Incredible, Long Day

wow. I'm glad my bed is calling me and that I'm going to be in it in a very short moment.

It's been a day of trying to catch up. Literally.

I woke up at 7:30, the very time I was supposed to be on the road to pick up my sister-in-law for our run this morning. I rolled over and thought, "Why, WHY, am I waking up at 7:30?" Then seconds later it was, "Oh shit!" and I was flying out of bed to grab a shower.

Yes, I know this is stupid...taking a shower before a run...but I felt icky from all the baking yesterday, and let's face it, ragweek is never fun. So I took a quick shower and got dressed (frantically trying to find everything I needed) and headed out.

As I was heading to my car I realized that I forgot my breakfast, so I ran to Starbucks for a chai with protein. This turned out to be the only thing I ate until I got to my sisters, but that's another part of the story.

Let's just say, I'm very thankful today that there weren't any troopers on the road this morning as I drove my 58 miles in 35 minutes. I made it to SIL's, ran in with the turkey pops for Jake and Ava because Jake lost his first tooth this week, grabbed my SIL and we were off.

Again, we were running late. We had 30 minutes to go 57 miles. *ahem* And we made it, right on time. But that's another thankful for no troopers story.

This was my first moment of calmness. SIL and I got our race packets for the 5K - t-shirt, bib (race number), and Road ID flyer - and headed back to the car to warm up. It was a little chilly out - rather chilly actually and as we were walking up to get our packet we kept asking each other "Why are we doing this?" and the other would answer, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Ten minutes to race time we headed back out and it seemed a little warmer. We got extra safety pins and headed to the start line. I had toyed with wearing my fleece on top of my two running shirts, but I ended up being very glad I didn't. I did finally get use of my TCM race gloves we got in 2007 - the year it was 80 degrees and 80% humidity. :)

The race was actually great. The first mile was a chilly head wind which sucked the breath right out of you, but then we turned the corner and ran through a cemetery. It was suddenly warm and a fabulous temp to run in. SIL and I kept our same pace we did as the last race though this time I stayed ahead of her the first half, then she was ahead of me the last half - AND got that damn kick at the end again. Grrr. Oh well. My time was the same as the last one (well, 2 seconds faster) 34:01, with which I was perfectly happy. I haven't ran in a couple weeks and so being able to keep upright, keep moving, and finish in a good time made me really happy.

After the race we got some powerade, water and could have had pumpkin pie but I just couldn't eat right then. We hung out for the door prizes but we didn't win anything. Then we headed back to her home. What was a little funny was I was still going faster than I should have but not as fast as I had going up and I felt like we were going so slow. Again, very very thankful for no troopers on the road.

We got home and I hung out briefly with the kids. Jake showed me his missing tooth again and gave me pictures he and Ava had colored for me. It was really sweet. But I needed to go.

I got on the road at 12:30. 58 miles to go and I needed to be there no later than 1 so I could utilize my 15 minutes to shower and get dressed. I made it. This time there was one trooper on the road, but he was in front of me so I was okay.

Mom picked me up, a little late, and we headed on the road. Now, I love my mother, but she drives like molasses. I called my sister right away and she said the turkey was ready and we needed to get there quickly. To me this would mean to go at least the speed limit, but my mother doesn't do that. And we had to stop to get ice.

Again, this was 51 miles we needed to drive...though this time we had 45 minutes to do so. You'd think we would have made it, but nope. We were late. When we stopped to get ice I ran out to get it and when I got back in I said, "Okay, let's go." Mom said, "Are you going to buckle up?" I said, "I will, but when it's 2:12 and we're supposed to be there at 2:15, leaving is more important." That helped, because then she went a little faster, though I know she didn't like it.

We made it to my sister's and unloaded our stuff, helped finish setting up the meal and ate.

And boy, did we eat. I was starving having not eaten at all and having run 3.1 miles. I really needed food. I ate way more than I would have normally and was only mildly full. We cleaned up the dishes and finally I felt like I could relax. My knee was killing me though so I tried not to move too much.

There were many competitions on the Wii which was a lot of fun. We watched the Dallas game, as is the norm and priority on Thanksgiving. And we had a good time.

Now I can go to bed and sleep. I don't have to work tomorrow and I refuse to go shopping. I am meeting a friend for coffee back in my SIL's city so I'll get to hang out with them a little bit more tomorrow night which will be good since today's visit was soooooo short.

I hope you all had a very happy Thanksgiving. Below is my short list of things I'm thankful for. I'm truly thankful for many things but this is a general list for now:

- Family
- Friends
- Food
- Fun
- No troopers on the road today (not that I don't hope they are normally out)
- Ice (for my knee)
- Freedom*

*God bless all our troops serving our country and helping keep us safe.