Boston Marathon #11: Make Your Own Luck

Part I - sharing magic amid broken traditions 

I'm a big fan of traditions. And superstitious about everything when it comes to running the Boston Marathon. So when Adam and I decided that it would be safer for him to stay home this year, I was really bummed for multiple reasons. How was I going to run well without him there? He's my good luck charm!

For months prior to the race, I was really hung up on this. I was running healthy (not PR healthy, but healthy), I knew the course well, but I couldn't shake the notion that maybe my luck was going to run out.

I had to figure out a way to mentally flip the script for myself. A few weeks out from race day, I was out running (shocking!) and had this idea to replicate a really cool moment I'd have the year before. 

I was eating breakfast in the hotel lobby last year in Boston a few days before the race and started chatting with a woman who was running her first. A friend of hers had given her a few beaded friendship bracelets that said Run Boston on them to hand out. She gave me one and I had a great race despite the debacle of last year's week leading up to the race (re: emergency kidney stone surgery for Adam). And lest you think I've gone off the rails for thinking some beads and a piece of string makes a race, it obviously was more about everything else it signified for me in that moment. 

So I decided that I'd replicate this moment with my own twist. 11 bracelets, some with Run Boston, and the rest with mantras that I love. For my own bracelet for this year's race I chose make your own luck.

A push for myself to make the most of situation. Healthy, but nowhere near PR shape. Without my Adam good luck charm, but knowing he was cheering me on safely at home with the world's best caregivers (thanks Megan & Frank!). 

My goal was to give the bracelets out over the weekend to random people. I had no plan about this and trusted that it would just make sense when the moment popped up. 

I got to Boston Saturday morning just before 10am and dropped my bag off at my hotel. I decided to walk to the expo so I could go past the finish line and take some photos. And as I was walking down Boylston, I spotted Cary who I met at Merrill’s Mile many years ago. He and his teammate got the first 2 bracelets. And I'm not saying it was because of the bracelet, but Cary PR'd this weekend. 

The line for bib pickup was a marathon in and of itself, but I had nowhere to be. Joe, who I met in Antarctica, was not too far behind me in line and so I waited for him before we went into the expo. He introduced me to his friends that were running and we all had lunch together. I gave Joe the 3rd bracelet and MJ, Joe's incredible wife, was the recipient of the 4th bracelet. She picked the one that said believe and after a few months of not running due to injury, Joe managed to finish Monday.

Joe needed gels and we went on a shopping adventure to find them. I decided to stand outside Marathon Sports because it was crazy crowded inside. As I was leaning against the stanchions, I started chatting with a guy closer to my parents age. He was running his first Boston Monday, but was quick to point out his wife had run it many times before. As she came walking up, I gave them bracelets 5 and 6. He was so genuinely touched that I was glad our lunch table was ready because I might have started crying happy tears right there.

I went back to my hotel to check in and was super impressed with all the things they did to make runners feel extra special all weekend. We got a goodie bag upon check-in with gels, electrolytes, blister kit, free drink ticket, etc. Though I did my own thing for breakfast, they had a spread for runners on race morning. And after the race, they had balloon arches in the lobby with the entire staff cheering runners as they came hobbling back in. They took a Polaroid of each runner in the balloon arch and put it on a magnet as a keepsake. Lastly, at some point after I finished the race, there was a drawstring bag hanging on my door with more goodies, including a framed photo with my time and name on. You know what else was in the bag? A beaded Boston 26.2 bracelet. 

After a shower and rest, I ventured out for dinner at a restaurant around the corner from the hotel. They had Maine Lunch on tap, a ridiculously great beer that I can only get in bottles at home. And though it was not full of carbs, I had to get the prosciutto-wrapped burrata salad. If I'd had a slab of chocolate cake, I probably could've just died after that and gone out on top.

I definitely did not need another drink when I got back to the hotel, but YOLO or something. I bellied up to the bar and had a glass of prosecco. I started talking to a woman next to me who was running and at age 64 was aiming for a 3:45 and had run 3:31 a couple years ago in Chicago. Wow! I realized I'd left my bracelets in my room and hoped she'd still be in the lobby when I got back to give her one. She was (bracelet #7) and when I saw her after the race, she showed me she had worn it. 

On Sunday, I went for a shakeout jog in Boston Common and was planning to just laze around the rest of the day. But Vivian (who I met while racing UTMB) was going to the finish line and possibly getting lunch nearby. We never met up that day, but did have dinner after the race. 

Spoiler, this is a post-race pic:

But her suggestion pushed me out the door and I had lunch at a place on Newbury Street. As a singleton with no reservation I once again found myself at the bar. I decided to have an Athletic Brewing, aka a non-alcoholic beer, and the guy sitting next to me pointed to his Athletic Brewing shirt and said, "nice choice."

He and I started talking and turns out he's an ultrarunner who has done Western States. We clearly did not run out of things to talk about.  I think by now you'll know that he was the recipient of bracelet #8. 

