thanksgiving day 4, er 6, miler

i was lucky enough to get the morning off on this beautiful thanksgiving day and decided to once again head out to the portland thanksgiving day 4 miler. it was cold when i woke up and there was frost on the ground and car so i bundled up (huge mistake). when i left the house i was in capris, sweatpants, long sleeve flannel lined running shirt, running jacket, north face fleece, fleece headband... you'd think i was going to alaska to run this race haha. but of course i shed a few layers before getting out of the car, and warmed up for a mile before heading inside to register.

i saw a few friends and made a quick trip to the bathroom. i was supposed to find melissa but we hadnt specified a place, which made it difficult in the crowd of people. i ended up finding my cousin kim and we walked up to the start, and 5 minutes before the race began melissa (and jamie) found us! it was a thanksgiving miracle :) i also saw jaymee, and we high fived before she darted off ahead towards the start line. i suddenly became jealous of her short shorts, knowing my capris were going to be a bit too hot.

i didnt have high expectations for this race, mostly just running for fun with great people on a day when i truly give thanks for the people in my life and my ability to run. the starting cannon scared the hell out of us and we took off. i learned my lesson from last year not starting too far back (it was SO crowded last year!)... it was still quite crowded but thinned out within a half mile or so. my first mile was about 7:50 which i was fine with, actually thought it was too fast for what i had figured i would be going.

then comes the hills. boooo. i felt good the first time around, but the course is two loops so we see the hills twice. barf. (for some reason i keep coming back to this race regardless of how much i complain...) mile 2 was a bit slower i think, closer to 8:10... i dont really remember mile 3 except that i was overheating big time... and i walked for about 30 seconds on the last hill before cruising down to the finish (a DOWNHILL finish whoooo hooooo.... my watch said 6:40 pace, oops).

finish: 33:18

overall 646/1748

i ran a mile to warm up before the race and ran a mile after because it was so nice out (and my car was about a half mile away). then i enjoyed hot chocolate and a coffee roll from dunkin donuts and washed my kitchen floor before heading to work. turkey dinner and the annual viewing of love actually to come tonight at my parents house!

(once again no pics from this race. something is clearly wrong with me lately... i have two more races left this year, ill be sure to improve on the pics...as in actually take some.)



as always, this is how i spent my night before thanksgiving

and were doing another family football pool again this year, unlike last year where i had my cat pick my teams i just went with random pics and numbers this year.

game 1: 12:30 houston @ detroit

 my projected winner: houston

 total points: 57
  **as its looking right now as i write this that houston might not win. shocking.**

game 2: 4:15 washington @ dallas

 my projected winner: dallas
 total points: 34

game 3: 8:20 new england @ new york jets

 my projected winner: new england

 total points: 42

the winner is whoever gets the most games right. but incase of a tie:

 closest to total points of game 3

 closest to total points of game 1

 closest to total points of game 2

definitely not holding my breath for the $20 to come my way.

as always, im so very very thankful for all of the things and the people in my life. the experiences i have had, the ones that are yet to come, and everyone/everything that makes this journey what it is... i truly appreciate it all.

happy thanksgiving to all!!