Thanksgiving Weekend Report.

Not really Triathlon related, but who cares.

When Jeff and I got married we alternated holidays with our respective families. I think a lot of people do this and it is a fair system. As time has passed, holidays have just become too... well not fun- at least for me. The whole family thing - lets face it - is overrated. The Walton's are gone. Holidays are for kids. I have lots of good childhood memories, some not so good, of time spent with grandparents or aunts/uncles at a particular Thanksgiving or Christmas. Now that I'm a mom - I see how much work can be involved into making said holiday memorable, and I think memories can be made without so much work. I'm not just talking about the work that goes into the food preparation, I'm talking about the work that goes into traveling, sleeping in a strange place, getting along with everyone, sharing bathrooms, the remote...

Last year I got fed up. I'm known in my family as the peace-maker. I didn't ask for this job, its just part of my personality and my "I wish my family was like the Walton's or the Engels" pipe dream in the sky. I told Jeff that now that we have children, we're going to do fun stuff on the holidays. Whose ever family's turn it is to spend the holiday with - well they are invited, but that is it. Oh and Christmas - at least until Santa is outgrown- is at home because how else can Santa find you on Christmas.

This Thanksgiving my little family - Jeff, the boys and myself headed to Lake Amistad for the long weekend. We took our boat and stayed in a friend's RV that he keeps down there. Prior to our trip, I baked a ham (we're having Turkey for Christmas), cooked a butt load of pinto beans, made some chili to go with some of those beans, baked cookies and brownies and packed it all up. Noon on Thanksgiving Day we tied off on a little island, let the boys throw rocks, and wade in the water then we had chili and beans with tortillas and chocolate chip cookies. Back at camp that evening we had our ham, beans, cheesy hash brown potatoes, and apples. We slept in, explored the lake, and various shores of the lake. We played in playgrounds, watched movies, and ate cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Jeff caught enough fish to satisfy the bug for a little while, and we had lots of stress free fun. Came back refreshed with tanned faces and are already brainstorming for next year's trip. It was still a lot of work preparing for the trip and cleanup afterwards, but we did not experience crazy crowds at airports or malls, traffic was light as not many head to Del Rio, TX for the holidays, and there were not family issues other than the normal stuff of 3 & 4 year old antics.

Although it was tempting to take my bike and I would have had a scenic ride, I left it at home for the sake of quality time with family. I did get in a long, slow run on Friday that was chocked full of hills believe it or not. I'm trying to figure out now, how to salvage my training plan as I have less than two weeks until the Polar Bear Tri. I'm resolved to the fact that I will have a slower time as I've not spent much time on the bike since The Stealth Tri and my average speed has dropped. I also have not gotten as much pool time as I liked since the Carlsbad Pool did not open as scheduled and work and life gets in the way of Tuesday and Thursday evenings. I have been extremely consistent with my running and hope that at least my run time will be improved. I guess I'll make that a goal for the race - improved run time. The rest is there for the experience.