Should I Race or Should I Go?

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Lots of food, football and this year my daughter, son-in-law and 1 yr. old granddaughter will be with us in Spencerport, flying from Portland, Oregon. My oldest daughter flies in Friday night from Alabama, so the clan will all be together, which doesn't happen much anymore.

Tradition also has it that Jan and I run the Race with Grace 10k on Thursday morning. I have run the race 18/21 times, missing it for a trip to Disney, a winter storm and the birth of Ellowyn(grandchild). Last night a winter storm hit the east coast, giving the Rochester, NY area around 8 inches of wet, heavy snow and making traveling a hassle. At 9:20am tomorrow the Portland crew arrives after flying all night, first landing in Newark, NJ, then on to Rochester. The RWG begins at 9am.

Jan has already said she is skipping the race to meet them at the airport. I have permission to race, since I would be home shortly after 10am, probably around the same time as the Portland crew. But is running a race the right thing to do? This classic song by "The Clash" seemed to fit into my thought process, though they are talking about a slightly different relationship issue. (you can click off the ads in the video)

Thanksgiving

Top Ten Great Things about Thanksgiving!

10.Several hundred runners at the inaugural Downtown Rochester Thanksgiving Day 8k Race
9. 3,000+ runners at the Webster Turkey Trot
8. 1,000 or so runners at the Race with Grace(which I have run 14 years in a row)
7. Football, between college and pros - four days in a row
6. Four days of not working at MCC
5. Beating all Sal's runners at RWG (maybe)
4. My birthday is always near or on Thanksgiving
3. Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy
2. Jan's cinnamon rolls
1. Family time

Leftovers

My favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. A race with 1,000 of my closest friends, daughters all home, two boyfriends visiting from afar, food for twenty though there are only six of us for dinner, electrical and computer issues and swine flu. Can it get any better than this?
Jan, who hasn't run in four weeks due to achilles tendinitis, throws off her body cast and runs sub-9 minute miles to try and secure a top 5 RROY spot. We think she missed it by 3 points for the season. Rats. But she did finish in the top 3 in her age group!
The 10k was my longest run of the month, due to some lingering hamstring issues, but I managed to squeeze by fellow Sal's runner Rick Merritt, who hadn't run in 2 weeks, for a solid 48 minute finish, only 4 minutes slower than last year (insert sarcasm here). Of course Rick, new head coach of the soon to be state champion Byron-Bergen basketball team was wearing fifteen pounds of cotton, Chuck Taylor high top sneakers from high school and dribbling a basketball with each hand the entire course, but a win is a win. We Sals people count them any way we can.
Oh, and then there was the youngster, Jen Katz, the one who told me during the race, "I'm a bit tired from the marathon I ran four days ago, see ya!" Yes, she beat me by at least a minute.
Reportedly Lou, in training to race Boit in the 100 yard dash, hit Mike W with a turkey leg as the gun went off so he could take the coveted 1 mile split honors, a scintillating 6:23! Mike, savoring the turkey for 3 miles, then sped up and ended up the top Sal's runner for the day and secured a top five RROY spot.
Eileen imsofantasticallyfast W ran an awesome time and garnered at top 5 RROY spot, as well as a 3rd place RWG placing.
The computer issues? Well, the boyfriends, who are electrical and computer geniuses, have cleaned up my hard drive, taught me how to download music, erased all my porn (damn) and made a machine I think is an original PC from Bill Gates garage days run a lot faster.
The swine flu victim seems to be Stacy, who traveled from Portland to be with us and brought along the disease. Don't get it. If you can get a vaccine, do it.

Race With Grace 10k

When I first ran Race with Grace race I had almost a full head of hair, including a beard and mustache. Think of Forrest Gump ("Now you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I could run like the wind blows")running across America, but with a little bit more style to his hair. Though the only wind I blow is after a heavy meal and usually clears out a room.

I have had the honor of completing 17 of the 18 times this race has been run. My race times now are what used to be a tempo run (43:22). But, I'm still at it and managed to somehow get third in my age group out of 61 and earning some valuable RROY points. Even better was beating MW and other members of the Breakfast Club!

Mytriathlete wife was 9/43, with a 50:11 (8:05pace). LouImsofastandskinnyK set a 40 second pr, 6/45 in age group. Our daughter Amanda came up from Kissimmee, wore 7 layers of clothes to stay warm and also finished the race.

Of course the afternoon was filled with food, wine and later, a walk to make room for desserts. Yes, desserts. Why have just one?