"Is there a cure among us..."

So today, as promised, I did my 16 miles around the lakes. It was pretty much a perfect day for a run--sunny and crisp, with only a little bit of wind. I was actually rather chilly starting out (wunderground tells me it was just 53 degrees), but I much prefer that to dripping sweat--that gritty feeling is one of my least favorite parts of distance running. I shortly discovered that my planned route, and starting time, were almost identical to those of the 26th annual City of Lakes 25K, of which I hadn't been aware until I saw the runners. I was disappointed that I hadn't known about it in time to register, especially when I when I saw all the triumphant finishers celebrating with their friends and families. This isn't the first time one of my training runs has overlapped with an organized race (Minnesotans are crazy!), but it was the closest to my own route and distance.

Inspired to find an event that might work well with next weekend's planned 20-miler, I jumped online and was delighted to find the Bear Water Run, which offers a 20-mile course, is just 20 miles from home, and was still offering registration at the early-bird price. I've run 20 miles before, but never as part of a race, so I'm really excited. Plus, they offer ("free") long-sleeved T-shirts! (I admitted in my comment to this beautiful (if graphic) post of Angela's, where she mentions the "faulty logic" that so often accompanies deciding to run a marathon, that I find T-shirts unduly inspirational.) I'll see if I can talk my long-run partner into joining me, but even if he can't make it, I'm really looking forward to this run!