. . . and sometimes it doesn’t feel so great
This Thanksgiving was bittersweet, in more ways than one. Bitterly cold, for example, which had me running on the treadmill instead of in a Turkey Trot. I’ve run in weather that cold, but it was just not calling to me this year.
Also bittersweet because we all agreed that my Dad can no longer travel here for Thanksgiving. When we moved here almost 10 years ago, we went to my parents. Then it became clear it was too much for my Mom (and now I know why!), so my sister took it over. Unlike my mom, my sister wouldn’t let us have the dogs in the house so it was a pain.
My sister works retail, and while she doesn’t work on Thanksgiving, she does work Black Friday. So then I took it over — which in some ways made my life easier, in other ways much harder. Because it’s really all on me.
After just a few short years hosting, just as I feel as though I’m hitting my stride! — I’ll be hanging up my mom’s turkey salt shakers next year. I had changes in mind if I were hosting next year, but the universe had a different kind of change in mind.
I’m joining up with the Weekly Wrap from Holly @ Hohoruns and Wendy @ Taking the Long Way Home to share my activity during Thanksgiving week.
Workouts update
- Monday: 5 miles easy, Dogwalk
- Tuesday: YFPR Strengthen & Stabilize (30 minutes)
- Wednesday: Pilates Legs & Abs (20 minutes), Dogwalk, Triggerpoint Grid Core Work (5 minutes), YFR Hamstrings
- Thursday: 3.5 treadmill miles (baby it’s cold out there!) + apparently another 3.5 miles hosting Thanksgiving
- Friday: Total Body Pilates (10 minutes), YFPR Flexibility & Flow (30 minutes)
- Saturday: 5 miles easy, Dogwalk
- Sunday: Yogaworks AM (10 minutes), Yogafusion (60 minutes), Dogwalk
Mileage: 13.5 (-2.5)
JY = Jasyoga
PB = Killer B
TM = Treadmill
YFR = Yoga for Runners*
WU = warmup
CD = cooldown
SB = Stationary Bike
YFPR = Yoga for Pain Relief
YTU = Yoga Tune Up Lower Body*
*Disclaimer: Amazon affiliate links; I will make a small amount of money if you buy through these links
Running Updates
Monday
I knew my body wouldn’t be super excited about running two days in a row, but I have other things on my plate for Tuesday, not to mention we’re supposed to get pretty messy weather in the morning.
I headed out to the park after some Thanksgiving grocery shopping that thankfully wasn’t too painful. While mostly clear, there are still icy patches, so it was a slow run/hike. Especially as I took the little bridge into the adjoining neighborhood, which wasn’t at all clear, and I did pause my Garmin for that stretch.
I even wore trail shoes, and I’m glad I did, although most of the time it was okay.
Thursday
It struggled & failed to make it out of the teens on Thursday. There was no dogwalk and no Turkey Trot either. It wasn’t just the weather, my hamstrings have been bothering me and the Turkey Trot I do is very hilly. But that wasn’t it either . . . it was really a matter of time and motivation. My family got here really late after a GPS mishap and I needed every extra second!
I wanted to run 5 miles but there wasn’t enough time. I settled for 3.5 miles . . . the same amount as my Turkey Trot. It was my own personal Turkey Trot that ended with a little bit of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
Saturday
I met up with the group this week and even got to share my run with someone for a change. I really did want to get in 7 miles, but no one else wanted to run more than an hour, and I’m just going with my body probably needs the break anyway. Totally forgot to take photos!
Favorites of the week
I think part of my time crunch with Thanksgiving this year was that I ran a half so much later in the year and the fact that the the week before and the week of Thanksgiving were packed with vet visits, ending with Lola’s visit to the cardiologist.
Remember, the regular vet thought her heart might be enlarged — she’s 13! He recommended we see a cardiologist. The cardiologist listened to everything, took her pulses, and had already reviewed that xray. He said chihuahua hearts tend to look big on xrays.
He said without the ultrasound he couldn’t 100% guarantee that she’s fine, but he really thought she was and saw no reason to do the ultrasound. He is the same cardiologist we saw with Chester, who ultimately died from heart failure. I trust him completely. So that was a big relief!
