Farm girl (for the day, at least) From Niki

I posted on the boys' blog about our rural adventures this weekend. After capturing bits of their day over there, I figured I'd share my race day here.

The plan was to get the boys ready for bed as usual and pack them in the car to sleep. Matt did the heavy lifting while I read books and snuggled. Clearly I got the better assignment.

The race was a 60 mile relay race west of Hastings. Teams of seven people ran 2-3 legs of 8-10 miles each. This is my pocket-sized, college softball friend Michelle who lives in Hastings and invited me along.

I was the first leg for our team, and it was a cool, humid, foggy morning as we took off from downtown. Thankfully there were orange arrows along the bike baths and around the lakes because even in town, I couldn't see a thing. Very eerie to know you were among people but couldn't see them. I hoped I didn't get lost.

We passed the time between legs by taking pictures of ourselves in the van,

and stopping in all the small towns along the way.

Our first stops were in Prosser and down to Kenesaw. We got some very funny looks as our caravan of racers rolled into town and took over the streets.

My second leg was three miles on a straight, flat, dirt road somewhere between Kenesaw and Holstein. (Kelly shout out!) Running on sandy terrain was a challenge, but the scenery was amazing. It was so rural Nebraska, and I loved it. Blue sky, green crops, wildflowers, and gravel as far as they eye could see. Simply heaven.

A mile of my route at home is on a dirt road, and it's my favorite part. I love tracking the seasons with the flanking rows of corn. The sights, smells, and sounds of the country are just so therapeutic.

We stopped for lunch at the park in Holstein while the town was having some sand volleyball and softball tournament.

We passed through Roseland and back up north. My third leg was through Juniata along more of the same wonderful scenery.

It's an odd perception of distance to run in a straight line in the country like this. As part of the van crew, it's very exciting to be able to see your runner from so far away. As the runner, it's slightly less exciting to think you're almost to the finish because you can see it. Only you soon realize, you can see for several miles, and the checkpoint is really far away.

It was getting pretty hot toward the end of my third leg. Running past beans felt fine, but running with corn on both sides is tricky. Unless the wind is exactly at your face or back, there's no cross-wind. It's a very hot, humid, sunny sauna. A corn sauna.

We eventually made it back to Hastings about eight and a half hours after we started in 17th place. Here's Team Minivan at the finish line!

This whole race was such a wonderful experience. My teammates were fun, the boys had a riot in Aurora, and the running parts couldn't have been better. I'm a definite city girl, but I've got a little farm girl in my blood too. And on adventures like this race, I think anyone would fall in love with the country just a little bit.