Turkey Tea Course Comparison
It's been a while since my last post, and the simple reason for that is I haven't really had anything to write about! I've pretty much covered any technical running issues that I feel educated enough to speak on, and it's hard to write on the mental/motivational side of running too frequently without it feeling repetitive.
For this post, I am going to break down the differences between the normal route for the Turkey Tea 10k race on Thanksgiving weekend, and the modified route that will be used this year due to construction on Commonwealth Avenue. The data below is from my 2017 Turkey Tea race (standard course) and a training run that I did yesterday morning (modified course).
For each kilometer, I am providing 3 pieces of information:
- a picture of the course map, with the kilometer highlighted in blue.
- a picture of the course elevation profile, with the kilometer highlighted in dark gray.
- a picture of my kilometer splits, with the time, the elevation gain/drop, and Strava's Grade Adjusted Pace (GAP). GAP is basically an estimate of what my effort was on the kilometer, accounting for the elevation profile.
In each set of pictures, I will include the data for the original course first, and the modified course second. If there are any questions, feel free to comment below or on Facebook and I'll do my best to clarify.
Kilometer 1
The first kilometer is essentially the same on both courses, although you will notice that there is a 7 meter difference in the elevation drop. The reason for this is that the first 200 meters of the new course, before you get to the original start line, are slightly uphill, and the 200 meters they are replacing, at the end of the old first kilometer, are slightly downhill. So while the first kilometer will still be a fast start, it will be a little bit slower than in the past.
Kilometer 2
The second kilometer is where the two courses really begin to diverge, but ultimately they should run pretty similar on race day. The elevation drop is almost equal, with the original course flattening out just a bit near the end of the kilometer while the new course is a steady decline. One additional thing to consider here is that if the wind is in your face running down Glencoe, this entire kilometer is now going to be straight into it on the new course.
Kilometer 3
Starting at kilometer three, a one to one comparison between the courses starts to fail a little. That will continue until around kilometer 9. The third kilometer of the new course covers the last part of Glencoe and the beginning of Clyde Avenue, a section that is not part of the original course at all. It is a net downhill, with the beginning of the small hill on Clyde at the end. This should be an opportunity to pick up a little time, although the wind I mentioned in the second kilometer could hamper that somewhat. As for kilometer 3 on the old course, it is the climb up Sagona, which is the toughest kilometer on the course. The bad news to come is that you still get to run it on the new course, it's just later in the race!
Kilometer 4
The elevation profiles for the fourth kilometers are pretty similar, especially considering that they are in completely different locations. The old course covers Old Placentia Road leading to Tim Horton's, while the new one is up and around Clyde Avenue ending near Irving. The biggest difference here will likely be psychological. On the old course, you've just finished the hardest kilometer of the race and are setting up for a fast second half. On the new course, you have to prepare for the toughest kilometer coming up next.
Kilometer 5
And there is the hill on Sagona again! Kilometer 5 on the new course isn't an exact match for kilometer 3 on the old one, but it's pretty close. As I said earlier, having to tackle this two kilometers later in the race will likely be the hardest part of the change. On the old route, kilometer 5 is a nice steady decline from Tim Horton's to the Glacier. Now we get to climb the toughest hill on the course at that point instead. The good news is we will get to see the old kilometer 5 again a little later, and at that point it is leading to much better things!
Kilometer 6
Kilometer 6 on the new course is a pretty close match to kilometer 4 on the old course. This is the section heading towards Tim Horton's, and it's relatively flat with a small elevation gain. Kilometer 6 on the old course is not part of the new course. This is the portion of Old Placentia Road passing in front of Dominion. It's a very fast kilometer on that course, and for me that is when I usually find my stride in this race.
Kilometer 7
Kilometer 7 provides our last cross-kilometer comparison, as the new kilometer 7 is essentially the same as the old kilometer 5. It starts a little bit earlier, and ends with a turn onto Smallwood, but it covers most of the same ground. And on the new course, it is the start of a VERY fast finish. If you've been noticing my paces at all, you'll see that it dropped significantly at this point on my training run yesterday, as I decided to push the last 4 kilometers and see how fast they were. I won't spoil the final results just yet, but a quick glance shows that this kilometer was only slightly behind my 10k race pace from last year. And that's during a training run the day after a 5k race!
