An Active Thanksgiving

Eddie often remarks, "Wow, we've had an active day." I'm not sure if Thanksgiving is supposed to be a day of rest. I suppose some look forward to doing nothing and watching TV, but it's so much more enjoyable to do something out of the ordinary, get outside, and use Thanksgiving as a kick start to the holidays. So this year, I signed us up for our first ever Oceanside Turkey Trot and donned our Carlsbad Running Lab shirts courtesy of my running coach who registered us as team for the race. It wasn't easy getting out of bed at 6a on a holiday, but once we were up, we were so glad to be together at the start line of a fun and fast race by the ocean. The mood was festive with many runners in costumes and turkey hats (much to Eddie's disappointment he never got one). Here's our take on the Turkey Trot and there's not a lot we would change.

Pros
Well organized
Nice quality shirts
Awesome medals
Plenty of bars and fruit at the finish
Flat course
Late start time 8:20a
Announcer continuously reminded the crowd to line up in the right corral

Cons
No water bottles - cups of warm water instead

While few places were open for breakfast, I managed to find a pho place close by. That meal was highly forgettable, but I did take Eddie to a new donut place that he really liked. Thanksgiving dinner consisted of turkey legs, macaroni and cheese, stuffing, roasted vegetables, rice, biscuits, and cranberry sauce. My favorite was the lingon berry/apple cider from Ikea that was slightly tart. We set up our first artificial Christmas tree while celebrating our first Thanksgiving in our new home. I love our scented tree ornaments that makes our home smell like a real tree. We decorated while listening to holiday classics.

My surprise for Eddie delivered to the office.

 

Eddie high fived this gnome named Jerome during the race.

Feeling chipper and ready to start the race.

 

The start line on a gorgeous sunny 65 degrees day.

Done! When do we eat?

The Carlsbad Running Lab Team

 

0 miles and Tons Food

We went way off the grid on this most recent trip to San Francisco. With heavy rains and cold weather, it wasn't exactly enticing to run outside. So we dined on dim sum, pizza, beer, and then my Aunt Tina surprised us with an early Thanksgiving dinner. While we could have saved Eddie some dough by not stopping at the casino on the way home from Russian River Brewery, I guess it wouldn't have been as memorable as we had many firsts on this trip such as the first time doing a beer tasting with my family, first time eating pizza at a restaurant as a family (always done delivery), first time I saw my brother and Eddie get a little tipsy at 12p PT. Just did my Monday run and feel every mile of it. 3 day work week - here I come!


My brother and Eddie - it's 5 o'clock somewhere.

Dad's Masterpiece - a hot pot dinner.

Eddie and Pliney the Elder

 

7.5 Miles and a Surprise Trip to Irvine

Our weekend didn't start or end the way I expected. The schedule said 10 miles, but we ended up both running 7.5. With the sun glaring and the finish location just too close, I opted not to run the extra 2.5 miles. I just wasn't feeling it, but I was delighted to see Eddie walking towards me at the finish, greeting me with a huge smile. It was the toughest 7.5 I've done in quite some time. As all runners know, we all just have those days. After our run, we were eating breakfast when Eddie said he had a surprise for me. He had booked a getaway for us in Irvine! I had been wanting to get away for a while and I couldn't believe he had planned this for us. He took me home so I could pack, and after lunch, we headed up north.

Eddie had scoped everything out in advance. The hotel we stayed at was nearby plenty of shopping and entertainment. We saw Beyond the Lights, a romantic comedy that I'd wanted to see, and we both really enjoyed it. It was really nice to spend some time with my hubby. It was so thoughtful of Eddie to surprise me! What a gentleman.



Irvine Spectrum - it was great to spend the day walking outside.

They even have a ferris wheel.

9 and One of Us it Not Feeling Fine

After a strong finish of 9, one of us is not feeling all that fine. With a headache and a bit of fatigue, Eddie isn't totally in tip top shape, but maybe corned beef, potatoes, and cabbage will help him feel better tonight. We had a nice breakfast with eggs, pancakes, and sausage. Eddie had his usual eggs omelet. We couldn't find a good comedy on Netflix so we opted for Side Effects, which was a thriller but we found it terribly slow. Eddie fell asleep but came to when Clueless came on. I guess the thriller wasn't so thrilling. We're getting some house stuff done tonight, and I'm looking forward to a productive week and more activities next weekend!

Traning Schedule - 10 weeks to Half Marathon

17 11/8/2014 9 mi
18 11/15/2014 10 mi
19 11/22/2014 8 mi
20 11/29/2014 10 mi
21 12/6/2014 11 mi
22 12/13/2014 8 mi
23 12/20/2014 10 mi
24 12/27/2014 12 mi
25 1/3/2015 8 mi (or 6 mi since we're running the half next week)
26 1/10/2015 So Cal Half

8 Miles

We started with over 200 pieces of candy and had about half left at the end of our first Halloween at our new home. Our showpiece were lanterns that lit up and spoke when people approached. It was fun to see the kids' reactions, which ranged from scared, curious, and delighted. It was a busy night shuffling between providing directions to a lost pizza delivery boy with poor cell reception to non-stop visitors. Thankfully, the pizza and wings did show even if it was almost 2hrs later. We really felt the fall weather arrive when a very loud rainstorm woke us up at night and our 7a run was met with a strong cold winds . Still - we made it through 8 miles and both finished strong. Despite Eddie's work travel this week, I was proud to see him run ahead with a burst of energy in the second half.

While there are many reasons I love my hubby, today gave me one more reason. After our run, he suggested we go for Pho for breakfast. Thank goodness for places that open at 9am, because it was exactly what we needed after running outside on a cold day. I wonder if they're open on Thanksgiving? We are doing a turkey trot after all. We also bought a 7ft Christmas tree today that Eddie says we can set up on Thanksgiving. Bring on the turkey legs, stuffing and cranberry sauce, we're ready!



Is Eddie a pilot or old man from Up?