Running the Atlanta Half Marathon has become an annual Thanksgiving affair for me. So has oversleeping the morning of this race. For two years in a row and for as many times as I have taken part in this race, I did not manage to wake up at my planned hour to get ready for the race.

Seems like I was not taking this race seriously. Maybe that is true. The Atlanta Half Marathon on Thanksgiving Day has never been my “Race of the Season”. Last year, it was a milestone along my training for the Disney World Marathon in January. This year, I completed Chicago only in October. I registered for this race “because it’s there” and having to maintain some fitness to run it, it helped me keep myself in shape before I take a break for the season.

The nice thing about this year’s race is that the Atlanta Track Club found The Weather Channel to be a major sponsor. They gave participants a pretty cool long-sleeved “technical” shirt sans logos of every single race sponsor, from some sports departmental store to the grocery store or certain stationery brand or even the local hospital. The shirt design was nice and clean – it just read “The Weather Channel Atlanta Marathon – Half Marathon – Thanksgiving Day” and has a “13.1″ printed as background. Ah, this year’s finishers’ medal is nicer than last year’s too.

For me, this year’s race went better than last year’s, despite my tardiness to arrive at the start line in both instances. When I got to the start area, I was still in time to join the crowd and start behind everyone. Participants were still trickling in even after I started running. It was chilly just past 7 in the morning and I was feeling stiff in the cold even though I was fully geared from head to toe – beanie, 3 layers of shirts (2 of them long-sleeved), gloves and long pants. The important thing was that it did not rain this year. I think it was the rain last year that made the race all the more so difficult. Certainly, my fitness level was down since Chicago. Still, I completed the race in a reasonable time.

I do not know yet if I will keep this Thanksgiving tradition going next year – running this race again and oversleeping that very morning. I have not set my running plans for next year. I have confirmed only my first race of the year, which is a Half Marathon in March and I am planning on running another Marathon during the second half of the year. For now, I will be taking a short break from training. I need to focus my attention on preparing for my vacation trip the end of the year!

Hey, are we not already at the end of the year? Vacation is less than two weeks away!