1. Yesterday I ran my first ever Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot. It was held in Monmouth, the next town over at 8 o'clock in the morning. Having run A LOT of races I know a small first year race when I see it. I was ok with that though. In fact, that is why I wanted to run it. I could have easily found big races either in the Quad Cities or Peoria. I didn't want to drive 45 minutes each way to get there. Or fight big crowds. I have more than enough shirts to not worry about getting another. And financially I didn't have to pop $20 - 30 a person to run. In a large family that makes a big difference.
My son & I got up and headed over to the race. My husband followed on his Harley. I paid $30 total ($10 a person) and we each got a reusable bag and waterbottle. On the race form I noticed they didn't ask for age. Just gender. They didn't hand out race numbers. So I'm not sure how they knew who paid/registered & who didn't. Other than it's a midwest small town. Everyone knows everyone. Although it's not my primary town plenty of people knew me. Before we started one lady said to me "I know you....well, not your name, but I recognize you & your socks & matching outfits and have seen you run several Galesburg races". Yep, it's not the first time a person has known/remembered me because of something I wore.
Proceeds benefited this preschool.
I'm a horrible estimator so I have no clue how many people were there. At least 50, maybe 100. They started the race and we were off. For a brief moment my husband, son & I were 2nd, 3rd and 4th. I soon lost them and powered ahead. Ahead of me....WAAAAAY ahead of me was a lone boy (older high school, maybe college) and behind me, about a block, was a high school girl (I recognized her from ballet when my daughter danced years ago). The race was pretty much mine the whole time. My first mile was 6:42, my second was 13:52. Typical, I slowed down between mile 1 & 2 and even though I didn't feel like it I slowed even more before I finished. My finish time was around 21:41. That is what my Nike app said, but I know I started it a few seconds early and took a few more after crossing the finish line to stop it. So give or take that was my time.
The finish line was really nice. Since I was the first female I had a police escort, complete with flashing lights, for the last half mile or so. There was a small crowd waiting at the finish line and they held up white crepe paper for me to break through. Such a small detail, but an awesome, I feel like a champion moment. Not my best performance for a 5k, but I ran hard and felt good. I circled around and ran in with my son a few minutes later and then we circled back & cheered on my husband's finish. It was a good race for all 3 of us Peterson's.
I hung out for a little bit afterwards. The race director's husband saw me & told me I had won a pie so I could have first pick of the two sitting there. I choose apple, much to my son's dismay and we decided to come home. I want sure if they would do an official announce the winners ceremony. There was nothing else to but stand around so we headed home.
Mmmmm....pie!!!!
Later I got a phone call from the director. She congratulated me and asked me with great disbelief if I really was a mother. I laughed and told her yes. I knew where this was heading and didn't even bother to tell her I had 6 kids. She was blown away that I even had one. She said when I finished she figured I was a high school girl and when I circled around and ran in with my son, she thought it was real cute that I had brought my little brother to the race. MY BROTHER?!?!?!?! Oh dear. I know it's suppose to be such a compliment, but come on! This is not unusual, it happens often. I just laugh at the absurdity of it all. She admitted she didn't write down my time when I finished and asked if I knew. I told her what my Nike app said. She was nice and chatty. For a first time, small race I didn't expect much. I got exactly what I paid for, but was happy with the overall experience.
2. The rest of my Thanksgiving was rather uneventful. We came home & lounged around the whole day. In between baking & cooking a traditional meal (turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberries, yada, yada) I snuggled on the sofa, watching movies with my kids and just enjoyed a quiet, low key day. I ate a ton of food, watched a lot of tv and got my fair share of lounging around done. Yes, it felt like I had gained 10 lbs in just a few short hours.
3. We did venture out to WalMart later in the afternoon. Not for any black friday specials or deals. Just your usual food and other necessities like toilet paper, personal care items, etc. We typically shop for our everyday stuff on payday, but since that would be today (black friday) we don't care to battle the crowds and got it done early. The store was all taped up with Caution tape and DO NOT ENTER signs to make way for the crowds that would entered several hours later. I still went into those areas to get what I needed. My husband, Mr. Funny man, kept calling out for security to come take note of the intruder in the taped off areas. Apparently fresh produce was not what most people needed on such a day as they had the area blocked off and I literally could not get to what I needed. Siiighs. I was able to reach the bananas, but everything else was going to have to wait.
More power to you if you went shopping for Thanksgiving Day or Black Friday specials, but I can not for the life of me think of anything I truly need on this day. I have all of my needs met. Nothing wrong with getting things that you want, either. From what I saw being posted on fb things were crazy in those stores. I'm not much of a shopper anyway so I don't enjoy that atmosphere. Put me in a coral with thousands of people running for the same finish line and I'm game. But the same situation just to buy earthly stuff we don't really need and meh, I'd rather stay home in my jammies. Just my perspective on things.
4. Completely random, but I think I have a new little addiction. It's Chapstick.
5. I'm about to head out the door on a long run. 3 miles does not cut it for the amount of food I ingested yesterday (and the day before and likely some today too). I don't always use running to justify such horrible eating habit. But it is a nice & convenient excuse. Still, I don't plan to or really want to eat like I have this holiday weekend. Run or no run, it really leaves me feeling disgusting and I will get back to regular healthy eating. Aside from the excessive calorie consumption that I need to burn off I have a day with not much to do. I have a big window of opportunity to go for a nice long run. Right now the temps are hovering at 31 degrees. Not too bad, except I know and hear the wind howling and whipping around and it feels like 13 out there. Wind is my cryptonite. I have run in sub zero temps no problem. Turn on that wind and I'm suddenly so much weaker. I still go out and fight it. I won't let it stop my running. For now I will endure and am in no way tempted to hash it out on a treadmill. Ugh! At least the sun is shining bright and I will go knock out a big area on my run this town endeavor. What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger, right. That's what I need to tell myself at the moment. What are your running plans this post holiday season?
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