On Thanksgiving day in Sheboygan it has been an annual tradition for the past 19 years or so for my dad and I to do the annual 10k “Gobbler Gallop”, held along Sheboygans lakefront. This year my original plan was to put in a top time here in an effort of run focus this fall, but following IM WI I ended up battling a medial plica inflammation in my knee which knocked down the running quite a bit. I had finally managed to get over that, and started running a little more consistently 2 weeks prior to the race. So I was just going to be happy with running the 10K all together.

Down at the race it is always a fun day because I am able to see a lot of friends that are back in town for the holiday. This year the weather was unbelievably mild, almost 50 degrees. Some years we are running in parkas and ski goggles!

Despite not having run consistently lately due to injury, I still put in one of my better times; a 37:52 for a 6:08 pace. I was very happy with this, and I managed to place 7th overall and 1st in age group. Teammate Laurel Kleiber was also running, being in good form in her return from California running XC at USF, and taking 1st overall in the womens 10K!

Being back in Sheboygan also means that I was able to return to the local YMCA masters group down at the Y on Friday morning. It is always fun to come back and swim with the guys that got me started in the pool. I also got back onto the local mountain bike trails with top local pro and training partner Brian Matter http://b-matter.blogspot.com/. Being on the dirt is a nice change of pace from the pavement, especially with the wind this time of year, when in one direction you’ll be zone 5 at 13mph, while the other direction your going 30mph without breathing hard.

The trails that we ride in the local city park have quite a variety of singletrack, slickrock, roots, and rocks and can be pretty technical. It is a really nice trail system to have less than a mile from our house. These trails were where I got my start in cycling. They also hold the season finale of the Wisconsin Off Road Series race here. Back in my mountain biking glory years I won the Pro/Elite race in back to back years here.

Now that the Thanksgiving break is over it will be back to La Crosse to finish up the semester. Next time I come home we will probably be busting out the x-country skis rather than the mountain bike.