to whatever bizarre weather pattern is going on right now, and we had the wind at our backs for most of the run. I felt fresh from four days of rest. The first 3/4 mile was a slightly too-hard warmup. Then came the bridge.

I was surprised. It was...easy. I was nervous going in, sure my calves wouldn't be ready, but my legs and lungs actually felt alright. Good, even.

We walked at the turn-around, about 1.4 miles in, to alleviate Elizabeth's side-stitch. Then we ran back up, this time into the wind. We took a brief walk at the top. My left calf felt...something. Not tight, but stretched. Like it was saying We have not done this in a long time wtf. I've been pushing my left calf much faster than I did my right (because I can, seeing as how they've both been operated on now), so some discomfort is expected, but it's a good reminder to take it slow.

We took more walk breaks than I wanted, but considering we haven't run any inclines in over a year, I think we did pretty well. Our running paces, even up the bridge, were in the 9s. I felt fantastic.

I know I will need to build bridge runs into my routine slowly, maybe once every two weeks for now, but another mental barrier - another post-injury fear - is getting ready to fall. Soon, maybe it will be like this past year never even happened.

ABK

Weekly Workouts 11/14-11/20

Monday: Rest. I should have done some core work but I was just...lazy. (Later in the week I started to feel really run down. Maybe this laziness was a sign I'm developing a little cold.)

Tuesday: 5am run over the bridge (4 miles)! We had our first volleyball game this evening so I had to get my run in early. Very solid paces. I'm enjoying this cooler weather that's finally come our way!

During this run I needed to take a walk break or two because my stomach was upset for some reason. I ended up feeling sick throughout most of the day. I'm not sure why I got sick, but it happened again on Sunday's run.

Wednesday: Volleyball practice and 4 miles over the bridge again.

Thursday: Rest and our second volleyball game!

Friday: Another morning run (4 miles, bridge) as I had plans in the evening. Getting up at 4:25am isn't too bad once you're moving, but it takes a lot of willpower! Our splits on Friday were INSANE.

Saturday: Rest. I was supposed to do a core workout but I didn't feel great...I went out and saw Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them instead.

Sunday: I woke up before my alarm feeling congested and kind of gross. I texted Elizabeth to postpone our long run (11 miles) and we tried to go at 4pm. I had to call it quits early on. My stomach rebelled, my head and lungs felt congested...just not good.

We're planning to try again on Wednesday morning because we don't have work.

Total Mileage: 14 miles.

This week didn't go as planned in a lot of ways, but I am really proud of us for getting two morning weekday runs in and for those amazing splits! Consistent bridge running is paying off already!

ABK

Weekly Workouts 10/31-11/6

Elizabeth and I are officially training for the A1A half - remember, you can get 15% off the race by using coupon code ALI at checkout! - so I've decided to add total weekly mileage to my workout recaps.

Monday: Happy Halloween! We created a circuit to do at school. I had forgotten shoes and Elizabeth forgot her water so we were a bit limited in our exercises, but it ended up being a pretty good workout.

We did each exercise for 30 seconds and did the circuit 4 times.

Tuesday: 4 miles over the bridge. I've decided to use the same training plan I used the first half I really trained for and ran well. That means our weekday runs will all incorporate the bridge. It's a good way to build strength and speed without dedicated speed work.

First official run of training - done!

This run was kind of rough. I needed a walk break each time we finished our ascent, but I wasn't stressed about it because we have sixteen weeks to get strong, and I know running the bridge consistently will make it feel easy sooner rather than later.

Wednesday: 4 miles. Better! Only one walk break and much more consistent.

Thursday: Rest/volleyball. This was the night of Matt's film festival, so I didn't get a workout in.

Friday: 4 miles. This run felt awesome. We both felt very strong and ache-free. We paused at the top of the bridge on the second ascent because a motorcade was going by beneath us on the interstate! Tons of cop cars, town cars with American flags in the windows, and a big RV went by before I was able to get my phone out. A helicopter followed overhead. I think it was Tim Kaine because he was in town Saturday for a rally!

