Thanksgiving: 12 Miles and 2 Nipples

Since Cara is in Vermont, I had decided to drive down to Charleston and spend Thanksgiving with my brother. It was going to be a triple-threat: beer, movies and pizza. And just for a bit of nostalgia, I was going to do the Turkey Day Run again. But at the last minute, I did a little financial math and decided against it. I just took my car in for some repairs, and I’m losing two days of work because of the holiday… it just didn’t seem like a good time to use up all that gas and pay a race fee.

So instead, I decided to run on my own for free. It’s not as nice as a 5K in Charleston, and I’m even a little bummed that I didn’t go for the one here in Columbia. But really, when am I going to find another opportunity to safely run down Broad River Road? The traffic was actually kind of sane today, and a little awareness was all I needed to be safe.

Even the weather was cooperating. There was a bit of a chill in the wind, but after the first mile I was completely comfortable. I went all the way to the bridge over the Broad River and took a left into the little dirt road that leads to Riverfront Park. There’s a place to park cars and the gate doesn’t close until 9pm, so I made a note to come back soon after work. The canal ends at a little bridge before joining with the river, and when you cross it you get this view:

At first I had been thinking of a 10K run. Then I thought maybe I would do 8 miles. Once I was outside I figured I would just go 5 miles out and turn around for a 10-mile. But when I was at the dam, looking around at the beautiful water and the other people who were showing up to enjoy the park… well, I just had to run into the park for a mile or so before turning around. I wound up with a 12-mile Thanksgiving Day run!

There was just one problem. At around 10 miles, my wet, sweaty shirt had finally washed away my BodyGlide. This is mainly a problem in warmer months and for longer distances. As long as I have a dry shirt or don’t run too long with a wet one, I’m fine. But this was 12 miles in nice weather. Eventually both nipples were bleeding, and I had to wash the shirt by hand to keep it from staining. I think it might be time to start using those small round Band-Aids for these longer distances. Hopefully they’ll prevent the problem in the future.

In the end, I think I did pretty well. 12 miles this morning, and a guilt-free Thanksgiving this afternoon. I’d rather be with my brother eating pizza and watching World War II documentaries, but he understood why I stayed here. Besides, my sister and the parents are happy to have me around. Speaking of which, I’d better post this and get over there. I’m really hungry. Not cranky-hungry, but getting there. I’d better drive over so I can stuff my face.