The hubs and I got up this morning and participated in the Turkey Trek 5k in Albuquerque's Nob Hill. It was our second year doing this race, but it was a new course. While the race was even more well-organized than it was last year (which was surprising because I thought last year was run very well), the course was a slight disappointment - a less than 1 mile stretch along Central that we looped, which includes a pretty significant hill that you hit twice. The hill, I can handle...the loop, I can handle....passing the finish line 3 times and not being able to go through it - that's kind of rough. It was a great day though - about 30* when we started, clear, perfect weather and a huge crowd (probably about 800 people) with spectators along the street. This leads to the most important thing I'm thankful for today - my ability to get up and run or do something active every day. I realize that there may come a day at some point where I don't have that luxury and I need to take advantage of this while it's here.
We were there with the group of friends that I met initially through Albuquerque Fit, most of whom are helping out with the No Boundaries program that Fleet Feet - Albuquerque sponsored this year. They are an amazing group of people who have pushed me through so much stuff - not just running stuff, but life stuff too. Francine, Denise, Cindy S., Kayleigh, Randy, Leisha, Cindy E., Rona, Bobby, even Terie was there in her boot to watch us and cheer us along. I don't normally mention people by name in my blog, but these friends are wonderful and I wanted them to be mentioned. I'm thankful that I've had the opportunity to know this group of people and that they've put up with me through a lot of stuff over the past year. It's been hard between work, studying and a different training schedule but I couldn't have done any of it without them.
The hubs - Mike to those of you who know him in real life - ran this race too and he kicked ass, as usual. We got to warm up together and I realized that it was the first time we'd ever run together...it was nice. I liked doing it, but I also like knowing that we can go out separately, have fun and that he'll be at the finish line cheering for his super slow wife 15-20 minutes after he's done. Our families didn't come to this race since it's a holiday and they're all doing a lot more cooking than we're going to do, but they were there in spirit. They rock though...there's been plenty of times they've dragged themselves out the door - or even across the country (or in my dad's case, across an ocean when he came to watch me in NYC - he was working in London) to spectate a race. There's also the other friends who don't run and think I'm nuts (Alicia, I'm looking at you) but they listen to me go on and on and on about stuff they probably don't understand and/or have no desire to know about. Finally, it's for these people, the people who deal with me and my "obsession," that I am thankful for.
And my finish time? 38:20...about a minute slower than my PR, but I'm damn happy with it. I ran the entire thing with the exception of ~20 second walk breaks at the two water stops. This is the most I've ever run consecutively and I'm planning to build on that and to work some speedwork into that in 2010, along with marathon training for Chicago now that I got the hubs roped into that. :)
Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone. Eat too much, take a nap, plan out your Black Friday shopping trip and remember the importance of the day.
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