After he left, I got to talking to an older couple on the other side of me who asked me if I was running. They were there to support their daughter who'd raised a ton of money for Dana Farber. I asked them if they were going to see her before the race and gave them a bracelet (#9) to give to her. Y'all, this father was so touched by this that he had tears in his eyes. I gave these strangers hugs and popped out as quickly as possible, like some kind of Boston Marathon fairy. 

In the middle of all my bracelet gifting, my friend Angelika who I'd met through Halfmarathons.net reached out so we could meet up. I'd saved her a bracelet and hope I could get it to her before the race. That afternoon, she came to my hotel to get one (#10) and we talked for a few hours in the lobby. She brought me chocolate croissants and we shared all of our upcoming crazy adventures. 

After she left, I ordered a pizza and then went down to CVS to buy a Snickers for my prerace ritual. I sat in bed eating my pizza and watching The Office until I made my final preparations before nodding off to sleep.

I slept well and woke up before my alarm. Being in wave 3 and right next to Boston Common where the bus loading area is meant that I had so much time in the morning. I drank coffee, ate a muffin, and got dressed. I put my last bracelet on and hoped my bus seatmate would be a willing recipient. 

She was a 22 year old running her 1st Boston, 2nd marathon, and her palpable excitement was exactly the energy I needed to be next to. I'm never not excited to be running Boston, but seeing it through the lens of someone's first time reminded me why. 

And since I've clearly gone off the deep end with all things being serendipitous in the universe, would you believe that the one bracelet I had left was the one with my own race mantra on it? And I only made one of them with my mantra besides my own!

I let each person choose so it wasn't like I made a conscious choice to have this happen. #11 was exactly what it needed to be. Her already excited state skyrocketed after I gave her the bracelet and I finally started to believe in my own mantra.

Now I just had to go run 26.2 miles. Easy, right? 

My seatmate and I parted ways in the Athlete's Village as she was in wave 2. I went to the portapotty and then sat down for a short while before they called my wave 3. 

As I neared the corrals, I was slapped hard with emotions. I was happy to be wearing sunglasses because phew, there were major happy tears rolling down my glittered cheeks. I wasn't expecting to feel all the feelings so hard, but in some strange way, I welcomed how much I still was so grateful to be there.

After another portapotty stop, I squeezed in with my fellow corral 2 friends and waited for the gun to go off at 10:50am.

Part II - the race, aka making my own luck

Crossing over the start mat, I waved at the start line cameras and then settled into race mode. It seemed less chaotic than in years past for me. Maybe I'm more patient, maybe I just knew what to expect, maybe I went out easier. In any case, I didn't feel boxed in as much. 

As much as I didn't want to, I looked at my splits the first 4 miles because I was trying to not go out too fast. It was warm just standing around and I knew within minutes of running that it was going to be a toasty one. I told myself to back off after the first 4 miles because while there are still plenty of rollers, it does flatten out and I needed to chill. 

After that point, I tried to just run by feel and only checked the overall time a few times to make sure I hadn't missed my 30 minute eat timer. Precision and Torq gels choked down every 30 minutes. As I went through Framingham and Natick, miles ~6-12, I truly thought I was running 8-8:15s. I didn't feel bad, but I didn't feel flowy or fast. I tried to keep a few people in my sights around me who seemed to be running a similar pace and stay with them. I saw Allison who I know from IG somewhere in these miles and I tapped her aggressively on the shoulder. She almost fell and I was so relieved I didn't completely knock her over. We ran for a hundred meters or so, but her pace was a little too spicy for me and I yelled at her to go get it. 

I high-fived a bunch of kids, smiled at funny signs, and thanked the volunteers at the hydration stops. Sometimes I felt like I was forcing my own hand at this, like, dammit, you will have fun and be grateful! But then I slid into that mode more honestly as the day went on. 

I was taking 2 cups at every stop when I could. One to drink (Gatorade or water), one to pour over my head (water only obviously). I'd feel a sense of relief every time I doused myself. 

As I came into Wellesley, my intention was to stay out of the chaos and just watch from a safe distance. But then I decided in the moment that if a PW (personal worst) was on the line, why not have the most fun? It was too hot to risk a beer, but I hadn't stopped for a kiss since 2018, my PW and the torrential rain year. So I randomly stopped and nearly broke my nose on this poor girl's cheek because I misjudged my speed smashing into her face. Oops.

I chastised myself for that in the next mile, a nice distraction from the task at hand. And once I came back to the present world, I realized I had been hydrating so well, I had to pee. Not great when you're in the middle of a race, but at least I knew I was hydrated! So I spotted a free portapotty and hopped in. My wet shorts (from the water dousing, not pee!) were a struggle to get off and on, but I didn't lose too much time. And I felt much better!

