Thanksgiving Run

Here is what it looked like.  It was 11 miles right out the door and back home.  The weather was BRILLIANT!  The wind was low.  The temps were in the high 30s.  The sun was shinning.  I will add captions later.  Now it is time to eat!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Veteran's Day

So my eldest has been very tuned into the eleventh minute, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, of the eleventh year for a couple of months now.  She was not sure how she wanted to mark its passing, but she wanted to be at home.  So as the minute approached she had not quite decided what she was going to do to mark the occasion.  I of course said she should mark it with a show of love, like hugging her sister.  She declined.  In the end one minute before the moment she grabbed bells and she and her sister stood in the kitchen ringing them.  I though it was a fitting way to honor our veterans and the end of the war that should have ended all war.

As I ran this evening I tallied all of the service men and women in my family.  I was surprised as I thought of more and more who have and are serving in the Army, the Navy, and the Coast Guard.  I have never really focused on it the way I did during my run tonight.  I don't think I have ever though quite as much about Veteran's Day as I did today either (thanks to my daughter and all of those 11s).  I am hoping that my young cousin, who is in the Army right now, will be greeted by a more grateful country when the time comes for her to leave the service.  Anyway, be grateful for their service and honor them in your thoughts and actions.

Last night running in the light!

So early Sunday morning we fall back.  We loose an hour of light at night :(.  Not my favorite thing.  So tonight I took the camera with me on my evening run to say good night to the light and capture a little of fall in southern New England.  Once the light was gone I turned on my flashing glow stick and kept on running.  After an hour the stick shuts off and must be restarted.  It is a little reminder of just how much effort you have already put in.  Anyway...here come the photos.  I hope you enjoy at little bit of fall running.

Check out her running skirt!

I love this red door!

I love that there was still a little Halloween out there.

I picked up this reflective hat at the Amica Half Marathon race expo in Newport for $10.

My jacket was on, the off, then on again as the temperatures fell and the wind increased.

This sign is about 8 feet high.  I think it grew UP with the tree.

Old trolley shelter 

On the inside looking out.

Rock wall along the cemetery edge. 

More Halloween decorations sticking around just for me!  I love holiday lights. 

Bumblebee runners rule!

Saturday night brought snow, but Sunday was still a great day for a 5K.  I have been wanting to do a race in my bumblebee costume and Sunday I got my chance.  The Monster Mini 5K was scheduled to be run on Sunday morning and the report came through that despite the early snowstorm the course was clear and the race was on.  We showed up early enough to find parking and see the kids 1K.  Everyone was in costumes.  It was very exciting.  I could not believe how many bumblebees, ladybugs, and fairies were at the race.  The race officials had declared the 70s the default theme.  I found the 70s costumes vaguely disturbing.  The main thing I guess is that everyone was there to run, so who cares what they were wearing.

My goal was to have mile splits under 8 minutes.  To say that we sprinted off the line is an understatement.  I had lined up with the 8 minute folks.  It seemed like we were doing closer to a 7 minute miles for the first few block.

Check out that speed!  We are only about 50 feet beyond the start and look at all of that running room.  We really were sprinting off the line!

I checked my speed after about 4-5 uphill blocks and settled in.  The downtown roads were under repair and no one was calling out the 4 inch asphalt shelf across the road.  I did not see anyone go down, but it was a wakeup call reminding me that pre-running a course, especially a 5k course, is a good idea.  I settled in and had a great first mile around 7:30.  My second mile seemed to be around 15:45 or so.  My final ended up being 24:20 with 7:52 mile averages.  I had done it!  I wanted to see how my summer race season was winding up and where I was going into the winter race season.

My daughter had made this charm for my husband for his bike races.  He passed it off to me on Sunday morning.  It really did help me "Go Faster!"  Try pinning a charm onto your race bib.  It may be just what you need.

After the race we headed to Wholefoods to do a little shopping.  I went in my bee costume.  They were a race sponsor after all and it was Halloween weekend.  When you are a Bumblebee in a food store where would you stop?  A photo in among the honey seemed too good to pass up!