Des Moines Turkey Trot. A Very Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday Night Stockings

Wednesday Morning Stockings

I forgot my USB cord at home,  So I could not blog yesterday from the Hotel room.    Then again, not much happened last night.     But I will start from there.

Off to Packet Pickup. With 'Tude!

With last minute add-ons...

After many stockings, we traveled to Des Moines for the Packet Pick-up.   An easy in-and-out affair with hardly any crowds or traffic to speak of.    We grabbed her stuff and shirt and hat...And  spent the rest of the night in the hotel hot tub  (We got an Upgrade!)   What fun!

Look at the Turkey made of shoes!

 Cheryl made a note that we seem to always get a hot tub room on Thanksgiving.   Perhaps more people are staying with relatives than actually getting rooms while they travel, leaving the vacancy for silver members like us!   Who knows....  I'm just happy that it appeared we had the entire hotel to ourselves!

Pinning on the Bib.

Bib with her name on it.

We got up this morning and headed for the race.   The race was late enough for me to enjoy the free breakfast at the hotel.   We were the first (and only) ones in the small cafe'.   They had biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, and chicken patties!   (Along with all the other stuff,  cereal, milk, orange juice, waffles, oatmeal,  etc.....)  We were a little strapped for time, so I only had the biscuits and gravy.   It was enough to satisfy me for the entire morning/lunch time.

It was cold this morning,  but windless!   Cheryl dressed in her Ninja Tights and attached her bib.   Off to the race!

Showing off the Start Line

The only down side to this race was the lack of Bathrooms.  Maybe they were not expecting this level of turn out,  but the line to the bathrooms wrapped around the parking lot!   I barely got a chance to go before the race began.

Too Few Port-a-jons.

Cheryl runs past me at the start!

At mile 2.5

Cheryl ran past me without me even noticing her.   That is the problem when she dresses like a ninja.   She blends in to all the OTHER ninjas.

At mile 4.5

Cheryl runs for the Finish!

This was the fourth Turkey trot race for Cheryl.    By now,  seeing Turkey Heads is common.  Maybe next year I will add to the crazy and design my own Turkey hat. We shall see.

I was able to catch her at mile three and mile 4.    (I love looped courses!)  And I still had the chance to catch her near the finish line.   Too bad most of those pictures turned out blurry.    Still,   I'm thankful for the pics I have.

Cheryl takes a sip. 

Hot Cocoa and Cool cup.

We skipped the various "after race foods" and settled on the Hot Cocoa with the commemorative mug.   I was not very hungry after that free breakfast.   ( free breakfasts always taste the best anyway!)     And Cheryl did not really want any of the other offerings.   Besides,  there was no Finisher's Medal for this race.  Cheryl wanted something other than the shirt and hat to remember the race by.

Check out the size of this tree!

She wanted to see the city. 

After the race, we walked around town for a bit and decide to visit the Hyvee less than a block away.   They were having a Thanksgiving Buffet with prime rib, turkey,  a rainbow selection of pies,  etc.   they only thing they did not show ... was the price.

Thanksgiving Pie Buffet!

 Cheryl was very excited...even though she does not like turkey or pretty much anything the traditional Thanksgiving table offers.   She just wanted the pies.   As for myself,  I was still "un-hungry" from Breakfast.   I fear I ruined the moment by not wanting to spend an undisclosed amount of funds just so Cheryl can eat  one or two pieces of pie.  Ah well.

Cheryl's "Cool" pose.

A close up.  So you can tell it is her. 

We ended up going to our HyVee in Coralville and buying some Sushi, smoked Salmon dip, shrimp ring, and crackers.   Basically snack foods.   Probably better in the long run as we will not try to stuff ourselves with "Buffet-Style" Turkey Dinner.  I'm one of those guys who always tries to eat their money's worth!    Not very good for the waist-line.

So that is all for our thanksgiving.    Cheryl ran a decent race,  placing 4th in her age group.   Her average pace was 7:45 for the five mile run.   Not her best,  but faster than she has been able to run since her injury.    She is happy, and is looking forward to her next race.   Perhaps, weather permitting, we will squeeze one last race in before the new year. (If stockings allow.)   In the mean time,  I will finish my last huge piece of Pumpkin pie and try not to think about all that food we missed out on.   My waist-line will thank me.

A longing last glance before we head back. 

I hope everyone else who stops in today is having a wonderful Thanksgiving.   I discover ( all the time, actually) that Thanksgiving is so much more than just eating food.  ( then again,  the pilgrims probably thought different.)  I'm happy and thankful that Cheryl and I can run around the country running in these various races.  ( Well,  Cheryl runs;  I watch...mostly.) And I'm sure Cheryl is just thankful that she can run again.  I think the blog misses the running events the most. They give me something to do other than play video games.   Thanks for stopping in.