Hot Chocolate, Turkey Trots and Chilly Weather

Oh my goodness....is it seriously December already?!?! Crazy how quickly this year has gone already...and it's almost over...CRAZY!!



So I finished the Hot Chocolate 15K a couple weeks ago which is a race my sister and aunt usually do together. Sadly my sister wasn't able to do it since she rolled her foot and was unable to run, but was able to run with my brother in law and also with my niece as well. My niece, bless her heart, was kind and ran with me for the first 2.5K...I know she held back just for me, but it was nice to have someone to run with for the first bit of the race. While the rest of my family ran the 5K, I braved the 15K which honestly was a nice race...went through some of the neighborhoods I remember running during the Cap City Half Marathon and though it was a chilly day for a race I think it was actually a tad warmer than last year's race. This year they gave out cool "treats" along the race route. During the first 2.5K they handed out large chocolate chips...chocolate....during a race....ummm...YES PLEASE!! Love!! Now during the 15K the rest of the fuel stations offered marshmallows (chocolate and strawberry)...which by the way honestly was really tough to eat on the run...and may I advise that you don't just pop the whole thing in your mouth while you're running....it truly isn't a good thing. They also handed out Tootsie Rolls which after the marshmallows, I decided against eating the Tootsie Roll and saved it for one of my boys waiting for me at the end of the race....bless my family's hearts for waiting for me in the cold to finish the race. They deserve huge kudos!! And also the treats at the end of the race were amazing!! It's so nice running with family and getting together as a group...and I was so happy my niece got to come....a great weekend indeed!! And they had a pretty sweet medal for the 15K too :)

 

Then on Thanksgiving Day my youngest and my niece and I did our local Turkey Trot....it's the first year that our area has done a Turkey Trot...boy was it ever a cold and chilly morning!! It was spitting snow while we were running. It was nice running again with family....they really pushed me to keep a good pace. I averaged slightly over an 8 minute mile which for me is crazy!! It was a nice 5K course in our local park in the county. It was nice and they instead of giving out T-shirts, they gave out these really cool beanies....so nice for something different. So surprisingly, or maybe not so much, my son beat me in this race. How aggravating is it that my son who doesn't run on a regular basis and he runs better than I do....oh to have young legs!! He was really pushing himself bess his heart and I truly am very proud of him for doing this and agreeing to run with his old momma!! The neatest part on this race is that it was a family sweep in the medal department. My niece and my son both got 2nd place in their age brackets and somehow I managed to get 1st in mine...so it was a great day for us!! Best part truly though was running together and just being out there and supporting a good cause. And also burning calories before the turkey feast...lol!!

So now that my race season is officially over it's kind of nice to run only when I want to and for as long or as hard as I want. I ran a 10K this morning and boy was it ever chilly...and it got chillier the longer I went...but at least I made it home before it started to rain. Running in the rain, especially cold rain, is the worst!! So now plan to just take it easy through the holidays and then see how things go come January. After all everything depends on the weather...even though I have access to a treadmill, I am not a fan and I'd still have to go out in the weather to get to it. So we shall see....though I will have to get things in gear come February to gear up for May's Cap City Half Marathon.

Well since I probably won't be back before Christmas, have a very blessed and joyous holiday. Don't forget the reason for the season!! Blessings and have a happy 2015!!