Punta Gorda Turkey Trot Race Report

My husband and I got up at 5am. There was a costume contest going on at the race, so I got back in touch with my Navajo roots and dressed as the Indian Princess I truly am. My friend Stef had some VERY cool indian costume stuff from her daughters' costumes and let me borrow them. Her husband Mark made a bow and arrow holder, whittled a dagger, the feather headband and some collars to add to the dress I already had. He made an awesome 5 foot long spear that looked so authentic. Their daughter even let me take her baby doll that was dressed as an indian too! I borrowed my daughter's moccasins. I was THRILLED!

We got to the race and as we walked up to the registration area, I noticed two things.

1. My knee was killing me.

2. I was the ONLY person in a costume.

My husband, who is very, very shy (we are so opposite, personality-wise) looked over at me and asked if I wanted to change out of my costume before people started pointing and laughing at me. PFFFT. No. This was gonna be even MORE fun, for 2 reasons...

1. This was one race people would never forget me from

2. I was gonna WIN!

The newspaper guy was there, he came and took a picture. I asked him how many other costumes there were. He said two others!! COOL!! Then he said they were both babies. Oh. I can't compete with cute babies! Shoot! Now I won't win. Blah. Whatever. But WAIT!! There were two categories!! Adult, and child. And by "adult", I'm talking age, not porn. Ha!! So my chance of winning came back into sight, and I got to keep my clothes on. Bonus!

They announced the contest, asking all participants to come forward. I pushed through the crowd and stood between the cutie-pie babies. One was an elephant, the other was a turkey. They were adorable! They announced the winner (me) and gave me a $50 gift certificate to a SPA!...OOOOOHHHHH....I'm gettin me an aroma-therapeutic massage!!! Can't wait for that!!!! Truth be told, I didn't even know there was a prize, so it was an unexpected plus to freezing-me-buttocks-off. Yes people. I gets cold here in Florida too. But like the kids in Boston at Halloween, I refused to cover my costume with a winter coat even though I'm just getting over the flu. Proof some people never grow up.

Off to the finish line that I would not be crossing, thanks to my knee. There were so many people at this race that it was tough to find the people I knew. I did see Sherry there with her husband Scott. Her friend Sondra was there too. Sherry got a new PR, but I'll let her post her race report, I won't blow the BIG NEWS!!!!!! (OMG...she totally blew away her last PR)

I saw Bill and Mary, Bill and I ran over the bridge together at mile 20 of the Sarasota Grouper marathon last March. Bill gave me some exciting/sad news. He is doing Space Coast. Sniff, sniff. He hadn't heard that I withdrew from that marathon because of my knee. I'll admit I really wanted to cry. It would have been wonderful to see him there. I had to push away my sadness and just be thrilled for Bill. And I truly am, but man. I wanted to run that race so bad. Bill tried to be nonchalant about it and not mention the extremely cool medal but it slipped out...lol. He felt bad but I UNDERSTAND the excitement, believe me. I honestly feel happy he's going. I can't wait to see his medal and the pictures. How can I not be excited for Bill???? Space Coast marathon is Sunday. I'll be following Bill's progress and I'll post his results as soon as I get them.

Here are a few pictures of the Turkey trot.

Husband Bob and me...

Contestants, you can see why I was concerned about my competition!

Cute babies!

Frank, fellow Endurance team mate and Zoomer!

Scott and Sherry

Sherry crossing the finish line!! GO SISTA!!!!!

YMCA Runner's Club

Well, well, well. I ran 3 miles today without pain. I did feel some tightness near the end so I walked the last half mile. I'm thinking the Turkey Trot is totally do-able tomorrow! Might not PR, but that's fine.

There's a costume contest so I'm dressing up as an Indian. My son keeps calling me Sacajawea but I was leaning more toward Pocahontas....lol. Someone I know has a few Indian props and one of them is a papoose! How adorable is a papoose??? My husband is coming too, he'll get some pictures and if I look as sexy as I think I'm gonna, I'll post 'em.

