Me and Jess getting psyched on the start line. Not sure why everyone is wearing pink…
I’m psyched to be back in Vermont and skiing on snow (although that might not last long), but I had a really wonderful Thanksgiving with my family, and I miss them, too. I traveled to Irvington, Virginia to see my aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandparents. I hadn’t seen my dad’s family in a couple of years and my grandmother isn’t getting any younger, so it was good that I went. Also, I love my cousins, they are completely awesome.
But anyway. The day before Thanksgiving we were taking the dog for a walk and ran into one of the neighbors. “Are you doing the Turkey Trot?” she asked.
“What Turkey Trot?” we replied.
“Oh, the whole town does the Turkey Trot every year. There’s 400 people, which is practically everyone who lives here!”
Without missing a beat, my parents and uncle asked, “How do you sign up? I’m sure Jess and Chelsea want to do it!”
Wait a minute. I wasn’t at all sure I wanted to do another race. After all, I had just completed five races in ten days over in Finland and I wasn’t feeling my most spritely. Also, Jess was taking a nap, so we certainly didn’t have her approval. Nonetheless, my family hurried off to the town office to sign up me, my cousin, and my dad.
Jess has always hated running, but this year she discovered that if you run with a friend, it’s actually kind of fun. It was her first race ever, and she was super nervous. Luckily, it was only two miles, and I promised her she’d be okay. We’d run together the day before and on a training run, she pretty much tired me out.
Well, the next morning, off we went. The course was a one-mile out and back, pretty much completely flat. The field was not particularly competitive, I’d say, and I won the women’s race. Jess won her age division and so did my dad, which was kind of hilarious. My aunt was so so so excited and proud of us. They have just moved to Irvington and don’t know many people, so she kept saying, “People are going to be wondering who those Littles are! Now they’ll know us!”
Anyway, it was pretty fun, and much less serious than my racing experiences in Finland. A good confidence-booster – I was completely surprised to be able to run at all! Now, back to the stuff that matters…. skiing!
Bringing home the hardware. I repped the GRP but of course nobody knew what it was or really cared.
Me, Jess, and Emily. Bestest cousins ever!
