A new Thanksgiving tradition

I've got a pretty established routine going.

I have nervous dreams before race day.

I signed up for a 5K Turkey Trot this morning, and I tossed and turned all night long, dreaming random nerve-wracking race-related dreams, like I drove my father-in-law's police car to the race, but then I locked all my race gear inside of it and didn't know how to get it unlocked.

And another one where I forgot my iPod, and then I found it, but the earbuds were gigantic and there was no way to fit them in my ears.

Then a brief glimpse of a dream where my shoes started falling apart during the race.

And another one where there were two different race courses and they wouldn't tell you which one was which so you just had to guess if you were following the right path.

Finally, after a restless night of unsettling dreams, I woke up. It was nearing time to get up and get ready to go, and Noah and Sophie were both awake already.

Ben grumbled to wakefulness, then started telling me about how he had a nervous dream about my race. He dreamed that he was in charge of the technology for the whole thing and somehow it kept getting screwed up.

Apparently my restlessness is contagious.

Anyway, my running buddy picked me up, we went and picked up our other running partner, and the three of us made our way to the race.

Thankfully, the weather was decent for a Thanksgiving-Day run, and overall I felt pretty good. Plus I've been working really hard at interval training over the past month to build up my speed.

The course was decent, a couple tough hills, but it felt good.

My previous 5K best was a month ago, the Fall Frolic, at 28:31.

This time, I timed myself with my heart rate monitor, and after fumbling with the 'stop' button after crossing the finish line, the display showed 26:41 finish time. Final results will be posted soon, but I'm thinking my training paid off pretty well this month. I'm no super-star, by any means, but I'm happy with it and feel like it is a respectable showing.

Getting in some fresh air? Burning some calories? Beating a personal record? That's a pretty good way to start a day.