Turkey Trot 5K/Muppet Movie Recap

Thanksgiving, as usual, was fun - it's always great to spend time with the kids (although I guess they are adults at this point) - they make me laugh like nothing else!

We woke up early Thursday morning...whose bright idea was it to sign us up for a Turkey Trot?  Oh.  Sorry 'bout that, kids.  Sleep in on your vacation?  Hah!  Anyway, we were dressed and ready by 7:00 am - the race participants had more than doubled from last year and there were over 1,000 people signed up, so we got there a little early in order to avoid parking problems.  Side note:  can I just say how amazing it is that this race, in its second year, had grown so much?  Love that fitness is taking a more prominent role in everyday life.

So the race was fun - Max and Jeff ran it, although not really together (more on speedy Jeff later).  Sam and I walked it, although not really together - I saw his back for most of it...dude, I was walking an average of a 17 minute mile...on a not-quite-rehabbed ankle...slow down for your mother!  But he kept wanting to pass other walkers and "not be last" - apparently Sam has no idea that I'm used to being last, or close to it, in these things!  My plan was to run the last tenth of a mile of the 5K, to test out my ankle.  And you must be wondering how that went.  Well.  I made it three steps.  Hurt like a @#$%.  Instantly.  Hammers beating on my ankle the second I landed the first running step.  Which, as you might imagine, was extremely disappointing.  I had hoped that I was close to being able to run, but based on how much it hurt, I suspect it's still pretty far away.  Not happy about that - I go back to my doctor on Wednesday, and I'll confer with him, but I'm sure I'll get the "wait x number of weeks" speech.  Boo on that.

Running disappointment aside, it was really nice to meet up with so many of my running friends that morning...I saw my former trainer, Linda, and her son, who I ran part of the Armadillo Dash with in 2010.  I also caught up with Julia, my running club buddy who trained with me for the half last year, and is going to run her first marathon in a couple of weeks (so excited for her).  Fun times - love the running community's camaraderie.  Pictures:

Thanksgiving morning, 7:30 am.  Why stay home and watch a parade on TV when you can be outdoors, pre-burning your big meal?

Annual shoe picture...by the way, this greatly embarrasses my family to pose for it, but too bad - they will be happy, happy I tells ya, to have that picture when we're all old and gray (well, grayer for some of us), sitting in rocking chairs and reminiscing about the good old days!

Julia and me!  I'm so proud of her, not only with how much she's running, but that she's wearing a purple hat, sunglasses, shirt and running shoes...my matchy-match influence has rubbed off!

 Some of my running club peeps - our new shirts make it easy to spot each other!

 Jeff explaining his race strategy?  The ladies look skeptical.

Will and Julia - ready to run!

Look what I have to live with...a speed demon.  Jeff set a new PR with this race - average pace 8:47???  Crikey.  Someone needs to remind him that it's NOT a race!  Oh wait.  He was ridiculously proud to place 10th in his age division.  I can't believe he's been running less than a year - pretty amazing, when you think about it.  

Participating in this race made me miss running even more.  I am trying to not be frustrated at how!freaking!long! it's taking me to get over this ankle injury, but it's not easy.

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After we finished the race, we went home, ate breakfast, and then went to see the new Muppet movie.  Y'all, I was smiling from the opening to the very end - I loved it.  If you liked the Muppet Show from way back when (read:  mid 1970s), you'll love this movie.  I thought it was pretty telling that almost all of the audience was adults - I think a lot of us were getting a nostalgia fix with this movie.  I highly recommend it, if you're a Muppet fan.  And now I want a Kermit the Frog watch.

 Too bad I was busy having a baby in 1987 instead of buying a cool Kermit watch!