Day 4,239—my Own Personal Turkey Trot—

 

 I cannot help but think of this trip we took three years ago after the Fall Creek 100. I still think of that 100 sometimes. Even though I have done a lot since then, there was something special about that race. I finished with two other runners I ran with through the night. A guy I ran with told me about his experience with bears. I think about him every time I reflect on my animal encounters. I both want and don’t want to see a bear in the wild.

Another runner inspired me to try a 200-mile race. She had run the one with David Goggins the year before, but by the time I was in Nashville for the holiday, I was miserable, yet I still had a good time.

        The whole place seemed so immense then, and I had wanted to retreat into the smallest possible place and shut the door. This year, I felt like everything had gotten smaller and more familiar. I remember thinking how impressed I was with all the vegan places in the area. We found this place called the BE-Hive last time we were excited to revisit, but this year, they were closed, so we went to a place called the Sunflower Bakehouse.

       

As I ran here, I felt like I had traveled back in time. All the chains from my childhood were still going strong: The Cheesecake Factory, Olive Garden, Chevy's, Ralph Lauren, etcetera. Of course, I am here when nothing is open, but the locations almost glimmer, and there is the buzz of workers arriving and preparing. Every time I passed Paula Deen’s Family Kitchen, I tried to remember why she is famous. And didn’t she say something racist? Or was that someone else who looks like her?