Thanksgiving Weekend Part One

The waistline gets bigger as I get older. So I have to find things to do on Thanksgiving Day to burn a few calories. So two out of the past three years I signed up to do the SF Turkey Beach Trot.

http://www.turkeytrailtrot.com/2006/

Unfortunately this year (as was the case last year) they had to move it to Golden Gate Park. This time it is permanent. Gotta respect them environmental laws -- can't be harming the habitat of the snowy plover.

http://www.ggnrabigyear.org/WesternSnowyPlover.html

Like last year, I twisted my ankle bad. Last year it was midway through the run trying to get around other runners by going just off the trail. This time it was walking on the trail with my wife on the way to the start line.

To say the least, I was pissed. How can the same sh#@ happen to the same guy two years in a row at the same event.

After I had calmed down, my ankle didn't hurt that much. I had payed money to do a 5 miler, so I decided just to go ahead and do it. I took it easy, got really paranoid about the trail, and was able to run the whole thing. It wasn't the fastest 5 miles I've run. But the circumstances -- a huge horde of runners on a narrow trail, chewed up terrain, busted ankle -- I couldn't expect a fast time.

It was a beautiful trail run though. Not as pretty as Ocean Beach was in 2005 when I first did it. I'll still value that experience -- nothing quite like navigating that thin strip of firm sand between where the ocean washes all over your shoes and where the sand is too deep and too loose to run in very quickly.

Unfortunately, I'm hobbling around now as a result of my insistence on running the whole 5 miles. Hope the ice & compression packs heal it up before next weekend's relay race up in Sacramento.