Entry for November 29, 2010

Just to recap the past week:
Traveled through 4 states;
Slept in 3 different beds (and on one couch);
Drove 1,255 miles; ran 3.1 miles;
Ate from 4 different turkeys;
9 desserts - peanut butter cake, carrot cake, fudge, chocolate chip cookies, nanner puddin', cinnamon streusel cake, apple pie, icing stuffed cookies, Oreo cake and lemon bars;
Fussed at 1 noisy cat in the middle of the night 1 too many times;
Played 9 baskets of disc golf with son, grandson and son-in-law;
Hit 1 deer on NC 24/27;
Watched 1 speeder in Charlotte fly by us and later get pulled (YES!);
Had a great time with Gin, my 2 parents, our 2 children & their 2 spouses and our 2 grandsons.

The picture is post race of the Lake Norman Turkey Trot 5k in Cornelius, NC. Caris came up with the idea that we should spend time together running in different races like the 5k. This was our first and was a big learning experience for me. I learned that my race time starts when the horn blows, regardless of how close I am to the start line. Caris and I lost 45 seconds because of where we stood in the pack. We walked for 45 seconds to the start line because of the crowd. My personal timing device recorded 28:30. My official race time was 29:15. I know what I'll do next race. I'll be the one at the back of the 10k pack, and when that race starts, I'll ease up to the start line and wait for the 5k group to meet me there. Maybe I'll get run over at the beginning or maybe I'll get going quick enough to make a 45 second improvement in my race time (hehehe).

I really don't care that I lost that much time. The important thing to me was running with Caris for half the race and finishing the race. Caris let me leave her at the half way point. I think my long stride may have pushed her harder than she is used to. The long hill on the frontage road pushed my heart rate over 170bpm while maintaining my stride rate. The good thing was topping the hill and only having 2/10 of a mile to go. I legged out the last straight away heading into the finish line. I recovered nicely and was able to encourage Caris for her finish line dash. Overall we enjoyed being able to spend time together pre-race and for the first 1.5 miles.

This past Thanksgiving was a great one. I enjoyed almost every part except the deer being hit Saturday night. I had the OH!! SHIT!!! going full force at impact. The deer rolled forward into the center lane. We did not stop to check on its condition because of the darkness and traffic behind us. I pulled into a parking lot further up the road to check the damage. Just a few cracks in the plastic bumper and the center grill emblem were the only issues. We got lucky on this and were thankful the airbags didn't deploy and that we were not hurt at all.

I am thankful for my family for making this weekend a great one.

Less than four weeks 'til Christmas!
Y'all being good?
P@