Little Miss Runner Pants

thanksgiving for me, these past few years, has been nothing to celebrate. my parents in st. louis, grandparents in ft. worth and a job to return to on friday has meant turkey days spent alone.. either at the movie theatre or at home, curled up with a frozen pizza, with my glasses on, hair in a ponytail, and pajamas all day long.

and for the most part... thats been just fine with me.

but this year... things have changed. and although i'm unclear as to whether or not you can declare something tradition in its first year of being... i'm pretty sure i started a new one for myself. and i'm kind of excited about it.

growing up, i didn't run. ever. it was never something my family did, we didn't get together and... go run.

even just the thought of it is weird so growing up, even recently, the idea of having a "traditional race" to run in every year.... never occured to me. i don't think i even realized that was an option. in my world... they didn't exist.

but thats the funny thing about this lifestyle.. the more active you become, the more you realize there is to do. and this year's thanksgiving was no exception.

many many weeks ago, one bored afternoon, i came across the 2006 KC Turkey Trot held at the Sprint Campus and figured... ah what the hell.. its not like i'm doing anything else that day. why not? and signed up. i mentioned here on the blog that i had a 5k in the forecast, and kinda sorta even trained for it.

(not really. but lets pretend!)

thanksgiving morning, after a coffee-stop for the roommate and his EW, we met up at the start-line with 0% boy and girl, her nephews and Popcorn Man... a fellow KCM member. it was a perfect running day and i had almost completely forgotten it was thanksgiving until i saw the costumes, the crowds and the kids.

lots of kids.

thats when it occured to me... there are families out here. doing this together. on thanksgiving.

how cool is that?!

the race itself was pretty uneventful. we ran through the Sprint campus, turned left at the first mile (and water stop... why is there a 1-mile water stop in a 3 mile race? i don't get it.), went around the block, turned right to come back onto campus and finished where we started.

the race was easy. not easy... i was running with 0% and felt as though a lung might collapse (this probably goes without saying, but... she runs a slight bit faster than i. i kept up as best i could, averaging about a 10:30 pace from what i can gather... but it was rough. doable, and actually the entire time we were running i was in a state of shock at the fact that my legs were moving that fast, but... regardless...) and i was, for the first time in my life, running sans-music, which for me is almost more impressive than the PR.

(actually, i had a bit of oh bloody hell what'll i do if she wants to talk while we run?! moment early on. as most of you know, i'm a bit of a loner when it comes to running. i've never actually maintained a talk and run situation for more than a few mintues and i literally didn't know what to do.

then i remembered i dont actually have to be plugged in to get my legs moving so... it turned out alright. go figure.)

after the race 0% and crew went their seperate ways and while i roamed around in search of my ride i took some time out to stop and just watch.

there were kids of all ages, parents, and grandparents. dad's running with their daughters. mom's pushing strollers with their little one's in tow. brothers talking smack about who ran faster, stood taller, hit harder and "hey!! where'd you get that! gimme, i want one! around the donut table.

it was a family event. one that it seemed everyone enjoyed... and thats when it hit me.

i should do this. why didn't i do this before? this is fantastic... i should do this.
every year. forever. i want to be that family. i want my kids and my husband to run with me. i want this to be something we DO.

i want this tradition!!

yeah.. thanksgiving, this year, was different. instead of waking up alone i had a roommate and friend to conspire with. instead of racing alone i had 0% to run with, and instead of a movie and pizza i had a reason to celebrate and dress up, as 0%'s family graciously welcomed me into their home.

thanksgiving this year gave me something to be thankful for... and as traditions go, i can't think of a better one to look forward to.