Davis Turkey Trot Run Report

Today was my 10 month anniversary for my surgery.  I spent part of it participating in the 21st annual Davis Turkey Trot 10k.

The race was scheduled to start at 9:00 a.m. in the town of Davis, California.  It's about an hour and 45 minutes from my house.  I had gathered up everything the night before, running shoes, socks, race belt, Handkerchief (more later), protein bar for breakfast and the directions to the event.

I got up at 5:15, staggered out to the front room and gathered my stuff.  I always put it in the den so that I don't wake anyone up at this ungodly hour.  Nothing ever seems to be close to home, it's always a couple hours worth of driving.


I arrived at the site at around 7:00 they had 8 different races today all staggered, and over 5000 entrants between all of the events.  Most of them in the 5k race.  They wanted you there at least an hour before the start to get your race packet.  As it turns out I could have strolled in at the last minute and gotten mine.  The guy who won the 5k race was a last minute entry.  Get this 5k in 14 minutes and change.  I don't have the exact time, but it was sub 15 minutes for a 5k.

Anyhow my race was scheduled to kick off at 9:00 a.m. so I had time to kill.  I walked through all the vendor areas, picked up swag, got some flyers etc.  Then started watching the winners come in from the first race.  The first race was the baby stroller division 5k race.  The winner came in at around 18:40. 

I have been fighting a head cold and chest cold for the last 2 weeks, and I decided I should take one of my sons cloth diapers.  We never used them as diapers, they were always used as burp rags and handkerchiefs.  I think bringing that was the best decision I could have made.  I was just a snot producing machine today.  That chunk of cloth was a life saver.

By the time my race started, I had already put that handkerchief to good use, and by the time the race was over, I probably would have been well suited to have brought 3 or 4 of them.  At least I didn't have any stomach issues or have to go running for the woods during this race.

This was the first race I have done where there was a timing chip.  All the others had been one mass start and stop timer.  So that was kind of interesting.  Something else to add to my souveneir collection.  I have been keeping my race numbers, and writing the time and distance on them so that I will remember and can track my progress.

Anyhow, on to the meat of the race:  These times are according to my watch:
Mile 1: 11:00 minutes  Total Time 11:00 minutes
Mile 2: 13:00 minutes  Total Time 24:00 minutes
Mile 3  12:00 minutes  Total Time 36:00 minutes
Mile 4  12:00 minutes  Total Time 48:00 minutes
Mile 5  13:40 minutes  Total Time 61:40 minutes
Mile 6.2  17:00 minutes Total Time 78:40 minutes

I was really surprised by my first mile, never ran that fast before, and it certainly didn't seem like I was moving that well.  Then when I hit mile 2, and it was at 24 minutes, I was again pleasantly surprised.  I had done 12 minute miles 1 or 2 times before, but never for more than 1 mile.

After mile 2 it started going down hill for me.  I ended up having to start walking.  I started off running 3 minutes and walking a minute, that soon changed to running 3 minutes and walking 2 minutes.  I kept this up pretty well until mile 4, then it became a case of walking until I felt like I could run again, and I would try to run for 3 minutes.  Not sure how long I was walking, just kept doing it until I could pick em up and put em down again.

The last mile was the hardest.  At this point I just couldn't run any more.  I tried, would make it a few steps then just falter.  I think I probably managed to run the last 1/4 mile or so of the race, I could see the finish line and I didn't want to be embarassed by walking over the finish, so I trudged along and made a shuffling attempt at running.

I was surprised how good I felt when I was finished, because just a few feet before I started my final run, I was feeling like crap.


Here are the results according to the official timing

Overall:	1060 out of 1142
Men:	520 out of 532
M 40-44:	50 out of 51
Age/Grade:	36.62% Place: 1081
Finish:	1:18:10 Pace: 12:35

The official timing information has some ups and downs for me.  It shows that I managed a 12:35 pace for the entire race.  Much better than I thought I could do, or had timed on my watch, so that is the positive.  Unfortunately I just about came in dead last for my age group, and in the bottom 6%  of finishers for the entire entrant list of the 10k event.  So while I was doing better than I thought I could do, it was still pretty pathetic when I look at all the other finishers.

I still haven't figured out how people can find running enjoyable, I have yet to hit that runners high or even find a stride where I feel like I can just keep going, but I hate being bad at running more than I hate the running itself.  For me when I say I am going to run a race, it means run, not walk, and until I can complete a triathlon, 5k, 10k whatever without walking, I will still see them as partial failures.  But I will use that to motivate me for the next race.

Besides being a competative butt head, who is his own worst critic, I set a goal of 200 miles to raise funds for Autism over the next 12 months, and I'm not going to give up on that.

Thanks for all the inspiration and encouragement that everyone here has provided over the last 10 months.  This is my favorite message board to read.  I enjoy hearing about all of your successes, and that just helps to motivate and encourage me to keep plugging along.

Thanks

Here is a pic of me 10 months ago, and today.



Scott

 Great report and way to go!!!
When I did my marathon I met up with a friend who developed a cold/flu the day before!  I ended up dropping her before mile 4.  Our goal was to finish in 5 hours, she made it across in 5:35.  I couldn't imagine doing that training and get sick the day of the event.  Way to stick it out and get through the finish lines, which you know finishing is a victory!
--Sax

Great race report, Scott!

The thing about races is you never know who's going to show up.  Some days the great athletes show up, and others are less packed.

I went to a cross-country meet here a few weeks ago, and the winner (5k) came in just over 15 minutes.  These kids are FAST!

I think you did pretty darn well for your first 10k.  When you're not used to that distance, it's hard to judge how fast/far it is.  YOu know what I like best?  You always take something away from your races as a motivator for improvement.  You've come so far, and will continue to keep getting stronger and faster.  It's just a matter of time and continued training.

Thanks for the pic!  You look great!

Linn

Great job, Scott!   For your first 10-k you did great.  Starting is always my first objective in any race.  Second is finishing before they pack up the clock.  The toughest part is dealing with your head.  My running partner never let's me walk for more than a minute at this point, and never before 8-mles.  You'll do great in the future.
Rob

Quite a transformation my brotha'.   Congrats on your great race, and most of all, your weight loss journey of success.   You're an inspiration for many! 

Davis is such an awesome town isn't it?   What a great place to hold a race.   The people there are kinda strange and hippy-ish but I still dig the town.  

 

Yeah it is, it's a college town in Northern California, I wouldn't expect it to be any other way Hah.
It was nice, some people actually turned out in their yards to cheer the runners on.  That was a nice treat.

The location and the environment for the run was nice, it was a pleasant enough run with a lot of it being on the running or bike trail, so the scenery what I can remember of it was nice tree lined, park type setting.

I'll do it again that's for sure.

Scott