Thanksgiving and A Race

Well, it's here.  The start of the holiday season.  I know some people and  retail stores would have you think it starts the same time as Halloween, but for the RWM household it started Wednesday when my son got off the bus.

The last two weeks here, I had my parents visiting.  They were only staying about 5 days when my dad got sick and ended up in the hospital, twice.  Originally, I was planning to have Thanksgiving at their new home but he got out of the hospital so close to Thanksgiving and is still recovering, so we had it here.

Wednesday morning, my daughters preschool had a Thanksgiving Breakfast with a silent auction and raffle, plus the kids put on a little show.  It was a really nice morning and for the first time, both sets of grandparents were able to attend one of my kids school functions!

Little Miss ready for her Thanksgiving Preschool Breakfast

Later that afternoon, we had some apps and drinks and my parents, Mr. RWM's parents and a friend, her husband and son came by to start the celebration.

This, to me, will be one of the highlights of the season but there was on thing missing. Mr. RWM!  I can't even describe to you how bad I felt that he missed such a joyous occasion.

Growing up, this was normal for me.  Both sides of the family were together for big and small events.  But, we are here in RI and our parents are in NJ and NC.  Not the ideal situation, but we are making it work.

The one thing I really regret is not getting a pic of the kids with all 4 grandparents.  Who knows when it will happen again, but I will just pray that is does.

Back to Wednesday night.  I ate all the wrong foods and had a couple drinks.  Not the ideal meal the night before a race.

I was not preregistered for the Newport Pie Run and went to bed exhausted and thinking that sleeping in would be the right thing to do.  After about 20 minutes of thinking and not sleeping, I set my alarm.  Funny, but I fell asleep as soon as I did that.

I woke up feeling great and got ready to go.

Once there, I registered, and did the usual pre race things, like stretch and use the bathroom.  I knew two people running and looked for them.  Bethany was the first one I saw.

Now let me tell you, a year makes a world of difference!  Last year at this time, I had only been running four months.  My longest distance was just 4 miles.  And my friend Bethany, was hurt doing one of those obstacle type races.

She has never missed this Pie Run so I offered to push her in a wheelchair.   This race is a 5 mile road race and 3 mile walk.  And, yes, you get a pie at the finish.

Thanksgiving, 2011

Our friend MB, picked me up and we met Bethany there.  MB and I took turns pushing Bethany while we walked the three miles.  It was fun and I think the three of us had a great time!

This year, Bethany and I both ran the five miles!

When I walked down to the start, I wasn't able to find Bethany again, but I did see my friend Jenn.  I was happy to be running with someone even though, I knew Jenn would get ahead of me eventually.

Well, that did not work out as well as I thought it would.  As soon as we started to move, my headphones got tangled in my ponytail and it took me a minute to straighten it out.  Jenn was gone by the time I got it worked out and by then, I was on my own.

That's a lot of hair, right?  Now you can see why I had a problem.  LOL

This is not a huge race, but not the smallest I have run either.  I was never really alone and that was good.

About a half mile in, my stomach turned sour.  Maybe the last beer or a combination of that and the cheese and pepperoni plate from the night before. Hmmm...

Well, I just had to push through, I was not stopping and I knew it would go away eventually.

Luckily, there were plenty of fun things to look at.  A running turkey, an indian, Batman and Robin and many turkey hats.  Plus we ran past one of the Newport Beaches and well, you know me, I love to run by the beach.  There were tons of surfers out yesterday morning and that was cool too.

One of the things I noticed about this race, is that it truly is a family affair.  Kids of all ages were being pushed in strollers, walking and even running with their parents and even a few grandparents.  I loved it!

I hope, to do this with my family.  I know my kids would like it, but Mr. RWM, not so much.  I have a year to work on him though.

I was thinking that I would finish the race between 53 and 55 minutes.  Once I got my hair tangled and my stomach started to hurt, I was doubtful that I would see those numbers.  I had been running 10:29 miles up until race day and my first mile was 11:19.  Shoot!

At mile three, there was a water stop and I didn't start to feel better until after that.  In mile four, there was a hill, and yes, I still dislike hills.  I made it up fine and cruised in mile 5.  I don't have my splits but I think this was my best mile.

I finished in 54:41.  I was happy to finish under 55 and now I am pretty sure, if I feel well, I can PR in my next five mile race.

Thanksgiving, 2012

I saw Bethany at the finish and we chatted for a bit and snapped a pic.  Her husband placed third in his age group.  Congratulations Mr. Bethany!

Once I got home, I walked into a little chaos.  I had made cranberry sauce and apparently did not put the lid on correctly.  When Mom opened the fridge it fell out and exploded all over her and my kitchen!  I missed most of the mess but my poor mom was covered in sauce and had cleaned my whole fridge.  I felt awful that she had to go through that.  But my fridge looks awesome!  Thanks mom!

Some of the cranberry sauce was saved and after the cleanup we sat and had some coffee.  The house smelled wonderful and my kids were so very excited about eating turkey.  We had a wonderful dinner and all in all, it was a great Thanksgiving.

This year we gave thanks that my dad was well and with us.  That we are healthy, had food on our table and a home to keep us warm.

We missed Mr. RWM, but this is the life of a Pilot and his wife and kids.  We take it as it comes and make it work the best way we can.

I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful!  Did you race?  How was it?

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