- Michelle Howell
To or to not trot my turkey this season?
It's turkey trot season, but I've been out of the game for a bit.
Growing up my own family did not partake in the loving local turkey trot tradition. Instead, we opted for camping trips with extended family to the wilderness of Celebration, Florida a rocks throw away from Disney World theme parks. We enjoyed just being together and eating way too much in addition to Disney and Universal Studio escapades.
Max introduced me to his family's turkey trot tradition when we first started dating. They what I'd call heavily invested in this holiday past time. They've got t-shirts, a cool family team name (Tom's Turkeys), and go hard. I was clearly a welcome addition to the roster.
My turkey-trot streak is 3-0, an impressive feat if I'd say so myself. I even hold a course record to my name and in my last showing at the Levis JCC Turkey Trot, I took home an apple pie.
Last year, however, I skipped lacing up for a trot because it honestly sounded like a lot since we were traveling to see family that day and the timing just did not line up well with the trot I found in DC.
This year I don't have that excuse.
We're headed to NYC for the week and after booking our lodging for the week the next thing I did was scope out turkey trots in the area. I found a few promising leads, analyzed the race results from last year, and began doing the math of what it would take to win the women's races and/ or overall if applicable. In my head, I was already beginning to savor that post-race feeling and imagining the prizes involved- a pie perhaps? Maybe even a turkey? What would I do with it? I can't keep that in my hotel fridge. This daydream was promptly burst once Max said we were most definitely not doing a turkey trot this year.
Why?
Two reasons: One valid and one not so much ( I'll let you decide which is which).
One, this trip is our mini-honeymoon. Since we didn't have time after our wedding to go away on our dream honeymoon (we're optimistic it's going to be in August) we settled on a short escape to New York City (where we'll most likely be living next). We haven't traveled together or had a real vacation since our Switzerland trip so Max is set on us using this opportunity to explore and spend time together. While I'll need to run while I'm away, it's not the priority and doing a turkey trot would take up time that we could spend somewhere else.
Two, my last family/local road race was not great. Not great in the sense that I toe the line with the same intensity as a USATF Final. I do a full race day warm-up, shove my way to the front of the other racers and complain when people let their small children roam to the front- seriously your child is not going to run fast after the first 100 meters and within that 100 meters, they are a tripping hazard amongst themselves and the rest of the field.
My last race was a 3k "fun run". My true motive for running anything over a mile for "fun" was the hefty prize pot they were offering. Obviously, I was not giving up setting up the race well so I got off the line HARD and never looked back.
After Max found some photos online and scolded me a bit.
See exhibit's A and B.
Remember to get off the line, avoid the small kids, and remember victory is sweet.
Trot some turkeys for me this Thanksgiving