I see turkeys. And (completely unrelated) I have no shame.

I'll bet you didn't know this was an official Turkey-Sighting Blog. Yep...check out the blog-roll over here. I received this distinction with this post...and cemented my good standing as a Turkey-Sighting Blogger with this post. So believe me when I say...

"I see turkeys."

the kid+who+sees+dead+people pics on Sodahead

My most recent turkey-sighting happened this past Sunday when I was on what shall now be dubbed...

The Fiasco Run

The plan:  run 13.1 difficult, hilly, alone miles after having held down the fort (i.e. watched 4 kids while my husband was away) for 4 long, exhausting days.
Planned time of departure:  3:00 p.m.
Planned time of return:   5:30 p.m. (optimistic and including bathroom and water breaks)

The last time I successfully ran this route was just about a year ago.

It looked the same... like this...

The fun began right away with a 4 p.m. start, which pushed everything later...duh...and anyone know when sunset is? Yeah, me neither...then. Now I do ;-)

My husband had spontaneously offered to meet me at the sort-of-halfway to give encouragements, and that got me super excited. I gave him a window of meeting opportunity at the 5.3-mile point...right before I would begin a 3-mile loop back to the same spot (increasing possibilities for successful meeting). Cell service is very sketchy in that area so we needed to be coordinated ahead of time.

At around 4 miles into the run, I heard a baby crying. Wow, I thought to myself, that sounds exactly like Miss C! How funny! I wish they were cheering me on HERE!

A little over a mile later, I got to the meet-up spot where no one was and texted...

At the loop and going to loop it now. Prob 32 min. (4:55 p.m.)

I ran the loop in 32 minutes and headed to the conveniently-located bathroom (part of why I pick this trail run is the plethora of conveniently-located bathrooms). And saw no one and texted...

Finished loop. Peeing now.  (5:33)

*waiting, waiting, waiting...stretching...ShotBlok-ing...*

Starting back. Wish me luck. Prob abt an hour. I'm super tired so I'll be slow. 

If you don't hear from me in an hour, please call or text. 

And if you don't hear from me in 90 minutes try again and then call the police!  (5:39)

I started off slowly, realizing that my SI joint is quietly screeching at me, and heard the obnoxious chime of an incoming text...

We are on the loop road above the Farm waiting.  (5:41)

To which I replied...

I'm down at the portapotty!   (5:41)

It is important to note that you can only send and receive texts from a few random pockets of this park. If you move, you may be rendered communication-less. So I stopped and stood still.... waiting for them to come down the road because the place they were now waiting was backtracking for me and up a LONG hill that I didn't want to run back up!  I was so tired, it was getting dark, my butt hurt. But they didn't show up and no more texts came, so I grumblingly ran back up the dang hill...

I got to where I thought they would be...at the top of the LONG hill...and there was no one. Not a soul. But there was cell reception, so I texted...not knowing if he was in a place that could receive, however :P

I'm on the loop road. Can I hook back to the playground and get a ride?  (5:47)

*waiting, waiting, waiting...stretching...*

Where?   (5:49)

Right in that Little Farm parking lot. Say yes. I'm planning on it.  (5:50)

With that, I ran down the hill and through the farm.  And I'll be gol' danged if I didn't see some cows...

and...

...yep... TURKEYS  :)

A close-up to verify the turkey-sighting.

I reached the playground parking lot and find the car. YES! But... there was no family. I hung out a little... stretching... and I got this text...

Where are you?   (5:57)

The little play area with the big rocks. Meet you at car. Where are YOU?  (6:01) 

It took a few minutes to answer because of the lack of cell service

*waiting, waiting, waiting...decided to jog around a little since I was getting cold now*

We are waiting for you out at Jewel lake. Are u not getting my messages?  (6:16)

Jewel lake is the place where I heard that baby crying that sounded exactly like Miss C

...oooops...

We finally got it together and met at the car and I got a ride back to my truck.

9.38 miles in 1 hour 39 minutes. That was enough. I felt not at all badly that I didn't finish out the plan.

It was after sunset (which is how I now know when sunset is) when we pulled into the parking lot for me to retrieve the truck...and the ranger was closing the gate! I had a mini-freak-out at the thought of having run back and gotten stuck in the parking lot! My husband reassured me that they only lock the coming-in side. They do let people out.

Pretty sunset.

I got home where I had a lovely houseguest waiting for me...RunningHutch from Heavy Medal (a Nuun HTC 2012 teammate!) stayed with me for part of her Nike Women's Marathon experience. She ran the half-marathon and came away with a shiny, new PR :)

I rested Monday...all those missed connections, random jogging in a parking lot, and slightly screechy SI joint mandated rest, so I took it. And then on Tuesday I headed out for some....

Hill repeats.

I was busy chatting with a good friend and got a late start. I could only fit in 2 out of a planned 5.
No shame.
I need to remember to be a responsible mommy, a connected friend and not just a dedicated athlete :)

I told that good friend with whom I'd been chatting that it was hot here and that I planned to run in my sports bra and short shorts....with no shame. I have decided that it isn't only people who have smokin' hot bodies who should get to be comfortable. I am almost 50. I've had 4 kids. I have some weird GI issue that makes me look like I am always about 3-4 months pregnant. It is what it is. I am what I am.

I have found that folding the waistband over so that it lies under the gut protrusion 

is more comfortable and lessens the multiple-bulge factor.

Can you tell what I'm talking about?

Didn't think so... :(

comparison w/ 16 weeks pregnant belly photo...just letting it all hang out...

whatever...

wrinkly belly skin looking like an elephant's butt

So there it is...my gut in all it's glory. I hope it inspires some people who feel badly about their bodies to stop beating themselves up about it. Embrace what you are and who you are. If you don't like something about yourself, it's up to YOU to change it. And then remember to be patient with yourself. Changes don't always happen overnight. Although I did go from being a mommy-fitness-running blogger to a Turkey-Sighting Blogger overnight. I didn't even see that one coming ;-)

Do you beat yourself up about how you look? 

Do you ever see turkeys?