Running: anticipation for Twin Cities 10 Mile

I wonder what the neighbors think. It’s 44 degrees Wednesday morning. I’m out standing in my driveway in a t-shirt and shorts from 6:30 to 7 a.m.

That’s because I’m training for the Twin Cities 10 Mile. The running will be easy. Two things I’m not good at are waiting and being cold. I expect that I’ll have to multi-task and do both at the same time Sunday morning; that’s why I’m practicing.

My back hurts when I stand in the same spot too long. I doubt they’ll let me bring a lawn chair into the starting corral. So I’m on the home stretch of training for this event. I’ve got over 800 miles of running (or jogging) logged this year. Now the difficult part: the pre-race wait. Dressing appropriately for running and waiting are different things.

I’m also trying to plan ahead. Usually I don’t like to wear a cap running, but Sunday I will because we will be running into the sun. That’s another thing about running: it goes better when I can see where I’m going.

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Why am I doing this?

That’s a question that pops into mind every once awhile. In this case, I can certainly do it cheaper and more conveniently – I can run 10 miles for free any day I choose around home, and without waiting.

Here, it’s the spectacle of the event itself. Almost 10,000 runners crowded into city streets. Something beyond my usual choices, something way beyond my comfort zone. Going to the extreme (when I got this wild hair two years ago, it was “I run 3 miles a day, no problem going 10.”) Not much different, right?

Then add in the start and finish points: the Metrodome, a much better and more valuable facility than many people give it credit for; and the state capitol, where I went in sixth grade to see the golden horses (and maybe learn something).

I’ll either be hooked beyond hope and back every year, or satisfied that this was my one and only entry into a race of this proportion. We’ll be like wildebeests rushing across the Serengeti, which brings up the disturbing question: if someone goes off course and into the river, will we all follow?