The Beer Garden At The End Of The Turkey Trot Was A Great Motivator For Me. I Wanted That Beer To Taste Like Victory. And It Did. If Victory Tastes Like Beer.

The Turkey Trot was a success.  I made it through without having to talk myself out of quitting or fighting the urge to cut across the park instead of following the course with everyone else.  I started the race surrounded by a few people wearing jeans (a sure sign they were just avoiding Thanksgiving food prep) and what looked like a group of kids on a field trip, but quickly (go ahead an use air quotes around that one) moved beyond them to a place where most of the people looked as if they intended to give running a try.

I found a woman who looked like a former marathon runner based upon her calf muscles and legit running gear, but who had obviously had a baby a few days ago and now was forced to push a huge, all-terrain stroller through the course.  I settled in behind her as she used the stroller like one of those cattle guards on trains - the ones that push the cows off the track as the train comes through.  We were weaving in and out of crowds of people in costumes and on their phones - I think I may have been drafting behind her and being pulled along in her wake.  But, once we made it to some open space she blew away from me (I wondered if I heard a motor on the stroller) and I was left to finish the race on my own.

I finished strong though.  I've been running on hills, so this flat course was a pleasant surprise.  The finish line actually snuck up on me a bit - but when I saw it coming I made sure my form looked good and I picked up my pace a little.  I think they call that the kick or something, but I knew my family would be watching (as they had probably finished a full 10 minutes earlier) and I wanted to at least give them a good show.  They ended up being farther down the chute from the finish so they didn't see my victorious ending, but because I wasn't gasping for air or crying when I reached them, they knew my race performance had exceeded expectations.

And now we may fully immerse ourselves in the holiday season.  We kick off our holidays with some ice skating on Black Friday instead of shopping with the masses.  None of us are very good skaters and I think we feel it's an auspicious start to the season if we face the danger of an ice rink and come out relatively unscathed in the end.  We celebrate with sushi and a movie.  Life is so good.

I'm wearing this.

The outdoor rink we skate on lets you skate for free if you wear black on Black Friday.  That's not hard for me since my wardrobe is at least 50% black.  The coat I'm wearing is so fun to throw on, but can really only be comfortably worn during the holiday season.  Anytime after Valentine's Day and it starts to look like I have on one of Hugh Hefner's robes.

gratitude:  Kleenex, family foursome activities, a funny extended family, leftovers

thanks and love.