As is their custom, the Male Trio took to the highway on Wednesday for their annual Turkey Day sojourn to South Carolina to visit Husband's parents. The kids look forward to chowing down on copious amounts of scrumptious standards, prepared by their loving Mimi (without having to worry about their mother's gluten-free or vegetarian influence--ha!). Other than that, they plan to engage in a little bit of outdoor fun (just to, you know, avoid sinking too deeply into a carb coma from all of the rich dishes they're unaccustomed to enjoying), and a whole lotta relaxing. Yep, just about the only thing they had to think about before leaving...was the timing of their return. This involved some planning and discussion to settle the logistics, as it turned out, since (as I'm told) college football's Rivalry Week games happen this Saturday, and they don't want to miss too much while in transit.
Thus I arrived home from the office on Wednesday to a blissfully quiet house, and commenced my own long weekend o'chilling. Um...right...except for the fact that--once again--I'd signed up for a 5K on Thanksgiving morning, and therefore would be setting an alarm for 7, dragging myself out of bed, driving to the event, and RUNNING several miles before breakfast. (Seriously? At 3 years in a row, I guess this has officially become "a thing" for me. Not entirely sure how that happened...but let's just call it "Earning the Big Meal", okay?)
This year I switched venues, however, from the 8K that happens a few miles from my house to a shorter race in (still nearby) Durham (because...I took a survey, and my knees loudly weighed in with the opinion that 5 miles just seemed a bit...excessive...at this point, ya know?). So after a brief debate about how much to wear--because trust me, it was cooooold this morning, y'all--I made my way over to our friendly neighbor, the Bull City. I suffered a jolt of mild panic in the car when I realized I'd forgotten to factor in traffic...or parking....but I needn't have worried, because the local roads at that hour of the a.m. reminded me of the emptiness of a post-apocalyptic landscape (but without the massive destruction...nuclear clouds...or hordes or rampaging zombies. Otherwise, JUST the same...).
So, having successfully arrived in even less time than I'd allowed for the trip, I actually had extra minutes to hang out...and feel my fingers freezing up, one by one. (Yaaayyyy....NOT...) But I also got to look around and admire the usual adornments that people break out for Thanksgiving day runs--like stuffed turkey hats (of both kinds: the one that's ready for the oven, and the one with a beak and feathers...yep, imagine those on people's heads...it's awesome, I tell ya....), Fall-colored tutus, and my absolute favorite, these socks:
(YESSSSS...that's exactly why we're here! Memo to Me: if I'm gonna keep doing this running-on-Thanksgiving gig, I neeeeed these for next year! What? It's motivation...or whatever...)
Anyway, I was joined by a work friend and a Boot Camp buddy, so that helped to pass some of the shivery pre-exercise time. And then it was finally time to gooooooo. This was the first time I'd done this particular course, and--happily--I found it to be fairly flat...and therefore fast, as well. I mean, that's really the only way to explain how I recorded my best time ever for a 5K...although the temperature provided an extra push, to be sure. Honestly, the only negative thing I can say about my experience is that they had a DJ set up near the beginning of the route, to presumably provide encouragement as you got started, but unfortunately when I happened to pass by, the song blaring out of his speakers was...Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer. (Are you kidding me? Of all the potential musical numbers available to you, from classics sung by beloved crooners to traditional carols to modern-pop-holiday-themed fluff, THIS is what you deemed an appropriate and enjoyable selection with which to serenade the stampeding pack? Sheesh...)
And that, my dears, is how one can...pre-pay...for the subsequent leisure hours of Macy's parade viewing, novel reading, Facebook scrolling to appreciate the celebrations of friends and family, and, of course...munching on the FEAST (which as usual consists of my 3 absolute favorite parts of the Thanksgiving repast: stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie...mmmmm....). Without further ado, it's now time to go stuff...ME! And tomorrow...I get to sleep in--whoo hoo! Aaaannnnd, let the holiday hoopla continue!
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