Turkey Trot Part Duex

Today was awesome.

I woke up at 5am and I just popped out of bed. I was geeked to run this race, geeked to meet up with Jim, Kristen and Melissa to do this 5k this morning. This one meant a lot to me because this was exactly one year from the day I decided to rescue myself from a road of destruction. This was a day where I could do a very direct comparison from "the beginning to current". Today was the 25th Annual Turkey Trot (5K race) in Detroit, MI.

On my right side bar under "accomplishments", you'll notice that I have kept track of all my times for my races. This time last year, my time was 46 minutes, 48 seconds. Pretty damned slow - but my accomplishment there wasn't about the time, it was about finishing a 5k on the first day of my journey. Today, a year later, my time was 31 minutes, 29 seconds. For the non-math majors out there, that means that in one year, I've shaved 15 minutes and 19 seconds off of my 5k time. That's over 5 minutes shaved off of my ONE MILE time. I'm super proud of that. Also, being only 1 minute and 29 seconds over 30 minutes - I'm sure you can guess what my next 5k goal is, right? Getting under 30 would be a great, great thing for me.

Last year, I blogged the day of the race and posted this chart that I found. It's a 'guide' for beginning runners - it tells you a few things, but most importantly, it tells you what is considered "fast", "moderate" and "easy".


According to this - and to be fair, I don't know if this is a good guide or what, but my time of 31:29 puts me squarely in the "fast" category. Frankly, that's pretty damn cool to me. As I look through the list of people that raced this year, I held my own. Last year, I was 2nd to last in my age category - but I was middle of the pack for the entire race this time. That's a major accomplishment. I am a legit runner - and I may not be the fastest, but I qualify for average now. And at 275 - I'm probably still the heaviest guy out there. This time next year when I'm talking about my third Turkey Trot, I'll be at my goal weight and cranking it out.

Also - it was great to meet Melissa and Kristen. When you meet someone for the first time, you usually don't have any clue on what to say, or you worry about it being awkward. Because of these blogs, when Kristen came up to us it was like we had been friends for almost a year. Hell, we HAVE been - we just haven't done the face to face thing. Melissa was the same way - they're both cool as hell. The funny thing is, they're exactly like how they seem in their blogs - passionate about their weight loss, dedicated to it, funny as hell, and both random as hell. Go from one thought one second to a completely other thought the next. Cracked me up. VERY cool folks, and we're damn lucky to have them in the Coalition.

That being said, here's a few pictures. I'm sure Melissa will shoot some too, but I'm stealing the thunder and putting them up. Enjoy!

This one's Jim and I. See that sweatshirt I'm wearing? That's a 1x. This time last year I was in a 4x. That's pretty damn cool to me.


Kristen on the left, Melissa on the right. They both ROCKED IT OUT, both coming in under 31 minutes. Neither one had ever done this before, and they just made it look easy. SO proud of both of them. Oh, and note Kristen's hair - she did it all up before the race. This was after the race. That was time she'll never get back ;) Seriously though, these two chicks are cool as hell, and inspired the hell out of me. Kristen and I paced each other for about 2 mile or so, but after that I ate her dust. Great work, girls!

The fantastic Turkey Trottin' Four. All four of us really made big strides. Jim improved his time by I think 4-8 minutes - Kristen and Melissa both had their maiden 5k voyages and came literally seconds from getting under 30 minutes each. I cut 5+ minutes off my last time in May and over 15 minutes in 1 year's time.

I'm damn proud of the FAT Coalition this week. When the four of us were talking today, I felt like this was more than just a few kids talking about weight loss. This is a team - a family, that is going to support each other until we're all where we want to be, and we'll be doing this for a long time. I can't tell you guys enough how proud I am of Jim, Kristen and Melissa.

For the rest of you out there, we're all together in this. We may not be next door neighbors, but we're all one unit. Let's take this power and strength into 2008. Take a good look at yourself now, and in the past - and then decide right now, at this moment, where you want to be on Thanksgiving 2008.

Will you be thankful?

Today, I realize how blessed I am in so many aspects of my life.