Cactus Rose 100 -- Favorite Memories

Although I love reading other runners' race reports, I don't really feel like putting one together for all the world to read.  But I would love to share some of my favorite times from this weekend's Cactus Rose 100M.

In no particular order, these happy times include:

1. Squirting a jet of Mountain Dew right into my eyeball.




2. My amazing pacer, Travis, negotiating with me to get me to eat something.




3. My amazing pacer, Rachel, agreeing with me that I'm bad at peeing.




4. Travis reminding me occasionally that I'd now run farther than I'd ever run before.  (And using the term "run" very loosely and generously.  At that stage, I was mostly power-hiking.)

5. Seeing Emmett out on the course (and Liza!), and running with Chris, Michelle, Jason, Fumi, and Jean for awhile.  It really felt like a Rockhoppers Saturday morning training run at Bandera.

6.  Being helped by Ernest, Asma, Rich, and Jeannie throughout the race at the Equestrian aid station.  Many thanks!

7. Seeing tarantulas, a scorpion, and a fox out on the course.

Photo during the race by Nikki Davis

8. The beautiful sunset.  (It was so overcast in the mornings that the sunrises weren't spectacular.  But both mornings I was happy to get rid of my headlamp.)

9. Hanging out with friends at the finish line.  They took such great care of me (chair! food! warm clothes!), and it was great hearing about their adventures during the race.  I'm so thankful to know such amazing people!

10. Going straight to Sunday Mass with Ernest after the race -- with dirty, sotol-scraped legs, sweat-plastered hair, urine-soaked shorts (see #3), and a pronounced hobble.  The second reading was from St. Paul's 2nd letter to Timothy: "I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith."  Way to make me teary-eyed, God!

Overall, my biggest takeaway from this amazing experience -- the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, for sure -- is my total dependence on God. During that 4th loop, every footstep was ridiculously painful, due to huge blisters all over my feet. Every step I was able to take seemed like a small miracle.  As Liza told me once, the pain during an ultra can give us empathy for those who are in constant pain -- and they don't have the option to quit.  I'm thankful I was able to keep the faith and finish the race.

Running together

Running brings people together.  At least that's what I've found.  I've talked in a previous blog post about how running has led me to new friendships; but I also believe that running strengthens my existing friendships and relationships.

For the past week, I've been blessed by a visit from my wonderful parents (you can look for the family resemblance in the photo below).  Lucky for me, they're both runners.  I love being able to go for a run with them -- and especially to travel with one or both of them to destination races. 

Me and my dad before the Minneapolis Half Marathon

Me and my mom before the Walt Disney World 5K

For some reason, when you're running with someone, the walls that typically constrain conversations come tumbling down, and you're able to talk about things you normally wouldn't.  Maybe that's why so many runners' conversations involve descriptions of gastrointestinal problems.  Think about it: if you were talking with a friend in a cafe or grocery store aisle, and the words "bloody nipples," "peeing on the trail," or "inner thigh chafing" came up in the conversation, it would be pretty weird.  But no one will flinch if they come up in a conversation while running. 

And it's not just these cringe-worthy topics that come up while running; some conversations are deep and personal.  Because of this phenomenon, you can get to know someone and become close to them very quickly when you run together.  Being able to run with family members and friends is a blessing, because you can have these conversations and strengthen those bonds in a short time.  That's especially important when you don't see your loved ones in person too frequently.

Even though my parents have flown back home and I won't get to run with them again for a few months now, we'll still talk about runs and keep updating our shared training log online.  So, in a way, running is still bringing us closer together even though we're far apart.  Or, I should really say, God is using running as an instrument to bring us closer together.  And I'm very thankful for that.