Running Shoes and Turkey: A Great Combo

About the time my birthday rolls around, I begin to seriously plan my run/race/training calendar. I start looking at all the possible "official races" that I can fit in and afford in order to supplement my training schedule. I refer to races as "club supported training runs." You know, runs where someone else puts out the water, picks up the discarded cups and gel packs, keeps the time, and takes the pictures.

I usually start with a couple of shorter races in September and October, then the Boston (GA) Mini Marathon the last Saturday in October. I always add one measure of the Turkey Trot (Thanksgiving) and the 10 Mile Challenge on the first Saturday of December. Sometimes I double up and add the Jingle Bell Run, and occasionally I run the GWTC 15/30K (January). This year I have added cycling to my schedule as a cross training tool - it has really helped keep my hamstring a bit looser and not so painful. So, in October after I ran a somewhat disappointing Boston Mini (13.1 miles), I wondered how I was going to re-plan my "Goofy" training. You see, I had hoped for a finish in the neighborhood of 1:50, but ended up with a 1:57. That is a PR time, so I'll take it. Since then, I have been taking it easier on the long runs to keep myself more in check, and to give the hamstring more recovery time in between long runs.

Yesterday morning, Thanksgiving Day, I slid out of bed and prepped for this year's Turkey Trot: the 15K. Again, I had sort of set a goal, something I didn't used to do, but now sometimes try to accomplish. I thought 1:20-1:25 would be a good finish, but I had also told myself that I would be happy with any time under 1:30. So off we went. Oh yeah... Colin had decided that he would step up to run the 10K this year. He has run/walked it once before with his YaYa and Greepy when they were in town for Thanksgiving. But, since then the longest he has gone is 5K during a triathlon. But, he said he could. He said he would. And, it seems that he had set a goal: Beat my best 10K time (53:58). I might add it is a time, which by no stretch of the imagination is fast, however it did give him something tangible to attain.

We get to Southwood in plenty of time. We park, strip off our extra layers so they will be warm and dry when we finish; and we head with nearly 3,000 other people to the starting area. We see lots of friends and running buddies. It is kind of neat to start the eating Fest that is the holiday season with a good long run. It sort of justifies everything that we will eat as it comes our way in the next month or so.

Soon we're off. I don't see Colin again until I am coming into the 15K finish and he is waiting with a friend from school and her mother who happens to be a running partner of mine (they have run the 5K - splendidly). Colin finished his 10K in 45:13 (by his chip time) which was FABULOUS! That time put him 23rd overall in the 10K race. I finished the 15K in 1:20:39. I was beyond ecstatic. A PR by nearly 11 minutes, and I felt great afterwards.

Here are two pictures I have found of us on the course. Colin is coming into the chute for the 10K finish. The shot of me making the turn for the 10K/15K split is grainy and blurred, but it is the only picture of me I can find. And, I actually look like I'm running! whoo-hoo! I'm chalking it up to being so "blazing fast" - Ha! Here they are as proof that we really do run, and did so "for our supper."

Looking Ahead

I'm looking back at my most recent post and see that it is a listing of training runs/rides. Well, guess what, this entry will be remarkable similar in content. But, if I don't get it down in words now to float around in cyber space then I may not make it to the pavement when the time comes. So, here we go ... for December, 2008.

11.30 Ride
12.2 4 miles of "speed intervals" from home; 5:30 a.m. (temperature permitting)
12.4 5 mile tempo run from home; 5:30 a.m. (temperature permitting)
12.6 "10 Mile Challenge" in Killearn Lakes; 8:00 a.m. (plus some extra tacked on)
OR
12.7 20 Miles on the St. Mark's Trail with the group; 8:00 a.m.

OR
12.7 Ride
12.9 3 miles of "speed intervals" from home; 5:30 a.m.
12.11 5 mile tempo run from home; 5:30 a.m.
12.13 12-15 miles

12.14 Ride
12.16 4.5 miles of "speed intervals" from home; 5:30 a.m.
12.18 5 mile tempo run from home; 5:30 a.m.
12.20 20 Miler with Cathy

12.21 Rest
12.22 3.5 miles of "speed intervals" from home; 5:30 a.m.
12.24 ??? with Cathy for her 40th birthday!
12.27 12-15 miles

12.28 Ride
12.30 3 miles of "speed intervals" from home; 5:30 a.m.
1.1.2009 8 tempo run from home in the afternoon
1.3 8-12 miles

REVISED: I'm Behind Again - Yikes!

