In March of 2021, I decided to sign up for a half marathon near Milwaukee. I've always wanted to visit Milwaukee, not because I'm a Packers or Brewers fan (Vikings and Twins fan for life), but because of its tourism. Unfortunately, this race was my worst one to date. I went into this race a little ill and as we all know, this was when COVID rates were excessive. At mile six, I was gasping for air and had to walk several times. I didn't feel like a failure by any means, but I did feel like I should've been at home on my couch instead. As runners were passing me left and right, I slowed down more and more. By mile nine, no one was around me. Not one soul. Why? Because they were all ahead of me on their way to the finish line. I had tears in my eyes not because I was last, but because I knew I still had about 45 minutes to go with no gas in my tank.
Finally, at 2 hours and 50 minutes, I made it to the finish line. At this point, I completed four half marathons, each of them being in different states. I thought, 'Why not shoot for every state in the US?' We'll see where my tennis shoes and wonderous mindset takes me.
Two things I learned from my fourth race:
1. Rest up when you need it.
2. Embrace the ups and the downs.
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