Dana Point 10k Turkey Trot

I ran this race last year, and it was, to say the least, not the best race weather wise.  But this year, it was great! You can read last years recap here, but I know you want to hear more about this year, because it went SO MUCH BETTER!

I was definitely better prepared this year after last years disaster!  I went and picked up our bibs the day before the race, and heading over to my old roomies for Thanksgiving #2 (she lives really close to where we raced!) and to carb load/fill my belly before the race!

I really like this race because not only is it flat and fast, but it also has a good cause attached to it; it benefits the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County!

Anyhow, I knew full well that and early arrival to the race start would be essential, so I made my brothers and cousin wake up at 4.45 so we would be out the door at the latest by 5.30 because we had about a 20-30 minute drive just to get there.  Luckily I knew where to go and where to park (being there the day and year before) and when we got there at just before 6am we got the most awesome parking spot: about 150m from the start, and easy access to get out of the area afterwards (since there were two more 5k races afterwards!).

 

The course for this race is very simple, but it has some really nice views of the harbor and Doheny State Beach:

It’s a bit tedious, being there and back four times, but I don’t mind!  I was so engrossed the entire race that I didn’t even notice!

Since we were there a bit early, some goofiness occurred in the car as we tried not to freeze our butts off (it was 45 degrees when we left…too cold for us Californians!):

The race started off nicely because we were able to squeeze in pretty close to the front, but the first mile was a bit crowded, since you run on a two laned road, runners going one way on one side, and returning on the other.  There were definitely a few people that got yelled at. 

There wasn’t too much excitement throughout the race.  I was keeping my pace via my watch and did pretty well, under 9 min miles until around mile 4 when I saw that I had a pace of around 9.25…didn’t seem right to me as I had started to push my self a wee bit, but whatever. 

After that I started to book it.

After hitting mile 5 I was getting closer to a woman in a green top that looked a lot like Jeri, and I was determined as ever to catch up to her beat her.  I was trying super hard to concentrate on her and a few other girls ahead of me…but somehow my legs just weren’t moving fast enough!

Anyhow, I saw the 6 mile marker just ahead of me and told myself, “You have about a lap around a track to go; MOVE THOSE LEGS! MOVE THOSE LEGS!!”  So I did. 

I beat the woman in the green shirt, along with passing up quite a few younger guys in the meantime (suckahsssss).

Here are the results as posted today:

10K Race Results

• Overall: 1122 out of 3802
• Women: 348 out of 2002
• F 20-24: 31 out of 174
• Age/Grade: 56.26% Place: 1136
• Finish: 53:56 Pace: 8:41
• Tag Time: 53:56
• Split Times 5 Km: 27:36 Pace: 8:53

I was shooting to get under 54 minutes and boy did I get close!  But I was certainly excited to finish!  I was a bit disappointed that I didn’t beat last years time (under 53 minutes) but I hadn’t been doing any speed training so I knew my luck was slim.  Whatever, I finished! 

And check out the great company I had to race with:

My cousin Emily and I

  

Eric, Emily, Me, Craig

Craig, Emily, Eric

Me and My brothers (one’s single!  Who wants dibs!?!?)

Twins

And because my brothers are working on projects and finals an early wake up call was not the nicest thing to have when you could have been sleeping in, so Craig fell asleep on the way back (the only reason Eric was up, was because he heard the camera turn on; cheater).

(He’s going to kill me for putting this up…Shh…don’t tell)

Hope you enjoyed my race recap!!! I’ll have today’s food soon!

Don’t forget to comment on my Oh Nuts! Giveaway Post!!!  I know you want to win something!!!