—I had to skip it this month, but in the previous two years I ran with a team in a 200+ mile relay. The race, or endurance contest, went from LaCrosse, Wisconsin to Minneapolis. (This year it started in Winona, Minnesota.)
—Here’s the program. Each of 12 runners does 16 miles, more or less. In about 30 hours, more or less. Simple enough!
—So, what’s different? For years, I ran by myself. Only rarely with a companion except in Marathons or organized events. So I always ran at my own pace. At times, I worked on speed. Sometimes distance. Once in a while, I just ran for a specific period of time. By myself. In fact, I am the poster boy for the “loneliness of the long distance runner.”
—Never before, at least before running the relay, did anyone else rely on my performance. Years of doing my own motivation was now replaced with teammates cheering? Now I had to feel guilty if I didn’t have a good run? Well, all the young people on the team were pretty gentle with their token old guy (some of them were my children.) And besides, it was a diverse team with some new runners.
—The challenge, besides the desire to run well for the team, was camping out in a van with 6 or 7 other runners and all their stuff. For about 30 hours! It is hard to eat properly and nearly impossible to sleep.
—But it is great fun. I missed it so I will try to sign on with a team next year. And it’s for charity.