Aurora Turkey Trot

A thanksgiving tradition for some, I suppose: running off those calories before chowing down. I ran the "first annual" (presumptuous!) trot in Aurora.

Start: on the order of hundreds of runners lined up in scant more than a traffic lane wide. I started too far back, but didn't waste more than 15 seconds before taking to the grass (read: mud) to escape the pack.

The route was a pleasant out-and-back with small elevation changes, all paved, through and around some school grounds with buildings and playing fields.

Mile 1, 7:34. A little faster than I wanted to be (my stretch goal was 31:20, "good race" at 32:00), but feeling good.

Mile 1.8. Ouch; I didn't hit anything funny on the pavement, but my right ankle started hurting right... there. Admittedly, it was a little sore from some swim-fin-laden drills on Sunday, but not injury sore.

Mile 2, 7:55. It felt right on pace with mile 1, maybe a little faster, but I jogged a bit and tried to stretch out the ankle. Mile 3, 9:55 and limping. Mile 4, 8:30. Oh, now it's feeling better; I must have healed.

Clock in at 33:5x. Not pretty. Stretch, drive home, preheat our thanksgiving-side-dish corn with my new tibiofibular stovetop.

Well, I'd been hoping to do more core work and swimming anyway.
Furthermore, plenty of time before
starting actual,
scheduled training.

plodding

a one-click analysis of my running kilometers-per-month (yes, I'd like to pretend those were miles), below.


650 km total since I bought running shoes in June of 2006, almost 250 of which are verified by ipod.

an uncanny minivan density

in the fading darkness, a Grand Theft Auto moment:
an erratic caravan
(or town, country)
driven transsuburbially
light green, light grey or beige
swerves across painted perforation
joins a tumour of littermates
six noses
for two pumps
of unleaded

I actually saw this at about 6:45. Literally, a half dozen could-have-been-identical minivans, all pulled haphazardly into a Marathon station. Fleet vehicles? Soccer-mom convention? Elaborate hold-up?

from unspecified cow irker:
"and I'll let you and [...] sinc up for the call."

top 10 movies

1. Apocalypse Now (1979)
2. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
3. Star Wars (1977)
4. Pulp Fiction (1994)
   
5. Blade Runner (1982)
6. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
7. Beautiful Girls (1996):
8. American Beauty (1999)
9. Goodfellas (1990)
10. Goldfinger (1964)

These aren't quite right. I think I wrote this too soon after re-watching Blade Runner and Dr. Strangelove, at least. I'm solid on the first 4, though.