Giving Thanks
Pete Schmidt and fellow Runner's Edge members show their Thanksgiving spirit at last year's Mile High Turkey Trot in Denver!
I know it's cliche to repeat it, but the Thanksgiving holiday truly is a time for reflection and to give thanks for everything - I'm thankful for my health, thankful for my beautiful wife Julie and our soon to be son, thankful for Champ and Apollo (of course!), thankful for my family and friends, thankful for Runner's Edge of the Rockies and all of the wonderful people who make up the group and allow me to follow my passion for coaching, and thankful that we can live in a country that affords us the opportunity to pursue our goals, dreams and happiness! Tonight as I ran a very short 4M recovery run (Junk Miles!) in prep for the next two days of long mileage, I thought about how fortunate I am. I told myself that no matter how bad life seems to get, that I should always be thankful of God's blessings. (Probably even moreso whenever a car cuts me off during a run, warranting the bird!) :-)
Tomorrow morning kicks off my final two long training runs prior to tapering... The goal is 26 miles tomorrow morning and then 20 more on Friday. Tomorrow I will have some much needed support for the final 11 miles as I will hook up with Jim Lynch at mile 15 prior to the Denver Turkey Trot at Washington Park for my final 4, where most of the group will also be running. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous about doing these big workouts back-to-back; but my body has responded very well to the two previous sets, and I just need to focus on relaxing, staying properly hydrated/fueled, having fun, and putting one foot in front of the other...
Have a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving tomorrow!!
Happy Thanksgiving, Coach! I'm thankful for (among other things) the training and support I've gotten from you and the group this year training for my first two marathons, and the encouragement not to give up that came after neither of them went quite according to plan.