Becky is out running with our neighbor Kelly.
Later, I, too, will go out and log some miles. My wife and I are attempting to keep to a training schedule which she modified from The Complete Running and Marathon Book. Several weeks from now we plan to travel to North Dakota and run the Fargo Half-Marathon. We had signed up for this annual event back in May 2020, but it was, like so many events in those frustrating times, COVID canceled.
(Fun Fact: North Dakota is one of the two states Becky has never visited. The other is Alaska. The chance to scratch off another state is the main reason we decided to sign up in the first place, and it is why we are trying again.)
I am exerting extra effort and focus training for this race. (Really, I should call it a “long run” rather than a “race.” I am racing no one but myself.) Two years is a long time in running terms, especially for those of us who are of a certain age. The legs, the energy level and stamina are not as responsive as they were even two years ago. I tell myself I need to reframe this extra effort as a welcome challenge.
In 2020 the Fargo Marathon organizers offer us the option of running a “virtual” half-marathon. We could plan a course, run 13.1 miles and thereby feel honest when we wore our shirt and displayed our swag. Although runners are flawed humans just like everyone else, many of us don’t feel right wearing a shirt we did not “earn.” It would be like implying that you finished the Boston Marathon when you have never even visited Beantown.
(Fun Fact: Although I have five states on my ‘Yet to Visit” list, North Dakota is not one of them. Back in the my traveling musician days, our band played in North Dakota several times. I am looking forward to tracking down some of the old venues and cheap motels—if they still exist—and reminiscing about them to Becky.)
Considering Fargo is over 800 miles from here, and we will probably drive, we decided to turn the trip into a proper vacation. When we share where we are running, friends bring up the 1996 Coen Brothers Movie, Fargo. Turns out, while we are in the area we can, and probably will, visit the wood-chipper from the movie’s perhaps most notable scene.
Fargo sits on the Red River at North Dakota’s very eastern edge. Its western edge is 350 miles away. We are still in the process of choosing where to stop on our road trip as we work toward Theodore Roosevelt National Park on the western side. When we vacation we prefer the outdoors, and we love to hike. According to available information, we will have a plethora of such sites to visit on our way west.
Sometimes on trips we are drawn toward the quirky. If we so choose, We can see the World’s Largest Holstein Cow in New Salem, the World’s Largest Buffalo in Jamestown, as well as the Geographical Center of North America in Rugby.
One thing I hope Becky and I can experience together is seeing expanses of sunflowers stretched to the horizon in every direction. Nearly fifty years later, I am still awed by this scene in my mind’s eye. It will be a bit early in the season for mature crops, but still.
(Fun Fact: Back in 1976 while crossing into North Dakota just as the sun was rising, some of the band members were inspired to write a song called “North Dakota Morning.” It begins: “Leaving here today/Goodbye, I’m on my way/I’m heading for that North Dakota Morning.”)
I am sure this song will be running through my mind on our trip.
