A Perfect Day!

The last entry on my 25 thankful days leading up to Thanksgiving, could not have been scripted better.

Today we woke up to the sound of nothing. No rain, no wind and a strange object beaming through the windows. Sun! Perfect weather for the Turkey Trot. We got dressed and headed over to the Aquatic Center, my old stomping grounds from high school. If there was one part of today that wasn't perfect it was the packet pick up line. Not having an early packet pickup option yesterday, all had to wait in one of two lines. Judging by the length of the line many folks decided to run this morning given the beautiful day and the likelihood of consuming far too many calories all day.

Once we got the packets we mingled a bit, it was great to see so many people we knew there. Families, dogs, friends all together to enjoy a beautiful Thanksgiving morning. I kissed Sean and wished him good luck as he jockeyed for the front of the pack. Content in my mid-pack placement, I stayed put. I was chatting with a friend when the race started. I had a number in my head I wanted to beat, but who knows with these things. I took off and blasted the music in my ear. As I rounded the corner into the first street I was so excited to see the sea of families in front and behind me. I fell into a pace that felt right and just enjoyed the day.

I was shocked to see as the miles passed that I continued to stay faster than normal. I checked my watch and I was on target to meet my goal. I kept the motivational pounding of "The Killers", "Ozzy" and anything else speed metal like I could find to keep my feet moving. The route weaved in and out of community neighborhoods and people had come out to cheer us on. It was better motivation than I could imagine. Before I knew it I rounded the corner back into the parking lot where I started. That is where I saw Sean. He had finished already and was joining step with me to run me around the track. I checked my watch again and was still on target to finish within my goal. I gave it all I could. My sister's voice "finish strong" pounding in my head. Sean was talking but I couldn't return the conversation. That has never been a problem for me on a run before, guess I've never worked hard enough before!

I finished the 5k in 29:22. My fastest time ever. I was 4th in my age group and 143 out of 476 people. Sean was 2nd in his age group and 19th over all. I'm married to a rabbit.

My friend Melinda finished the 10k with a PR of 58 minutes too. Rockstar! Sean was nice enough to mark the occasion with a photo!

From there we got a well earned Starbucks latte in my favorite red holiday cup and came home to prepare for our Ross Thanksgiving Extravaganza. However, I pointed out to Sean that since this year it is just the two of us and we did whatever we wanted all day that we were more like Todd and Margo in the all time classic Christmas movie "Christmas Vacation." They are the Yuppie next door neighbors, kid free, always doing their own thing.

I was initially disappointed at the abandonment of my family this year. However, it has turned out to be the BEST Thanksgiving in recent memory. Without the pressure to be somewhere or have things cleaned up and ready here, we have just enjoyed each others company, cooked some amazing food and generally had one hell of a fantastic day. We DVR'd the Macy's parade so we could fast forward the crap we hate. I made a chocolate peanut butter pie from scratch which we will be eating in just a few minutes to compliment our turkey sliders we plan to make. Nothing like second suppers!

A great race, a new P/R, fantastic food and the love of my life by my side all day long. Yes day 25, is THE PERFECT Day. I hope yours was too.



Happy Thanksgiving from Margo and Todd!