Thanksgiving 10th Birthday 10K

What a great way to start Thanksgiving! I got up this morning and my sweet 4 year old and I sang "Happy Birthday" to his older brother....my wonderful 10 year old!!! I had decorated the dining room and put out his presents. So in the very early morning hours (before 7AM on a non school day is very early for us) I got to watch that sweet boy open his birthday presents and be so happy with a celebration meant just for him. :) I love birthdays for that reason....a day where the celebration is dedicated to you. After our breakfast....I dropped the boys with their dad and headed out to Ashburn for the 10K race. (As a sidebar...my oldest thought it was great that I was running a 10K on his 10th birthday....I burst that bubble just a little when he got too excited and asked me to place 10th to make it even cooler....I had to explain to him that mama is NOT that fast...LOL).

So....I was already a little annoyed with the organizers of this race because in my preparations for the race I had checked out the water stops along the course and found only ONE! I have run many a race now.....and only one water stop in a 10K is not quite the norm. If you read yesterday you saw my rant about this (if you didn't, check it out here). Now that sets you up to know that I was already irritated. That annoyance grew even more when I arrived more than half an hour before race to find that the lots I was told would be available for parking had no spots! I am not so new to this to think that this wouldn't happen so I had scoped out a few alternatives the night before. I had to fall back on that plan. Admittedly it wasn't a great "Plan B"....the shopping center adjacent to the running course has a grocery store. Why is that bad you ask? Well....it is Thanksgiving day....do you know how many people hit the grocery store that morning for forgotten items?!?!?! I do....just ask me :) But the good news about this same shopping center is that it has a Starbucks! No no no I was not going to stop for a latte before my race. But I was going to....and did....stalk the coffee lovers leaving the shop until I got a parking space! That did take a considerable amount of time. I got out of the car with 7 minutes until race start time and not a good idea of how far I really was from the starting line. So I got out.....grabbed my needed race gear....and warmed up for the race by....well....running to the start line!

Fortunately the disorganized race organizers held true to my existing ideas about them....the start was delayed. While normally I would have been further irritated...this actually worked out for me :) Once the race started...I was happy to be off and running again. My last training run had felt great. I had found myself a good energy gel to consume partway through the race. And after it was over, I got to go home to see my family and stuff my self (guilt free) with Thanksgiving trimmings! The course was actually very nice. Mostly flat with a few small hills and all road with no mixture of road and trails. I used my new running app for the first time in a race situation. It really helped push me at the end when there wasn't much left of the race. Although it did help to further my irritation with the race organizers (poor folks can NOT catch a break with me)

because the course was closer to 6.5 miles than 6.2. Yeah I can handle the extra .3 miles but my time is supposed to be based on 6.2 and I am crazy about getting my time right :) Like several other races I have done, I had come alone and run alone. So I didn't stick around for the post race festivities. I took a quick post-race self portrait and then headed home to get cleaned up for the Thanksgiving/Birthday celebrations.

Happy Thanksgiving All! I am so grateful to be able to stay healthy enough to complete all these races and for all that running has brought into my life. I am also grateful for all the family and friends that support me. If you are reading this, you are among those people. Have a great Thanksgiving.

XOXO - Jenn