Turkey Trot 10k Thanksgiving Tradition

"Some memories are unforgettable, remaining ever vivid and heartwarming."--Joseph B. Wirthlin 

It’s that time of year where everyone gobbles until they wobble and tramples each other over sales.. I mean spends time with family and watches football. Thanksgiving is an odd time of year not to mention the historic issues associated with it that no one ever thinks about anymore. Being a group fitness instructor and a relatively healthy person I tend to dislike Thanksgiving only because of the fact that I have no self control with portions and desserts when presented to me in a buffet style. It’s pretty much a free for all going on in my brain and stomach that propels me forward and tells me “ you know you want ALL of this. Get 5 plates and then we’ll see if you’re full. Tomorrow I’m going to guilt trip you and make you spend all day at the gym. Enjoy!”

This year wasn’t like that at all…thank goodness. Yes I ate more than I usually do. Yes I had deliciously scrumptious food that I have zero regrets over. Yes I spent the next day working out slightly more than usual. However, Will and I started a tradition 3 years ago that I’ve really come to love. We run a Turkey Trot 10k in Virginia Beach around Mount Trashmore and the surrounding area in the morning then go to the Thanksgiving festivities later in the day with our families. 

This year we left Greenville, NC (our current home) Wednesday night and drove the 2.5 hours to Knott’s Island to have dinner with his Dad, brother and random friends his brother, Nick, had brought. We ate lots of homemade skillet pizza, which is his Dad’s specialty everyone always requests. It’s never bad. Never. We started our vacation off there so we could leave Atlas with his best furry friends and we would know he was getting worn out and also be extremely happy. It’s the same people from previous blogs who are professional dog sitters and the house is doggy heaven. Obviously he was happy for the few hours we left him gallivanting around the backyard chasing balls and wearing all of the other dogs out. 

We woke up bright and early, had a quick breakfast and drove the 45 minutes up to Mount Trashmore. This location is already a favorite for runners since it makes a loop around a large lake and even has gym equipment along the way,  a skate park, and a children’s play park. It’s a neat place. Race day it boasted inflatable start and finish markers, thousands of runners (some in costumes and lots in turkey hats), bagels, bananas and donuts from Krispy Kreme, not to mention free coffee. They know how to start and finish a race off well. 

We both wanted to improve our PRs and trained much more than usual. The race started off with both of us running together, but I made sure Will ran off and actually ran at his pace since I’m slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter. I’m slow, but I’m in it for the long haul. I never stop and I always pace myself. We both finished and realized we CRUSHED out personal records. Will blasted his by 10 minutes and I knocked off 5 minutes from mine. Killed it!

The rest of the day consisted of lots of driving… not as much eating. We drove back down to Moyock to shower at Will’s Mom’s house. I then drove off to Williamsburg to see my family and had a blast catching up with my family. I only get to see them a few times a year so it’s always nice catching up. After that I drove the 2 hours to Knott’s Island, picked up my pup and drove to Virginia Beach. At this point I had spent more time in the car than I had with family and friends on the holiday that celebrates just that… Plus no one saved me ANY turkey as promised. Slightly upset, BUT we did roast our own 2 days afterward to make up for it and holy crap was it delicious.   Anyway… 

I’m not one for Black Friday. I hate that people are so caught up in buying that one gift everyone else is getting and doing anything possible, even trampling someone, in order to get that specific item. I only go out on Black Friday to browse calmly once my parents head to bed and only if someone is going out and needs to get something. Thanksgiving to me is about being thankful for what really matter and what you already have. That being said I found myself in Target browsing for video games with Will and his brother. It was surprisingly not insane and we had a good time walking off all of the food we ate. 

After the not so much madness we rounded up all of our stuff and made the drive back to Greenville. There’s something to be said about being away from home…even though I hate Greenville… and falling in to bed after a really good time away. 

Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings."--Williams Arthur Ward

Batten Down The Hatches

"Maybe your weird is my normal? Who's to say?"-Nicki Minaj

As many of my followers know, I have had my fair share of poop stories. Until last Wednesday, these were strictly animal stories. I will now share my first (and hopefully last) human poop horror/humor story.