This was the best photo I could get of the motorcade.

Unfortunately, apparently bad luck with watches is just my thing now. My Garmin splits were all messed up and make no sense.

We ran 4 miles, but this turned up. 6 splits for a 4 mile run? The moving time and elevation aren't right, either. What did I do that made this turn up?

I think our last mile was quite fast and I wish I knew if the data were accurate.

Saturday: Rest.

Sunday: 7.15 miles. It's been since Sanibel that we've done a long run, so I was nervous but excited. This run means we're really training and that we completed our first week with flying colors!

Seven miles, easy 10:42 pace.

I'm not thinking about our paces at this point. We'll think about setting goals for A1A in January, but at this point I'm just happy to be training again! The run went really well - we didn't have to pause for any kind of breaks, and we just enjoyed ourselves and the run.

Total mileage: 19.

Did you have a good training week?

ABK

Weekly Workouts 10/3-10/9

Monday: Rest...Kind of. I count 4 hours of standing to see Joe Biden a bit of a workout. My back sure was sore after!

Waiting in line to see Biden!

Tuesday: 4 miles over the bridge with Elizabeth. We ran it four times. I had a little groin pain; I think my body still wasn't fully recovered from my race.

We were treated to a nice sunset!

Wednesday: I tested out my new "FitDeck" cards. I liked not having to put together my own circuit and the deck had a good mix of exercises, but despite warming up with burpees, I didn't feel really sweaty or fully "worked out" after.

Thursday: Rest. My legs were feeling a little achy and the oncoming hurricane made rest an easy choice. (We only ended up getting a normal evening storm and a lot of wind!)

Friday: 4 miles on the golf course. I felt great until about halfway in; then I lose momentum. Just tired and lethargic. I'm not used to having to rest after a 5k, but I guess I'm also not used to pushing so hard. Humidity could have been playing a role, but my heavy legs definitely shouted "RACE EXHAUSTION!"

I'm smiling, but this run was not good.

Saturday: Rest. My calves were tight again! Boo!

Sunday: I was going to run long - my last long run before the 10k - but decided to rest. This is my taper week and it's more important to rest and recover than to get in some more miles before next Saturday! Stretch, rest, recover, and pamper...that's going to be my motto this coming week!

My goal 10k is this coming Saturday. I'm still not sure 57:00 is a realistic goal, so this week I'll be thinking about what pace I'd like to aim to keep and then figure out my time goal from there.

ABK

Weekly Workouts 9/19-9/25

Monday: Rest.

Tuesday: Elizabeth and I ran 5.3 miles over the bridge. It was really humid and warm, and I felt completely useless. I had to walk a lot and just felt really sick and lightheaded. The run took us an hour, which was much longer than I had counted on for the mileage, and my right calf was tight the entire time.

We ran up the bridge both times and then walked at the top before the descent; I also needed a walk break in mile 4. Obviously our splits speak for themselves. 

If Elizabeth hadn't been with me, I would have quit early. This was one of those days where having a workout buddy really paid off. I think my issue was partially low blood sugar (I had a Coke as soon as I finished the run and felt better.)

Wednesday: Wednesday I was still having some weird lightheadedness. I went home after work and did this video...

...followed by lots of stretching and some planks, etc. I was really just focusing on getting my calf feeling right.

Thursday: We had to run in the morning because I had another 5-8pm training. We did 3.4 miles at 5:15am and I felt really good. I took a salt tab before the run, and I think that made a big difference! I need to remember this and keep taking salt pre-run until the weather breaks.

I like that morning runs are all about fitting in as many miles as I can before I have to get back home...there's less pressure for mileage and more of a focus on time.

Friday: When I got home from work, there was constant thunder but it didn't quite look like rain. I got changed and went outside to run around 6:30, but literally made it five steps before lightning streaked across the sky directly overhead. NOPE.

LOL...that quick turn-around!

I really was excited to run and was feeling really good, but had to take my workout inside. I did some core and ab work, then squats, lunges, and some pushups and kettle-bell swings. Just a general full-body workout. It felt good, but I wish I had a treadmill!

