Starfish and Palm Trees

I’ve been waiting for a while to find the motivation to blog. The last month was pretty busy, and I took a little blogging hiatus. I still blogged in my head, but never took the time to sit down and write it out.

However, this weekend included an adventure of epic proportions truly worthy of blogging.

It all started about 3 weeks ago when a friend of mine threw out an obscure idea to me.

“Hey, want to run a 50k in Kentucky on February 9^th?”

Sunshine!? Dirt trails!!?? IN FEBRUARY!!!??

I thought about it for like a day before I said, “Heck yes! Sign me up!”

So, off we went on Thursday into the wild Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana yonder to blaze some trails into Kentucky. The car ride was full of completely random stories, lots of cat naps (YES!) and the occasional sound of someone munching on 5 bananas…  Pure bliss, right? Oh, that was just the beginning.

On Saturday, race day, the cool, pre-dawn darkness was making me nervous. It was supposed to be sunny and 50 degrees! Why is it dark and 28?? Mid-February paradise in Kentucky! Hello, where were the starfish and palm trees!?

After being reminded that the sun would come up and make things warmer (what can I say, I was super nervous!?) the thought of running around outside, snow-free, sounded quite appetizing. Spurred on by some ridiculous early morning jokes, I shed a few layers and bravely stepped outside, in shorts. Bring it on, Kentucky. Bring. It. On.

The race began in a frozen blur. The sun was coming up, but 28 degrees is still chilly. It hadn’t really hit me that I was going to be running for the next bazillion hours. I was more mesmerized by the fact that I was in shorts, running on dirt, in February. Once I became a little bit more tuned in to my surroundings, the first aid station at 6 miles came up. What? Already? SWEET! I took a mental check at that point and assessed how I felt. A huge smile spread across my face. I felt fantastic. My body decided we were going to kick some Kentucky behind. I was praying I could hold on for the ride…

Fast forward 20 miles through the forest, around some ridges, through a few aid stations with mile-marker-identity-crisis, and you found me. Bent over at an aid station with a whine-y face not wanting to climb the next mountain pass. However, I had a good friend to randomly pop out of the woods at that exact bonking moment and graciously listen to me unload all of my scary mind-game feelings of “this is ridiculous, I don’t want to run anymore, who said this was a good idea, stupid hills, ugh.”  Needless to say, I ran through the crappy miles and lived. Onward!

So, the rest of the race was a mind over matter beast. I wanted to pause and enjoy the sunshine. Soak up the smell of the dirt and snow-free trees! But man, I found out pretty early in the race that I was at the front of the female pack. Seriously??? WHAT? I just kept pretending that at any moment a pack of girls would fly through the forest and take over the first 5 female places and I would be able to stop and smell the trail… So I kept pushing… Just in case…

And low and behold, the last aid station!!!! All that was left was a dramatically painfully 2 mile ascent to the finish. YES 2 MILES OF STRAIGHT UPHILL. Good thing I live in Duluth. SHEESH.

The post-race hang-out was truly a treat. Lots of good food, great friends, happy congratulations, and the rush of satisfaction after having completed a long race. Leaving your heart on the trails. So sweet.

So, thank you, Kentucky, for your glorious dirt hills, sunshine, and occasional starfish and palm tree.

Felt like paradise to me.

Cheers to all the people representing Minnesota! Was incredibly blessed to share the epic adventure with you. Until next time…