Gratitude

There's no better time than Thanksgiving Eve to write a blog post of all that I am grateful for. In no particular order, here we go:

1) My part-time job. A few times a year, I work with BayState Race Services doing the timing at local road races and triathlons. I get the opportunity to learn how the timing is done since I never usually see that side of races, and it gives me just enough extra cash to buy new sneakers, or a couple of race entry fees. I'll be at a race site tomorrow morning at 6:15am to set up for a local 5k, and I'm just as excited as if I was running myself.

2) My Runkeeper street team. These guys and gals are who got me hooked on running in May of 2011, and I still consider them my inner circle of support. The best thing about them is that they are all crazier than me, so when I say I'm thinking about doing a half ironman, they don't even flinch. They support me and encourage me, and in some cases, sign up for one themselves.

3) My Liver Team. These are the people I run with on a weekly basis, who are also crazy and supportive. When I joined the team last year, I thought maybe I'd do one long run a month with this group. I wasn't really keen on the idea of group running. Luckily, everyone was way faster than me so I ended up running alone anyway. There were a few other back-of-the-packers, who are now some of my closest friends. The best part was that there was absolutely no judgement by the faster runners. They would smile and shout "Go Liver!" as they passed on their way back. Now the weekly long runs are something I look forward to every week. Everyone on this team is treated equally, no matter how fast or slow you are, or how much money you raise, or how many years you've been on the team.

4) My family! I'm grateful for all of my family members, but some deserve special mentions.

My dad gets all the credit for bringing me into this craziness in the first place. He's been running road races since I can remember, starting a running club called "The Beer Chasers" whose mission was to run local road races with free beer and good music at the end. Before I started running in these races, I remember going to them as a social event. I also remember stuffing my pockets with free granola bars and potato chips, so that could have something to do with my fond memories. He ran the Boston Marathon 3 times, and even after he was "retired" from running marathons, he decided to run the Chicago Marathon in 2002, which was my first marathon. As a supporter, he is top notch! He managed to see me at 3 different spots on the Boston marathon course last year (it helped that I was so painfully slow). He's also volunteered to help me train on the bike course for my half ironman this summer.

My cousins who are happy to suggest crazy ideas, and/or participate in my crazy ideas. It's hard to say no to family. Although come to think of it, they seem to be saying no to me more and more lately. Hrmm, I'll have to work on that...

The Wiklanski Family for being supportive, and encouraging, and inspirational. Many of us decided to train for a 5K that happened to fall on the day after our family reunion in August of this year. The 5K ended up being cancelled, but my cousins Tony & Sherry rallied and convinced everyone that we should hold our own 5K, and we did! This was one of my favorite races of the year, and we already have plans for the next one in 2014!

And of course I'm grateful for my health, and a roof over my head, and money in the bank, and bikes to ride, and an aunt to ride them with. And I'm grateful that I don't need to limit my gratitude to one day a year. I am truly blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving!