At the end of the year, I always have a bucket of medals from virtual races that I just didn’t find time for during the year.  This last year was particularly bad, with injuries, cold weather and me kinda falling off the wagon a little.  This is one of those race.  Prepare for more in the coming weeks!

I’ve been a Prince fan since Purple Rain was released.  I’d heard of him before that, of course, and I enjoyed some of his later music, but there was something special about that music and that film at that time.  It was a tumultuous era for me, with girlfriends and breakups, and me beginning to lay the foundation for who I’d become as an independent adult.  I needed that music then.  I couldn’t tell ya how many times I saw the film during its first run, nor how many times I lit up the CD.  I think “a lot” comes to mind.  🙂

In fact, most of my runs start with the extended version of “Let’s Go Crazy” from the film.  It’s eight minutes of fun, and is big, bouncy, and gets my mind in the right place for getting the miles laid down.

Friday night, after work, I decided I needed to get some miles in the books.  This year has been abysmal, with no where near enough miles, and knowing that I was facing a half marathon on the near horizon, I had to get out.

Careful readers will remember that my last outing had me sporting some knee issues.  Knowing that, I put my knee brace on, and even with the cold weather, I only had one slight twinge, and that was when my brace had slipped a bit.  No biggie, and after a few minutes, I was on my way.

In truth, this was the best outing I’d had in a while, and has put me in a good frame of mind for my upcoming half in Mississippi.  But, more on that later!

This event benefitted the Fender Music Foundation.

Race Course