Thanksgiving Loop with Thoughts of Gratitude

One of my Thanksgiving traditions is to run.  I bet you would have never guessed.    And so that is exactly what I did today.  I woke at 5:30 AM and hit the dirt about 6:40 on a cold Thanksgiving morning.  Usually, I try to not think when I run.  Today however, I dedicated my run to thinking about all that I am thankful for.  And there is so much – too much to put in a couple of pages.  First and foremost, I am thankful for being born.  And I am thankful for my husband and three wonderful sons.  I am thankful for my health.  And I am thankful for my mom and dad.  They taught me so much – one of the most important being to never give up, and also the importance of family – that we are here to help one another. 

As I ran down an empty Aliso Creek Trail bundled in gloves and beanie, I thought about how lucky I was to grow up with one sister, and now I have 5 sisters!  And they are all top-notch women.  In addition to my 3 great brothers, I gained 3 more – as well as another mother and father who also are quality, loving people.  For these people I am truly thankful.

I am thankful for my friends as well:  my writing friends, my running friends, and my friend friends.  I am especially thankful for one of most wonderful people that I have met on this earth, my friend, Bernadine Fraser.  Though we haven’t seen each other face-to-face in a few years, I still am affected by her overwhelming love and sweetness and great humor.  And to think, we met at a job that I was laid-off from many, many years ago (after putting in 9 years there).  Though I was devastated over losing that job, I could never say or feel that I wish that I never worked there.  I met many great friends at this company, one of them, Bernadine.  We laughed together, we cried together, we read great, great books together.  For these friends I am thankful for.  (I wish I could list them out, but I fear to do so because I am bound to forget to type a few names). 

I am also  thankful for my students.  They have taught me so much.  They taught me to smile even when I don’t feel like it.  They taught me the importance of kindness.  And they taught me that people learn in many ways.  (After getting laid-off from the job mentioned above I became a teacher – so I have to say that I am thankful also for getting laid-off from a long held job). 

When I turned down Wood Canyon this morning the ground was muddy and I was still alone.  The run felt effortless as I thought about my children – and though it’s tough, tough, tough being a mom, I appreciate each of their special gifts and especially their love.  I am also thankful for our middle son’s surgeries – not grateful that he had to go through them so much, but in a way, I suppose so, because they have made him who he is.  But I am more grateful that doctors could do something to save his life.  I am especially thankful for Dr. Louden.   And I am so thankful my boy has been seizure free as well, for more than a year.  But more than that, I’m thankful that if he does have another seizure or even surgery, we can get through it.  He is a strong boy.  We are strong, despite our weakness.

Aside from these very important aspects of my life, I am so, so thankful that I became a runner.  I hated running.  IN A MILLION YEARS, I would have never thought that I would HAVE TO RUN.  More than that – I am grateful that I stumbled, and I mean stumbled upon trail running.

I am thankful for Meadows Trail:

I am thankful for green meadows and ridiculously steep trails (like Mentally Sensitive):

I am even thankful for snails, because I know they have some purpose (I just don’t know what it is):

I am thankful for the skies and mountain views:

I am thankful that I learned the patience to run long distances:

I am thankful for reaching the top of a climb, and taking the time to take goofy, sweaty pictures, because I sometimes still can’t believe that I did it!

I am thankful for ocean views:

I am thankful for Cholla cactus on Cholla Trail:

I am thankful for breaking through countless spider webs on isolated trails like Wood Creek Trail:

I am thankful for creek side runs:

I am thankful for spotting deer in a grove of trees (and many, many other wildlife):

I am thankful for the final stretches, and also seeing that there are other psychos out there doing the same thing:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

13 miles (20.92 km) run this morning:  Aliso Creek Trail, Wood Canyon, Meadows, Mentally Sensitive, Top of the World, West Ridge,  Cholla Trail, Wood Creek, Wood Canyon, Aliso Creek – this was my Thanksgiving 2011 loop.

I’m NOT running the Turkey Trot Trail Run

Every year I think might not run the local Turkey Trot.  It has been such a pain for many reasons.  First off, they lost my registration TWICE last year.  They do not start the runners in waves (though there are more than 10,000 runners) and most importantly, the whole race is on pavement. 

But I’ve run the Turkey Trot for many years.  It was my first race.  It was the one that really set me on my way with running.  I can walk to the race from my house even (big, big plus). The Turkey Trot holds a lot of nostalgia for me.  And I have been known to be very nostalgic.

Well, this year, I went and did it.  That is didn’t do it.  I did not run the Turkey Trot.  Instead, I ran with a friend on dirt, beautiful soft DIRT (& some rock : ).  And it was lovely.

When we arrived to Aliso/Woods Canyons the air was FREEZING.  That is literally.  The wood post fence we climbed over had a layer of ice along it.  Though I wore long sleeves, I wasn’t prepared – I wore shorts, didn’t have gloves or a beanie.  So I wore my scarf tied over my head like my great-grandmother, Babcia used to.

After turning onto Wood Canyon which was still in the shade, we took a little detour onto Cave Rock Trail so we could get up on that rock into the sun.  That didn’t really help warmth-wise.  But the view of Wood Canyon from atop that rock was spectacular, green hills, blue skies with a bright sun beaming down promising to warm us up soon, very soon. 

I had the bright idea to shortem the trip to the top by not running up Mathis.  Instead we ran through that shady magical Oak Grove Trail and UP Car Wreck Trail.  There was no running for me on the steepest parts of Car Wreck.  Even hiking it was a chore.  But it surely warmed me up.

So let it be known, running up Car Wreck is not actually a short cut. : )

A “runnable” portion of Car Wreck Trail

Sheila and Me at the top of Car Wreck, finally warm

Reaching the top of Mathis (via Car Wreck) was such a chore that the uphills remaining were pleasurable to run.  We ran on up to Top of the World, and from there across over to Meadows, which we took down to Wood Canyon and back to the ranger station beneath gorgeous skies.  Truly a run to be thankful for on a day that I am glad to remember all the things that I am so thankful for.  Happy Thanksgiving!!

Top of the World

Miles logged Thanksgiving morning:  9.25

Elevation Profile: