sidebar | life and training 11.25 – 12.1

Happy Aftermath and Merry Pre-Christmas!

At present, I am quite content. I just finished a very chilly run (45* out, brr!) and am huddled in my Cookie Monster sweater, gnome pants, and a big cardigan drinking coffee from a Christmas tree mug and nibbling a stroopwafel. My so far-undecorated tree is emitting the most luxurious fragrance from the corner of the living room. He is the perfect tree: Fragrant, Fat, Fraser Fir.

Christmastime is my favorite, though I often struggle around the holiday itself. I always attribute this to how rushed the leadup is and how anticlimactic the day of proves to be. As an adult, Christmas has to take on a new, more mature meaning: I no longer have a break from school to mark the season, gifts have become more complicated and more simplified at once, and shortly following I turn another year older and become even more clueless about where I’m headed.

This year, I really want to hone in one what I can do to create the holiday spirit. I still don’t know what that means, but I’m thinking connection is a crucial element. Saying yes to outings with friends, afternoons with mom and my sis on Facetime decorating gingerbread houses and baking cookies, visiting local shops for a hot chocolate on cool afternoons, participating in themed races, styling the shit out of my house…Basically, filling the void that childhood left behind when I hit my 20s. Not to say my Christmases growing up were perfect (they most certainly were not), but again, the timeline markers were there, and a certain magic exists in youth.

Thanksgiving, much like Christmas, swept by in a blink, and much of the day I spent in a post-5K daze. I wouldn’t trade it for anything, though. I spent the night at mom’s on Wednesday after attending my very confusing Turkey Trot packet pickup. Bit hectic over there: they changed the location of the pickup and I was certainly not the only confused person. I cooked up my favorite spaghetti and “meatballs” for pre-race dinner and hit the hay fairly early.

4 am wakeup, a quick 2 mile walk to get my legs moving, and a wafel snack before suiting up and driving over to the high school. Again, confusing as fuck: the race directors didn’t allow parking at the high school so everyone had to fend for themselves in the various business lots around the route. I found a space fairly easily, sat in the heat for a few with mom, then wandered out to find the starting chute. While doing so, I ran a 1 mile warmup with some strides.

The race was packed, about 5,200 runners and walkers. They experienced some technical difficulties with the national anthem so the emcee led the crowd in singing – it was actually quite delightful listening to the hum of the collective despite.

Then, we were off!

As with any 5K race I tend to black out after mile 1 and can’t remember much other than heavy legs and pain pain pain, but I kept on a pretty good clip (with many inner swear words driving me forth) until mile 2.5 when a WILD HILL APPEARED. Not pleased. I slowed down tremendously while climbing, as I was totally unprepared to encounter the incline. I was definitely not the only one: everyone around me huffed and blew and coughed a bit. I got really gunky and struggled to find my stride again for the final .3 mile or so push.

Thankfully, the finish landed on a downhill and I emptied the tank as best I could with a 6:44 pace final sprint. They split up the men and women in the finishing chute in order to hand out cards for the first 125 finishers of each gender, and I landed one as number 62! We got some sweet little mugs as a prize for our work.

7:35 official pace, a new personal best, 23:33. The fog was blessedly not as thick as Wednesday, although the moisture did stick to my glasses and give me a nice blurry view of the world. Mom waited for me by the finish line, and I’m so glad to know she saw me barreling through like a charging bull about to collapse. I ran a cooldown mile and met her again as she walked back to the car.

Breakfast, as always, consisted of pumpkin waffles and scrambled eggs, and a viewing of the Macy’s parade. Most of the morning and midday we lounged around – again, as I said, me spaced out exhausted but also refusing to nap – and enjoyed a cheeseboard snack and some homemade guacamole. I took a call from a friend for about 15 minutes, then we started dinner preparations.

I tell you what. I am extremely territorial in the kitchen and do not like cooking with other people: I take up space, I throw things around, I swear, and I do not like being disrupted. Somehow, though, mom and I always find a rhythm and never get in each other’s way. We fucken nail the kitchen camaraderie. And, we fucken nailed dinner.

Mom’s contributions: her famous stuffing (so much butter), mashed potatoes, and butternut squash soup. My contributions: seafood pot pie, brussels sprout salad, and salted rosemary dinner rolls. She baked up an incredible pumpkin cheesecake for dessert as well.

Yep, another Thanksgiving success. I’m so sad it’s over, but so happy for the memories and the abundance of leftovers. Kinda sorta ready but kinda sorta not to run another 5K in a couple weeks. Weeeee suffering!

