Tomorrow We Run The Turkey Trot. I Will Run Alone As My Entire Family Apparently Can Run A Mile In Under Nine Minutes And I Will Be Placed In A Different Heat Most Likely Filled With Athletic Toddlers And People Running Backward.

Well, tomorrow is the big day.  The Turkey Trot is upon us.  This is the 40th annual Trot here in Denver, but it'll be the first time there will be a beer garden at the event.  Also the first time I'm participating.  The coincidence is not lost on me.

I've been preparing for this for a few months now, but I'm still a little nervous.  I've only run four miles once before, so I'm hoping the thrill of the event and the crowd energy will pull me along so I can successfully make it to the end at a pace still considered to be running.  I have visions of those people who finish marathons and Iron Man competitions where their legs turn into spaghetti and they end up crawling over the finish line under cover of darkness.  I hope I'm not the first Turkey Trot participant to end the race that way.  I'm sure most people wouldn't think that could happen after only four miles, but I'm not your average runner, so nothing is off the table.

I've been doing research on how to manage a run like this.  My favorite tip is carbo loading.  Apparently, I'm supposed to eat a lot of carbs today to store up energy for tomorrow's exertion and I'm taking that directive very seriously.  I'm getting toast crumbs on my keyboard as we speak and I have a tasty pasta planned for dinner tonight.  Guilt-free baguette eating may inspire a regular running routine.

Another tip left me a bit concerned.  I was told that you should run the first mile of a race a full two minutes slower than your average speed.  That way you'll have energy left to finish the run at a good pace.  Two problems.  One, I have no idea how fast I run a mile.  My best guess is that it's at roughly the same speed as the rhythm to the song Blurred Lines by Alan Thicke which isn't exactly a blistering pace.  Which leads me to the second problem.  Running two minutes per mile slower than normal actually disqualifies what I'm doing as running.  I may just have to stick to my regular speed (somewhere between a jog and Prancercize) and hope that someone running in a turkey costume and pushing a baby stroller doesn't run me over.

I'm wearing this today.

It's Thanksgiving Eve and time to get our sparkle on!

I wish each of you in the U.S. a wonderful Thanksgiving, and for those of you readers in other parts of the world I wish you a joyous day of thankfulness as well.

gratitude:  a nice weather forecast for Thanksgiving morning, an easy side dish to prepare, boot cut jeans, being present to all the goodness in life

thanks and love.