Happy Thanksgiving everybody! And congrats to all those who competed in a Turkety Trot today. Inside Out held an 8k this morning, but I know there are plenty of Turkey runs all over the country. So wherever you participated in your turkey run at, I hope you had a great run and a good time.

Me? Well, I had my own Turkey Trot today consisting of a 2k endurance swim and lift, then meeting Alicia out at Umstead for a single track 14 mile run. I tried to convince Bri to come with us, but her and Marty both were running the Inside Out Turkey Trot. Come on! Who needs prizes and money when you can run with the Ali(cia)sha’s??? hehehehehehe We make any run way more entertaining, believe me. And you know what, if you don’t believe me then you’ll just have to come out for a training session with us and you’ll see for yourself.

The trails were pretty wet today from all the rain we had over the past few days, so the creeks we normally cross on the runs were more like rivers. In other words… there was no avoiding getting your feet wet. At first I was trying to avoid getting my fet wet and stay out of the mud puddles. There was one “river” crossing that you had to get both of your feet wet. That was what did me in. Alicia skipped right on thru, getting her feet wet. I whimpered a little bit on the other side of the bank, my dry feet not wanting to get wet just quite yet. I was at the point of no return… my feet were going to be wet the rest of the run. (oh well, I am a Lion, can you blame a cat for not wanting to get in water?? hehe) Once my feet were wet though it was all over. I ran thru every puddle and mud hole afterwards. “Whatever,” I’d think to myslef, “already wet and muddy so a little more isn’t going to hurt.” And then of course I start to like running through the puddles and streams… a complete 180 from the start of the run. Hmm, so there’s some logic for you, or lack there of… you choose which.

Joe met us out on the trails with our dog Symba a little over halfway thru our run. Symba trotted along, his little brown tail just wagging away. Symba is always so happy when he gets to run… and then he gets tired. hehe, It’s really cute. He starts every run darting around and looping circles chasing all sorts of things, but he fades fast. Pretty soon he goes from running circles to running just a little bit ahead of you… then he is running right in front of you where you are almost stepping on him… then he is running beside you… but only for a moment… then he is running right behind you on your heels… and then… all of a sudden… WHOOSH… he’s 50ft behind you dragging along for dear life, his little legs moving just as much as they have to in order to keep moving forward and his tounge hanging down halfway to the ground. Needless to say, Symba sleeps very well the rest of the day after his runs with Joe and me.

Now it’s time for me to drag down the Christmas lights and dust off the decorations in our attic. We’ll get our tree this weekend while we’re up in the mountains visiting my parents.

Eat lots of turkey and pie, and enjoy the time with family and friends.

It’s cooooollddd and rainy here in Raleigh, but jeez… I think about what the weather was like last year when I was in Munich and I feel much better. It was already snowing regularly there at this time. I think Joe and I had the pleasure of being in Munich during one of the worst winters on record. It was pretty seeing the snow, but you get really tired of the grey cold that sets in across the city. Especially the old buildings in Munich just make it feel even colder. Brrrr…

So I enjoyed a long swim and long run today, with some yoga-lates thrown in. Ha! Is it yoga or is it pilates?? Who knows, you have to go and be the judge. I went to the class and I still can’t decide myself. hehe

Looks like the weather is going to clear up over the weekend. That’ll be nice. Joe and I are heading to the mountains to visit my parents and see friends. I’ll make it up to Boone at least one day for some climbing practice… been a while since I stretched the climbing legs… I’m looking forward to it!

Happy Thanksgiving Eve to all!

… to all who competed in the Ironman 70.3 Clearwater World Championships last weekend on November 11th.

Cid Cardoso- of course he did well, and I bet he ran a marathon the next day too.

Jeanna Chain- Wahoo! 2:15 bike split, holly cow she’s flying!

Jerry Cody- here’s his race report, and what a great swim he had… despite the black eye.

So Alicia and I had this great plan to do a cross bike ride at Umstead until dusk and then run with our cool little head lamps in the dark.

Apparently the Park Ranger didn’t like that idea because as we were running into the park with our lamps a-glow we got the “no enter” sign. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.00.

That had to have been the shortest transition run of my life- probably 1 minute? …if that. Ha, guess next time we’ll part over on Old Reedy Creek Road so we won’t get “caught” by the Rangers.

