(Cross) Country Mike

I joined a cross country team this fall. We're like the Bad News Bears. There's a lot of very serious runners in the Twin Cities. Our team does not have any of them. Most of these teams are sponsored by shoe stores. We shop at shoe stores. That's where the similarities end.

Emily went to watch our race last weekend. She said it was fun because she forgot how fun cross country races are to watch, compared to road races. Mostly because you get to see a lot more of the race. But this experience is so far removed from high school or college cross country. And in many ways, it's a lot better. No long bus rides. No overnight trips. No anxiety about how I'll do or the team will do. It's also awesome because it is so much better than running those freaking long-ass races that are 10 miles or longer.



In fact, at last Sunday's race, we didn't have to show up until 9 a.m. So I got to "sleep in" (all the way to 7 a.m.), get up leisurely and have a relaxing breakfast reading the paper. I don't know why I ever want to run a marathon again.