Travis' Thanksgiving Trail Turkey Trot Thru the Trees

Notice all the T-words in the title there?  I know you're impressed.  Anyway, since Turkey trots are the topic of late, I didn't want to leave myself out, so here's my story.
The last time I ran on trails was my YUTC race on Sept. 17th so this Thanksgiving, I decided that's what I was doing the morning before the feast.  It was nothing fancy, basically just a trail run that I did by myself on Thanksgiving.  I left the house early, drove to a place called Boston Store (the start of the trail I usually run) and hit the dirt.  The weather was clear and not too cold.  We had some rain early in the week but a few days of dry weather had me thinking the trail wouldn't be too muddy.  Turns out I thought wrong.  See, Ohio has lots of leafy trees that drop all their leaves in late October.  All those leaves made a nice covering over the trail that trapped the moisture in, making for a decently slippery trail.  Soon after starting I realized that I'd likely end up either on my face or my butt before I was through.  Turns out I was wrong there too (thankfully).  But it was muddy enough that I kept thinking I would get to a certain spot that would probably be too muddy and I'd have to turn around.  Every time I got to those spots, though, it wasn't as bad as I expected and I'd keep going.  Trails have a way of doing that.  I always end up going longer and further than I plan...but I never regret it.  Anyway, I made it to the turnaround - Pine Lane - and started to head back.  Somewhere along the return trip I looked down at my shoes and thought, "hey, I swear these shoes were blue, not black."  My main concern was keeping myself upright so I hadn't paid attention to how wet and  muddy my shoes had become.  Below is a pic of them after they dried.  One of the many benefits of minimalist shoes -- throw them in the washing machine and they'll come out looking as good as new.













 The trail was a bit muddy but it was a blast to run.  I was happy to see some other people out enjoying the crisp Thanksgiving morning as well.  As I got closer and closer to the end of the trail I realized I wasn't quite ready for my run to be over yet...but I knew I had to get home to my family.  After all, that's what holidays are all about - spending time with the ones you love.  The last lines of a Robert Frost poem popped into my head just as I exited the forest onto the gravel road that led to the parking lot:
"These woods are lovely, dark and deep
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."

This Thanksgiving, I was thankful to spend an hour enjoying the sport I love, surrounded by God's beautiful creations.

Thanksgiving Thriller

There are lot of Turkey Trots out there and don't get me wrong--running a 5K on Thanksgiving is AWESOME!!!  The thing is, a 5K is 3.1 miles--somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes for most of us.  And, well, when it comes to working up and appetite for Thanksgiving--I wanted to earn my pieces of pie!!!

Thus was born The Thanksgiving Thriller.  (It was actually supposed to be the Holloway Half but we ran out of time and had to cut the run short.  Holloway Half may make a debut later in December.)  The Thanksgiving Thriller is a 10 mile run around the frozen remains of Jensons Grove in Blackfoot ID.  There were two official contestants this year:  Brandon (The Flash) and myself.  Both of us live in Texas, where we enjoy hot summers, mild winters and low elevation.  The Thanksgiving Thriller was held on a chilly Wednesday morning while the temperature climbed to a balmy 35 degrees and at an elevation of about 4,500 feet.  I realize this is not super high, but when all your training is done at 700 feet it makes a big difference.

There is a nice little path that circles around the lake then goes back for several miles through some nice neighborhoods.  But the real fun started when the path came to some dirt roads and trails.  We ran through the area several times, more or less following the actual path, until we ended up tearing back to the path at a full sprint.



 There were no medals or trophies given (honestly it was a spur of the moment idea) but I must say that if there were--I definitely would have taken at least 2nd place.