As for the old kilometer 7, it's the last part of Old Placentia and the turn onto Commonwealth, and just like the entire second half of the old course, it is fast and downhill. :)
Kilometer 8
And now for the fun! Well, at least for those like me who love to run downhill. If there is a reward to the new course, this is it. We get to run straight down Smallwood Drive. 31 meters of elevation drop! Even in a training run yesterday, I was faster than my 10k race pace for this kilometer. The biggest risk on race day here might be going too hard and burning your legs out 2k from the finish line!
The old kilometer 8 is Commonwealth Avenue. If you been in Mount Pearl over the last year, I don't need to say any more...
Kilometer 9
The two courses meet again about 100 meters or so into kilometer 9, and as such there isn't much to say here. The new course is slightly more downhill, as the start of the kilometer leading into the Smallwood/Commonwealth intersection is steeper approaching from the Smallwood side. Other than that, it's the same.
Kilometer 10
I guess I could have saved myself a little energy and just posted one pic here, huh? Haha The last kilometer is the same for both. One point I will make on this kilometer that I tend to forget, and was reminded of again yesterday, is that the first 500 meters or so is pretty flat. So after running downhill for a long while, it can feel like a lot of effort to maintain your pace on that section. But once you turn the corner onto Park Avenue, put the pedal to the floor and give whatever you have left for that last half kilometer!
Coles Notes
Well, that ended up being a lot. If I had to summarize it much more quickly, it would be as such:
- kilometers 1, 9, and 10 are virtually identical on the two courses.
- kilometers 5-7 on the new course are a close match to kilometers 3-5 on the old course.
- with a total of six kilometers nearly matching, the difference will be kilometers 2-4 plus 8 on the new course versus kilometer 2 plus 6-8 on the old course. How that plays out will likely depend heavily on the wind speed and direction on Glencoe, and how well a person can pick up on Smallwood Drive what they may lose on Clyde Avenue.
As for that new finishing stretch that I pushed hard on yesterday: I covered the 4 kilometers at a pace of about 3:59/km, which felt hard but comfortable. This was on tired legs, the day after pushing very hard to run a 5k race at a 3:56/km pace. So it's safe to say that if you can get through the first 6 kilometers well on Thanksgiving Sunday, there is a great time to be had by crushing that finishing stretch!
That's all for me this evening. Thanks as always to everyone who takes the time to read these. Cheers!
For this post, I am going to break down the differences between the normal route for the Turkey Tea 10k race on Thanksgiving weekend, and the modified route that will be used this year due to construction on Commonwealth Avenue. The data below is from my 2017 Turkey Tea race (standard course) and a training run that I did yesterday morning (modified course).
For each kilometer, I am providing 3 pieces of information:
- a picture of the course map, with the kilometer highlighted in blue.
- a picture of the course elevation profile, with the kilometer highlighted in dark gray.
- a picture of my kilometer splits, with the time, the elevation gain/drop, and Strava's Grade Adjusted Pace (GAP). GAP is basically an estimate of what my effort was on the kilometer, accounting for the elevation profile.
In each set of pictures, I will include the data for the original course first, and the modified course second. If there are any questions, feel free to comment below or on Facebook and I'll do my best to clarify.
Kilometer 1
The first kilometer is essentially the same on both courses, although you will notice that there is a 7 meter difference in the elevation drop. The reason for this is that the first 200 meters of the new course, before you get to the original start line, are slightly uphill, and the 200 meters they are replacing, at the end of the old first kilometer, are slightly downhill. So while the first kilometer will still be a fast start, it will be a little bit slower than in the past.
Kilometer 2
The second kilometer is where the two courses really begin to diverge, but ultimately they should run pretty similar on race day. The elevation drop is almost equal, with the original course flattening out just a bit near the end of the kilometer while the new course is a steady decline. One additional thing to consider here is that if the wind is in your face running down Glencoe, this entire kilometer is now going to be straight into it on the new course.
Kilometer 3
Starting at kilometer three, a one to one comparison between the courses starts to fail a little. That will continue until around kilometer 9. The third kilometer of the new course covers the last part of Glencoe and the beginning of Clyde Avenue, a section that is not part of the original course at all. It is a net downhill, with the beginning of the small hill on Clyde at the end. This should be an opportunity to pick up a little time, although the wind I mentioned in the second kilometer could hamper that somewhat. As for kilometer 3 on the old course, it is the climb up Sagona, which is the toughest kilometer on the course. The bad news to come is that you still get to run it on the new course, it's just later in the race!
