A Belated Happy Thanksgiving

5 years ago, on Thanksgiving Day, I ran the inaugural Silicon Valley Turkey Trot with my then-boyfriend Jeff.  I had started riding our exercise bike while watching TV in the evenings and suggested maybe we go out and do this new running race in town before we do the turkey gorgefest.  I hadn’t run even a mile in years and had never liked running.

Suffice it to say, all 3.1 miles were not pleasant and there was a little bit of walking in there.  But I finished, angry at not being able to run 5K like people who looked less healthy than me and madly in love with racing.  I went out every day to run after that, first 1 mile, then 2 miles, building up.  I found an online training plan to follow, and by the time I could run 3 miles nonstop I was already on to a 10K plan…a couple weeks later I was signed up for my first 1/2 marathon. 

And so it began.

This Thanksgiving Day, on one of the coldest mornings we’ve ever had in San Jose this year (high 20s), I did the race again with my family, just for fun.  Both my parents, one of my brothers, 3 of my sisters, my aunt and uncle, and 3 cousins all did the race, as well as many friends.

Brrrrrrrrr!  I came within 45 seconds of my PR – not bad given that my running has been minimal in the last month since Austin – and I came in the top 10 in my age group, out of 518! 

I am thankful for many things this year – my health, my family, my friends, and being able to keep doing these fun things with my body!  Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend.