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Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving

Yesterday I completed my fifth Skinny Turkey Half Marathon. This year I am running the event with my brother in law Luis, who started increasing his running mileage this year to officially complete his fourth half marathon. Did I mention that he completed all four within a 6-month timeframe? Awesome job Luis. For dinner the night before, simple sandwich and some popcorn for a late snack.  Sugars were behaving pretty well since that is the normal routine. I have been eating pretty healthy for the nights before training runs. In the morning the usual latte with hot cereal and banana. Sugars were good hovering around 132. Pricked up Luis since it was on the way to the event and got to the event location at a High School in Wake Forrest with plenty of time. I like this event location, it has plenty of bathrooms and areas to stretch, sit down and relax. There I met with few a friends from RTR (Raleigh Trail Runners club) that were getting ready for the event.

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No warm-up today, since my goal today was to complete it with no specific time or pace. Also on Saturday, I am running my 1st Ultramarathon and just want to have a controlled event without raising my heart rate much. We walked just behind the 2:15 pacer, since Luis want it to complete it within that timeline, after a few announcements, the National Anthem and off we went, similar to last year around 350 runners.

Mile 1-6: Very unevenful miles, temperatures were awesome. The Sun was out and by mile 3, I already took my hat and gloves off. The course similar to previous years with tons of up and down hills but running at a steady pace and checking my heart rate once in a while to see how much effort I was exerting during the event. We started as usual a little bit behind the pack. Since the route is a very nice wide road, I easily started moving forward until I found the 2:15 pacing group.

Miles 7-12 Hills continued, but I was feeling great. My sugars remained steady and other than a couple of water stations from which I grabbed some Gatorade, no gels for me during the event. Just having good conversations with Luis, runners, spectators, and volunteers. It was awesome to see friends come by on their way back from the turnaround. Most of them having a good time and with a smile. Halfway mile 11 we have the 2:15 pacer on our tails. We needed to make sure we stayed within range.

Mile 13 to finish: Ahhhhh, the final stretch. More ups and downs, we pressed on as the pacer caught up with us. Heart rate still pretty good. The last 150 meter were downhill so, we increased the pace and finished strong and within the 2:15 target.

We hang around at the finish line area, with the finisher’s medal in hand we went to get my traditional picture with Santa. I checked my sugar levels with the meter when I returned to my vehicle and the reading was 156. Heart rate average for the whole event was 144 bpm with 52% of the time in the blue zone and felt great during the whole event. Now to recover well and get ready for Derby 50k on Saturday.

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{f1}Month/Year;;;{f1}Event;;;{f1}Location;;;{f1}Type;;;{f1}Time;nn;
Nov-17;;;Skinny Turkey;;;NC;;;Half;;;2:15:18;nn;
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Event Highlights ; Learning Points;nn;Highlights:

Course: Great ample road right of the start but very hilly. Around 350 runners. With the ample road there is no problem starting and finding a comfortable pace.

Venue: At a High School, plenty bathrooms and seating area to rest before and after the event. At finish, good food, plenty to drink and snacks.

Expo: No Expo.

Weather: Overcast skies with some drizzle, 36º with 75% humidity.

T1D: Sugars with in running range and stable troughtout the event.

Fueling: Pre-Race: 1 serving Hot Cereal, latte and banana.

Race: Gatorade at third and fourth station, water at others.

Post: Protein Shake with in an hour of the event. Great Thanksgivin dinner.

Learning Points:

• Taking it easy makes it feel like you can run forever.
  

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