Why Running Friends Are The Best

Once upon a time I was a runner, and I have some great friends from those days. We used to get up early to go running at 6:15 (that's the only time that campus run was allowed), travel to cities around the country where we spent most of our time in our hotel rooms and at the track, and run lots and lots of miles together. Even with all that time together on the track and hitting the pavement we liked each other enough to live together too.

Kristen, Nicole, and I lived together for the month of May after our freshman year at BYU. We sat down at the beginning of the month and made a list of things to do. We pretty much accomplished all of them too. Here we are at a BBQ in our apartment uniforms.
Sarah, Kristen, Tara, and I were young enough to go to Junior Nationals after our freshman year. Here's one of the signs that we made for Tara who was running the 10K. We figured it counted for all of us.
Kristen and I went to Finland, Sweden, and Denmark after Junior Nationals with a bunch of the older girls. Here we are with Kara, Laurel, Liz, and a really fast Swedish 8-year-old.
Jill and I both had our fast years our sophomore year of college, which was great because that meant we got to travel together all of the time. Here we are at the conference meet in Fort Collins.
Below Nicole and I celebrate the team's first place finish at the WAC Championships. (Yes, I am that old. I was at BYU when it was part of the WAC but only for two years then we moved into the MWC.)
Sometimes when you are a runner you are a little crazy. Nicole coined the phrase, "Once a runner always psycho." The pictures I'm going to show you in the next couple posts will attest that that remains true to this day. But, back in the day, we used to ...

Ice our legs every day.

Here I am with Mel and Nan (who is now making a huge splash on the national stage - go Nan!) sitting in trash cans of cold water in Oregon. And let me tell you folks, this is nothing. At home we sat in much colder water and we immersed all the way up to the hips. You get used to it, just take my word for it.
Go running in the airport.

OK. Maybe this only happened once, and maybe it was because we missed our flight due to the heinous pre-Olympics construction in Utah. But Kristen and I did at one time go running in the Salt Lake airport. (I probably should be saving this for one of those two truths and a lie game. Well since you always play those games with strangers, I guess I still can.) So what's even crazier about this story that we ran into (not literally) one of my friends from Colorado Springs who was attending Ricks College at the time.
Run outside in all kinds of weather.

Rain or shine, snow or wind we were almost always outside. I remember going running one time at BYU when it was so icy that we couldn't even run fast enough to get our heart rates up. I called it quits that day because the run was absolutely pointless and could potentially cause damage rather than be beneficial, but some of my friends completed the mileage they set out to do. We were a little crazy. In the picture below Sarah, Kristen, and I had traveled to Washington State for Nicole's mission farewell. That's the biggest downpour I've ever run in (I am from dry Colorado and I went to school in dry Utah). We ran through some gigantic puddles. Our outfits are really attractive too. (Loaned to us by the Magelsens. Those Washingtonians are prepared. Jill, I'm sure you Oregonians are too.) I especially love Kristen's reflective vest. It was a really necessary accessory seeing as we were running on the trails in a park. The only way to tackle a rain run is to wear a hat with a brim. That will kept the water out of your eyes. Sarah had one on too. I think she just wanted to look more hardcore for the picture.
Wear bizarre clothing.

So, I guess I'll start with the strangest example. These lovely saran wrap outfits were put together for Caisa's St. Patrick's Day party. When Sarah, Nicole, and Sarah's roommate saw my less than inspiring attire they made me change. I wore a green blanket as a skirt, knee-high socks, and my mom's old hiking boots. I know. I am so awesome. Even more awesome is that apparently one saran wrap outfit is not enough. Nicole and I used the St. Patty's Day wardrobe as inspiration for our star Halloween costumes. They were pretty stellar. Maybe someday I will scan the image so the whole internet can see our luminosity. (OK. one star pun too many).
For another party (this time a Christmas party) Melanie, Nicole, and I wore these awesome Christmas headbands. We forced Mel to wear the mistletoe one because she was married and we wanted this to be funny and not desperate.
Nicole and I dressed alike an awful lot the two years we lived together. This is just one example. We were going to a football game so maybe we had an excuse. When my grandma (who we met at the football game) saw our matching attire (complete with candy necklaces--a regular fashion accessory for me in those days and not because I liked to eat them) she told us all about the matching friendship rings she and her best friend had. Then Nicole and I started a list of all our friendship clothes. Suffice it to say it was very long.
Maybe all the crazy clothing makes a little more sense when you get glimpse of our racing attire. See. After wearing that we had the confidence to make unusual fashion choices.
Love being a team.

Because really, who else will go on runs to State Capitols whenever possible and pay a visit to the Minnesota mascot?
Or listen to all your stories about coach?
Yep. Being a team is pretty great.
Because they aren't just your teammates, they are your friends. And they like to do the same things you like to do. And once our BYU running days were over we got started on the first of many runner reunions!

Look how BYU Nicole and I are being at Arches National Park.
All these girls (Nicole, Shar, Kristen, Liz, and Jill) were freshman with me except for Mel, but we adopted her once she transferred from Ricks. This rendezvous in Heber was one of our first.
Here Katie, Jill, and I meet up for a reunion in downtown Provo just before I head off to Kansas. (Note: Despite what you may think after viewing the earlier pictures, Katie and I did not plan to dress alike. It was just happy coincidence.)
Kristen, Sarah, Jill, Nicole, and Mel at my wedding. In a couple months we met again for Nicole's. Then in 2008 Nicole, Jill, and I all went to Sarah's wedding.
We visited Nicole in Boston in 2006. I took a trip to see Jill in Arizona in 2008. And Kristen got regular visits from Nate and me when she lived in California. Here we are with little Blake and little Rachel.
And Kristen and Mel can probably count on seeing me every once in a while now that they both live in Utah.

Anika and Jaime and I recently got together when Anika was visiting her parents here in Kansas City. I don't have a picture of that reunion (Anika, Jaime, I think I deleted it by mistake), but here I am with Anika and her two oldest a few years ago.
These former teammates are not only my running friends they are some of my very best friends. And this post is really just an extremely long prologue introducing our latest reunion. Posts forthcoming.