One of my day jobs I currently have involves teaching Zumba at several gyms. My all time favorite class to teach is my Wednesday night class at a gym that will remain nameless. The members are rambunctious, hilarious, and ready to WORK. I've been told my classes are the hardest/best workout money can buy and I really pride myself in that. I always make sure to have low and high impact options so anyone from 8 years old to 80 years old can come away and feel like they really exercised, challenged themselves, but were safe in the way they went about it. Zumba is so great because it really feels like you are having a little party, acting like a fool, and best of all it doesn't feel like a workout that you have to convince yourself you can finish and hope you don't pass out.

Yes my classes are hard, but that's why we're at the gym. To make changes and get in shape! I had a special "Kick Butt Thanksgiving Zumba Extravaganza" complete with new songs, lots and lots of sweating in preparation for the 800 cookies, pies, turkeys, potatoes, etc that we would eat the next day. I even had handmade door prizes that I had crafted myself. You can check them out here if you want: www.etsy.com/shop.eclecticgreetings

Little did I know it would go horribly wrong and I wouldn't even know that it made a turn for the worst until Thanksgiving itself.

Thanksgiving morning went really well. My boyfriend, Will and I ran a 10k and finished in a little over an hour. There was a light drizzle, but it felt AMAZING since we were ridiculously warm from not running that far in a long time. We then went home and cooked cream cheese and bacon stuffed poblano peppers and a green bean casserole. Then we made the trek, with our pup Atlas of course, to NC where Will's mom lives to eat all of the delicious food she had made. We were beyond stuffed by the time we made it home. Everyone in the house: cats, dog, and boyfriend were asleep within minutes of sitting down. I curled up with the 5th Game of Thrones book and just relaxed.

We decided to go to Target around 9 so we would miss the massive crowds and still get to shop around for some great deals. Little did I know my entire day would be changed as I walked out of the game section towards the pet section.

I ran into Chris who takes my Wednesday night class and he is super energetic with a fun personality. He is the one who informed me about the "incident". After saying hi and making small talk he leans in and in a hushed voice asks me "Do you know that someone pooped in your Zumba class yesterday?"

First of all, this is not the normal conversation topic I was expecting. Secondly, my brain had trouble processing that information. Thirdly, WHAT THE F@$&?????  I was disgusted, confused, slightly amused, intrigued, disgusted again, horrified, and most of all the feeling of "no...that couldn't have happened."

But happen it did. I was 100% oblivious...not that I would have known what in the world to do if I happened to see someone poo on the floor accidentally. Let's give you some more detail. No not about the poo you weirdo, about the situation.

I had 20 people in class that night and the "perpetrator" was in the back of the class according to witnesses and hear sayers. I always teach at the front and am looking around the room constantly to check form. It never occurred to me to check the floor for rogue bowel movements. A mother and daughter duo are usually at the back almost every class and they had apparently witnessed it happen, but were too confused or horrified to do something about it, which is very reasonable. Many in the class wrote it off as "oh, there's dirt right there".

What horrifies and confuses me the most is the next few facts. 1. She pooped in the middle of a crowded room and knew it happened. 2. She didn't casually excuse herself to clean up the mess on the floor and undoubtedly elsewhere on her person. 3. A WHOLE OTHER CLASS happened in that same room right after and everyone thought it was dirt. 4. She never CLEANED IT UP.    I can forgive someone for pooping on the floor if they have bowel issues. That can't be helped, but preventative measures should be taken like an adult diaper, etc. Not to clean is up is rude, unsanitary, and a slipping hazard to name barely a few of the risks without mentioning how gross the whole situation is.

I'm not the sort of person who focuses on the negative, but I had no previous socially acceptable reaction in my arsenal in which to pull from to figure out how in the heck you respond to something like that.

In short, if you have to poop, go to the bathroom immediately. Poop waits for no mortal being and it means smelly business. If you do poop accidentally, nonchalantly play it off as it being dirt on the floor and blame it on a muddy dog you may or may not have and excuse yourself and get the proper cleaning tools. That's humiliation free and won't wound any pride, plus it prevents blog posts such as these from unsuspecting Zumba instructors who never see that situation coming.

All in all, I exercised the shit out of someone. Literally. I still have no idea how to feel about that. Holy crap. Pun intended.

"The only thing worse than it raining after you wash your car, is having to poop right after you get out of the shower."--Unknown