2014 Race #3: Mess The Dress

Some of the best people to get dirty with

Mess is a pretty apt description of how I felt this week. Physically exhausted from a cold and emotionally exhausted from a breakup, I felt less than stellar when I woke up Saturday morning. But I've always believed in running as a panacea. And you'd be hard pressed to find a better cure than putting on a dress and running muddy, mucky trails with some amazing and hilarious pals. Mess The Dress, a 5 mile mud race/prom at Black Creek Park was the most fun I've ever had at a race. Or a prom for that matter.



 

By far, my best ever prom date.

I feel lucky to know the kind of people who would think of such an awesome idea, the kind of people who can execute it to perfection, and the kind of people who will happily dress up and run through the mess alongside you. I'm not at all photogenic, but in every picture from this day, I am smiling or laughing. I loved all of it, from the gorgeous, sunny day to the ridiculous dresses to the great company.

I don't even know how I ran this race. I certainly didn't think I had anything left in me. But I've always had my best runs when I have a lot of emotional shit to work through. And I felt so good after Saturday, I ran 17 miles with the crew on Sunday.

I feel like all I've done this weekend is run and laugh. And it was just what I needed.

Lyric of the moment: "What you don't have you don't need it now. What you don't know you can feel it somehow. It's a beautiful day..."