Awesome Thanksgiving

Despite waking up really early (again), I motivated to the Y to kick off the day with a swim. When I got there, there were about 5 triathlon peeps that I know, we all said hi to one another, and asked them what they were doing. They said they were doing a tri, and I asked how much--:45 swim, 5K (a local race that I did 2 years ago) and a 1-hour spin class. I told them I was doing one, too--1 hour swim, 1 hour run and 2 hour ride. It was nice to see so many people going at it on a holiday!

I really enjoyed my swim, and since I'm trying to be on some sort of training plan, and at this point I've only got my swim workouts in there, I just did what I had scheduled for Friday. The water had been cooled down from the hot, boiling soup of Wednesday, and so it felt really nice, and I swam pretty well, all things considered.

I had worn my running clothes to the Y so I could just drive from there to Waterfall Glen to run. It was still around 32, so I made sure I dried off completely before dressing. I had hoped the trail would be very sunny, but since there are a lot of oak and pine trees in there, it wasn't full-out brilliant sun.

My back was still funky from my Wednesday road run, so I took things really easy, running just under 10:00MPM pace, which killed me mentally, but I knew it was the right thing to do. I want my back to heal up right, and I don't want to fuck it up in the name of going too hard too soon. I would have done that 5K race, but that would have been too risky. Anyway, I enjoyed the run, and it was funny that on the way back in there were hordes of people in there just walking! I guess it's been a few years since we've had good weather on Thanksgiving, so it was nice to see so many people out enjoying at least sun, no snow, no rain, no sleet!

I drove back home and waited for a friend to come over so we could ride on the trainer (I have two of them--well, actually 3, but #3 is a last-resort backup), and we got started a little later than we planned, so we only got in 1:45 of riding, but that was fine. The objective was to do a decent amount of exercise in order to be able to eat somewhat with abandon!

However, Thanksgiving dinner wouldn't be on until at least 3PM, so we had some Endurox and a slice of pizza that I had left over from Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon I got a pizza for Kenny (the contractor) and I, and it was perfect recovery food!

Next, off to the parents of my niece's fiance for dinner. It was an easy drive to get there, but on roads that I don't normally drive on, so it was good I had a navigator with me. Dinner was great, and the attendees were an interesting mix of many ages and perspectives. When it was time to actually sit down to dinner, being that there were 2 tables set up taking up a lot of room in the living and dining rooms, someone called out, "Who is the skinniest person that can fit over here?" And like immediately there were all these fingers pointing at me! I laugh at this because I never think of myself as skinny, but I know I am small compared to a lot of people!

There was so much food, and I ate a decent amount, but I can't eat a lot at a time, and when you are not hosting the meal, it's not like you can then go and pick at the leftovers in the kitchen, which I would normally be doing. But it was OK.

My back loosened up pretty well as a result of well, just being relaxed and being with family and friends. I let my family in on all the remodeling I was having done and looked forward to its completion and then it was just odd that we started talking about Christmas, and all I could think was, shit, it's almost that time! But at the same time, I thought, you know what? My house is going to be all great looking and stuff and that means I can have everyone over--not for Christmas, but sometime in January before I start racing and stuff. That would be a great way to sort of sign off on all the remodeling and move on with things, right?

Then I had a great evening talking and hanging out with a friend, and so it was a very full day, and it felt, in a way, like I am integrating all this stuff into my self now, and it's still a bit uncomfortable and difficult at times, but I do have all these wonderful people around me, my body is healing, my spirit is healing and you know what? This morning when I woke up, I felt like things were bright. I mean you know sometimes you open your eyes and it's your eyes that are the window to your soul and they both control how you "see" what's outside yourself and that, in turn, controls what you let inside yourself, and if you see darkness, then that's what comes inside. And I didn't feel at all dark when I woke up. Maybe a bit swirly still with everything that has happened and is happening now, but I know everything is going to be OK, and it's actually OK now.

So I guess I did a NothingMan yesterday, we'll call it Olympic distance since I only ran a little over 10K. Assuming my back keeps progressing well, I'm thinking I can get in a 1/2 NothingMan in 4 weeks, which is Christmas week! That would be absolutely perfect, because then I'm 4 weeks out from my first indoor triathlon, and a 1/2 will show me that I'm in good shape and ready to add intensity to everything. I like intensity!

I don't know whether I'll get into the Black Friday madness today or not--at this point, all I need to buy is some light bulbs, a few lights and a new toaster! Yes, even though my little old toaster still worked, I decided to pitch it into the dumpster and spring for a new shiny one! So I'll be going toaster shopping, picking up my beautiful granite tile, doing some raking and getting a massage! Sounds like a pretty low-key day to me.

And I have 2 more days after today off. This is turning into a great weekend!