Thursday, November 25, 2010

Dana Point Turkey Trot 10K Race Report

Mary, Ian (being cheeky) and I after the race.
Today started really early.  Like four AM early.  And though I know some of you warriors out there get up this early all the time, I can count on one hand how many times I do it in a year.

But the Dana Point Turkey Trot is worth it.  This is my second year participating, and it was just as fun this year as it was last.  It's a big race - there where over 4000 people in the 10K alone.  And when you add in the 5K, the 1 mile kids run and whatever else they cooked up, that's a lot of people descending into Dana Point.  Which means parking is tough.  Thus the early wake-up call.

Yesterday, weather.com calling for 20 + MPH winds.  When I woke up today, the winds were nowhere to be found, but it was as cold as I can remember.  That said, I'm never up this early, so maybe this is normal.  But it was still really cold at race-time.  As crazy as this sounds, I wore a beanie and arm warmers for a first time ever in a race.  I could have used gloves as well.  You gotta love racking up the new gear experiences.

Last year, I finished in 54:38.  This year, I was going for 46:xx.  And since there was little wind, I thought I had a pretty good chance to nail a good time.  But then I made a tactical error.

Though I managed to work my way up into the start chute to about 50 feet from the line, this was still too far back.  Because there was tons of runner traffic in the first mile that I had to dodge around.  And it didn't help that the course quickly narrows from a four lane avenue to a two lane access road.  To make matters worse, the course marshalls where insistent that runners keep to the right since there was a turn-around ahead.  So the course effectively went down to one lane in the first 1000 yards.  While dealing with the gridlock, I was only able to manage a 7:55 first mile.

By mile 2 things opened up and I settled into about a 7:20 pace, which I was able to maintain until the 5 mile marker.  But then another problem came up.  Out of nowhere I started having pretty bad GI issues.  I'm not talking about cramping - let's just say these where potentially very actionable issues.  Conveniently, there was a porta-potty right there.  I thought about stopping and dealing with the problem, but didn't.  Instead I rolled the dice and decided to try and suffer through.

But without even realizing it, I slowed down.  Looking back, I'm sure this had something to do with the extra muscle recruitment required from my glutes to keep my backside sealed - I'm sure that took a fair bit of energy.  When I crossed the finish line I didn't even bother to stop.  I had to keep running to find a bathroom.

My final time was 47:25.  There is something about a "6" after the "4" that I prefer over a "7".  Still, my average pace per mile was only 5 seconds off the top end of my goal.  Good enough.

I came in 503rd out of 4044 overall and 54th out of 235 in my age group.  So between the finishing time and my placing, it's a good improvement over last year.

We then drove east to the Palm Springs area and Mary's parents house and arrived just in time for the second half of the Lions/Patriots game.  Things went typical Thanksgiving from there.

I hope everyone had a good holiday...

26 comments:

KovasP said...

Great run for it beinf crosstraining for the glutes! Boy, I sure wish I had arm warmers...

Big Daddy Diesel said...

Congrats on the race

Happy Thanksgiving

Shawn said...

Good for you to gut it out.....you at least now know what your pucker factor is! Great time considering that.

Kathleen said...

Great job, especially with the extra challenges that you had. Nice pic too!

Unknown said...

Ha ha!! That made me laugh! great Race! And P.S. my 10K wasn't my first!! It was a PR!! :)

Julie said...

Nice job on the 10K race Patrick! Cute picture of you and your family:)

Jason said...

In the past two days Lindsay at Chasing the Kenyans was thankful for non-poop runs, and now you are having a poop-run.

BUT just realize we are part of a group. A group that has to poop.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=5651802

Jarrett @ "PaddlePedalPlod" said...

To poop or not to poop... That is the question...
Were you going for chip time, or watch time? I figure it's okay to pause my watch at the porta potties!
I wonder if getting up early had something to do with it? Hope you had a great thanksgiving!

Emz said...

I prefer a 7 over a 6 - all day...every day. 6 - yuck. I don't like 6's.

AND HOLY FREAKING cow --

IS
THAT
A
SMILE?!?!?!?!!??!?!!?!??!?!?

Unknown said...

Great run Patrick, especially with The Issues. Hate it when that happens but at least you didn't end up like PoopGuy @ IM Flordia!

A Prelude To... said...

Cute pic of the family.
Great run!! ...even with the urge to "go".

Lindsay said...

not a bad time at all!! very close to your goal. when the bowels start calling - they can certainly throw things off. that is the worst feeling in the world!

TRI714 said...

Great run. Im stoked that the family got up with you at racer head time for the support.
Your getting pretty damn fast homie.

Teamarcia said...

That's a great time especially with all the effort needed to keep the 'seal' tight!

Chris K said...

Who are you and what have you done with Patrick? The guy in the picture is smiling. What?! Considering the "issues" a very solid race. You are fast.

Unknown said...

I didn't recognize you in the photo cause you're usually so serious! Glad you had a nice race and Happy belated thanksgiving!

Unknown said...

I think you should get an award for the biggest PR this year! Great job!

ajh said...

Great job! Sounds like a good Thanksgiving.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like an excellent time to me!

Speaking of sealing the backside... my brother is a cyclist... he and I were discussing athletes and poop over the Thanksgiving table... the rest of the family was really not amused!

Aimee said...

Nice picture of the fam!!
I'm sorry you had some GI issues, but you still finished in a great time!

Glenn Jones said...

It was pretty cold too!

Outstanding effort Patrick! Both the runand holding it in....

Raegun said...

That sounds like a good run, all things considered. Thanks for sharing your report - I still haven't had the guts to sign up for an official race, so I've been living vicariously through those of you who do. :)

DRog said...

Great race!

Jill said...

4044 runners? That's wild!! Nice placement, considering all the issues, well done! And holy cow, you Southern Cali people need to come to Colorado and experience COLD!

Black Knight said...

Indeed a very good improvement. You are in the middle of the first pack overall, congrats. I think that the race begins before the start when you have to find the best position into the crowd.

Big Clyde said...

54th place in your AG sounds pretty awesome to me. Good for you.

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