Thanksgiving 2014

Thur 11/27, I woke up couple times during the night and wasn’t sure my having trouble to sleep was from the cold temperature or from some trouble thoughts I have been having lately. Eventually I got out of bed at 6:00am and started preparing for the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot. This is their 10th anniversary race, and also  my 10th time running it. Lots of great memory from the past, and some not so pleasant, but nevertheless it’s a “traditional run” I have never missed, not even last year when just checked out of hospital.

Michael and Venkat came over and we drove to downtown San Jose together. It’s always nice to be around them, and particularly on Thanksgiving day because they have been like my family for years. As soon as we got closer to the 4th Street, we saw Kiyoko and Vinh were just crossing street  and we  also spotted Casey doing his pre-race warmup. We parked at Michael’s so called “my spot” in front of Flames, and walked toward the race start. We gathered with other runner friends at Starbucks which was crowded as expected, but perfect spot to meet and take photos. Huge group again this year and it’s so exciting and fun! The first several years when I ran this Turkey Trot I had come by myself, then J had joined this run and we always had post race breakfast at Flames. The last four years I ran this race with my BFFs and kept the post race breakfast tradition.

Last year it has been a very emotional Thanksgiving run in many ways, and I am glad that I am standing strong today, and physically & mentally healthier. I was wondering if I am emotionally healthier now? It’s hard to detach and conceal myself from someone I had once opened my heart to. So great that Loi was here with me again, I couldn’t have survived last heart wrenching Turkey Trot if it’s not for her. This year we ran the whole race together at conversational pace, and I am so happy for her that things have been well since we last met before WS100. There are two newly wedded couples in our running group, and I joked about meeting the new Mr & Mrs 🙂

Today’s weather was perfect for a 10K race, and thanks to so many volunteers (mostly high schools kids) there was never short of energy at the course or aid-stations. Around mile 4 there was a guy Alvin who setup his own aid-station with orange juice and a whole case of Champagne — mimosa!! A high school band was playing “I Don’t Care” and I was thinking “thank goodness it’s not Let It Go!” Some people were running in costumes, and given it’s Thanksgiving we saw lots of turkeys, Puritans, Pocahontas, and even a Mayflower ship..:-) We saw Casey running back and he probably was in the top 5 at that time.

Loi and I crossed the finish line at about an hour, faster than last year. Marcia, Michael and Nat had already finished before us and I heard that they were sprinting at the last mile at 7 min pace, my crazy friends :-p We walked to the finish village and looking for Kiyoko, Vinh, Albert, Chad and Venkat… etc. Saw more running friends here and it’s definitely very holiday mode here than race mode. Running is healthy right? as long as not tripping and falling, LOL.

After more group photos and chitchatting over the bananas and sweet potato chips… we walked to Flames and ready for our post race breakfast. But when I checked in with the maitre d’, I found someone had taken our table pretending to be me. What?? But the restaurant setup another table for us right away, only it’s smaller table and we just had to sit closer with each other. Another surprise and a nicer one was having the same waiter, Scottie, again!! Four years in a row!! He was as entertaining as ever, and disappointed that he didn’t make it to Disneyland. We wished him success with his audition with Royal Caribbean, and we hope we will see him again next year or maybe not 🙂 The food was good and drinks were flowing, and we were just so happy to have such great company on Thanksgiving!

Couple people asked me “what are you going to buy tomorrow?” Well, I am not a big fan of shopping, and I really don’t need anything material no matter it’s Black Friday or Cyber Monday. I am just very grateful to have so many great people in my life, and I honestly can say that I won’t make it through this year’s journey without them — my running buddies, friends far and near, nurses and lab techs. and people that have been following this blog. I am forever in-debt to how supportive you have been.

Couple days ago at the Turkey Trot bib pickup, my friends were volunteering and I brought pizza over for them. I was questioned about something quite directly and I was totally surprised, but I was very touched that they talked to me in such straight forward manner, because it shows they truly care and they are watching out for me. I am only sorry that I have been such a wimp and idiot and let them worry about me for so long. I was not sure how much time I was given with this encounter, and I especially feel that my life is getting shorter each day after last Oct. I genuinely treasure everyday and everyone in my life, and I have high tolerance of frailty and errors because I look at those as consequence of humanity. But the disappointments from someone I care the most also ends up hurting the most. A heart’s a heavy burden, alas…

To close this Thanksgiving day, I am truly grateful for all the awesome and truthful people in my life, and I wish I can be more positive, upbeat, nice, authentic.. as a way of my “thank you for everything.” And I promise that I will continue to fight this battle and we will run  Turkey Trot again next year! For the love!!