I started off this racing season with a goal of running six half-marathons. I ran seven, and the seventh was, by far, by fastest and most fun. I figured I'd recap this quasi-crazy summer adventure before detailing why this last race was my best.
Minnetonka Half: Gorgeous course, beautiful day, lots of happy spectators, but it was way too early in my training. The race was early May and I'd initially leaned towards Fargo (late May) being my first of the season. I signed up for Minnetonka for a purely emotional reason. Recent breakup, heartbroken, I needed some sort of I-am-woman-hear-me-roar type endeavor to remind myself I was a tough, tough cookie. It served its purpose but man it hurt. Definitely on my list for next year as it's a lovely race, but this time I'll train better.
Fargo Half: My first trip to North Dakota! I ran it with a dear friend, Katrina, and it was an excellent course. We arrived at the start mere seconds before gun time due to traffic and it began to rain as soon as we arrived. Happily, the rain ended by mile 4, and the flat, sunshiney course with tons of awesome spectators made for my fastest half other than the one today.
Minneapolis Half: Miserable. Absolutely miserable. Too hot, too humid, and I walked a sizeable chunk because of some out-of-nowhere hip pain. I think I was partly dehydrated, too. This was the only race that I seriously considered just walking away from midway. The course was fine but it was just not a good running day for me.
Red, White, and Boom Half: This was enjoyable to an extent but largely because it was so retched. It was ludicrous how much rain poured down, by mile 3 my shoes were completely soaked and my festive red, white, and blue blinking light headband had fritzed out and was impossibly tangled in my hair. My ipod also bit the big one that day and just decided it didn't want to work in the rain. But by mile 7 or so I was so wet and everyone around me was so wet that we were just all kinda enjoying it. I started splashing in the puddles on purpose and just gave up any hopes of getting a decent time. My friend, Molly, was there to high five me at the end and it takes a TRUE friend to stand in the rain for that long.
Urban Wildlands Half: Another rainy one but not near as rainy as the July 4th race. It was humid so the rain actually helped cut the air a bit and cool me down. It was a decently paced race for me, which was great, and my parents came to cheer me on at the finish. My friend, Kristen, ran it as her first half so it's always nice to know a fellow crazy soul is slogging through the miles with you.
Salomon Trail Half: My only trail half-marathon and my slowest time. Second only to the Monster Dash for most fun. This race helped me discover that I loooooooove trail running. I ran into a tree at one point and also managed to acquire about 50 stickleburrs at one time (those are fun to pluck off while running). I also pretty severely injured a toe that bled like the dickens, I could feel the blood squishing in my sock, so this was also my most painful race. But I loved running up and down the hills, hiking the tall ones, checking out the gorgeous fall colors. I honestly think I hurt as much after this one as after the full marathon last year. I limped for a few days. My body had never done that amount of hill work and it's just a different leg muscle experience running trail versus road. I will definitely do this one again.
Monster Dash Half: My final race of the year, which I ran with my kid sister, Caroline to fundraise for the Epilepsy Foundation. It was Caroline's first half and despite having knee problems the last several weeks, she was a total trooper! She's younger and smaller than me so her pace is naturally faster but we stayed together the whole time and I think my slowing us down a bit probably saved her a bit of pain. We finished just shy of a 10:30 pace, which is definitely my fastest, and we had excellent cheering from Mom, Dad, and Caroline's boyfriend throughout the race. We celebrated with omelets the size of our heads and cinnamon rolls at Pannekoeken Huis.
My mom asked Caroline after the race if she would be "hooked" on races now. Caroline smiled and shrugged and said, "probably, just like Rachel." It is a feeling you can't describe to non-racers. There really is nothing like the feeling just beyond a finish line. Even if you're not fast, even if the race hurts, crossing that line makes for a good day. Because life throws us all sorts of impossible situations that never seem to really end. There are struggles that ebb and flow and weave and sleep and reawaken. But a race is a finite, powerful thing. There is a beginning, a middle, and an end. And getting through each mile is a minor victory, leading up to that moment of completion. It's a strong reminder of how deft the human body is at recognizing a challenge and rising to meet it. And on the days the world feels hard, it's a nice memory to return to, cling to maybe, as proof that what feels unlikely, even impossible, sometimes only requires one more mile.
