Oh yes, dear readers. The holiday feasting season! It's a wonderful time, filled with family, friends, and food. The atmosphere is cozy, and the meals are warm and delicious. On the other hand, it's a time of year when distance athletes everywhere shake in their calorie-counting boots. And if the temptation of a single huge meal isn't enough, I was blessed enough to be invited to two of these suckers. Oh, the fear. Fortunately, I made it through without any overeating, which will be a relief come race-day next weekend. The food was SOOOOOOOO GOOD.


The first Thanksgiving was a dinner put together by our landlord, Peter. He invited Leif and me to come to his new house where he and his girlfriend Elisa had cooked a fantastic, all-from-scratch meal, including the turkey pictured above.


We started the night snaking on some nice lean pork that had been cooking all day, to which Peter added a nice reduced sauce he had made from the juices. He's quite the Iron Chef.


While that was happening, Elisa and Helene worked on the cobbler desert that I ended up being too weak-willed to resist. It was very very good, especially combined with a heaping scoop of Haagen Daaz.


The evening was just plain classy, all around. The extra food ended up being good fuel for the 20-mile run I did the next morning. I thought that it was going to be my only Thanksgiving, but at the last minute, I figured I could spare the weekend, and booked a ticket to Denver. Last minute really means last minute; I booked the ticket three hours before the plane took off! It was a quick hop on the BART, a jump in the air, and touchdown in Denver just a couple hours later. WHAT A BLESSING to be home with family. And OUR Thanksgiving was just plain awesome.


Scott did an expert job of cutting the turkey, and I caught Mom red-handed, sneaking bites.


The spread. Drool.


Scott's fine handiwork with the bird.


The prompt was "make a face, Owen!"


Then he decided to do some yoga for me.


The good ole kids' table. May I never be too old to sit here.


Cousin James decides he really loves chocolate-covered almonds.


Lincoln, on the other hand, loves cranberries. A lot.


Later on, Mom and Owen were doing a puzzle and I got this shot. It was too cute not to post.


We took my grandma out for dinner a couple nights later, to keep her company. Mamaita raises her glass in a toast. Here's to our beloved departed Grandpa Ken. We miss him.


The BEST part of the weekend was seeing Dad on a road bike. He has been riding with Mom, accompanying her for her long runs, but has been doing so on a mountain bike. He wanted to get something lighter, so he could join her when she herself is riding rather than running. He took me to the bike shop, and we found him a GREAT cyclocross-style bike that will let him go on the trails or the roads in style. Look at those drops bars! What a stud!


Mom is fit, fast, and fun to be around. She's such a cute grandma. Funny though, how all three of us put on headphones while working out together.


Dad relaxing after a nice 14-mile outing. The Salazar "Badass Division" just got a new member. Welcome to the club, Dad.

Signing off, as always, with my love to all.