I didn't expect to have so many feels during my first in-person race since COVID

They say to never try anything new on race day, so I ate the same breakfast, wore the same shorts and put on the same shoes I'd been wearing for months during training.

But at the start line, I realized I was doing something I hadn't done for about a year: stand in a crowd of strangers.

The Quad Rock 25 on May 8, 2021 marked my race in-person race since the COVID-19 pandemic. I don't race that often, so it didn't feel like a huge deal, but I can't say I didn't tear up a little bit when I took off down the dirt road that marked the first two miles of the course, which eventually turns into 5,500 unrelenting feet of climbing on rocky singletrack through the foothills west of Fort Collins.

It was the first time I'd ran that far in two years, and also the first time in months I'd make small talk with strangers without being afraid I would get sick or worse, inadvertently kill them or someone they loved.

May 8, 2021 also marked the day that I was considered fully vaccinated, which meant that the anxiety I'd been feeling for a better part of the year was almost lifted.

It also meant I was grateful for science, and grateful for the ability to be out in a crowd after a year of trying to do the exact opposite. Even after getting off-track and adding two miles to my 25 mile day (hey, at least I got a little more than a full marathon in!), I couldn't help but be grateful.

Gratefulness is something I hope to keep with me from 2020, even as we begin to ditch the masks, the distance and the isolation.

My first race day in two years was special, and I hope to carry that stoke into life in general for as long as possible.