Racing Through the Holiday

The holidays are quite a challenge for those who are trying to lose weight or get in shape. I would like to say I am doing better at both. However, I am proud to say that I did take advantage of two major opportunities this holiday weekend.

On Thanksgiving morning, Meg at Running Just As Fast She Can hosted the Screw the Turkey Trot I Hate Crowds Virtual Thanksgiving Day 5K/10K. In a virtual race, runners/walkers from all over do their race on their own and then report to the host. I invited friends and family to join me - I was proud of my three recruits :)

And off we walked. Turns out over the shoulder pictures are not my strong suit.

I caught this image of my husband and niece walking with Jabba the Hut. Actually, my sister and I got a little too close together.

See there really are four of us :)

I thought it was a little ironic that I was wearing a cross country t-shirt. The coach had given it to my husband on their trip to state a few weeks ago.

And what is a walk without a least one leaf picture. If you look closely you can see it is actually two leaves with their stems fused together.

I think my husband gets bonus points for toting the niece :)

After our walk it was time for some Thanksgiving dinner prep. First up Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Cinnamon Butternut Squash, Pecans and Cranberries. As you know I love butternut squash so this was a must try recipe for me.

The Brussels sprouts were tossed with olive oil and salt. The butternut was tossed with olive oil, maple syrup and cinnamon.

After the veggies are roasted they are tossed with pecan halves, dried cranberries and a touch more maple syrup. It was super colorful and tasty.

We always make my grandmother's homemade crescent rolls. I remember rolling them as a kid and now we are passing along the recipe to the next generation.

While rolls were baking, my niece and husband were setting up the Christmas trees. Which, of course, means there was goofing off.

Look how strong my husband is...umm.. I mean how light my niece is.  I don't know what I mean!!!  And yes, there is a video of her trying to get out of the tote, but I am not authorized to post it :)

Sunday morning was the next race of the weekend. Mary from Runs to Get Waisted, is part of my fabulous ladies group. She had been planning to run the Seattle marathon for months. Unfortunately, during her training her legs were extremely uncooperative and she ended up changing her plan to the half marathon. We all knew she was super disappointed so we concocted a plan to finish the marathon. On Sunday morning Mary and our ladies group completed the Carry Mary Marathon. Mary ran 13.1 miles in Seattle. The second 13.1 miles was run/walked by ladies in Louisiana, Nebraska, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio and Florida!  Mary finished in 3:04:32 and the rest of us finished our half in 3:27:43. What a great day, I am so proud to be part of such a wonderfully supportive group of ladies. Thank you Mary for the inspiration to get us out and moving. Congratulations on a great race and I can't wait to hear all the details! ‪

My leg of the race was two miles. I was determined to walk as fast as I could. Although I have done plenty of walking for my Jedi challenge the last couple months, I have not raced and therefore, not pushed myself as hard as I could. Previously my fasted mile of the Jedi challenge was about 16:30. I had hoped to get a sub 16 minute mile and I was happily surprised to beat my previous mile by a full minute.  

I was so focused on walking I only took two pictures over the two miles...and you know that is a record in itself :)  And as you can see I was walking so fast everything was a blur!!

Although I was thrilled with my time the first mile it was NOT easy. There was some serious heavy breathing and the cold air stung my lungs - in fact they hurt the rest of the day. The whole time I was walking like a mad woman I thought about Mary out in Seattle running 13.1 miles. Surely, I could push myself hard for two. I knew she was challenging herself and I wanted to feel that challenge too. 

The first mile took quite a bit out of me and my second mile was about a minute slower. I still averaged until 16 minute miles and I was quite pleased :)

Surprisingly, my feet/legs held up better and I didn't have much pain in them later in the day as I thought I might. That might have been helped by all the resting of them I did continuing the Lord of the Rings movies with my husband - extended editions.

I am looking for more opportunities to do some holiday racing...stay tuned!  Do you have upcoming race plans?