My Other Half

 I'm back in New York now, baking pear bread and making soup and wearing Ugg boots (only in the privacy of my own home, don't worry) and generally coming to terms with the reality that it is, in fact, fall, and actually almost winter. It was easy to pretend that wasn't true in the 75-degree weather I enjoyed while I was in California, which generally kept me outdoors (and away from my computer- sorry).
But it wasn't all fun and games and Frisbees and swimming pools while I was out there (although there was a fair amount of that, I admit). I also accomplished something on my "Thirty Before Thirty" list! I ran a half marathon! And, what's better, I ran it with my best friend, Chloe!
Chloe and I have been friends (sometimes against our wills) since we were toddlers when our moms, who have been friends since the Kennedy administration (seriously), made us be friends. In the 29 years since then (the Reagan administration, for those keeping track), Chloe and I, both competitive by nature, have been amiably comparing ourselves to each other ever since. It doesn't help that, aside from the fact she's a brunette and I'm blond (Veronica to my Betty) we are so similar by nature: our heights, weights, shoe sizes (big), bra sizes (small), body types, personalities (bossy), and taste in decor and fashion are, and have always been, almost exactly the same. We went to high school together, moved to the East coast for college the same year, were married two weeks apart (and were maids of honor in one another's weddings), and bought our first homes the same year.
Chloe left me in her procreating dust when she and her husband had a baby last summer (not yet, thanks!), and she started running with a jogging stroller this spring.  And when I heard that, I did what any good friend would do: I peer pressured her into training for a half-marathon with me. So, since September, Chloe and I have been running the same training runs, and sending each other text messages with our times and distances, and how we felt. Even though she was in California and I was in NY, and technically, it's three hours earlier there, she usually finished the runs before I even started mine (babies wake up early, it turns out).
Unsurprisingly, when I got to California, and we were actually running our training runs side-by-side, we discovered that we naturally run the same pace. So when the race happened, we stayed together the whole way- each of us sometimes slowing down to accommodate the other, sometimes pushing ourselves to catch up- and 2 hours and 14 minutes later (10 minutes faster than my previous half)- we crossed the finish line. At exactly the same time. And I thought what I've thought a million times before, "I'm so lucky to have someone to do this with".