Okay, okay, okay! So, I got behind in keeping the training schedule posted. Sue me! No really. Believe it or not, when I get off track in publicly posting my runs, I tend to slack off a bit - not much, but some. I'm trying something new in hopes of lessening the potential damage to a sore hamstring. Three days of running with one really GOOD day of cross training. The three runs should help the hamstring heal a bit and allow some variety in the runs: Tuesday - shorter and faster; Thursday - longer and more like a "pace" run; Saturday - Loooong ('nuff said).

So here we go for the next couple of weeks or so:

11.12 - 4 miles from home; 5:30 a.m.
11.13 - 6 miles from home; 5:30 a.m.
11.15 - 10-12 miles in Killearn Lakes with The Group 8:00 a.m.

11.16 - Ride "To Georgia and Back"; 1:30 p.m. with Georgia and Carmen
11.18 - 4 miles from home; 5:30 a.m.
11.20 - 7 miles from home; 5:15 a.m.
11.22 - 15 miles from "home"; Noon (when the temperature is above 40!)

11.23 - Ride HILLS; 1:30 p.m. with Georgia and Carmen
11.25 - 4 miles from home; 5:30 a.m.
11.27 - Turkey Trot 15K; eat a lot...
11.29 - 10-15 miles in Killearn (route below); 8:00 a.m.
11.30 - Ride and recover!

The Morning After

I am putting this here because I feel that it needs to be "out there" for everyone to consider; because we do live in a country where we can voice our opinions without fear of repercussions; where we will still love our friends and family "the morning after" because that is what we do. I have included ONE e-mail that I received this morning and ONE of my responses. That is all. I know there will be more exchanged, but I feel quite confident that they will only be a restating of the original messages.

Dear Friends and family,

"Husband" & I stayed up late to watch history made last night! As I drink my first cup of coffee this morning, the sun seems brighter and the sky bluer! Hope is the color of the future, and I thank God I was born an American!

Our problems are overwhelming. The path is long, but putting Obama at the helm lifts those challenges into the light where we can all see them and take our place in meeting them together.

I am sure that you, like us, had many friends who did not vote the way we did. Our response to this amazing election from here should be our personal commitment in reflecting the coming together and healing that this new hope represents. People we love and respect are not celebrating this morning. It is important that we be the face of unity and inclusion that Barak Obama presents, not only to Americans, but to the world.

Finally I ask you all to join with me in prayers for this man, his family, and mostly, for our country as we enter this new era of hope, sacrifice and hard work.

Much love,
"My Friend"

I must tell you that the decision to vote "Obama" yesterday was an extremely difficult one. And, I believe that had it not been for McCain's age, health issues, and his being so totally "not the same person" he was when he began campaigning some years ago I might have voted "McCain/Palin." And, that is saying something for this somewhat liberal, somewhat conservative Democrat. I'm just not sure that Obama has enough experience to be fully capable of the job at hand. I am hopeful that he, being a highly intelligent and well-educated man, will surround himself by those far more experienced and worldly than himself in order to accomplish those tasks now set before him.

In the light of the dawn of a new era, I can see that hope still springs eternal. Yet, in the next breath I find it difficult to grasp that we, as Floridians, did not see fit to remove language from the state constitution that prohibits "aliens" from receiving/inheriting property; and that we felt we could "play God" and dictate just what a "marriage" shall be, not taking into consideration all of those affected by that decision (not just the few who have chosen an alternative lifestyle). There is a lot to overcome, and unfortunately it begins at the state and local levels and must then filter up to the national and world forums.

If nothing else, we have watched history unfold before our very eyes. My children have heard and seen two monumental things take place: A racial minority elected to quite possibly the highest governing office on this planet; and a woman chosen as a running mate for that same position. Wow! And, both of those things happened during the same campaign. People will speak of this for generations to come. Yes, no matter how you voted it is now EVERYONE's job to be an American; to support the chosen president; and to move into the future along with and not against our country.

Pray. Pray long and hard. Pray continuously - not only for the president, his family, the congress, but also all of our other chosen leaders (whether they be your choice or not). God Bless the USA.