3964

reminds me of the part in Baby Got Back where he sings out the measurements...but no
It's......my......race.....number!!!!!

Pretty exciting eh?

Last night after work I zoomed down to Detroit, since I didn't want to be there at 6 AM this morning, to pick up my race packet. Now if anyone has ever been to Cobo, you know this place is HUGE and of course they don't give concrete directions to where the pickup will be so I started off by parking.

They mentioned there would be 3 dollar roof parking for Turkey Trot participators. So, I get to the kind lady and she says $8.

Moi: I though the parking was only $3 for TT participants.
Lady: No, that's tomorrow. Tonights the Red Wing game.
Moi: Ok (I'm willing to pay the $8 bucks since there really is no other convenient parking near Cobo) Do you accept Debit?
Lady: No.
Moi: Ok, well how about I just loop around and leave because all I have is $4.
Lady: My gate is up, why don't you just go through.
Moi: Thank you! Let me at least give you my $4.
Lady: No, that's ok. Just go through.

Wasn't that nice of her! Ok, maybe I knew it wouldn't be $3 today but seriously $8! Oh well, ok. So I decide to get off on the main level because I figured I could always ask Information.

It seemed to me there where 2 directions people were coming, the peeps heading to the game where coming from where I was or the race peeps and they were coming from where I was heading to. Confusing I know!

As I'm standing in the Info Line, there were probably 5 ahead of me, the security guard stands up and says "For all of you picking up your race packets, follow this man down the corridor and down the steps." Hihihi...and that we did. ALL of us!

I get to this conference hall, and you have to find your last name under its first letter. Well, I'm 5'6. They put this list at least 6' off the floor! I was standing tippytoes trying to locate my number, which I then find out is my race number. So, I go to these boothes that have number x -x1, depending on what your number is, and grab my stuff sweater and chip. The only other freebie stuff was a water bottle. Nuthin fancy but hey?! who can't use an extra water bottle! I wasn't expecting and shirts and stuff to be sold there but they had a small area dedicated to that. Seriously, this hall was HUGE and mostly empty because the 3 or 4 tables they had wasn't enough to fill the room, so I don't understand why they had the clothes area jammed together. There was NO room to look at the stuff, so I just high tailed it outta there.

Finally made it home around 7:30 for a meal of spaetzle. I was so tired that I was falling asleep at the dinner table and shortly thereafter went to bed. Then again, I did have to get up at 5:30 today!
Race Day

The plan had been to leave at 6:30 so we'd get there around 7ish. We got into the downtown area around 7:15, I had to drive slower because there were A TON of cops along the free, plus, I had to cross 3 lanes to get off on a street because there was traffic unexpectedly. We weren't the only ones who taken the detour because we sat at the same light for 3 lights because the entrance to the parking was jammed up. I was freaking out because there were runners walking towards the start, or runners were getting out of the cars they came in and letting someone else park. Anyways, we finally park and its abot 7:30ish.

We enter COBO and it's PACKED! Seriously, I've never seen this many people before. I decide it's best to use the restroom before so we go to the nearest restroom and there's a line! A longer one at that and for some reason women always take so damn long! It should not be that difficult! What I love about races is that people talk to each other. I mean yeah it's nothing earth shattering but to just strike up conversation is pretty damn cool! At one point, a lady asks me what time it is...7:51. The race starts at 8, although it's known to start a good 20 minutes late.

I should mention that all morning I had been struggling with what to wear as an outer garment. I knew I'd wear my longer running pants and my sweat whicking shirt, but I just didn't know about the rest. The weather channel had said it would be a pretty warm Thanksgiving but I had heard so many horror stories about last years being so cold, I guess I overprepared.

As we are head out to the Start, I see this MASSIVE formation. OH MY GAWD...I kid you not, the runners took up an entire half of a block and we were tightly packed in there!

This race definately had a more mature vibe to it, not as many kiddies, but serious, older runners. I maybe stood there for 5 minutes and then a gun shot went off. There was a sudden surge forward but then we went back to a slow walk. Shortly thereafter we sprinted off! While we were waiting for the gun to go off, there were plenty of supporters lining the streets cheering us on...it was so cool!

The first mile was great. Except that I kept on seeing chips laying on the ground so I kept on looking down at my shoes to see if my chip was there. Lost chips cost $30! Plus, although they had given us zip ties to attach them to our laces, you just never know! The second mile was great too! Close to the 2nd mile, there were 5 peeps who ran in a line holding up a dragon! Like below...isn't that cool?


Towards the end of the 2nd mile, I started getting sharp pains in my side and warming up, but I pushed through especially because the scenery was pretty darn cool. The race took us through parts I hadnt been in a while so you really saw how they had evolved. I knew the waterstation was between mile 3 and 4, well I totally miscalculated the difference. It was closer to 4 then 3. So, a quarter mile into 3, I had to walk. I was just so thirsty and my side ached so bad, I was quite disappointed in myself. I walked maybe 3 minutes and then took off again up until the the water station.

Lordy...it was handled very poorly. There was a table with 3 volunteers who were handing out 2 glasses at a time but the person behind the table couldn't keep up with the volume so I stood there for a good half a minute waiting for a cup. Mile 4 was good because we ran along the parade route so there were A TON of people cheering us on.

Mile 5 was the MOST brutal. It was close enough to the finish that you could taste it but still far away for it to hurt. Plus, at this point, I actually thought I was roasting. I was just so uncomfortabley warm! It was then that I saw the COBO building. I figured that thats where the ending pad would be, right in front of COBO, so I get this sudden surge of energy. I'm sprinting for a good half a meter, I get there and

NOTHING!

I followed the other runners who were veering to the left, into a tunnel towards the end. Unfortunately, by the time I had made it to the front of COBO, I was exhausted/done with the race.

I crossed the finish line at 1:07:05
Watch time..........................1:03:??
Chip time: 1:02:14
Pace: 10:02

Ranking: 211/328

How do I feel about it? Disappointed. I'm not gonna lie. I really, really wanted to run the race at an hour or under and hour. At the same time, I'm pretty geeked that my pace time was only 2 seconds slower than last week, and we added an additional mile. It just goes to show me that I have a lot of work cut out for me this upcoming training season.

There are a couple of reasons to why my time was slower and I know that they can only get better with more practice. I think the greatest disadvantage was the jacket I was wearing..see below...


it was just too warm. I was sweating pretty much from Mile 2 on and I couldn't take it off because it was too bulky to tie around my waist. I felt like I was burning up the entire time. I had to push my sleeves up so that I could cool down a little bit. I also changed my socks that morning. I was worried about the cold, so I wore socks that went a little higher than my previous ones so my feet were on fire. Lastly, I ate poorly last night. I was so hungry at 5 that I stopped at 711 and bought a bag of chips which I devoured. Then when I got home and dinner wasn't ready yet, I had 10 Toffifay. THEN I still had dinner. Yes, I was a little piggy
But...I had such a blast! It was so much fun, they people were a blast and I can't wait to do another run! I would recommend anyone to do it if your from around here! The runners were just so into it. I saw a family dressed as elves, and there were 3 girls who were dressed in all pink, tights, shorts, tu-tus and their hats were pink flamingos! It was so neat!

Plus...you have something really cool to brag about on Turkey Day when most people are sleeping in, nursing a hangover and getting ready to pig out, because DUH...your obviously ueber sporty!