Trot Like a Turkey--Gratitude

I mentioned that I got to run on Thanksgiving, right?

Pre-race with my friends the Allens

It was a beautiful, warmer than normal AZ Thanksgiving.  I was ready.

The starting buzzer sounded, and then I began to doubt what I had ever been thinking--my 43-year-old body and running 6.2 miles?  What?

That first mile was a killer.  I've been training indoors on the treadmill and that is very different from outside on the road.  The first mile is a slight uphill, and for AZ-trained runners any incline over 1.56% is a hill. I had forgotten to download songs to my phone, so I was relying on the I HEART Radio app for music to distract me.  For some reason the connection was off the entire race and radio was intermittent and not very distracting. My legs were screaming that this was unfamiliar and that I should stop this minute.

I didn't.  Mile two came, and my body remembered, my mind relaxed, and I hit my stride.  Brad brought his bike and occasionally found me in the crowd of thousands to shout encouragement or snap a picture.

And I ran.

Around mile four I had the clear thought, "I love this.  Wow.  This feels fantastic."  I'm sure I was smiling.

My goal time was 1:10, and I finished (can you see me up above as I cross the line?) at 1:02:25.

It was far from a world record or winning the race (as Hyrum asked me).  In fact, it was way off my personal best for that course.

But I felt like I'd really killed it.  Almost eight minutes faster than I'd hoped.  

Post-race with the super-speedy Allen clan

Best part?  I wasn't injured after I finished.  You know what that means?

Phoenix Half-Marathon--HERE I COME!!!!