Happy Thanksgiving: Real-life 10k, Virtual 5k, and Lots and Lots of Food

On Sunday I declared that when you're not sure whether you've burned or consumed a more massive amount of calories, you've been successful and, going on that assumption, I had an extremely successful Thanksgiving.

I started it by running my first 10k, the Bethesda Turkey Chase, which, despite its being a real race, I also considered my virtual 5(+)k hosted by Kiley of The Daily Vitamin F. I forgot to print the race certificate but Kiley says that a picture of you doing the 5k will suffice. Thanks to Josh, I have plenty of those and, thanks to photoshop, I have this...

Yes, of course I carried the certificate with me for 6.2 miles
and held it up for the camera 100 yards from the finish line.
And yes it is 3 times the size of my head.

I will hold off on writing a full recap until later in the weekend but I will say that the race was amazing. The weather was perfect, the distance was long enough to be challenging but also manageable, and my legs and mind worked together magically to dominate the course. According to my Garmin, I ran in 52:37 at an average pace of 8:21 minutes per mile.

Before the consumption part of my day could begin, I just had to get together with a bunch of friends and burn some more calories for fun. So I headed, with Josh and Nathan, to Norwood Park, a few blocks from the house I grew up in. Seven of us played several games of touch football and I'm not really sure who won but I think it's better that way. Hesitant to leave the beautiful outdoors, we stayed around for a while and took turns kicking field goals. The furthest I kicked was from 17 yards.

We hurried home to get dolled up and stuff our faces with my favorite meal of the year. We sat around the table discussing a million things and being thankful for each other.

I could tell you every last thing I'm thankful for in great detail but I'd rather spend the rest of this lovely night playing games and drinking wine with my family so I will stick to the basics. Here are a few key things I'm thankful for:

• My loving and supporting family
• My amazing friends, near and far
• My Joshua
• Having a job and having dreams for my life. It is important to be going in the right direction.
• My good health and my ability to sweat in style on the regular
• Living in DC. My perfect apartment in its ideal location with my favorite roommate.
• Having discovered a passion for writing this blog. And all of the readers who give me a purpose in writing this blog. Your support is truly appreciated.
• Fall food. And all food.
• The University of Florida. Still has a big place in my heart.

On this great holiday, my favorite of the year, I think it is key to focus on what you're thankful for and, if there are people in your life that you appreciate, make sure they know it. Today is about family, love, thankfulness, and food. And, I hope for many of you, it is also about sweating. I wish you a wonderful thanksgiving and a quick recovery from the food coma you may be experiencing.

What are you thankful for? Did you get a chance to sweat today? Have you entered my Sparkly Soul giveaway yet?