What a great race the Black Mountain Turkey Trot was this morning! The website described it accurately:
Challenge yourself on our professionally designed 5K course winding through Black Mountain's charming historic downtown and picturesque neighborhoods. Every step takes you past stunning mountain vistas and welcoming storefronts decked in holiday charm. With chip timing for accurate results, competitive runners can push for a personal best while casual participants enjoy the festive atmosphere at their own pace.
We "casual participants" drove over to Black Mountain yesterday and picked up our race packets at Pisgah Brewing, where some runners were sitting congenially around tables making their race plans over pints of beer. The shirt is technical and very attractive.
We were told that there were 600 runners signed up and the race was sold out, which was great for what I believe is an inaugural race. We left the brewery and drove into Black Mountain, and while Martha did some shopping, I diligently scoped out the areas designated for race-day parking and studied the course map. Then we returned to the hotel for an early dinner at the on-site restaurant, the Woodfire Bar & Grille, where we had learned that one of the items on the menu was farfalle pasta with a light tomato sauce, fulfilling our customary pre-race dietary needs.
As I have grown older, and now that I have run 220 races, including 20 marathons and 20 half-marathons, I have relaxed my rigid standards as a runner, including pre-race preparation. When training for marathons, I would often not drink any kind of alcohol for several months. In recent years, I have experimented with a relaxing glass of red wine the night before and found that it has not affected my performance at all. Martha joined me in enjoying some excellent Biltmore cabernet sauvignon with the pasta. Outside, the trees were beginning to shake vigorously in the cold wind, and as promised by meteorologists, the temperature began to “drop like a rock.”
By this morning, it was 29 degrees and the wind gusts were up to 25 mph, for a wind chill of 17 degrees.
I went outside for my morning Tai Chi and, as I customarily do on race morning, and to “check conditions.” Conditions were very cold and windy! I knew it was going to be like this, though. I had been watching the forecast all evening, and at 4:00 a.m. I awoke and made what in retrospect was a wise decision, which Martha willingly agreed to as well. Have I mentioned that I have relaxed my rigid standards as a runner? The result of that relaxation means that I will no longer run races when the wind chill is several degrees below freezing, nor in pouring rain, both of which I have done many, many times before. Martha has described this past mental deficiency as “Not Right in the Head.”
So congratulations to the 600 runners who braved the wind chill and finished this great race! Back in the day I would have joined you. In fact, the race results revealed that, had Martha walked as she had planned, she would likely have taken second place in her age group (faster than 57 minutes), and had I done the same, I would certainly have taken third place, since there were only two other men in my age group. But “would have” is not something to consider once you have made a decision. There will be other races.
We happily went downstairs for a light breakfast in the same Woodfire Bar & Grille, which had been transformed overnight into a breakfast buffet, and then sat by the fire in the lobby drinking our coffee and exchanging Thanksgiving greetings with family and friends. And then without any regrets whatsoever, we drove to one of our favorite restaurants, Season’s at Highland Lake Inn, and enjoyed a sumptuous Thanksgiving buffet.
