First 5k

What has two thumbs and can run 3.1 miles without stopping?

THIS LADY!

This year on Thanksgiving morning, I ran Houston's 5k Turkey Trot. After agreeing to run the half marathon, my co-runner suggested that I fit in a 5 or 10k first. Since a 5k is a much shorter distance than a half marathon, I thought it would be better done sooner than later. I had two goals with this run: 1) don't walk; and 2) finish somewhere close to 35 minutes.

Coach Tiffany and I post trot.

With the help of an awesome volunteer running coach (left), I completed both goals, finishing in 32 minutes and 45 seconds. We both maintain that it could have done it in 30 if it wasn't for the twelve thousand other people running with us. I'm also pretty sure that we ran more than 5k due to all of the zigging and zagging back and forth to get around walkers and joggers.

My next planned running adventure is a 5 mile jingle bell run in December. A nice perk in addition to (hopefully) increasing my running distance is the sexy pair of reindeer antlers that they give out to participants. Who needs another free t-shirt when you can have your very own antlers?! 

I must admit that I was skeptical about running with someone else. All of my not-walking adventures up until this point had been suffered in solitude. I didn't think I would do well running with another person, but it was a great idea. Big thanks to Tiffany for sticking with me! Although she may be tiny, Tiffany has more willpower and determination than most people I know. Today, she is an athlete by anyone's standards - just hearing about her workout routines make my muscles ache. But just a few years ago, she made an amazing transformation from non-runner to running a marathon in 6 months. She's continued to push herself and the transformation is incredible to watch. Tiffany is definitely an inspiration and makes me feel encouraged that I can not only live through this half marathon, but do better than I first expected of myself.

Thanksgiving this year was exactly what it was supposed to be. We had a great morning with friends, an afternoon of nothing but football and naps and then absurd amounts of food in the evening. We decided make reservations at a nice restaurant that had a thanksgiving meal... with so much food that we couldn't even touch some of the dishes; they just went straight to boxes.

We definitely picked a festive area to have dinner. So festive, in fact, that we couldn't even park in the same zip code as the restaurant. Ok, so that's being dramatic - but there were road closures that led to a tour of every area but the one we wanted to park in, followed by walking quite a distance. The culprit was a holiday lighting event with lots of those LED flashlight wands that they sell at Disneyland and an abundance of fake Christmas trees. Eventually we made it to the restaurant, where the food was mostly delicious and the sangria was mostly ice. You win some and lose some.