Not All Who Wander Are Lost: Thanksgiving

I'm sick of talking about the past. I realize that giving a little distance can let you reflect, but today I really want to rave about the beautiful weather, or the race we just ran, or how talented some of the women I saw perform last night were, or how great the fresh blueberries I had today were, or the crazy skua attack that Meg, I, and our dinner's survived. So good. So brilliant. Instead, I'm two weeks behind on the the blog so you are getting Thanksgiving goodness.

Thanksgiving. What is it? It is different for every one and every location. Down here, it means a holiday that the NSF can move to Saturday to accommodate work schedules and allow us to have our first two day weekend in three months. It means a brilliant meal made by an amazing galley staff who doesn't get the day off when we do. It means the annual turkey trot. It even means being thankful for how lucky we are to be here, to be surrounded by amazing friends, to have lots of loved ones back home, to have health, and to even have some happiness. I think most people are just thankful for the chance to truly unwind with two full days of goodness.

Running socks (photo by D. Story).
My Thanksgiving started after one of my worst night's of sleep down here. I had been unable to sleep, due to coughing, sniffling, and a headache, until almost 4am. I woke up at 9:15 (which was HUGE for me to sleep in that long) and saw a couple of my friends dressed for running. I was confused because they don't run much, but then I realized they were heading out to the Turkey Trot. I hustled my gear together to make it over to the 10am race in time.

The start of the Turkey Trot.
Since I wasn't feeling so hot, I planned to just run the race and not race it. It was a cold and windy day so I definitely wasn't motivated to run anywhere too fast. At the last minute, they changed the race course from the ice road out to the ice runway to the road to Scott Base. Someone had fallen and broken their wrist the week before so they didn't want to risk any more injuries. This change helped me quite a bit because it meant the first half of the race would be uphill which is my preferred run.

The hill up the Scott Base road.
We started late, but it was alright because we all just huddled inside to stay warm. Once we finally got moving, I just stayed leeward of someone running my speed and let them pull me up the hill. When they faded, I found someone else. I feel bad for the guys who tried to lead the first third of the race. They all faded away. I think the top finishers all stayed leeward of other runners as long as they could. The man who won it stayed leeward of me until we were out front. Anyway, while I didn't plan to race and was just running, I soon found myself near the front and my stubborn side took over. I didn't push it, but I definitely didn't ease off the way I had planned.

The downhill portion of the race with a great view.
The results of my decision not to ease off had me tied for first at the top of the hill. When we started back down, the other runner pulled away. I was able to catch back up for a short while, but he had a great stride and just pulled away again. He tuckered me out and there wasn't anyone too close behind me so I did finally ease off and did my best to enjoy the rest of the run through an agonizing cramp and an inundation of mucas. For my efforts, I got second place overall, first in my division, a Leatherman Micra knife, and an nauseating headache (maybe a migraine).

Turkey Trot results
Simon Trotter 19:27
William Brotman 19:59
Nathan Murphy 20:10

Marika finishing her first 5k!
I think the best part of my race was after the finish. I turned back up the hill to find Marika. She was running her first 5k and she isn't a runner. I found her and ran to the finish with her, nagging her all the way she would assure you. She pulled in just under 30 minutes which is running at a pace of 6 miles an hour. I'm posting this to have a permanent record and to reminder her that she did run faster than she ever trained even thought she felt like she was walking up the hill. When she was done, she went out for another 2 miles of running. She is a rockstar and is planning to run her first, and avowed only, half marathon in January.

The dinner tables.
Thanksgiving dinner is usually a special time with friends and food. I can't really put words to our dinner. I don't think I could put words to any family dinner I've attended over the years. There is just an inner warmth that emanates from spending time with those we love and with those who know us best. Two things I can convey is that the galley staff is amazing and they are amazing. There were around a 1,000 people on base and the galley only holds 350. That means they have to have three sittings, 3pm, 5pm, and 7pm, to get everyone fed and fed well. The rest of this post is just pictures of the concoctions they came up with. However, even these pictures doesn't do justice to the week of preparation that the staff put into making it happen.