Speaking of leftovers, I’ve been making various sandwiches with the remaining salad, crusty baguette, vegetarian turkey, and Swiss cheese. Fucken rad.

Aside from Thanksgiving, the rest of the week was spent working and preparing for the big day. Saturday I was in a totally shit mood but wrenched myself out to Intermezzo with Little Miss Ba for a treat. The aside was nice – I sat in the corner drawing for about an hour while sipping on a gingerbread espresso martini. I’m hoping to visit Bar Mezzo, their sister concept, this week to check out their cocktail lineup, catch up with a old coworker, and experience the beautiful Christmas decor. Perhaps that’ll spark up some cheer.

Sunday I acquired my beautiful tree! I’m hoping to get the decorations on it today and tomorrow after I do a little shopping for ornaments. I saw a butter ornament at Target and hope it’s still in stock because that’s so perfect for me.

If you celebrate, how are you inspiring the holly jolly this season? Would love to hear your experiences, as I am always looking for ways to bring in joy and feel a bit more spirited than usual as the occasion warrants. It’s hard as a grown up, but maybe we can find the little kid in us again.

Good day, friends. We’ll catch up next week!

The Fuck We Cooking This Week?

…A brilliant use of your leftover Thanksgiving potatoes!

…A cozy, wintry hot chocolate.

…A festive bourbon cocktail.

…A luscious wintry layer cake.

A Few Things I’m Digging

Mug…My holly jolly Christmas mug is my favorite to use lately. Holds a lot of coffee (necessary) and feels sturdy in the hand. Plus, it’s cute and festive.

Crackers…I bought some holiday Ritz crackers the other day and forgot how tasty they are on cheeseboards. And just to swipe a handful of when I’m feeling snacky. I’m really not sure why reviews are shitting on them because I think they’re delightful.

Shops & Wish List

Fashion

Target…Kinda thinking about this red cropped sports bra for my Christmas-themed 5K in a couple weeks. I own a couple other colors of this same style and it is SO comfy. Or, the dark green one with matching bike shorts. Hehe.

Home

Crate & Barrel…As many of us are, I’m in full Christmas decoration mode. Love these Christmas tree candles (maybe for my dining table?) or these little ribbed candles, and I’d like to pick up a balsam diffuser for my bathroom. Also really like these velvet ornaments, particularly the green ones.

Week in Training

Monday, 11.25: 6.01 miles, 10:13 pace

Last little speed session before the Turkey Trot on Thursday! Slow during the warmup and recoveries but I guess that isn’t a huge deal – my faster segments were solid. 2 mile warmup, 1 mile push (7:35), 2 x 200m (50.7, 50), 2.5 mile cooldown.

Tuesday, 11.26: 4 miles, 10:45 pace

Easy, chill miles, keeping it relaxed up until the race Thursday!

Wednesday, 11.27: 4 miles, 10:49 pace

Easy miles plus 4 strides to activate the legs. Worked down to a 5:45 pace on one of them. Felt good and it was VERY foggy, so I indeed was the spooky figure emerging from the mist. Muahaha.

Thursday, 11.28: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! 3.1 miles, 7:35 pace

Turkey Trot 2024! Hadn’t run an organized Thanksgiving race since 2019 and they changed the logistics of the course A LOT. Packet pickup was relatively confusing, and the finish area wasn’t as cool as prior (runners would loop on the track for the final .1 and it was a nice relief against the asphalt). Felt relatively in control until mile 2.5 when a wild hill appeared! That thing totally brutalized my legs and it took me most of the last mile to recover. I shot down to a 6:44 pace for the finishing bit and ended up 62nd woman out of over 2000. New PB by over 30 seconds and I got a cute finisher mug for landing in the top 125 females. A pretty good morning I’d say! Also did a 1 mile warmup and 1 mile cooldown to top out at 5 miles for the day.

Friday, 11.29: 3.5 miles, 10:33 pace

Drizzly midday recovery miles – chose sleep in the morning after a quick little walk. I enjoy running in light rain so this felt really refreshing and seemed to help my legs loosen up after yesterday’s race.

Saturday, 11.30: 8 miles, 11:04 pace

Keeping it easy since the hamstrings are still barking a bit and I’m in recovery mode post-race. Felt pretty good, the wind was heavy and it was CHILLY outside! The temp dropped about 5 degrees from start to finish. Brrrrr.

Sunday, 12.1: 4 mile walk (1:02:07)

Total running mileage: 30.6