My First Turkey Trot

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Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday (or, or my international friends, a great weekend). Mine was excellent! We attended three different Thanksgiving dinners (my mom’s, Brian’s parents, and my dad’s) – two Thanksgiving day and one Saturday – did some Black Friday shopping (which was more “Black Friday hanging out with my mom and sister” than it was shopping, but we had a great time), and I ran in my first-ever – but definitely not my last – Turkey Trot.

Our local Turkey Trot was an 8K (about 5 miles) race with a 1-mile fun run and a 3-mile walk in which owners were encouraged to bring their dogs to participate. The canine walkers even got their own goody bags from a local dog treat store. There was a huge great Dane and a boxer who really seemed to like my after-race-banana-flavored fingers.

It was a gorgeous day for a race – bright blue skies, sunny, and in the mid-to-upper forties with over 2,000 people participating. I ran the 8K and was so hoping to be able to maintain a 10-minute-mile pace and finish in around 50 minutes.

The course was mostly flat with a few rolling hills, which was fine with me. I happen to like hills. I think that may make me weird, but they never really have bothered me, which might give me an advantage over the people who hate them. Maybe.

There I am, in the pink behind the guy in the green.

I was getting a little tired toward the end, but I was able to maintain my pace and finish with a chip time of 50:33. That’s an average pace of 10:06!! I was so excited! I know that’s still a snail’s pace compared to a lot of people, but it’s such a huge improvement from the 11:35 or so pace that I had when I first started running.

There I am again, behind the woman in the grey.

I’ve got my second 10K this weekend and I’m so hoping to do it in an hour or so. It’s going to be a great family run and I’ve signed my whole crew up. Brian and the kids are going to do the one-mile fun run/walk while I run the 10K. There’s a hot buffet breakfast after the run and lots of family activities. It should be lots of fun.

Saturday, we had thought we would sleep in since we didn’t have to be at my dad’s until 2:00, but Brian and I both woke up, wide awake, at 9:00…so we headed to the basement and worked out together. I got in an unplanned 4-mile run, which made me feel much better about heading to another Thanksgiving dinner.

I’m hoping that the activity level and the healthier (for the most part) food choices will help make for an acceptable weigh-in this week. If not, I still feel good about how I handled the food aspect of this Thanksgiving and it was exciting to see my extended family enjoying some of the healthier options I brought this year. I got lots of compliments on my green beans.

How was your Thanksgiving? Do you feel good about your food and activity choices or it today the day you’ll climb back up on the wagon?

Do or do not. There is no try.

Kris Bales

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Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.

Kris Bales

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