Friday, 28 November 2008

• Race Report: 26th Fifth Third Turkey Trot 10k Detroit

  The Turkey Trot 10k rocked!

   

  Over 10,000 people ran! And I met my goal! I finished in 1:03:56. That made me 224/406 in my age group and 3673 overall.

   

  The day started out a wee bit stressful. We left home a little late. It takes just over an hour to get to Detroit from our house, and we left with 1 hour and 15 minutes until race time. I drove like a maniac, at a respectable speed of 79mph. Luckily weather and traffic were on our side for most of the way, and the roads were pretty clear. It wasn’t until we got to downtown that the real problem occurred. We were on I-96, right in the heart of Detroit when traffic stopped.

   

  With less than 10 minutes to start time, people all around us were jumping out of their cars and running to the starting line. So I did the same. I stopped, in the middle of the expressway, grabbed a handful of my things from the backseat, and ran across the express way into downtown. Thank goodness Hubby was with me. He took over the driver’s seat and then spent the next 40 minutes looking for a parking spot. Because so many roads were blocked off because of the race and the parade he did not have an easy time finding one.

   

  My warm up consisted of frantically running around trying to figure out where to start. I ran about a quarter mile, and then jogged in place for the five minutes until the start.

   

  And we’re off! My run started with “Hey Ya” by Outkast blasting in my ears. And it was so appropriate.

   

  Now what's cooler than bein' cool?
  (ICE COLD!) I can't hear ya'
  I say what's cooler than bein' cool?
  (ICE COLD!) whooo...

   

  It was a brisk 31 degrees out, but with no wind, so it didn’t actually feel that bad. The huge mass of runners took off around a small loop and then up Woodward Ave to the one mile mark. It was so cool to be running down the left hand turn lane of Woodward, right up the main artery of Detroit. The sidelines were full with people waiting for the parade to start. They were cheering runners along, and I heard “wow” and “that’s a lot of people” several times.

   

  My favorite part of the race had to be the costumes that others were wearing. I found myself smiling and even laughing as the runners weaved in and out around me and I caught a peek of what others were wearing. My favs:

  • Guy dressed as a turkey, with his friend following him dressed as a hunter. The best part? His butt cheeks were bare! Like the feathers had been plucked! Hilarious!
  • Eight scantily clad female reindeer. Tied together by reins. Followed by a man dressed as Santa holding the reins.
  • Four women with tutus and pink shirts that said “You have to strut before you can stuff! Turkey Trot 2008.”
  • A woman dressed as a Christmas angel with a sign on her back asking Santa to bring her a man.
  • The Easter Bunny and 3 carrots.

  These people are definitely braver than I am. Checking out others was a great way to keep my mind off running.

   

  Just after the one mile mark I started to really get warmed up. I took of my scarf and tied it around my arm, and took off my gloves, which I had to carry the rest of the race. The rest of the race seemed to fly by. I finally began to notice the scenery around me when we were running the last few miles near the Detroit River walk. Running between the Detroit River and the Ren Cen was pretty cool. You can look across the river and see Windsor, Canada. And the Ren Cen is a pretty cool building.

   

  As the finish line drew nearer I began to scan the crowd looking for Hubby. Unfortunately I didn’t see him, and he didn’t see me finish. By the time he found a parking spot and then walked across town to find the finish line I was already done. Therefore, no pictures were taken. Boo. I was hoping to post some. I crossed the finish line and immediately began to stretch. I stood there looking at all the others who were finishing. You could see the steam rising from their bodies it was so cold out. Then I looked down at myself and could see the heat eminated off. It was actually a pretty cool sight. Then I found Hubby! And he brought me Gatorade. He ran into a friend of mine who I haven’t seen since our wedding, so it was nice to see her again.

   

  Overall, the race was well organized and non-chaotic, considering how many runners there were. There were two water stations (around miles 2 and 4). The shirts were decent looking, and good quality. The use of the new D-Tag was great. A disposable timing chip is the best idea ever. It was nice afterwards to not have to worry about trying to figure out where I was supposed to return my chip so I wouldn’t get charged $30, or having a race volunteer bent down in front of my untying my shoes. My only complaint is that there was no goodie bag. I like getting a few freebies and samples. And considering the size of the race you’d think there would have been a goodie bag there.
  
  

  After the race we made our way back to the car as quickly as possible. Once I stopped running the reality of how cold it was really sank in. We then drove to Hubby’s parents house and enjoyed a nice relaxing day of TV, conversation and delicious food. My MIL is an amazing cook and prepares a gourmet style Thanksgiving dinner every year. This year she used a lot of Martha Stewart recipes, and everything turned out great. And we got sent home with a ton of leftovers. Score!

   

  After dinner I noticed that my foot was kind of hurting. It had been bothering me a bit during the day, but now it was throbbing. I ignored it until Hubby and I got back to our house, but when I took my shoe off we could see that it was noticeably swollen. I iced it for awhile and then went to bed. It still hurts today. I don’t want to jinx myself, but it kind of feels the same as the stress fracture I had last year. Not good. Not good at all. If so, the cure is to not run until it feels better. If it’s not better in a few days I may have to see a doctor. Eek.

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