I Signed Up For A Race And All I Got Was This Lousy Mood Boost
Why signing up for a race that never happened is one of the best things I’ve done for my mental health.
This April, when the health problems I’d been having resolved, I decided to sign up for the TC Loony Challenge. The Loony is a running race during Twin Cities In Motion Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon Weekend here in Minnesota. The Loony comprises 10k and 5k races back-to-back, followed by a 10-mile race the next day. Three races. Two days. 19.3 miles.
My returned health came on the heels of nine years of trying to get pregnant, being pregnant, and nursing, making the Loony a perfect bookend.
You see, I’d run the Loony once before, in 2014. Back then, I was newly pregnant with my first child. After five pregnancies, three kids, and a medical emergency after my last birth, I was ready to run it again. It was time to reclaim my body and see what it could do for me.
Once I signed up, I knew I’d race no matter what kind of shape I was in come autumn. The problem was I hadn’t really trained for a race in nearly a decade. But I knew going hard for nearly 20 miles without training is a recipe for breaking your body. Since I wasn’t keen to injure myself, I ran.
