The Thanksgiving Tradition Continues and Grows: Race with Grace 10k 2013

Written the day after Thanksgiving...just got late in posting this
I have a very tiny memory of doing a Turkey Trot in 5th or 6th grade at my elementary school. I have no idea how far (my guess is a mile or so) it was or how well I did. That was about 1996 or 1997...and had no desire to trot again for well over a decade. In 2009, I did my first Race with Grace 10k, and a tradition began. My parents always came to watch me, and last year, my dad cheered both me and my mom on. This year, all 3 of us signed up - this would be my dad's longest race ever (he did a 5 mile race last spring). Last year, it was 40, sunny, pretty nice for Rochester in November.
This year, we had over 6 inches of snow on the ground already and it was 20 degrees with a windchill of 6. Chilly! At least the sun was out. It looked absolutely picturesque. We picked up my mom's running partner, Sue, who is absolutely hilarious, and had a full car of 10k runners. Pretty funny since 6 years ago it would’ve meant a morning of parade-watching and that was it. How things change.I
I had no huge goals for a few reasons:
My racing season is over
I’ve slowly started to up my mileage (50 miles per week). Last year, this was a failed experiment when I tried to consistently run 60-70 mpw for 2 months. This year, I am being more conservative.  So no point in taking out this race too hard. My best time on this course was last year in 40:22 – I didn’t foresee that being a reasonable goal.
It was so cold! This was not a day for PRs, no matter what. So, why not just go out and have fun, and celebrate my 5^th consecutive time doing this.

Me and my parents before the race

Me and my mom after

I blew through the first mile way too fast in 6:20 – I was rather astounded that right now the legs could go that fast. A spectator said I was in 4^th, and the next pink hat in front of me was way too far away from me. I was just happy with my position, happy to have a good pace going, and just happy to be out there. I ran through the first 5k in 20:05 – much faster than when I did the 10k a couple of weeks ago. At this part, I started to let up in terms of pace and totally okay with it. I was choosing to slow down, not because I was tired, but because I just preferred to maintain a comfortable pace – no need to be grueling. And while it was cold, I did have all black on and the sun was out.  I wasn’t freezing – the sun was glistening off of the snow banks that lined the sleepy town that was waking up. It was so quiet – there were few enough runners at this pace that it was just peaceful. I was in control, I was having fun, this was great. I finished in 41:30 – not a PR, not a season or course best, but just a good time. It turned out I was the 5^th woman (was there a woman that that spectator did not see…or thought were men?), 2^nd in my age group, good enough for a $10 gift certificate to a local restaurant, and 64/1068 overall. I did a short cool down to bring my day’s mileage to 8.4 miles, and headed back to the finish to watch my mom come in. I don’t often spectate, but it was fun to watch her and I was proud to see her finish in 57:02. Not a PR for her either, but still a solid time, and she still ran strong. We met up with her friend (who ran 54:xx), and then waited for my dad – it was like a Taylor relay of us coming in at staggered intervals. It hadn’t felt too cold until I realized how long I had been standing still after having finished – the gloves were back on, the jacket was zipped and hood up, but I was just frozen. We were happy to see my dad come in way ahead of his time goal of 1:15 – he ran 1:12:45 – pretty impressive for a late entry 10k debut! He had only really been training since late October for this race, and under cold conditions, did a great job. We milled around a little longer – a reunion with many people from my hometown, and then headed home, to get ready for the arrival of my brother and his girlfriend. We Taylors trotted well, and it was a fun way to kick off the Thanksgiving holiday – much to be thankful for.