Thanksgiving and Jingle Bell 5k with Photos

We had a nice day with hubby's family. Nothing too spectacular to report, but that's only because we always have a good time with them.

My sister-in-law's boyfriend likes a little whipped cream with his pie. He spent sometime applying a protective shell around the dessert.



Thanksgiving at the in-laws typically involves firearms and target practice at some point. :D Last year we shot pop cans off of the fence post. This year we shot clay pigeons. I'd never done that before and had fun. I'm not very good, I only hit three pigeons out of numerous attempts, but would like to try it more often. We may look for a shotgun for me. :D



I did scan the Black Friday ads and didn't see anything worth getting up at 3 a.m. for. I did head to Sioux Falls at 8 a.m. By 9, the town was still hopping at parking lots were full. With patience it wasn't impossible to get a parking spot. Within 4 minutes (I timed it) I had a spot at the mall. Lines moved quickly, I got the boots that I wanted for myself and my giving tree gift.

I don't really like shopping, though I do enjoy finding stuff for people for Christmas. Getting everything yesterday would've been exhausting. This way I can stretch it out. It was a good day to scan for ideas. My brother and his girlfriend were in Sioux Falls so we explored downtown a bit. They were nice enough to hang out with me while I had lunch at Sushi Masa. Yum. I haven't been there for awhile, I need to go there more often.

I had registered myself for the Jingle Bell 5 k. In preparation I wanted to make a couple of festive hats. One to wear while I ran and one for fun.





The Christmas Tree hat was meant to have lights on it. Like actually functioning lights. I bought a set of apparal lights at Hobby Lobby, but wasn't confident in their brightness and didn't have luck switching batteries. So, rather than cutting into the hat, I went on without them.

There was a good turn out for the 5 k run. But, not as many as I thought there might be.





I just didn't want to be last. The race began and everyone went faster than I typically do. I generally plod up and down the driveway at an easy pace and never have much to light a fire under my butt. I went with the group but even at a slightly quicker pace, I fell behind. Though for much of the run I was really only a half block behind the slower group.

Still, I felt self conscious. There weren't many people running, but there were ALOT of people along the street watching. A lot of people said that they liked my hat. I was laughing at myself earlier, I knew that I'd be running slowly... I may as well have a big "LOOK AT MEEEEEE!!!" hat on my head too. :-)



The route started at 14th street and went down Phillips, through the park and back. By the time I got to the last side street before the final approach into the park, there were runners coming back. Falls Park was gorgeous and actually fun to run through. There were many volunteers watching the racers.

Coming back out of Falls Park it's slighly up hill. I made it up the hill and considered my options: continue running or walk just a little bit. I was afraid to walk at all because sometimes that's the death knell. But, I still had a mile to go and didn't want to walk all of that. I'd seen some of the faster runners walking on their way out of the park too, one guy with a side stitch. A few of the 'slower' group ahead of me were taking a walk break also. I thought if there was a time to walk, it'd be now while nobody was around to watch. :D I only walked maybe the distance between two light posts and then I continued on.

Another lady was walking, I passed her. She was fiddling with her ipod. When she started running again, she passed me. However, it wasn't long and she was walking again. I passed her. There were more people around and I felt like I was going at a really good (for me) pace. I felt like I was trying (emphasis on trying) to hold Cycling Cathy off at a time trial. :D

A cousin of my dad's and her husband happened to be at the parade and yelled for me. I kept going. I saw 7th street go by and I'm like, "Ooof, 7 more blocks?" A few people crossed the street completely oblivious to me running along. That was very annoying. I had to go around them. A person doesn't think about that, but when you're tired any little deviance takes a little bit more energy. Nick pointed out that I had training for that though, my dogs are always nearly tripping me up. :D

As I approached the finish line I felt like I'd run a good race for me. Though I've felt like I've had a good run before and not gained any time. The walker lady had been a half block behind me and as I was getting to the line I saw her along my side and I'm like, "Crud!!!" So I picked it up and I think that I got to the line JUST before her. It doesn't truly matter, if I'd been just behind her and officially DFL... I was still with SOMEONE else.

I looked at the clock and it said 32:15, my watch said 32:08. I say to myself, "Holy Sh**, that's 4 minutes faster!!!" My mom didn't expect to see me so early, I had said that it'd take 36 minutes. I had hoped that I'd be a bit faster with a crowd. She says, "YOU SHAVED 4 MINUTES!!!" I say, "I know! I feel like it too!" Then I continued to cough up a lung for the rest of the night. :D

The parade was really nice and a great start to the season.