I can't believe it's already Thanksgiving. A holiday revolved around food, but I'm not even focused on the eating part. I'm more excited about preparing the menu and also about running another 5K! I thought this was going to be my final race of the season but I've convinced myself that I need to run one on Christmas now. Back in mid-October I decided I wanted to sign up for a few runs, when I signed up for three in 25 days, even I thought I was crazy. Honestly, who did I think I was signing up for these events? Was I even capable of this? Previous to the Halloween race, I had only run two other events, both virtually and they weren't even that fun, but, I wanted to run, and I signed up to hold myself accountable. I was even lucky enough to get to run with other people earlier this month, gifting me a whole new perspective on racing. And, now tomorrow (or Saturday, depending on the weather here in the Mid-Atlantic), I will run again, and with company!
The first two races went relatively well. The second one could have been better but I know what went wrong and have prepared myself, I hope to do better this week. I been hard on myself lately, about a lot of different things when it comes to my fitness routine. When I started, it really was to maybe drop a few pounds and see what happens from there. At some point, my focus shifted to getting strong and now my focus is fit and strong. A year ago, I couldn't barely walk a 5K, but now I am competing in my 5th of the season. I think I need to give myself some credit, or grace as my husband likes to say. This journey is not always easy, as a matter of fact there are a lot of HARD days. Most of my hard days are more mentally enduring than physically. I know I can do the workouts, to the best of my ability (not always as fast as the trainer), that's going through the motions. Show up, press play and go, whether I want to or not, just keep doing it. It's been a great mindset to have but on those tough days, it wears me out. In the end, I never regret a workout I showed up for. Then there's the nutrition aspect of all of this too. In the beginning, nutrition didn't even cross my mind, I just wanted to move my body but now it's something I just incorporate into my everyday life. "Fit the plate", my trainer likes to say. Most days, I do well, but there's always a bad day or two that come up for any number of reasons, girl's weekend, rough day at the office, birthday, and even Thanksgiving. That's ok, we're human and we're not always going to eat and drink the right things, as long as we don't over indulge everyday and we keep showing up and trying again.
My husband, our children and our dads will be enjoying a smorgasbord of food including turkey, ham, stuffing, potatoes, mac and cheese...ect. Honestly, I cannot wait! We are going to spend Wednesday night preparing, eating pizza and playing cards. I will get in my regular Wednesday workout today and make sure to have greens with my slice but I do plan to truly live in the moment the next few days. I am a firm believer in moderation. Thanksgiving for me is about making memories with the people that I love, and remembering all things I have to be so grateful for. One of those things, this body! It has been through it and it keeps showing up for me day in and day out and now I am learning to treat it right. So we'll eat tomorrow, and run and enjoy it all with the people we love. What more could a girl ask for? What's your nutrition plan for Thanksgiving?