Thursday, November 25, 2010

pi on thanksgiving

Because I had so much fun last year, I signed up again for the Thanksgiving morning Cold Turkey 6K run up City Creek Canyon.  Major difference this year: it was about 20 degrees colder.  But still fun!  Oh, before I forget to mention it - the reference in this post's title is to my race number: 314.

I would guess that about the same number of runners (700-800) were milling about at the Capitol, trying to stay warm in the thin 12F sunshine.  Like last year, there were folks in costume - a group wearing plush turkey hats, a guy dressed up as a [live] turkey, a barechested Indian brave (whom we think may have pinned his race number through his nipple rings ...!) - and folks with dogs, everybody happy and relaxed and glad to be up and out on this beautiful morning.  Right before we started, the race organizers announced that due to the recent snowstorm, the course had been changed to a true out-and-back, with a slight uphill finish so as to keep the finished racers nearer their cars.  This was as opposed to the lovely downhill finish through Memory Grove we had last year - I'm a big fan of downhill finishes and was immediately apprehensive about the change.

The gun went off a little after 9:00 a.m. and off we went, trying to get our cold legs moving.  I'd never run in such cold before and had struggled a little with what to wear; I ended up with thin wool socks, running tights, a tight polyester underlayer, thin zip-neck fleece, mittens and a thick knit hat.  This ended up being perfect (a little warm in the end, actually): we were in the sun for the initial slight downhill, in the shade for the uphill in the canyon, in the shade for the return downhill out of the canyon and then back in the sun for the slight uphill homestretch. 

At the finish

Although my goal had been to beat last year's time of 35:53:32, the footing was icy in spots and I ended up making slow but steady progress, not even getting passed by too many people. When we hit the turnaround, I felt really good, unzipping my fleece and stretching my legs out a little bit. I slowed back up on the last bit, flat-to-slightly-up, but managed to pass two people at the finish, including one right at the line.

The best way to stay warm in 12 F? Run 6K, with half of it up a hill. H was pretty chilled by the time we met up at the finish, and I knew I'd get cold quickly, so I grabbed a cup of hot cider (excellent!) and we jumped in the truck, ready to head back south for part 2 of our new Thanksgiving tradition.

Post-race PBR at Maggie McGee's

Part 2, of course, is the post-race beer drinking. H had done extensive research (see post entitled "research") on what SLC area bars were going to be open Thanksgiving morning ... and we ended up back at Maggie McGee's, right where we were last year. They're under new management and had a friendly bartender who was surprised to see customers before noon. This year H and I were the first people to belly up to the bar (although other people came in shortly thereafter). We had a couple of PBRs, watched some of the Patriots v. Lions game, then headed home so H could get his skis and go up to Alta - with 118 inches and blue skies, it's hard to say no. (I did, however: I needed a shower and a cup of coffee.)

Updated with results:  time of 37:22.76 (due to uphill finish, imho), placed 6th out of 18 in my age group (being the youngest in one's age group is better than being the oldest, imho) and 211 overall (top half of entrants).

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