For Whom the Dogs Bark

I ran the Sugar Land Turkey Trot this morning with two of my kids, a 20-year-old daughter and a 16-year-old son. I didn't want to run too hard -- last year I injured my Achilles running too fast in a 4-mile turkey trot -- but I couldn't pass up the chance to get a couple of my kids out there. I warmed up for two miles then went looking for my kids. They were already lined up, almost in the front. I suggested we should move to the back given our projected paces and they said only a few people are going to do 6 minute miles and we are behind them. Turned out they were right, I passed at least as many people as passed me, probably more. I had to remind myself that these kinds of races draw a lot of beginner runners, non-serious runners and non-runners. I thought the 5-mile distance would discourage most of the non-runners but plenty of them found the start line. I have never raced this distance so I didn't know what to expect. I decided to go out between 8:00 and 8:30, which turned out to be about right. I averaged about 8:16 per mile, splits were 8:23, 8:26. 8:25, 8:08 and 8:10. The last couple of miles were somewhat difficult, as I tried to pick up the pace and we turned into a stronger than expected wind. Based on today's time, I would say a 50-minute 10K would be a pretty good projection for me right now. I could have run a little faster but not a lot. There was a bagpipe player right at the finish line. (Do they all play the same tune?) I noticed that wind and kilts are not a good mixture. After I finished I went back to look for my kids. I found my daughter a few minutes back and ran with her for a bit. She said my son was behind her, so I left her to look for him. I ran back and back, over a mile and a half, past the walkers and strollers until I found what looked like the last lady, walking by herself at least a quarter mile behind anybody else. Seeing all those runners back there confirmed that I had lined up correctly. I knew my son wasn't that slow, so I turned around and ran back to the finish line, where he and the rest of an unhappy family were waiting. Turns out he had passed my daughter without her knowing it and finished only a minute or so behind me. This is a kid who never runs. Disgusting, but better for him to do well than the alternative. Anyway, it gave me a chance to cool down very slowly and maybe get in more miles than I had planned. I don't know how I did, it seemed that I finished in about the first third of the pack, but every body was in a hurry to leave so we left. I'll have to wait until times are posted to verify anything, the times in this post are my own.