Saturday: Rest.

Sunday: Elizabeth and I took a new route and ran 9.5 miles. The run felt awesome. It was 75 degrees with 91% humidity, but I felt great! My calves were still tight for the first 2.5 miles or so, but once they warmed up my legs felt strong. Considering I have a few little races coming up now, I need to figure out how to warm my calves up so they're not tight early in the run.

The one thing that sucked about this run is that our tracking failed at the very end. The Nike+ app has been going through some changes, and it's been awful. It glitches all the time. Today, it was working on my phone and watch without trouble, and I saw our splits about halfway through and heard the voice feedback at the end as it gave us our final pacing updates, but when I went to turn it off, it froze up and completely deleted our splits! I know early in the run we were at a 10:58 pace; at the halfway point we were at a 10:45; and by the end we were at a 10:35 overall pace, so I know we had some good negative splits. I'm pissed that the app ate my data.

I've contacted customer service and I'm glad I'm not the only one having issues - usually Nike is pretty good about changing things when many people complain.

I'm not the only one having this issue; the comments on the support pages and app store reviews all reflect that the new update is garbage. I've used Nike+ since 2009 and am comfortable with it; I like it better than using a Garmin. But if they don't clean up the new app, I'm going to have to stop using it.

Other than that, this long run was perfect! Again, I still need to figure out what to do about my calves early on during runs - if it takes 3 miles to warm up, then I need to bear that in mind on race days. Still, this was an improvement to how I felt Tuesday, so I'm happy! It was a great way to end the week!

ABK

Weekly Workouts 8/22-8/28

Monday: Elizabeth and I christened my "gym" with a nice pilates workout. After our 8-miler the night before, deep stretching and strengthening was just what we needed.

Tuesday: We did a bridge workout that felt particularly hard, maybe because the heat index was 102. I don't have much to say on this one except that it was tough and I was glad when it was over!

Even the sunset and sky look hot!

Wednesday: We tried a new workout video that I ended up really liking! This cardio boxing video kept our heart rates up and really felt like good work. We were both surprised by how much we liked this video, and I was totally satisfied at the end!

Thursday: The weather gave us a little break for our first easy run of the week. We tried a couple new paths on the golf course and kept a nice, steady pace in the mid-9s. It was overcast and very windy - there's a hurricane of some kind brewing out in the ocean and we're starting to see some effects of it already - so I think that helped.

Average pace: 9:37.

I'm always secretly worried we'll get in trouble for running on the course, but Thursday we finally seemed to get the "okay" from one of the groundskeepers. We had paused briefly for water at the driving range when he drove by and offered us cups (every evening they take away the paper cups at the drinking stations). He was super friendly and didn't tell us not to use the course or its amenities, so I feel like now we have tacit approval.

Friday: Unplanned rest due to storms.

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: I had a headache all afternoon, so I wasn't feeling up for a run or anything really bouncy. I did some easy, low-impact exercises - squats, pushups, tricep dips, lunges - and called it a day.

I'm unhappy with how this week ended. My runs were good but I only got two in. But I'm trying to remember that it's all about consistency over time, and one mediocre week isn't going to kill me!

ABK

Weekly Workouts 5/30-6/5

Monday: Because we didn't have work on Memorial Day, Elizabeth emailed me early in the morning to let me know which ab workouts she had done. I was going to do a Runner's World workout, but these seemed harder!

I did the first video twice and the second video once. I have no idea how she barely breaks a sweat and is able to talk so normally throughout her videos! Give me 90 seconds and I'm panting so much I can't talk!

Tuesday: Elizabeth and I completed the bridge loop twice for a four-mile run. We were worried about rain so we parked closer to the bridge than the last time I did this run (hence the shorter distance), but it ended up just being muggy and sweltering with nary a drop of rain in sight.

I didn't look at my paces at all. Even though this was speed work, I concentrated more on effort because of the heat. (We had to run earlier so I could go home and pack for DC.)

