Turkey Trot photos and random thoughts

(click photo to visit the photo gallery)

I've posted some photos of my run at the 5-mile Turkey Trot in Chicago's Lincoln Park on November 22, 2007. I had such a good time despite the cold temperatures and the falling snow. This is up there as one of the craziest things I've done to date!

The only problem I had was running into a lot of walkers on some of the smaller trails. The trails themselves, at least the gravel ones, were so soaked and muddy that I had to be careful not to do a faceplant while going over them. I was mostly taking care of my knee by doing 5-minute run/1-minute walks all the way through. No records here.

So hop on over to my Flickr site and check out the photos!

I ran 4 miles today in a heavy drizzle, and was done in about 50 minutes, just before a downpour! The $34,203,030 dollars I spent on my winter running gear really came through for me and kept me comfortable all the way through- it was bliss.

My knee has been feeling wonderful during my longer runs. For a while there, I was going crazy with only putting in a light run or two a week while babysitting it. So far so good! I've clocked close to 60 miles since I started recording my runs in early October (!) I really want to run the 5-mile Rudolph Ramble on December 9, and perhaps beat my previous 5-mile time.

Running has kept me happy. I've had many reasons to be unhappy as of late, and don't laugh as much as I used to. It has helped me answer questions I've had about myself. Truthfully, I think I am becoming a better person because of it.

Most of all, it has kept my spirits up when I stoop down to questioning if I matter at all. It is an emotion I try to avoid at all costs...

...at all costs.