Drumstick Dash

With my early morning workouts this week, 7:20 a.m. felt like sleeping in. The only depressing part was getting up while M got to sleep in, but it was for a good reason: the Drumstick Dash. The Drumstick Dash is Indianapolis’ version of the Turkey Trot. It’s a 4.5 mile race with all proceeds going to Wheeler Mission.

The weather was cold (37ish) and, by race start, a bit drizzly.

I felt okay at race start, but quickly got irritated after the race start. They had attempted to have people organize by speed. I lined up in the 10 minute/mile area so that I could pass people. So why I spent the first 2.5 miles passing walkers is beyond me. I suppose some people may have been simply taking walking breaks, which is fine, but the people that were walking from the beginning should have been in the back!

I went to the race wearing cheap ($1) gloves that I could throw away when I felt the need. I took them off at about the 1 mile mark and threw them away at the only water station at 2.5 miles. I also remembered to wear ear warmers this time (forgot them at the half marathon and regretted it). I wrapped the ear warmer around my wrist at the water station. Overall I felt pretty good temperature wise. I think I run better in the cooler temps.

My goal for the race was to run a 9:45 pace. Not sure why I picked this goal but it seemed reasonable. I smashed that goal though and got negative splits, 1/2 mile splits below (minutes/mile in parenthesis):

• 4:54 (9:48)
• 4:47 (9:34)
• 4:48 (9:36)
• 4:50 (9:41)
• 4:40 (9:20)
• 4:40 (9:20)
• 4:40 (9:20)
• 4:40 (9:21)
• 4:02 (9:09) — note that the Garmin said this lap was only .44 so the 4:02 represents that and not .5

My official race time 42:03.5. It’s a personal record because I’ve never run a 4.5 mile race

Overall, given some recent less than stellar runs this made me feel really good. I enjoyed the run. I think I may give running outside in the cold a shot, probably only on the weekends in order to deal with daylight issues.