Turkey Trot 2009

We did it!! We did it!! We did it!!

The morning started out with a LOT of nervous energy. Some cereal, a protein drink, and a bit of stretching. In true girly girl fashion, I couldn't decide what the heck to wear. I am a SWEATY Italian woman, and the weather said it was going to be 60 degrees outside, but when we left the house it was close to freezing. I decided on my running pants, a tank top and a long sleeve shirt over it. Liz wore her shorts and an orange running shirt. We left the house at 8:45 to head down to Wash Park.

Liz kept telling me to calm down, that I was making her nervous. I wasn't saying anything so I didn't really know what to change in order to make her less anxious.

We got to the parking lot of South High School and saw what looked like a million people, who were all rearing to go. We got registered, got our t-shirts and decided to walk around the parking lot to warm up. I forgot my camera which I was very upset about, but what can you do?!

There were people dressed like runners, people dressed like turkeys, an elf, an ape, and various other costumes that I can not believe people could run in.

They started the race at 10:15 for the first wave of just runners, and 10:30 if you were going to walk/run. We opted for the second group in case we weren't able to run the whole thing. A decision that I would not make had I known better.

So we get started, and we are amidst mothers, children, strollers, and dogs, and we are trying to dodge and move in and out of people to find a path that we could run at a steady pace. This never happened the entire race.

I ran down the first leg and up the second one before I just had to walk. Then for the last three legs, I did a run/walk combo. It was hot, and there were 9,000 other people and dogs trying to be on the same streets with us.

There were lots of neighborhood folk out on their lawns playing music and cheering everyone on. There was also some jackass cooking bacon, which is cruel and unusual punishment when you are a fat girl trying to run 4 miles.

I finished in 1 hour and 2 minutes, Liz in 1 hour 9 minutes. We finished, which was the most important thing in the world to both of us. 9 weeks ago we couldn't run 1 minute without getting winded, and on Thanksgiving Day we ran our hearts out, and finished our very first race.

We plan on running a 5k next weekend, as well as on New Years Eve (which I am SUPER excited about!)

It was so fitting that we ran a race on Thanksgiving, after we have worked so hard together towards this goal, and on salvaging our relationship. I felt blessed to be in gorgeous Colorado, running with so many other people, and with my love.