Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I know that it was 2 days ago, but I just can not get enough of these pumpkin cookies! You've got to try them out if you've got some left-over pumpkin. Or not left-over. Either way.

I had a great Thanksgiving. First thing in the morning, I signed up for The Battle at Midway Triathlon which is going to be the Rocky Mountain qualifier race for Age Group Nationals next year! I won my age group there this year so I'm hopeful! Just because there was only one other woman in my age group at that race doesn't mean I don't have a chance. I can't say I loved putting in 30 for the age I will be next year. The 30-35 age group is always bigger and more competitive. Plus, I'm sure there will be a lot more people racing now that it's a qualifier. Looking at this year's numbers, though, I just need to be 8 minutes faster to get into the top 5 (to qualify for Nationals). It was also comforting that I beat #5 in the swim and the bike, but she beat me in the run and therefore the whole thing. Even more reason to focus on running this year.

We went to Heber to spend Thanksgiving with my family, along with my dad's girlfriend and her kids. I went and worked with my sister at The Children's Place in Park City on Black Friday, and it was actually kind of a fun day. It went by really fast because it was so busy, and what could be nicer than folding clothes, listening to music and eating junk food all day, not having to worry about anyone else but myself? When we got home, I realized that my feet were really sore, though. I had planned on going running after work, but couldn't bring myself to do it with my feet hurting so much. I didn't even want to stand any longer!

We spent one more night at my Dad's house which was nice because Pete and I were able to go to our favorite place for dinner, Tarahumara. The lady who owns it was happy to see us. She's so sweet. We also drove by the house that we really liked when we were looking, but couldn't afford at the time. Now, it is still for sale, and for 20,000 less than what we paid for this house! Plus it's in Heber! We're going to watch it and think about it for a while. It sure would be nice to live there again, though.

This morning I finally got that run in. It was a really hard run! It seemed like most of the run was uphill, against the wind. Plus my ipod died after one song. One song! Come on ipod! It was kind of fun to run on the roads where I really first started running, and where I realized that running could be fun. It's so nice running there because not once did I have to stop for cars or a traffic light. I saw very few cars, and the ones I did see were able to go into the other lane to stay away from me, and they would smile and wave. I did have one scary dog come running out after me, though. It was a Blue Heeler which is the kind of dog my grandpa has always had, and they've never seemed scary to me. This one did, though. It had it's teeth bared and it was just looking at me like it wanted to rip my throat out. I had to stop and yell at it for a few seconds before it would back off. So, there is a down side to running in the country.

I did 6.2 miles (10k) in exactly one hour. Here are my splits:

1. 9:02
2. 9:25
3. 9:58
4. 10:19 (uphill, against the wind remember?)
5. 9:33
6. 8:41 (heading home, downhill!)
7. 3:15 (really slow .2)

I jogged pretty slow for a little bit at the end. I was tired! Then I cut through the field and across the canal to get back to my dad's house, feeling a little bit like Emma or Ann of Green Gables. It didn't seem so romantic without the long flowing dress and and basket of freshly picked wildflowers, never mind the fact that I was covered in sweat and wearing running attire.

With such a good run last time, it was good to have a harder one today to be reminded that not all terrain is the same. The hills will just help me get faster. Plus, there are a LOT of hills at The Battle at Midway Tri.