And then while getting ready for Thanksgiving I also decided to do a deep dive into some decluttering and redecorating . . .
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Thanksgiving went relatively well, and the Instant Pot did a great job with the turkey breasts. Trader Joes had precooked turkey legs this year & everyone enjoyed that along with their Turkey Breast en Croute (which Mr. Judy & I enjoyed again the next day).
Ultimately no games were played. Everyone seemed to enjoy watching the parade and the dog show (which luckily we’d taped).
Today I went to a yogafusion class with Running Buddy J. It was taught by her favorite yoga teacher. It was at Athleta, so it was free — can’t beat that!
If you’re a vegetarian/vegan runner/athlete, you might want to check out the 2018 Plant Based Fitness Bundle. Just passing it along, I don’t have any affiliation with them!
And today the above happened. I don’t know what Gizmo was thinking (Bandit was already in the bed when Gizmo just decided he wanted to be in it too). Seriously, this is a cat who used to hate dogs. He’s old enough now (17) that apparently he just doesn’t care — he wants what he wants when he wants it.
Let’s just say that Bandit is still somewhat unpredictable — he actually snarled at me last weekend when I tried to get him out of a bed, which he’s never done before — and this made me incredibly nervous — it sounded like maybe Bandit was growling just a little, but he didn’t do anything — and once I finished taking photos I encouraged Gizmo to move on.
Let’s get the conversation started:
How was your Thanksgiving?
Did you crush a Turkey Trot?
Any great Black Friday finds? Amazon had the Garmin Vivoactive 3 at a good price, but I decided to wait on it & see if it drops any further as the holiday madness progresses.
Chocolaterunsjudy 
No special Thursday or Friday here but I’ve enjoyed seeing people’s photos! It does sound bittersweet and I hope you can find a way through next year’s arrangements.
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Well, we’ll do it at the place where my parents live next year — assuming, of course, they are still with us. It’s a senior living community. Which means travel for us again, but at least we can take the dogs with us there.
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I decided to save me legs for my half on Saturday instead of a Turkey Trot. I did enjoy outside and it wasn’t bad. I went to mil’s and only brought the wine.
No shopping. I need to de-clutter rather than buy new things. Luckily I just have some friend gifts and stepsons.
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**run not enjoy.
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Holidays are bittersweet when you’re facing big life changes. This year my Mom couldn’t do the turkey, but my son was happy to take over. Wow on the canine-feline harmony. Ivy came downstairs yesterday and there was a showdown in the study — no fur or blood was shed! I did a wee bit of shopping this weekend, but 1/2 of it was for myself. 🙂
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I’m not sure what would have happened had Gizmo actually stayed there. He kept putting his paws on Bandit. And if I hadn’t been there petting Bandit . . . with Bandit’s history I’m really cautious, especially as Gizmo isn’t very strong anymore.
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I feel you on the parent aging thing. I’m glad my dad’s surgery went well–I feel like it bought us a little bit of time where he can continue to do stuff, physically, with us. But I know those days are limited. It’s really hard. Looks like you had an amazing Thanksgiving at your house! You do have it down.
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Definitely don’t have it down but thanks. 🙂 I’m glad your Dad’s surgery was a success! Aging is not for sissies. 😦
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The “who will host” question is always challenging, but happy to hear you’re enjoying hosting! Sorry that your dad can no longer make it though 😦
Wow, you had some seriously cold weather there! Colder than Minneapolis!
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Our weather tends to be a few days after yours. But then again, we are not expecting a blizzard this week. Just some very messy weather. It’s a hard time of year!
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My dad is in the non travel camp as well. All things considered, he’s hanging in there. It’s crazy how cold it was there while Chicago finally had some decent (meaning above freezing) fall weather. Of course we’re paying for that now with a raging blizzard.
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No blizzard here, just some messy weather tonight into tomorrow. It takes a few days for the weather to move across the country.
I wish I could say my parents were doing well, but it is what it is.
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Love your table cloth idea
So sorry to hear your dad can’t travel to you anymore. Changes are hard. We went through that cycle and thanksgiving bounced around a lot before it landed permanently? at my brother and sister in law’s in Albany. This year sill managed to be odd because instead of staying until Friday, mom & I headed back down Thursday. Yay for no traffic and not needing to go back roads. H ope transition goes smoothly for you.
