So, Thanksgiving weekend has come and gone.
My plans for the weekend involved renting a car, running in the ORRC Turkey Trot 4-mile run Thanksgiving morning with my nephew Max, and then he and I would drive down to Lincoln City to meet up with the rest of the family for Thanksgiving on the Oregon coast.
The first part went according to plan. I had reserved a compact car from Hertz, but when I showed up, they had given me a “free upgrade” to a Pontiac G6 Sedan GTP: 240 HP 3.9 liter V6, leather interior, sun roof, 6 disk CD changer, traction control, Tiptronic 5 speed transmission… the works. It was going to be a fun car to drive to the beach! I realized that it had a downside, though, when the gas gauge showed only 3/4 after only 21 miles. Yikes. Oh, well, all good things come with a cost…
The other downer was waking up Wednesday with a sore left ankle. I don’t know how I’d hurt it. I hadn’t run all week, since the previous Sunday. But Wednesday morning, I had a muscle ache that felt like a twisted ankle. I didn’t know if I was going to be able to run the next day or not. When I talked to my sister, I mentioned the possibility of me not running, and she told me that Max had been looking forward to the race all week; he was, at that moment, picking out some running pants, since it was likely to be quite cold for the run. I felt bad, but injuries happen (even if I had no idea how this particular one had happened).
My nephew and I drove up to the Oregon Forestry Center, dressed as warmly as possible for the run. We picked up our shirts and bib “numbers” (since it was a fun run, it wasn’t timed and there were no actual numbers), then tried warming up. After just a few short minutes, up and down the hills near the Zoo, I could tell that there was no way I would last for the 4 miles of the run. I asked Max if he’d be OK running by himself, and after some thought, he agreed. I apologized for not running in this one. I waited with him at the starting line, and then after it started I found my dad, who had showed up to get some pictures.
And I was very impressed at Max’s time in the race! He ran 2 minutes per mile faster than he had run in our last race! His final time was almost exactly 45:00 even! He is really improving. I’m looking forward to our next race.
Then we drove down to the beach house, and I gorged myself for two whole days on the traditional Thanksgiving fare; ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing… and plenty of pie. We played Trivial Pursuit, which my sister’s father-in-law, Tom, won every time. It stormed and rained for most of the time, which is fine since the beach house is right on the beach and has a fireplace. Warm, cozy and we all went a bit stir-crazy but that’s normal for family. Right?
I also did a little bit of gambling at the Chinook Winds Casino… I’m not much of a gambler, so I managed to lose about $25.00. But it was fun.
My dad and Aunt Carol (his girlfriend… and my mom’s sister. Long story) came down on Saturday. Carol brought more pies, delicious home-baked pies. Mmmm… and then I drove back to Portland that afternoon. Quite the weekend!
I’m sure I’ve gained 10 pounds… all that eating and no exercise. But, hey, it’s the holidays, right?