A Thanksgiving 5K + My Siblings

Heading home for Thanksgiving this year, I forgot about the inevitable cold weather that’d greet me in Chicago. Luckily, on Thanksgiving Day it was 55 degrees, and we were enjoying the sunshine as we ran the Turkey Trot pre-meal.

Here is my family at the race – Dad, Jeff, Nikki and I ran, and Mom, Jon, and Kylah all walked. I ran the race in 37:12, my new personal best.

We came home to prepare for the feast, and while waiting for the turkey to be done, I snapped these shots of my siblings being ridiculous, aka themselves.

Nothing like being home to keep your spirit silly and your laugh fresh, chicks.

Today is our last day in Chicago, and I’m going to drink some coffee, hopefully participate in Local Saturday shopping, and enjoy these two and the rest of the family until I head back with Jeffrey to LaLa land.

 

5gts: home for the holiday edition

Well folks, we’re rolling into Thanksgiving tomorrow, and we have so much to be thankful for. Here’s a good ole classic 5gts edition:

1. Tomorrow I am running my third 5k with my dad, sister, and Jeff.

2. There is prune cake, chocolate chip pumpkin muffins, and a quiche all waiting for me come tomorrow morning’s breakfast.

3. Four more days of vacation means a pizza night, friends to see, a giant turkey, saying grace with my LA family, and yoga classes to be had.

4. Joe Biden. Happy belated birthday, Joe. (Also, this gif.)

5. Thanksgiving, the best holiday of the year!

Happy Thanksgiving, lovelies. Hug someone close.

don’t mind where you are/cause you know where you’ve been

So confession: between starting a new job, juggling GMS, and figuring out how to get through this holiday season, I may or may not have had to restart my 10k training.

Twice.

OK, three times.

I didn’t want to tell you because I felt like a failure, pathetic, useless. Instead of staring mid-September, October 1, or mid-October, I started October 25. Instead of completing my 9 week program, I will run my race in the middle of week 7.

But, chicks, next week I run a 5k with my Dad (his first) and my sister (our second together) and Jeff (also our second together.) Our pace will be faster than my pace running with my sister or Jeff, and hopefully will be another personal best.

Because despite it all, I am getting faster, if slower than I like. I am losing weight, if slower than I like. And on December 8, I will run a 10K. Probably slower than I like, but I will do it. And, after that, my 10k times can only get better.

Pondering all this, I am reminded of song lyrics (because I am always reminded of song lyrics) from Carbon Leaf:

You’ve come far, and though you’re far from the end
You don’t mind where you are, cause you know where you’ve been

I think I don’t mind, chicks.

i would steal enough to make my way into the night

Running Mix, 11/12/12

Blow Me (One Last Kiss)/P!nk
Barton Hollow/The Civil Wars
Never Gonna Leave This Bed/5 Maroon 5
For The First Time/The Script
22/Taylor Swift
Runaway Run/Hanson
Uncharted/Sara Bareilles
Breakeven (Falling to Pieces)/The Script
Faster/Matt Nathanson
When You Feel It/Brett Dennen
We Are Never Getting Back Together/Taylor Swift
I’ve Been Down/Hanson
Sydney (I’ll Come Running)/Brett Dennen
We Could Run Away/Needtobreathe
Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby/Counting Crows
Say You’re Sorry/Sara Bareilles
Come Around/Marc Broussard
Who We Are/Lifehouse
If Only/Hanson
Valley of Tomorrow/Needtobreathe
If I Am/Nine Days
Lost Without Each Other/Hanson
Devil’s Been Talkin’/Needtobreathe
Stay (Wasting Time)/Dave Matthews Band Love
The Way You Lie/Eminem Ft. Rihanna
Doin’ Dirt/Maroon 5
Watch Over Me/Hanson
Fortune Teller/Maroon 5
She’s On Fire/Train
Beating My Heart/Jon McLaughlin

from sea to shining sea, yes, we can.

Well folks, the day is here. I heard NPR talking about President Obama this morning, and how democrats aren’t running out to vote for the President, that we’re more reserved, slower, sluggish.

This one is. I headed to the polls, proud to call President Obama my man. I think that he is the right President for the next four years.

My sister wrote a lovely post this morning that describes some of the reasons that we believe in the President. I look back at a friend of mine who was cast as a “pre-existing condition” a few years ago, and how hard it was for her to get on her feet because she was laid off. Because she was out of work, she had a hard time getting healthcare. How is that something that is logical?

I believe gun laws need to change. I believe that anyone should be able to marry who they love. I believe that if I have no religion I should allowed to have my beliefs in peace.

I know global warming is real. I know that the attack on everyday Americans for believing what they believe is real. I know that I deserve to be paid as much as any man to do the work I do. I know I deserve healthcare, no matter what. I know that the middle class needs help.

I know that I am outspoken, and that I talk about politics a lot. Because politics is everything. Politics is my friends’ right to marry, my sister’s right to healthcare, my right to be paid the same as a man, knowing the government has my back if a natural disaster hits. Politics is my access to reproductive rights, kids’ access to good education.

Friends: we are the ones we’ve been waiting for. Today, let’s change the world and show everyone that America knows the right man for the job: President Obama.

Go vote.