Turkey Day Recap, Racing and Christmas!

Turkey Day started with a slight SNAFU and ended with race awesomeness and a whole lot of good food. One off’s are my reality. If things went totally smooth all of the time I would be worried!

Let’s get to recapping.

After maybe 3 hours of sleep on Wednesday night I rolled my crabby self out of bed around 5 am. Apparently LD didn’t sleep either because when I headed downstairs he was already up and coffee was ready. I volunteered to get the kids up since they tend to be grumpy before sunrise.

It.was.easy. Say what?

Those little stinkers popped out of bed as if Santa had arrived. Apparently they key to getting kids up early is mentioning a holiday. If I would have said “Time to get up for school” there would have been no response. But “Time to get up for Thanksgiving” had them springing to life. Incredible.

We got packed up and were out of the house in under an hour. Record time. And then we had our hiccup. Should have known something would go awry 🙂 We were about 3 miles from the house when I realized I forgot my bib and chip. Whoops. Sorta, kinda need that. It was really foggy outside but we were not far so we figured it would take but a minute to go back and then be on our way. And then every light was red. And then we could not u-turn. And then, and then, and then…

It was comical. I could have run back to our house faster than we made it by car.

Finally got to Oceanside around 6:45, parked by the rest of the fam and off to the start we went.

I lined up close to the front since I am familiar with the course and didn’t want to get stuck in the crowd. Gun went off and I just tried to find a groove.

Mile 1: 6:57

Mile: 2 6:57

Mile 3: 6:55

Kind of surprised that Mile 3 was faster as there is a short hill and then a turn south which had the sun blazing in my face. Actually, really surprised that I was still sub 7. Seriously.

Mile 4: 7:11, slight slow down due to a steep but short climb up the pier. I knew it was coming and did pass a few dudes (hehehe) on the way up but it still took a little wind out of my sails

Mile 5: 6:52 (Who am I?)

Fastest 5 mile race I have ever run and the first race with 4 sub 7 min miles!! Ahhhh! Woohooo!

Garmin stat: 5.03 miles in 35:02 (6:58 pace)- So I know it doesn’t count, but it sure looks awesome.

Final race result 5 miles in 35:07 (7:01 pace), 5th in my age (30-34).

Man, did I get close to breaking 35 or what? Soon!

I crossed the finish line and sat with hubs while we waited for the rest of the fam. My brother came in around 49 min and we snapped a pic.

Dude has not run in forever and busted out 5 sub 9 min miles. Amazing!

My sis and SIL followed right behind and then my parents and all of the grandkids shut it down. My big guy ran from mile 2 to mile 3.5, in jeans, a sweatshirt and vans (he is SoCal through and through). Throw a pair of Brooks on the kid and he will be ready for a 5k in no time. That’s my boy.

All sweaty sharing his medal with his sis.

After snapping a group pic (representing Team Mira Costa where my SIL is a professor) we headed back to my parents house to eat and watch football.

This is the only pic I got. Well, I did get a few of the kids but of the fam? Yeah, this was it. Told you I needed a new camera. I love my iPhone but it just isn’t the same.

So there you have it. It was a PRing, Turkey Eating, Football watching, family gobble gobble of a day. Loved it. Can’t wait for Christmas.

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Speaking of Christmas we will be heading to Texas. Not sure what the weather will be like but knowing Texas it could be 19 in the morning and 75 in the afternoon. The pan handle is so fickle! Should make running fun. HA! MIL started chemo again this week and will get a little break while we are there. She is still fighting but as you know we just have to keep praying. We are hoping that she feels well while we are there and will be able to just enjoy time with all of the kids. 

What are you all up to for the holidays? Anyone crazy like us and traveling? 

Race Review, Lack Of Blogging and Other Stuff

Warning: this post is going to be all over the place. I have been on 24 on-call duty since Sandy hit so please forgive me for my tiredness. Total Hurricane Brain 🙂

Oh, and before I forget Pro Compression is offering 40% off of all Argyle Marathon Socks. Enter coupon code SOM112 at checkout. Sweet deal.

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Quick Awesome 80s Review

I don’t think this race is worthy of a wordy review so I’ll keep it quick.

– The Good

Fun Theme

Old School Jams

Sweet medal

– The Bad

Late start

Unmarked course

– The Ugly

Maj traffic jams when 5k/10k merge

Running up a muddy embankment

Disorganized start/finish line

This race is one that is fun for the dress up/80s theme! I think the 5k would be a no mess good time. The 10k is cool if you just wanna cruise, take pics, etc. Don’t run this race to break records, it will only make you batty. Also, do not pay full price. There are discount codes floating all around the blogworld. I may still have one in my back pocket if you are considering this race in another town.

That is all.

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Running

I can’t remember where I got this picture. May have been from this girl.

Since Chicago my body has been taking it’s sweet time recovering. My hips are still a little cranky and while on a 10 mile run with Chacha on Sunday we both agreed that we need more than 1 day of yoga each week in our lives. It’s just hard to find time to get to a studio. I would probably need to go after work which would mean missing out on time with the fam. In my book that’s a no go (at least at this point since my kiddos are still young). That may just mean rolling out the mat in the living room more often. If anyone would like to join me at my casa (or a studio at5:30ish weekdays so that I am home by 7 or so) let me know!

So what’s next on the schedule? I may race this weekend. That’s a big maybe. I have a 5 mile Turkey Trot on the calendar on Thanksgiving morning and we will see about a December race. I may call it good after T-Day and just start getting ready for a late January race.  Carlsbad. This is a no brainer since the start line is a hop, skip and a jump away. Sleep in = win. Besides, after last year’s injury and DNF it’s time to get back on the horse.

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Election Day

I’m not going to say anything other than GET OUT AND VOTE!!

Photo Source

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Lastly…

Lack of Blogging

I feel so bad that I have been MIA. Since we have moved my commute is crazy and by the time I get home and get the kids situated I am freaking beat. Physically and mentally so done. I don’t want you all have to read my work and running ramblings daily (you would be so over it, trust me) so I’ve been laying low. It’s been 3 months so I should be close to totally adjusted to my new crazy. I am hoping that as we head into “winter” traffic will ease up and I will have more time to spend with the fam and, of course, chatting with you all!!

On a random end note I need a new camera.. Anyone have a suggestion? I love my Cannon but it’s time for it to be retired.

P/S MIL is kicking trash during this last week of radiation and then it’s back to chemo. Not sure when the next PET scan will be but we are headed there to spend time at Christmas so I will keep you all posted. Oh, that reminds me; If you are in the Panhandle and what to put some miles in with me during Christmas let me know. Pretty sure I can only talk LD into a few miles at a time…especially in the cold/wind.