Dana Point 10k Turkey Trot

4 days after the DNF at the Santa Monica Mountains 50k trail race, I was hoping my legs were good enough for a 10k race. I think this was only the 3rd time I've ran a 10k. I drove down to the expo on Wednesday. I said hi to my friends with RunRacing. I love the cotton race shirt. It was a simple, clean, and colorful design. And it was cotton, the fabric of our lives. Personally I'm tired of having so many tech shirts. We got everything in a yellow goodie bag.

Chicrunner working

Race shirt and bib

I drove down early Thanksgiving morning and rolled into Dana Point at about 5:45am. I parked in the marina parking lot. I got out to use the portapotty and noticed that it felt colder than the low 40s that was in the weather forecast. I believe it was in the high 30s. About 20 minutes before the start, I warmed up in the parking lot. I wore a singlet, my short shorts, and a pair of gloves for the race. It didn't feel too cold after warming up, but it was definitely chilly.

Goal A: sub 45:00
Goal B: sub 48:00
Goal C: sub 50:00

It felt great to run at a 7 min/mile pace. I have been doing more 5k/10k specific workouts lately and it definitely felt a lot easier to maintain the pace. The mile markers were way off, but I knew roughly how fast I was going. I ran based on my breathing. I was running for the most part around a really fit girl. She had no body fat whatsoever. She looked like she was jogging. Right before we got to the halfway mark, she took off.

5k split: 22:35, 7:16 pace

Somewhere around mile 5 I was most likely passed by Skinnyrunner. I sped up and passed her to take a look to see if it was her. I quickly developed a side stitch and she subsequently dropped me like a rock. She probably thought I really didn't want to be passed by her. :) I should've just followed her to the finish line. Instead I spent the next mile trying to work the stitch out. It was painful to breathe and running through it was not fun. Up until the stitch, I was on pace to finish at 45:xx. For the last .2, I kicked it in passing more than I was being passed.

Finish: 46:30, 7:29 pace

Well today I had a taste of the pace that I need to hold for 26.2 miles in order to qualify for Boston. My marathon maniac farewell tour is coming to an end soon and I'm really looking forward to fully recovering. Then I could start building a good base to train for my BQ. I'll certainly start volunteering more since there's no way I can keep myself away from the racing atmosphere.

Dana Point is a nice place to visit. It reminds me a lot of Carlsbad... same coast, just not as far south. I love visiting Carlsbad. The Dana Point 10k Turkey Trot definitely has my approval. They have a 5k and a 1 mile kid's run if the 10k is not your thing.