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Well, we usually went back & forth in one day when we traveled, but it’s half the distance you’re traveling!
That’s great that you didn’t run into much traffic.
A year is a long time, so we’ll see what goes down.
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It looks like a lovely Thanksgiving at your home! I like the Kraft paper and the questions on the table. We’ve always traveled for Thanksgiving. I guess it will remain that way until my MIL is unable to host. Although it is a lot of work, and I enjoyed going to my oldest son’s home last year, it felt somehow “wrong” not to do Christmas Dinner at our house. Why bother with decorating, etc.? And…I’m not that old, kids! Hope you enjoy some warmer weather this week. Thanks for linking.
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Change is, alas, inevitable. I’d say it will be more relaxing — and of course I don’t have to do the deep clean — but no matter what, it’s a busy day. It is what it is.
Hope all in your life remain healthy & able for a long time!
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Great pictures of your food and family at Thanksgiving, it looks like a great time. So funny to see the pets getting along. I have 2 cats and while they often chase each other around the house or fight, I just love to see them cuddling together these days.
Our holiday was very lowkey. It was nice to keep it simple. I really like your decorations!
And I definitely did not crush my Turkey Trot. I would have rather had your 3.5 than my 5 miles!
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I miss cuddling cats! Simba was a horrible bully, but he would still cuddle with Gizmo. It was so cute.
Well I wanted your 5 miles, LOL!
Simple and low key is good. For myself it probably would be, but my mom always loved doing Thanksgiving so I always feel obligated to do more — I do put my spin on it, though. At least I don’t have to worry about Christmas dinner!
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So sorry to hear that your dad can no longer travel. I can definitely understand how the holidays could be bittersweet for you this year. All things considered, it looks like you had a great Thanksgiving this year. Glad to see that the pets got along too!
I did a turkey trot on Thursday and the weather was pretty brutal – definitely not that enjoyable lol
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Yeah, it wasn’t that I couldn’t do the turkey trot, I’ve definitely raced in weather that cold, but you have to want to & I didn’t. Didn’t know it would be off the table for a while after this year!
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Glad to hear that the visit with the cardiologist went well and Lola looks ok! Sorry to hear about the changes for Thanksgiving but it sounds like there could be some positives with the new plan too. I guess we just always have to stay flexible because the changes will just keep coming whether we want them or not.
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You’re right — changes are gonna come, so you just have to figure out how to make it work for you!
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We don’t do much for Thanksgiving since my husband has work shifts starting that evening. His company does IT security, so at least his work over the weekend is mostly just being there in case something goes wrong processing all those credit card transactions. I can’t imagine working retail on black Friday!
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My sister is also in her mid 60s! She went back to work pretty late in life after raising the kids.
A relaxed Thanksgiving (mostly) at home sounds pretty good to me! When we lived in TX & I did friendsgiving a few times, it was a whole lot more relaxed!
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We’re lucky since my grandfather’s senior living community is less than 2 miles from my uncle’s house. He enjoyed the meal and asked for a bed and pillow when the turkey started kicking in. I’ve never hosted Thanksgiving, and for the past 5+ years, I’ve been to big gatherings where everyone else brings sides and the hosts make the turkey and stuffing.
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Thankfully it’s not that many people. But my sister works, my parents are too old, and the kids come up from NYC so it’s kind of hard on them. So I basically make everything . . .
You are lucky to be that close to your grandfather! My parents just assumed they would never have to leave their house. 😦
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I love your idea of using craft paper for a table cloth! I bet it was fun for everyone to write & draw to their heart’s content.
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Well, once someone spilled their drink it just soaked through it. We had a big roll, so we were able to patch it with more kraft paper, but unbeknownst to me some of the ink had bled onto the table top.
I didn’t even know it til the next day. Luckily I was able to get it off. But even if I couldn’t, I had already figured it would just be a memento of this Thanksgiving!
The wax coated Kraft paper might have worked better, and we considered it, but it was narrower & as it was we had to tape 2 pieces together to cover the tables.
Of course it was also a last minute idea of mine — thank goodness for Amazon Prime!
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