that time I slept 3 hours, shopped all morning, ate a boozy brunch, and then did a long run.

The weekend before Thankgiving all the women in my family, and some close friends, all gather at my Mom's. Friday night we head to Robinson's, the island restaurant (literally the only one), for dinner. It is only open on weekends during the off-season and pretty much the whole town is there. We socialize, dance, drink too much and stuff ourselves with seafood.  And they we stay up too late talking and playing music. Oh and did I mention that I usually choose to sleep in the boathouse. It has no heat, insulation, or running water in the winter, but the view can't be beat. I just pile on the blankets.

Saturday morning we drag our tired selves out of bed at 5 am and head into Boothbay Harbor for the early bird sale.  Luckily there is no need to get dressed because it is a shop in your PJ's event. Then we pretty much check out every store in the town, which are all offering huge discounts to clear out their stock before the close for the year. Everyone is wearing funky PJ's and the shops all have free coffee and nibbles.



Hours later, we dump all our bags in the car and head down to McSeagulls for brunch. We take full advantage of their $3 mimosa specials and dig into to giant lobster omelets. Usually by the time we get home in the early afternoon we are all pretty done for the day.

Except this year when we got home, I had to go for a 2 hour run. Okay, I didn't HAVE to, but a 115 minute run is on my training schedule for the week and today was the best day to get it in. Tomorrow I have a pretty full day and it is supposed to be frigid and really windy. Monday-Wednesday I'll be working and trying to get ready to host Thanksgiving. Thursday is the turkey trot and Thanksgiving and then I have plans for Friday. So today it was! I was not looking forward to it. I won't lie. I am religiously a first thing in the morning runner. My stomach can be very picky about eating before I run and I am not used to running when I am already exhausted.

I limited myself to 1 mimosa at brunch (which is one more than I should have had) and dosed myself up on plenty of coffee. It was bright and sunny and not too cold, but the wind was intense. Plus, it is really hilly here. So I made a deal with myself, that I just had to get in the time on my feet. I wouldn't even look at my pace until I was done and I could run as slowly as I wanted. I went back over to town to run because I just couldn't face another run around the island. There is 1 road that makes an 8 mile loop and I have done it SO MANY TIMES.

It really wasn't as bad as I was expecting. The wind was pretty brutal when I was facing it head-on, but it was pretty darn pleasant in the sun and with a tail wind. I stuck to a 5:1 ratio and I felt strong the whole time. My foot started to get a little tired near the end. Mid-way through I really needed a bathroom (thank you 6 cups of coffee) and luckily I found a port-a-pottie in an yard where they had been doing construction (there are no public bathrooms here in the off-season).Even allowing myself to run as slowly as I wanted I still finished under a 10 minute pace, finishing 11.75 miles in 1 hour and 55 minutes.



After I finished my run, I headed home for a hot shower and then some amazingly well deserved laziness. I've been sitting by the pellet stove reading, playing the guitar, and stuffing myself on my Mom's fresh sourdough bread for the last several hours and it is heaven.

Do you have any special pre-holiday family traditions? How do your fit in longs runs during this busy time of year?