Thanksgiving Day Run

We drove up to Sheboygan, Wisconsin on Wednesday night after work. It is so nice to be able to stay with family! My sister and her husband have a beautiful home and are always so willing to let us come and stay.

Thursday came rather fast. The weather was awesome. It was in the 20’s with a light breeze. We got up, got dressed and drove to the YMCA to register for the 10K. Let me tell you how cheap this was. We chose the no t-shirt option and paid $12.00 each. We waited in the car for a while and then we decided to go inside the YMCA to use the bathrooms. It was very nice not having to use a port-a-potty! This race was also a 2-mile fun walk/run for families. I found it enjoyable watching the kids and parents get excited. I found it very fun to watch the parents bundle up the kids in snow suits, boots, and mittens.

Chief and I went outside around 9:15 to wait for the start. I didn’t get too cold waiting. They had a strange start. There was no gun, no sirens, no one said “go” (that we heard). At 9:30 am people just started to run. And run we did!

Chief got in front of me and I was chasing while fussing with my watch. I have no idea if I started it when I began to run or if I hit start when I crossed the timing mat. Since we were chipped I didn’t really care too much. I just like to have an ideal of my mile splits. The race was an out and back along Sheboygan’s Lake Michigan coastline and nearby neighborhoods. I kind of wanted to stay with Chief as long as I could. Being that he got a head of me so quick it took me a mile to get on his heals. Unfortunately for me that is when I got to the bottom of the big hill. Chief is very strong with hills and I am not for two reasons: ITB and hills just suck! The course was not flat. There seemed to be endless rolling hills. I couldn’t get back to Chief but could see him in front of me for most of the first part of the race.

My splits seemed fast. I saw Chief go around the cones at the 5K-turnaround. As we passed by each other he gave me some encouraging words. When I got to the 5K-turnaround, the guy shouted “26:28”. Could he be serious? I looked at my watch and we matched. Holy Cow I never ran a 5 K this fast! I could no longer see Chief so it was up to me to keep up the pace. At mile 4 there was a small water station. After I gracefully choked on my drink, I decided to see how hard I could push. I felt so tired. My heart rate was around 93-95% and I really wanted to be done. I was happy to see mile 5. I latched on to some guy and toward the finish he thought we should “take it”. We picked it up and I saw Chief cheering me on the side of the road. I crossed at 53:07. Later I would find out that my pace was 8:33. Holy crap. Chief did well also. His chip time was 51:21. (Thanks for pacing me babe!)

Other than wanting to puke I felt okay. My knee held up and I was warm enough. What more could I ask for? How about water? Nope, they did not have enough water at the finish line. There was Gatorade and two kinds of Donut Holes but no water! They need to change two things about this race: more water at the end and a person at the start with a megaphone, starter pistol, whistle, air horn, etc., just to let us know when it is time to go. I guess that is why the race was so darn cheap.

After the run, we went to my sister’s to shower and pack up the car to head up to Manitowoc for Thanksgiving dinner with Chief’s family. We had good eats and “feats of strength” – Chief arm-wrestled his nephew. We are lucky to have a great family to stay with. This time we slept over at my other sister’s house. They recently moved to this very pretty home. I enjoyed staying there because it gave me a chance to catch up with my niece and nephew. I wish I lived closer. They change so fast and I really had a blast seeing the kids again. Friday morning came early and I got up at 4:00 am to drive to Green Bay and shop with another sister, niece, and mom. My niece and I had a fun time in the back seat snacking on jelly beans, pretzels, Pringles, and what ever else we had brought or bought. That night we drove back home to Illinois. We don’t usually get home for Thanksgiving because I normally work the day after. I am glad we had the chance this year. It was fun.