Thanksgiving Joy

Happy Belated Thanksgiving dear reader(s)! I hope it was a fantastic holiday spent with family and/or friends and, of course, lots and lots and lots of food!! I had a great time in Chicago with my brother (as always!) When don't we have a great time together? In fact, we did our first 5K together. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr! It was a balmy 25 degrees that morning!

The race was actually on Saturday instead of Thanksgiving. And unfortunately, I had to walk the whole race due to my braniac self moves earlier in the week. My bootcamp workout for Wednesday included dead lifts, which I actually enjoy. However, I apparently decided I could and should do a heavy weight even though it's been months since I've done dead lifts. So needless to say, my hamstrings were a bit tight/sore on Thursday. But that didn't stop me from running Thursday. Now mind you, I had started my run with the intention of only running 4 miles. You know what they say about the best laid plans or good intentions or something along those lines. Anyhoo, I got to two miles (which was where I was going to turn around and run back) and I decided I was feeling good so I should run a few more miles. Well, by the time I got to mile 4, I thought "why not run another mile" and then, of course came "well I've already run 5, what's one more mile?" So I got to 6.1 (almost to downtown Chicago) and decided I should turn around and run back. By that point my hamstrings WERE NOT happy with me! Wonder why??? Long story short...I ran 12 miles but my hamstrings have not stopped hurting (and it's Sunday night). Back to the Turkey Trot, though. I walked the whole course but I walked a great pace. 14:08 min/miles. I was actually passing folks who were running. I guess running helps you walk faster too!

So this week (one week before my big race), I will NOT be doing any lower body exercises and will only be doing short runs, if any. I am not taking any chances. I want to have fresh legs ready to kick some half-marathon butt!!! Thanksgiving was spent with my brother's friend Juliette and her family. It was such a great time! Her daughter Teegan, just turned one and is so cute! She was definitely the entertainment for the night. Well, her and the Chubby Bunny contests. Yes, that is multiple Chubby Bunny contests. It's amazing what happens when you combine grown adults, a wee bit of alcohol and large marshmallows! Somehow, though, we weren't as successful as we were when we were young. I think the most this time was only 5 or 6 as opposed to double digit marshmallows back in the day. Oh well. It was quite enjoyable. What am I thankful for this year? Many of the same things I am always thankful for. My family, my friends, my health. Also this year, I am thankful to live so close to my brother. It has been great to see him so often. I am also thankful for the opportunities I have had to travel the world. I've been very fortunate in recent years. I am also thankful for modern medicine. Without it, I probably wouldn't be running my first half-marathon this weekend. And I am thankful for difficult situations. Without them, I wouldn't be the person I am today. So, this week, I'm off to Memphis. YAAAAY!!! I can't believe my first half-marathon is almost here!!! Such a long time coming. And I get to see my wonderful friends there! YAY YAY YAY! I'll leave you all, tonight, with a recommendation. If you have not downloaded, purchased, borrowed or stolen (just kidding. Don't steal. It's wrong) the new Pink album...GO OUT NOW AND GET IT!!! You won't regret it.