Back to Runners Club:

There were 3 of us there today, I figured there wouldn't be too many because of the holiday. My sidekick, Mike (LOL) and our newest Endurance team member, Chris and I headed out. Chris admitted he wasn't feelin' much running love today. I admitted I was still breathing impaired and Mike was in his usual form...always ready. We went with an 11 minute pace...at first...then we got talking and found ourselves at 9 min. By then Chris was into it, like I knew he would be and I found a comfy breathing pattern. If you can call it breathing. We settled into a 10 min pace.

It was a nice leisurely run. We stopped at the bridge and saw huge talapia swimming around. There were about 20 of them. There was a HUGE turtle laying on the weeds. Probably 24 inch in diameter sized shell. We skipped the Garden Of 5 Senses Park, reluctantly for me, but the guys were uninterested today. Now that I know how to use the sundial in there, I get such a kick out of it.

Here are a few pictures of the park... Here's the sundial.

Pretty waterfall...... Cabbage garden........

Oooohhhh, a park bench! There's a bench swing in there too.

I lay on it with my iPod sometimes, when I'm needed some

alone time. Very relaxing place.

I hope all of you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families. Eat, drink and BE MERRY!

Kisses and hugs to all,

Kim

Unexpected Plus Side To The Flu

I know. You're probably thinking...."PLUS SIDE"????? Yeah, it's true...and I'm not talking about not having to make dinner, do laundry, or be aware. I'm not talking about being in NyQuil LaLa land, which is one of my fave vacation spots. I'm talking about a real live bennie. Being knocked to the ground for 6 days has made me unable to try to run. I actually took 6 real days off of trying. None of that "oooh, I made it 2 miles" bull. (freakin IT band) I even attempted a core exercise class tonight and had to leave before it even started. That's what I'm talkin' 'bout guys. FORCED sedentary behavior. And I liked it. (said in that voice Carrie's freak of a mother used in that movie...."Carrie".

I woke up this morning feeling rather blah, but so much better than I had been. So I went to work figuring it was only 3 hours. I was very tired but not too bad. Picked up the kids from school, dropped off a prescription, grabbed some groceries, went home, made dinner then decided I could do my class. I got there a little early and while I sat waiting I felt very warm. I was not feeling good at all. I think once I stopped for 5 full minutes I had to acknowledge I wasn't fully myself yet. So I did the smart thing and put the ball away and was walking out the door. Of course by then all my exercise girlie-friends were walking in. I wanted to hang out with them!!!!! But I did not. I'll catch them in yoga tomorrow night.

The Punta Gorda Turkey Trot is Thursday. I really want to run it! I'm pretty sure I can do it. I've decided even if I can't run, I'm going to see Sherry, Ed, Mike, Chris, Steve, Jim, and a whole buncha friends do it. I found out when I had to sit out that 10K during Endurance Project, that I L-O-V-E-D seeing my friends run across that finish line! So no matter if I can run or not, I'll be there.

To all my injured Blogger-friends...it seems to be an injury infested blogosphere these days. Maybe over-training during the summer, maybe you're all just gettin old, I dunno. Rest up, ice...do some relaxing by the fire with your love. Take this time to realize what's really important: you can't run. JUST KIDDIN!!!! We'll all recuperate and be back on the streets soon enough. Hang in there, you're NOT alone. Hail to the Aleve bottle.

Kisses!!!

Happy Sunday!

My nose stopped running...must have an injury too. HA! Now I have a splitting headache, I'm not sure if it's congestion or from reading this post twice. I'm coughing from deep within my soul and I quite possibly have a fever. My lips are all cracked and dry...Anybody wanna kiss????

On a positive note (betcha thought I was gonna complain some more, huh?) (maybe later)...anyway...On a positive note, I think my knee is getting better. It's not hurting at the end of the day, I worked 2 waitressing shifts without any pain and I can do this now! Which is strange, cuz I could never do it before! As soon as I can breath without coughing I'll give running a whirl again.

Also, it's frickin freezin here in Florida! It was 40 degrees this morning! I do not like to run in the cold. I hate when the inside of my nose freezes and stings. Luckily, if I wait until 11am, it's usually at least a balmy 80 degrees. I can handle that.

The Patriots play the Dolphins today at 1pm. That should be a GREAT game! I hope I have sufficient amounts of beer and chips...I might have to actually shower and get dressed if I don't. GAWD.