Gobble Gobble

So, hubby and I kicked off our Thanksgiving by running in the Gobbler's Run 5K at 8 am yesterday - with about 2000 other runners, walkers and pets. It was our first 'Turkey Trot' and we did very well indeed, shaving another minute off his PR. It might have to become a tradition since it also shaves a good 300+ calories off the gluttony of later in the day (more on the calorie counting later), but throughout the race I was haunted by a similar Turkey Trot that occurred about 12 years prior - the one my sister-in-law ran in when we visited her in LA for Thanksgiving that year.

At that time (let's just say I was barely of legal drinking age) I was definitely not a runner and the thought of even watching other people run at 8 in the morning made my stomach turn. So, while my then boyfriend (now husband) rose early and went to the race with my future sis-in-law and her then boyfriend (now ex-husband), I think I remember rolling over and pulling the covers up further around my grumpy and likely hungover face. And, I believe I was still planted firmly on the futon when they returned. I also clearly remember feeling smuggly well-rested the rest of the day, as everyone else in the apartment yawned and smiled sleepily over the turkey and fixins. What a selfish little bitch.

Today (and yesterday in particular) I feel pangs of guilt at my self-absorbed indifference 12 years ago. My sister-in-law is no longer a runner - never going beyond the 5K for whatever reasons life threw at her - but when I posted a blurb about the Gobbler's Run yesterday on Facebook, she was the first to "Like". Cue even stronger pangs of guilt.

She's still in LA and we haven't had the chance to talk in a while, but when I see her next month it will behoove me to express my shame and thank her for planting the seed back then (however subliminally) that may just have precipitated my successful Gobbler's Run this year.

Now on to the other 'Gobble Gobble' context - that having to do with calorie counting and the like. As I have expressed in previous posts, running for me has not so far resulted in a trimming of the waistline. At first, the goal was just to push myself to that marathon distance. I paid little attention to how many calories I was actually taking in - especially as those 2+ hour runs made me more and more ravenous. What's a little carb loading amongst friends?? I needed those extra calories, dammit!

Well, a year on and a few pounds heavier, I know better and about 6 weeks ago went back to an online calorie counter to keep my running/eating habits in check. 6 weeks and 6 lbs ago, haha! Today, there are numbers on the scale that I haven't seen in a good long while and it feels really good. It also helped that my brilliant husband fixed the treadmill (and saved us about $1K with a simple tightening of bolts), but the calorie counter from www.everydayhealth.com caters just enough to my Type A tendencies to bring it all together.

So, this Thanksgiving, I was very aware of how many glasses of wine and half slices of pie went in, as well as how many calories I burned in the 5K. I ended the day only slightly over my lose-a-pound-a-week calorie budget, which I view as a resounding success. Now, if I can just keep it up through the holiday season, and as I ramp up my running distances toward that half-marathon in Feb.

Fingers crossed.