I started my Thanksgiving holiday last night, with a meet up with friends at a cupcake shop. Kim, Nicki, and I used to all run together back in the day until Nicki moved to Texas. Kim and I still run together on the weekends, and actually met through Nicki. It was great to all meet up, catch up, and eat cupcakes together (kind of the opposite of running, huh?).

Nicki, Kim, and me

My family also got into town for the holiday yesterday. Hank has a new buddy, named Nana, to hang out with on the couch now. He’s pretty pleased. Nana not so much.

This morning my dad and I headed up to Roanoke for the Drumstick Dash 5K. I ran the race and Dad acted as my personal race course photographer. It was a chilly 23 degrees outside, and I think they said it was around 13 degrees with the windchill. Brrr!

I think that may be the coldest race I’ve ever run. I finished the race in 28:08. I pushed, but not too hard. I think I probably could have finished in under 28 minutes had I realized we were approaching the finish line. There was a white banner about 2 blocks past the finish line, which I thought was the actual finish line. But then we ran over two mats and the race was over. Oops.

Once we got back from Roanoke it was time to start cooking Thanksgiving dinner! We ate a little later than usual, since Barry had to work today and wouldn’t be home until this evening. Here are the obligatory Thanksgiving dinner pictures:

Mashed potatoes, rolls, and stuffing

Turkey, cranberry sauce, green beans, cinnamon applesauce, and sweet potato casserole

Egg custard pie and pumpkin pie

And now it is time to watch ‘Home Alone’! This became a tradition in my family back when all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins used to eat Thanksgiving dinner at my Nana and Pop Pop’s house. After dinner all of the adults would fall asleep, so us kids would always watch ‘Home Alone’ and the tradition was born. Of course we also watched the end of the parade this morning and have watched football throughout the day.

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone is having a great day. May you always have much for which to be thankful!

What are your Thanksgiving traditions? 

Who else ran a race today? Anyone doing a weekend Thanksgiving race?

This is random and from a couple of weeks ago, but I still wanted to share. Scout has a certain spot where she always lays on the love seat in the living room. If you sit in her spot, she will usually get in your lap or sit next to you and stare at you until you move. On this particular day, Hank had decided to crawl into her spot to cuddle with me. Scout wasn’t having that (she also gets jealous), so she just climbed right on top of him and laid down. The crazy thing is Hank didn’t seem to mind. It didn’t last long, but still.

Sorry it’s grainy, it’s a cell phone picture

One of the perks of Barry working on a farm is that he comes home with surprises around the holidays. Last year it was a file box full of oranges, grapefruit, and various other citrus fruits. This year it’s 40 pounds of beef in the form of ground beef, t-bone steaks, cube steaks, beef liver, roast, and ground beef patties. Needless to say our chest freezer is very full now.

Since this is first and foremost a running blog, I should include something running related (I guess). I recently came across this collection of 41 running-inspired tattoos. Some of them are pretty wild, especially the really colorful ones of specific races. I think this one with the 26.2 and a dot for each successive marathon is pretty neat.

Since Thanksgiving is almost upon us, I also wanted to discuss Black Friday (dun dun duuuun). I have never gone out shopping on Black Friday and hopefully never will. The only purchase I’ve ever made on Black Friday was buying our giant dog crate (I kid you not, “giant” is the next size up from XL) and that purchase was made online. I know you have cyber Monday and all that, but this deal was available Friday.

Usually by the time Black Friday rolls around the majority of my Christmas shopping is done. For example, this year about 75% of it is done (don’t hate me). Here’s the great thing about that: when you wrap gifts in early December, you tend to forget what they are by the time Christmas arrives. Then when your friends and family open their gifts its as much a surprise for you as it is for them!

Do you have any tattoos? What are they?
No tattoos for me! I’m not necessarily opposed to them, but I’ve never been able to commit to what I’d want or where I’d want it.

Are you a Black Friday shopper? Share your stories from the trenches!

The holidays are finally here! Let’s talk about holiday running and racing. I have been waiting all year to post this picture!

Oh Elf, how I love you. With the arrival of the holidays comes holiday-themed racing. Thanksgiving Day 5K’s (or longer), Jingle Bell and Santa Shuffle runs pop up all around the country this time of year.

I love this time of year and especially love the holidays. There’s nothing better (in my opinion) to get you into the spirit of the season than a holiday-themed race. It’s also the time of year when that big goal race you trained for all summer has probably already taken place, so it’s a good time to relax and run a race or two for fun (sans training plan).

I am registered for the Drumstick Dash 5K on Thanksgiving Day, and my dad and I will be headed up to Roanoke for that. What better way to kick off a day centered around giving thanks and stuffing your face sharing a meal with family and friends?

From the 2012 race

December is right around the corner, and that means it’s time for the Jingle Bell 5K! This year I tricked roped Barry into running the race with me. I think he will run a PR for sure. Everyone ties jingle bells on their shoes for this race (which I love) and it is going to drive Barry nuts. So his only option will be to run very fast out in front of everyone else. Seriously, he’ll probably win the race.

One of my most favorite movies (not even favorite holiday movie, just favorite movie) is ‘A Christmas Story’. In the December issue of Runners World I read about a themed race in Cleveland, OH, centered around the movie. Runners actually get to run by the house and then get free passes to tour the ‘A Christmas Story’ house & museum! Someday I will drive to Cleveland and I will run this race! Google Maps says it’s only 6 hours away.

One of the main reasons I love the holidays so much is all of the family time. Spending time with family and upholding traditions is really important to me. We are often busy around the holidays, which can make it difficult to maintain a regular running routine. I am usually coming off of a fall race, so I’m not following any sort of training plan. But I do try to make sure I get in 3-4 runs per week. I find that the best way to do so is to run/workout in the morning/before the day’s activities so that nothing can get in the way.  You have to make it happen.

And you can’t let the weather get in your way, either!

Do you like to run any holiday races?

How do you maintain your workout routine during the holidays?

Do you have a favorite Christmas/holiday movie? If so, what is it?
It’s hard for me to pick one. My all time favorites are A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, The Santa Clause, and Elf to name a few.

Yesterday afternoon Barry and I headed up to Claytor Lake State Park for my first ever trail run! As we rolled into the park, I had butterflies in my stomach much the same as the ones I get right before the start of a race. We parked at one of the trail heads and took off into the woods. Right away we were climbing.

I need to get Barry to stop taking pictures of me while he’s standing on a hill. I’m short enough as it is.

I know some think it’s pretentious, but I earned it. And I’m not bragging, I’m celebrating my accomplishment.

Speaking of accomplishments, I forgot to mention that I surpassed 1,000 miles of running in 2013 during the week of my marathon. That’s something I’ve never done before, but was hoping I would accomplish this year with the added miles for marathon training.

Clearly I didn’t know I would be sharing a picture of my running log when I wrote so messily.