Momentous Day

This is a day I should be expressing gratitude. And I am extremely grateful for an infinite amount of things and the depth of blessings in my life. But this is not the time that I'm going to enumerate those things.

Today I would like to talk about turkey. Specifically, a turkey trot. I've not kept it a secret that I have not had the opportunity to train as much as I would have liked to. I mean, "practice." I did get a run in on Saturday -- about 4 1/2 miles, and an shorter three mile one in on Tuesday. And....that's been it for the past couple of weeks. I was encouraged after Saturday's run, telling myself that if I can do four and a half miles, it's only another mile and a half (or so) to do the 10k.

I won't bore you with too many details (or maybe I will. But if I do, it isn't intentional!), but here are some highlights:

• Being able to line up in the 9:00 - 10:00 minute/mile group (knowing I wouldn't be able to maintain that pace, but willing to give it a shot)
• Running the first mile in under 10 minutes
• The woman who sang the national anthem did a beautiful job. It was phenomenal how quickly the mass of people fell silent. That was a beautiful moment.
• I'm grateful for all the people who volunteer their time to hand out water, cheer the participants on and organize events like this.
• I got goose bumps when I crossed the start line. Silly, huh? It's only my third organized race I've run in, and it's getting a bit more exciting.
• I got goose bumps later on when a group of volunteers/spectators cheered for a group of runners. I was part of that group that people were cheering for! Another nice moment.
• The woman and man who were pushing their grandma in a wheelchair. All three were wearing racing bibs. I clapped and cheered for them.
• I loved seeing people who aren't particularly fit being willing to participate and keep trying when it couldn't have been easy for them.
• The woman who I ran near for the last mile and a half who was wearing a pilgrim kerchief/cap and white pilgrimy collar thingy. Very appropriate.
• The woman wearing bright yellow who I was running near for miles 4 - 5. I stopped running to take a walking break (one of many) at about mile 5, and she passed me saying, "Don't give up! You're almost there! You're doing great!" with a huge smile on her face. I kept her in sight until I crossed the finish line. The bright yellow was a nice target to fixate on, letting me know exactly how much further I had to go before finishing.
• Finishing.
• Finishing ahead of my goal. I figured if I could do a 10:30 - 11:00 mile, I'd be able to finish within 70 minutes. I did it in 1:07:58, with an average mile pace of 10:58. Not great, but not bad either.

(Race results by age group/division here. And overall results here. I'm bib # 460.)

I'll do better next year. This year, I'm thrilled I did it at all. And finished. Did I mention finishing?

Happy Thanksgiving!