So I’ve had a couple of really good workouts these past few days. I had a “du” brick on Tuesday afternoon after my morning swim and lift. 15 minute run, 40 minute ride, 15 minute run. It went really well… I took my dog out for the two runs, which I averaged 7 minute mile pace on (kinda surprisingly, I didn’t feel like I was putting out much effort). The ride was awesome too… it was really windy and I ended up averaging close to 19mph. For me in the wind that was really good, and I wasn’t going hard on that either.

Then Wednesday is my long ride days, so I went out and met Rich and some guys from RTP for a lunch ride… except for I rode from my house, met them for the ride, then rode home. So I got in 4 hours and then did my transition run. Again, I took my dog with me on the run. He’s starting to get tired from all the workouts!

So maybe my legs are finally starting to come around. It’s still early and I’m patient with the whole “not feeling like myself” thing. I have another swim and lift tomorrow morning. I’m becoming a regular at Impact Athletics… they are starting to call me by name everytime I come in the door in the mornings.

Joe ran the Old Reliable 10k in downtown Raleigh today. It was so much fun seeing him run. I saw lots of other people out there running too that I know… for once I was the spectator. But don’t get me wrong- that doesn’t mean that I didn’t get my training in today.

I met Rich at Umstead for a long run… and I ran into (ha, quite literally) my friend Dorothy who just completed the Mountain Masochist Ultra 50 mile trail run a couple weekends ago. Yes, she’s already out running again! She’s such a great runner. She ran her best time ever at the Masochist this year. Then I bumped into Alicia Parr as she was leaving the park. She did a long single track run… and she shared some of her homemade gummies that Gary made with me. Mmm… yuuummy! Gary is getting good at the bar and gummy recipes. He should start his own sports nutrition company… “Mr. Parr Bars”… I’d buy them!

Symba, my little brown dog, ran with me on my long run. He was so tired from the run once we got to downtown Raleigh and had to walk to the start of the race he barely wanted to walk. I had to kinda coax him to walk on the leash. We made it to the start just in time to see Joe off. Joe’s friend and coworker, Chance, aslo did the 10k… along with my friends Lindsey and Moni. It was cool seeing them all run! I got to take pictures! Wee… I could get used to the spectator thing for sure.

Chance’s girlfriend, Marion, did the 5k earlier, so we walked around and got some hot tea while we waited for the boys to return. Symba was of course a crowd pleaser- little kids love him. Everyone asks what kind of dog he is, which I always say “a brown one”… hehe, because he’s just a mut. And everyone always thinks he’s a puppy because he’s so spunky. He’s actually 8 years old. But I think he’s so spunky from all the running he’s done with me over the years. He used to train with me in High School too. I still attribute all my State Championship Titles to all the miles I ran with Symba, Max (my parents’ lab), and my Dad.

Kudos to Marion for her first 5k race! Here’s a picture of the happy trio… great race! We all went out for Cafe Carolina afterwards. The french onion soup really hit the spot on such a chilly day.

Cheerwine announced their roster for the upcoming season. Alisha joins the team for part time racing next year. The stacked squad will look for much sucess in 2007!

From Cycling News:

Van Gilder to Cheerwine

Laura Van Gilder, one of the top sprinters in the United States, will lead the 2007 Cheerwine women’s team, along with the current New Zealand national road champion Catherine Cheatley (nee Sell). Van Gilder, a former member of the US worlds team, who has more than 300 career wins, will bring much-needed power to the team. Director Thad Fischer said, “This team is so competitive, and so capable and the riders are truly professionals with the chemistry between them just right. The 2007 overall NRC team win will be wide open for 2007, with all the major teams going for it. The riders are very evenly distributed throughout the teams this year. It is going to be exciting until the very end and Cheerwine’s goal is to come out on top.”

Other new signings include former US national champion Sarah Uhl, national team members Chrissy Ruiter and Brooke Ourada, Canadian national team members Leigh Hobson and Betina Hold, Australian Rachel O’Connell and Alisha Lion. Returning to Cheerwine is sprinter Kelly Benjamin, a member of the US national track team, Sarah Bamberger, Clara Beard and cyclo-cross racer Elizabeth Frye.

Orbea bicycles have signed on as the team’s bicycle sponsor for two years. The team will start racing in late February, and have squads in place for both the Geelong World Cup event, the New Zealand Tour, and the first US national calendar races in California.