Turkey Day 5K

Sorry for the delay in getting this post up, but I’ve been spending the last 3 days stuffing my face with goodies from the Linder’s and the Stenzel’s. It didn’t take me long to go from Patrick Swayze to Chris Farley.

On Thanksgiving morning, Sarah, Steph, and I ran the Turkey Day 5K in downtown Minneapolis. I decided that I needed to have fun with this run (there’s not much that I don’t have fun with), so I knew that a costume was in order. Steph was going to dress up as well, but she couldn’t find a good costume (or she wussed out, I’m not sure). I didn’t need no stinkin costumed partner - I’d do this all by myself if I had to. So I spent 15 bucks at Jo-Ann Fabrics, and turned myself into a Native American:

Sarah and I in the Target Center before the race.

I had a loin-cloth, a headdress with 7 feathers, and a chest piece with lots of feathers. I made SO MANY friends in that outfit! Everyone smiled. Children laughed. Race volunteers were in shock. I was totally the fun-est one out there.

Sarah, Steph, and I near the start.

The morning was a chilly one. It was around 37 degrees at the starting line, but I was doing fine:

The race was not going to be run for speed. Early Thanksgiving morning, I flipped on the news and heard that there were going to be around 8,000 runners at this race.

What? ...8000? No?! Really....?

I had no idea. I was thinking there’d be around 1 - 2,000 people. But I was NOT expected 8,000. I knew it wasn’t going to be a fast run, but the idea of there being 8,000 people running a 3.1 mile race sealed that notion. Like Sarah said, it was more of an obstacle course than a road race.

This is around mile 2.5 along the Mississippi.
CRAZY!

Sarah figured that the 3 of us finished in about 29 minutes. It was simply a nice, leisurely, topless run in sub-40 degree weather. Actually, during the last mile, I was about the perfect temperature. Here I am with the Turkey Day 5K mascot shortly after finishing:

He looked warmer than I was.
And more delicious.

Here’s Sarah and Steph after finishing:

Sisters? Yes. Of course.

The only crappy part of the day (besides my slight lingering knee pain) was waiting for our T-shirts after finishing. We were in line for longer than the duration of the race itself. Seriously. It was poorly, poorly planned. There were T-shirts being thrown over the crowd to raised hands. It was like a scene at a concert. Only with less of a smell of pot smoke and a little bit more B.O. And as soon as we made our way up to the T-shirt table after over a half hour, they told us they were all out and we had to go into the other line by the other T-shirt truck. Super. I went back to the car to get my body temperature back into the 90s, and Sarah and Steph came back with a T for me after a few minutes. They’re sweet sisters.

Well, we were done with the race, and off to restock all the calories that we burned off on the run (probably by 10 fold). Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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This Should Be Interesting...

Today, I registered Sarah, Steph (Sarah’s younger sister), and myself for the Turkey Day 5K that takes place on Thanksgiving morning in downtown Minneapolis:

I’ve ran twice in the last 2 weeks. And before that, it’s not been pretty. I think I ran 2 or 3 times in the 2 months prior to that. So this won’t be fast.

And to add to the not-being-fast-ness, Steph and I want to dress up. We’ll see if we have time to get Thanksgiving costumes together. Look for pics in a week.

Oh, by the way, check out my Photo Blog. I was commissioned to photograph the cover story for the New York Times Magazine recently, and my image will be on the cover the Magazine TOMORROW! That’s November 19th. Go out and buy a copy.

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Physical Activity in the Past Few Weeks...

...umm...nothing.

Damn cold weather and busy life.

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