Kilometer 4
The elevation profiles for the fourth kilometers are pretty similar, especially considering that they are in completely different locations. The old course covers Old Placentia Road leading to Tim Horton's, while the new one is up and around Clyde Avenue ending near Irving. The biggest difference here will likely be psychological. On the old course, you've just finished the hardest kilometer of the race and are setting up for a fast second half. On the new course, you have to prepare for the toughest kilometer coming up next.
Kilometer 5
And there is the hill on Sagona again! Kilometer 5 on the new course isn't an exact match for kilometer 3 on the old one, but it's pretty close. As I said earlier, having to tackle this two kilometers later in the race will likely be the hardest part of the change. On the old route, kilometer 5 is a nice steady decline from Tim Horton's to the Glacier. Now we get to climb the toughest hill on the course at that point instead. The good news is we will get to see the old kilometer 5 again a little later, and at that point it is leading to much better things!
Kilometer 6
Kilometer 6 on the new course is a pretty close match to kilometer 4 on the old course. This is the section heading towards Tim Horton's, and it's relatively flat with a small elevation gain. Kilometer 6 on the old course is not part of the new course. This is the portion of Old Placentia Road passing in front of Dominion. It's a very fast kilometer on that course, and for me that is when I usually find my stride in this race.
Kilometer 7
Kilometer 7 provides our last cross-kilometer comparison, as the new kilometer 7 is essentially the same as the old kilometer 5. It starts a little bit earlier, and ends with a turn onto Smallwood, but it covers most of the same ground. And on the new course, it is the start of a VERY fast finish. If you've been noticing my paces at all, you'll see that it dropped significantly at this point on my training run yesterday, as I decided to push the last 4 kilometers and see how fast they were. I won't spoil the final results just yet, but a quick glance shows that this kilometer was only slightly behind my 10k race pace from last year. And that's during a training run the day after a 5k race!
As for the old kilometer 7, it's the last part of Old Placentia and the turn onto Commonwealth, and just like the entire second half of the old course, it is fast and downhill. :)
Kilometer 8
And now for the fun! Well, at least for those like me who love to run downhill. If there is a reward to the new course, this is it. We get to run straight down Smallwood Drive. 31 meters of elevation drop! Even in a training run yesterday, I was faster than my 10k race pace for this kilometer. The biggest risk on race day here might be going too hard and burning your legs out 2k from the finish line!
The old kilometer 8 is Commonwealth Avenue. If you been in Mount Pearl over the last year, I don't need to say any more...
Kilometer 9
The two courses meet again about 100 meters or so into kilometer 9, and as such there isn't much to say here. The new course is slightly more downhill, as the start of the kilometer leading into the Smallwood/Commonwealth intersection is steeper approaching from the Smallwood side. Other than that, it's the same.
Kilometer 10
I guess I could have saved myself a little energy and just posted one pic here, huh? Haha The last kilometer is the same for both. One point I will make on this kilometer that I tend to forget, and was reminded of again yesterday, is that the first 500 meters or so is pretty flat. So after running downhill for a long while, it can feel like a lot of effort to maintain your pace on that section. But once you turn the corner onto Park Avenue, put the pedal to the floor and give whatever you have left for that last half kilometer!
Coles Notes
Well, that ended up being a lot. If I had to summarize it much more quickly, it would be as such:
- kilometers 1, 9, and 10 are virtually identical on the two courses.
- kilometers 5-7 on the new course are a close match to kilometers 3-5 on the old course.
- with a total of six kilometers nearly matching, the difference will be kilometers 2-4 plus 8 on the new course versus kilometer 2 plus 6-8 on the old course. How that plays out will likely depend heavily on the wind speed and direction on Glencoe, and how well a person can pick up on Smallwood Drive what they may lose on Clyde Avenue.
As for that new finishing stretch that I pushed hard on yesterday: I covered the 4 kilometers at a pace of about 3:59/km, which felt hard but comfortable. This was on tired legs, the day after pushing very hard to run a 5k race at a 3:56/km pace. So it's safe to say that if you can get through the first 6 kilometers well on Thanksgiving Sunday, there is a great time to be had by crushing that finishing stretch!
That's all for me this evening. Thanks as always to everyone who takes the time to read these. Cheers!
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