I'm a Turkey Trotter!

When I was younger, we would get up on Thanksgiving morning and turn on the television. We were always excited to watch the parade. No, not the Macy's (which I actually wrote a letter to complain one year and boycotted each year after), but the Detroit Thanksgiving Parade (also known as "America's Thanksgiving Day Parade).

There was nothing like watching the parade, sipping cocoa, and breathing in the aromas of my mom's cooking and baking. It really made me love Thanksgiving and I consider it one of my favorite holidays.

While watching the pre-parade programming, they'd show the runners on the parade route. I asked my dad what they were doing one year, and he told me about the Turkey Trot. He said that people that go down to watch the parade get there really early (like 6am). While the parade watchers are gathering, there's a lot of pre-parade festivities and one of the things is a race called the Turkey Trot. 

I was amazed and loved the costumes that the runners would wear while running. They always had a Christmas theme to them and it was fun to see.

When I was older, but still living in MI, I started going down to watch the parade. The first few times I went with my cousin Brandon, and then once I went down with a guy that I had just started dating, and then the last time I went was the best. It was my dad, Steve, myself, and my twin brother's best friend, Dan. 

We went down and had breakfast at Comerica Park and had Grand Stand seats to watch the parade. We took the bus from Fairlane Mall and it was all free because my mom worked with someone who was a Macy's VIP shopper. Apparently, Macy's rewards their top shoppers with passes to a special breakfast and special seating to watch the parade.

 The Turkey Trot float

 Santa

I had always thought it would be so awesome to run in the Turkey Trot, but I wasn't a runner and it never crossed my mind that I could be one. We moved in June of 2007, and the above pictures are of my last Thanksgiving in Michigan.

I honestly thought that we'd never be back north for Thanksgiving ever again. Steve's dad got married in December of 2007, so we headed north for his wedding and we were there for Christmas. We had just moved to NC and I was homesick and so going home for Christmas and his dad's wedding was perfect timing.

I was teaching and couldn't take off time to head north for major holidays, so we just never went back. When Gus arrived, I stayed home with him and we had more flexibility, but wanted to be in our own home for the holidays. We had Steve's dad and Sue Ann come for Thanksgiving a couple years while we lived in NC, but we never went north.

So my dreams of ever running in the Detroit Turkey Trot just didn't seem like something that would ever happen.

Fast-forward to present day. I've started running and I'm building up endurance and I was looking at local 5ks. Then it hit me. This year, we ARE going back home for Thanksgiving. My oldest brother and his family are making the trek from AZ to MI and we'll all be together for Thanksgiving.

It'll be the first time that we've all been together for Thanksgiving in years and years. Like... easily 20 years. It will be so incredible and awesome and I'm so excited.

I thought to myself, hey, maybe we could run the Turkey Trot together! I sent an email to everyone in my family (mom, dad, Scott, Christie, Dave, Heather, Jessica, and Steve) and asked if anyone was interested. 

My cousin Jessica was the first to respond and she was immediately a yes. She rocks and is amazing and so supportive. The chance to run such an awesome race with her is a dream come true. Then my SIL said that she and/or Dave are interested. I asked my dad and he's considering it, but leaning toward yes. Steve is not interested, but he's going to take the boys and cheer us on and then we'll meet up after to watch the parade together.

I cannot wait. I mean, I can, because I'm not ready for it yet, but I am beyond excited.

I am going to be a Turkey Trotter. 

I am going to be running with family and will have my husband and children to cheer for me on the side as I make a dream a reality.

I'm going to get my first running medal (all finishers get a medal).

I am so emotional about it. I officially paid for my registration yesterday and then sent Jessica an email copy of it... it's official. She registered too and sent me an email copy of hers. We are for sure running and hopefully, my oldest brother and SIL and my dad will be joining us. 

W2D2 C25K

 

Did I tell you that the 5k Crew keeps growing?

We met at Ocee to run last night. I was a little sore and my right calf was really tight. I should have stretched more, but the evening just came up on me and I didn't have time to do much.

Our group is growing and I love it. We have added Meaghan to run with us on Wednesday nights (she can't do Mondays or Fridays). She is thinking about doing the Color Run with us on October 19th, but isn't sure yet if she's ready for that commitment.

Everyone did week 2, but I'm on day 2 and Lesley is on day 1. The routine is the same, so we synced our phones and started at the same time. She and Jo ran together and then Stacey and Meaghan ran with me.

I felt bad because I was huffing and puffing and trying to focus on my breathing, and they were going slow (for my sake). I told them to go ahead without me and not to hold back on my account, but they said it was fine and they engaged in conversations while I did my best to breathe and stay alive.

We started right around 8 and finished at 8:35. I was really shocked to see that I head set a new personal best! Best pace and best distance! According to my C25K app, my total distance was 1.82. My walk distance was 1.26 with my walking pace at 17:34 and then my run distance was 0.56 with my average run pace at 16:03.

The app also gave me my total that I've run so far and it's 8 miles. Not too shabby!!

While we were running we talked about how hard running is on the body and how hard it is to do. Stacey shared that she had trained for a 1/2 marathon, but never had the chance to run it. She's hoping that maybe by running with us, it'll give her the push needed to train for it and really do it this time.

It's so inspiring to know that I am surrounded by people who have the drive and determination to keep runnning. My cousin Jessica is running in Michigan and training with C25K as well. She is doing it alone and yet is so determined to push through the "I can'ts" and just do it.

As much as I wasn't sure about running at night, it's now my preferred time to run. I like that I can come home and shower and just crash. It gives me time to think about my day and to just focus on me after having to focus on the boys. 

This morning I am sore. My right calf is really hurting. I've been doing stretches to help it. When I was running last night it felt like a cramp... so I don't know what I did, but as they say, sore muscles is happy pain.

So my Monday and Wednesday routine is pretty established. Not sure what will happen when Steve travels next month... but for now, it's good. I'm just trying to figure out Fridays. I don't want to skip my run because I love the two days off that the weekend provides. Not running on Friday gives too much time off between (four days). So I can't do that. 

I thought about getting up at 5:15ish and running from 5:15-6:00. It would only be once a week and would allow me to shower before getting Gus up at 6:30. I just hate getting up any earlier than I need to... and it's DARK at 5:30am. And my neighborhood is so hilly-- I like the flatness of Ocee.

I thought about going to the park to run with Hugh (I hate my single jogger though) on Fridays at 8:30am. If I had the Schwinn Tourismo that I want, I could do that on the Fridays that he doesn't have PT. However, his PT has been scheduling him on Thursdays or Fridays and for the rest of September, it's Fridays.

Another option is to go as a family to the park after dinner and run. Steve could walk with the boys and I could run. My running isn't much faster than his walk anyway. It would be good exercise for all of us, but then that makes Steve have to go and I know after a long week, he likes to just relax at home on a Friday.


My final option is to take Ned with me at 7:30pm. I don't really want to run with him, but I don't want to go alone and he's big enough that someone would (hopefully) think twice about attacking me with him next to me. 


So, I have some choices to make for sure. I'm just glad that my M/W routine is set and works well for me.

I definitely don't want to run at 5:30am.