Halfway up Baker Lake Trail, I turned to Matt and said, "You know what's so weird about hiking? Humans don't have to do this to survive anymore. We've developed past hunting/gathering. We've created a world where this isn't necessary. But we missed it, so we made it into a hobby. It's just so weird, how something we used to do out of necessity to survive, we now do for fun."
Hobbies are weird, you know?
I'm halfway to my goal of running a race each season. Winter and spring are behind me, and summer is on the horizon. Originally, my summer half was going to be in August, but for a few reasons I transferred to a late-June race instead. (The race date of June 20th is actually one day ahead of summer's official start date, but it's close enough for jazz.)
That means I have less than six weeks to prepare for it, and that I'll have to wait to implement the plans that have been percolating in my head since I crossed the finish line of the Kirkland Half.
I anticipated this race would be a tough one, and I was right. Post-race, I have some mixed feelings about my performance, but we'll get there.
Armed with my new fueling strategy and a plan for dealing with the nagging pain in my lower legs, I went into race morning feeling confident that no matter what happened, I'd have another half under my belt.
