Detroit Turkey Trot Drumstick Double

Hi friends! I’m coming to you a lot later than normal today.

I had a busy afternoon training at the gym! I only have a short window of time to pop in before I need to get back out the door, but I wanted to share my Turkey Trot race recap with you.

Let’s get straight to it!

 

Detroit Turkey Trot Drumstick Double

My Thanksgiving morning started early with a 4:30 a.m. wake up call. Scott was already signed up to work the parade in Downtown Detroit, so I thought it would be fun to participate and race in the Turkey Trot 10K with my mom beforehand.

I had to do a bit of convincing (she does not like being out in the cold!), but she agreed, and I was looking forward to completing a race with her again. The last time we raced together was back in 2012!

By the time we left, picked up Scott’s friend, and made our way downtown, my mom and I were dropped off close to the starting line right before 7 a.m. We had plans to stop by the Cobo Center to check a bag and get rid of my puffer vest layer, but we decided to find a restroom instead.

We walked into a hotel close to the start line to use the restroom and the line was out the door. There’s no way I was going to run over 9 miles with a full bladder, so we agreed to wait it out. I was getting really nervous when I saw runners in my wave leave for the start line while I was still in line.

We were next in line at exactly 7:30 a.m., and I became very frustrated that I wasn’t in my place to race. That’s the first time I have ever completely missed the kick-off! We hurried as fast as we could and found our way into Wave 4. I was disappointed to have missed my wave, but I knew I could catch up if I really tried.

I had just enough time to put my music on, snap a quick photo and set out for the first part of the race!

I worked hard to politely dodge runners left and right in order to get up to my planned pace. I know I pushed myself and ran harder than I normally do during the beginning few miles.

I don’t know if I ever found my wave, but I did finally reach a place where I could run without dodging around the 4 mile mark. I felt a bit warm with my puffer vest, but there wasn’t anywhere I could have stashed it. So, I ran with it open to cool down a little.

Running downtown brought back memories from running the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon back in October. Only colder. Much, much colder.

(There’s Canada, right behind me! #canadaselfie)

I felt great when I saw the 6 mile mark and knew the end wasn’t far away. For those of you who aren’t familiar with race distances, a 10K is 6.2 miles.

I crossed the finish line at the 52 minute mark. My bib literally clocked me in at 52:00. I shaved :35 off of my last 10K PR, so I was excited to see it!

Everyone running the 10K veered to the left for water and snacks, and everyone running the Drumstick Double (10K + 5K) veered to the right. I grabbed a water bottle over the divider on my way back to the start line and followed the crowd. Everything seemed to be moving seamlessly.

I reached into my FlipBelt for fuel in the form of a Gu Chomp, then sadly realized I didn’t put my pack in there. Bummer! I definitely felt like I could have used the sugar refuel and pick-me-up.

I chugged my water and tried to find my wave at the 5K start line.

Just like last time, I couldn’t move. I had no chance of making it to the wave I signed up for in this type of crowd. I barely made it through to leave with Wave 5 this time! I found a girl who was in my same predicament and we were both pretty frustrated.

My “group” made it up to the start line 16 minutes after Wave 1 started. I knew it was going to be more of a challenge to weave through the crowd this time, but I tried my best to do so. I had my heart set on a good 5K time!

Racing for time, I became annoyed really quickly. There were walkers, walkers with strollers, and families stopping to be together everywhere I tried to go. I am all for anyone at any fitness level doing this race, I just feel like it could have been organized a lot better.

Maybe put a lane on the side for the Drumstick Double runners to be able to get to their wave? Maybe state a run on the left, walk on the right rule?

I don’t know… those two things could have saved a lot of trouble for a lot of people. I felt like I was stopping, going, cutting corners, and weaving the throughout the entire 3.1 miles.

My fingers started turning numb after the first mile. They felt fine during the 10K, so I could tell the temperature had dropped. I was thankful to have my puffer vest on and zipped that bad boy up!

I crossed the finish line at 28:02, which isn’t a horrible time… but it’s nowhere near my 5K PR of 22:04! I didn’t think I would beat it, but I thought I would at least clock in around the 25 minute mark. So for that, I was disappointed.

This time, I got to veer to the left after I finished the race. I grabbed water and a banana and went inside to claim my medals. The 10K and 5K runners received their medals outside, but the Drumstick Double runners had to go all the way to the back corner of the conference center to get theirs. That’s another thing that didn’t really make sense to me.

There wasn’t any cell service inside, so I failed to get ahold of my mom while I was waiting in line for the restroom. We finally found each other by the medal area and walked over to get more food. I was very happy to see chocolate chip bagels!

As we were ready to make our way back outdoors, we stopped to snap a celebratory photo.

I was so proud of my mom!

Bundled up, she took running her 6.2 miles in the cold like a champ!

I took it upon myself to take a post-race selfie with my three medals. I thought it was pretty cool that we got one for each race, then another for the running both of them together! #allthebling

I also wanted to note that I had more than earned my hearty Thanksgiving dinner (and leftovers) for days to come. Mission accomplished.

Strategically walking slowly outdoors, we each bought a hot coffee on the way out and found the end of the parade. I remember some floats from the years before and saw other new ones.

Unfortunately, we somehow missed the float Scott was working!

He gave us a call to let us know he was finished, and we walked a good few miles down Woodward Ave. to find him. That’s probably the coldest we were all morning! It was freezing out, but a fun parade to see nonetheless.

We were more than happy to find him soon after that bridge, and couldn’t wait to get home to eat Thanksgiving dinner!

Would I do the Turkey Trot again? Yes. Now I know to arrive extra early, allow for extra long lines to the bathroom, and get to the start line early to be able to make my way up to the front of my assigned wave. Also, wearing a parka wouldn’t have hurt either. Just sayin’.

I plan on going for runs throughout the winter, but nothing too long in the cold temperatures we are at now. Let’s just hope this year doesn’t turn into another Polar Vortex! For now, I am very content working out indoors and saving running outside for the warmer days.

I hope to pick racing back up in the spring!