Wednesday & Thursday: These were technically "rest" days. I was up at 4am to meet the kids at the airport for our trip to DC. I knew I wouldn't have any time for workouts on Wednesday, and Thursday ended up being a long day too. I did get quite a few walking miles in, though. We were all over the city and did Arlington on Wednesday, so I'm counting that as hill work!

Friday: At 2:30am the fire alarm in the hotel went off and we had to get evacuate all the kids and wait for the all-clear from the fire department. (It was a small fire in the staff lounge, from what I gathered. I was relieved when I smelled smoke because I knew it was legit and none of the kids had just pulled the alarm as a joke!)

Still, three hours later I was up for a short run on the hotel treadmill. I only had time for 25 minutes, but I made the most of it, increasing the pace every five minutes or so and finishing at a sprint.

I also walked 4.5 miles that day for a total of 7 miles. Ouch.

Sunday: I was so exhausted on Saturday, I pushed our "long run" to Sunday night and opted to just do an hour run/6 miles. Of course, once we got out there, I realized just how tired I was. My legs felt heavy and I was having a hard time keeping a solid pace; the humidity was taking a lot out of me. Was it the stairs, hills, and constant walking of DC? Was it that I was still sleep deprived? All I know is that this run was a struggle-fest, and we ended up cutting the run a little short, but at least we got out there!

Let's play "how many gnats did Ali eat on her run tonight?"

I have five more days of school-with-students. I know this week is going to be nuts; I've got my blinders on and I'm ready to power through and finish this year on a great note!

How was your week?

ABK

Weekly Workouts 5/16-5/22

Monday: A very uninspired T25 workout. I just wasn't feeling it. I think I was suffering some burnout from four or five weeks of really strong training.

Tuesday: I had an after school meeting and then we had an art showcase until 7pm, so I only had time to squeeze in some yoga between 4:30 and 5pm, when parents began arriving. The yoga was...again, not great, but my legs felt good afterward and at least I put on workout clothes!

Wednesday: Best workout of the week! I think finally my burnout gave way. Because of scheduling, I had to run alone (although Matt joined me last minute) so I ended up getting a late start. I wanted to run the bridge four times; I did what felt like an easy warmup (2/3 mile) and was surprised to see a 9:19 pace! The bridge felt great; I saw some 8s on the ascents and descents on the first two repeats; then I wanted to quit. But I finished it off and did the entire workout.

Around mile 3.7, I let myself walk a tiny bit when I got to the top of the bridge for the last time. Even with that walk break, I kept my overall pace well under 10.

Because I crossed the street at the end of the bridge to run the opposite side, I was able to get the benefits of the different slopes. I also only climbed on two of the four slopes, and descended on the other two; in other words, I can look at my elevation map and my paces and know if I was ascending or descending, and it's kind of awesome to see 8s on the ascents!

This run gave me a huge confidence boost. Not only did I feel strong, but I didn't let myself quit when I wanted to. I ended up doing 5 miles and finished the last tenth at an 8:49 sprint. I thought, "I need to run Saturday's entire race at this pace" and felt a bit defeated because it felt so hard, but Matt pointed out that the sprint was at the tail end of a 5 mile bridge run, so I really shouldn't feel bad about how hard it felt.

Now I'm hopeful that I'm ready for that 10k PR I'll be aiming for at Sanibel in October.

Thursday: More meetings. This time of year is insane. Rest day!

Friday: Other than some planks and foam-rolling, another rest day. I hydrated like a crazy person in preparation for Saturday's 5k...to the point that I had to lock my students out of my classroom briefly so I could use my bathroom in peace haha!

Saturday: The Sup & Run 5k! I'll post more about this Tuesday but let's just say...it went very well!

Stay tuned for a full report Tuesday!

Sunday: We drove to Orlando for Shane and Mark's baby shower/a college reunion of sorts, and I wasn't sure if I'd want to run or rest Sunday morning. I packed running clothes in case and played it by ear. After a long day and late night with friends, I decided to rest Sunday. 

What was your highlight workout for the week?

ABK