Dana Point Turkey Trot

I decided I wasn't going to do the Dana Point Turkey Trot 10K this year because it's pretty much a pain in the ass.  I have to get up at four thirty in the morning and then the rest of the house has to get up at five.  We all have to leave the house together at five thirty for the drive down to Dana Point.  Once there, finding parking is tough.  And some bad memories carry over as well - last year I ended up running 6.35 miles because my stomach (for reasons still unkown) was so upset that my finish line was a porta-potty - I ran straight through the finish chute in extreme distress and didn't get the chance to grab a free banana or finishers medal.  After the race we then have a good 2 hour drive to the in-laws for dinner.  Basically, it's a lot of stress for a 6.2 mile run that I actually have to pay for.

It's not that I didn't want to do anything physical on Thanksgiving.  My original plan was to take the TT bike out to Mary's parents house and then get my brother-in-law to motor-pace me along the long and straight roads you can find everywhere around Palm Springs. 

But last night I was looking at my split times for the Huntington Beach 10 Mile Distance Derby.  Even though I blew up a little over the last 3 miles while running into a headwind, my split times through mile 6 where fast for me - 44:00.4.  And since my 10K PR is 46 minutes something, I ended up running 10 kilometers faster than I ever have before.

But this doesn't mean I've broken my 10K PR record - this must be done during an actual 10K race.  So obviously I need to go try and make this official.  The Thanksgiving Day motor pacing session is out.  Instead, the Turkey Trot is back on.  I'll be getting up at four thirty and making everyone else get up early too.  But hopefully my stomach will be fine this year.  And I'll make sure I grab a finishers medal this time.

I just pressed "register" so it's on.