Thanksgiving Eve + Pumpkin Crunch Cake Recipe + The Best Turkey Trot

I hope you guys had a great Thanksgiving. If you’re needing a quick 30-minute “do anywhere with no equipment” workout in, don’t forget about my Torch the Turkey workout! 🙂

We traveled to Beaufort, South Carolina to celebrate Thanksgiving with Tanner’s mom. Before we left on Thanksgiving eve, we taught our annual Butterball Boot Camp at the studio.

We had a packed house for a two-hour pre-Thanksgiving sweat fest.

Tanner and I both have fitness backgrounds so we incorporate a mix of bodyweight intervals and strength training along with tons of hot flow into our boot camps. We mix it up every time we teach it. For this one I taught the first 30 minutes just like I’d teach a bodyweight strength-based class (as a preview of a new class coming to our schedule in January!) and then passed the baton to him to teach a 90 minute hot flow class.

I can only describe the next two hours as complete chaos as I rushed around getting ready to leave. I bathed both of the girls (at the same time…all three of us in the shower), cleaned the bathroom, folded laundry, showered myself, packed my stuff and food, etc. We left the house around 1 p.m. and picked up lunch for everyone from Namastay Kitchen on the way to Tanner’s brother’s house. We ate quickly when we got there and then got on the road.

We arrived in Beaufort around 6:30 p.m. Tanner’s mom had dinner waiting for us. We had a panko-pecan crusted salmon, asparagus, sweet potatoes and salad.

Dessert was Pumpkin Crunch Cake which was just so good it was stupid. This thing sat out all night with spoons next to it. I think it was halfway gone by the time I went to bed.

I shared this picture on Instagram and heard that you either a) wanted the recipe or b) already knew about the secret magical deliciousness of pumpkin crunch cake.

Here’s the recipe.

[matcha]

Bake at your own risk.

On Thanksgiving morning I headed out for a mid-distance run around Beaufort. I mapped out a route with the help of Tanner’s step-father and had Tanner drop me off at my starting point.

I planned a route that would take me over two different bridges and through downtown. I don’t know if this is a throwback to my days of living in Charleston and running the Ravenel and Ben Sawyer Bridges on the regular but I love including bridges in my routes when I can.

The portion of my run that went through historic downtown Beaufort was gorgeous. I ran down Bay Street and snapped this picture of the marsh and the bay.

And then I ran all through this historic neighborhood that is called “The Old Point” area from what Tanner’s mom told me. It was breathtaking.

Look at these old Southern homes!

The highlight of my run was coming across a neighborhood Thanksgiving party where the neighbors set up Thanksgiving in the middle of the street, complete with dining room chairs, tablecloths, centerpieces, china and more.

I stopped and asked about it and one of the women setting up shared that it was an annual tradition. I think that is just so cool.

I wrapped up my tour of The Old Point with a shot of this incredible waterfront garden in someone’s backyard.

And the obligatory cannon shot. 😉

Then it was up and over my second bridge. This one is an old drawbridge.

I had a great view of the entire downtown from the top.

My run came in at 9.2 miles at an 8:39 pace. It was 73 degrees and sunny so I ran in my sports bra and got quite a good bit of sun.

Tanner picked me up and we swung into the grocery to grab a few things for Thanksgiving. I had a coconut water to hydrate.

And a beer post-shower! I saw some people playing cornhole and drinking beers while I was running and it sounded super refreshing. 🙂

I’ll have Thanksgiving Part Two for you on Saturday with pictures from the meal.

Have you ever tried Pumpkin Crunch Cake?

Did you run on Thanksgiving morning?

What’s your favorite running scenery?