Was this really a good idea?

Ah, November.  Or Nanowrimo, as we crazy people like to call it.  Was this really a good idea, trying to write a 50,000 word novel in just 30 days?  I suspect that it wouldn’t be such a harrowing experience if real life didn’t go on concurrently.  But here we are, day 25, and I am just managing to continue writing.  To what end, I’m not sure.  Can this possibly produce a good book?  Perhaps not, but perhaps a giant messy first draft.  Or even, as I refer to mine, a massive outline.  I understand that Sara Gruen got Water for Elephants out of a Nanowrimo, though not remotely in the state it ended up.  Perhaps there are some nuggets of gold in there somewhere.