The Newton Hills were up next and I had no idea where I was at time-wise. So I let my self just take them really easy on the ups and hold an honest pace on the flats and downs. The 2nd and 4th (Heartbreak Hill) had me reduced to a shuffle this year, but I still managed to hoof it up without any walk breaks so I'll take it as a small victory. 

I looked for MJ near mile 17, but in my brain fog, forgot she was going to be on the left side and was scanning the wrong crowd. Doh! She got a video of me and my ignorant bliss anyway. 

The last 5 miles after the hills are my favorite for many reasons, but I had so many shuffle moments early on that I was worried I was going to be slogging in this section. But the magic prevailed and as soon as I hit the downhill, I felt new life breathed into me. The BC kids were loud and in my face and I welcomed all of it. I pointed at the ones screaming my name and finally felt like the person I'd been waiting to show up all day arrive. 

The last few miles I truly had no inkling of my time until my eat timer went off at 3 hours in and I was well past mile 22. I really thought I'd been running 9 minute miles in the hills. Which I'd been okay with, I was going to finish it and found some ways to make it fun. But when the timer went off and I realized 3:30 was still on the table, I actually muttered to myself what the fuck? 

I tried to maintain some sort of push while not destroying myself in the last 5k. Get to the last water stop, get your dumb Citgo picture, don't gas out before the Hereford climb, don't start your finish kick until at least the mile 26 sign. 

I smiled as I saw the places Adam has cheered me on before, knowing he was following along safely at home. 

Coming down Boylston feels like the victory lap of the victory lap. I soaked it all in, looking at the crowds 5, 6 rows deep, tears welling in my eyes (again!), feeling like I'd made my own luck.

3:27:28

Always a privilege, forever grateful to do this thing that is so hard, but gives me so much joy.

Atlanta Marathon 2025: Sandbagger City

The Atlanta Marathon is my hometown marathon and this past Sunday, I ran it for the 8th time. They've made course changes over the years and since 2020, it's usually the last weekend in February or first weekend in March. It used to be right around St. Patrick's Day, but I actually like that it's a little earlier now as it is typically cooler weather. 

I decided to sign up just a week out from the race as I had been recovering from Rocky Raccoon 100. I knew I wouldn't be crazy fast, but I felt healthy and wanted to go enjoy some type 2 fun. I decided to pay for will call to pick up my bib on race day and after scouring the info, found a parking deck to prepay for near the area they had listed for will call (more on this shortly).

Race morning, I got up at 4:30 to eat breakfast, take the dogs out and feed them, and avoid race day traffic. I hate mornings, but I hate being late even more. 

I pulled into the lot right at 6am and the will call area was an elevator ride down from my parking space. Great! I went back to my car to stay warm and decided to leave around 6:40 to walk over to the start. I ate part of a Snickers and then headed towards the start.

But wait, why are huge crowds of people walking the opposite way? 

Are there that many people who have will call?

Something seemed weird. I had only been walking about 90 seconds when I decided to stop and pull up the race website. Once I pulled up the maps, I realized the race no longer started/finished at Centennial Olympic Park as it had in all the other years I'd run it. 

By stupid luck, I had chosen the parking deck closest to the start/finish. Which was the same place that will call was at. Which was where I just had been and somehow totally was oblivious to the fact this is where the race was starting. 

Wow Carissa, really? 

So that snafu out of the way, I now headed in the correct direction and towards the start corrals. I was supposed to be in wave A according to my seed time and ended up seeing Sarah as I walked into the corral. We chatted for a few minutes and then parted ways so she could meet up with her group.

I saw the 4 hour pacers in wave B so I decided to head back as my plan was to run with them. I was a few rows ahead of them, but figured it would be easy to tuck in behind them. But then the longer I was standing there, the more I realized that there likely would be a TON of runners aiming for that time.

So I decided I would just try to stay a little ahead of them and not get caught up in the craziness. I assumed that as the crowds thinned, it would be easy to just hop in to the 4 hour group later. I wasn't running this race for a PR or BQ, just wanted to go run a marathon. I know, I'm weird.

Well, maybe I'm the world's biggest sandbagger because I never saw the 4 hour group again. 

The gun went off and I stayed very, very relaxed for the first few miles. I had ditched my throwaway in the start corral and got pretty cold standing around waiting. But once I got going, I was super comfortable in my gloves and arm sleeves. It was a little windy, but it was dry and the humidity was super low. What a treat!

Having no skin in the game makes racing so much more enjoyable. I was smiling at the interactions around me, watching my city lighten up in the daylight, and waving at spectators.

I passed a ton of the Kyle Pease groups in the early miles and am always moved by how many people have such big hearts to be a part of that community. They allow people with all kinds of disabilities join in on race day. I hope I can convince Adam to do it sometime. 

The early miles of the course were familiar, despite the start being in a slightly different area. In all the years I've run it before, there are always groups in Little Five Points passing out beer and this year was no different. I made sure to grab a cup! Just a sip, nothing too crazy. But also a reminder to myself to just have fun. 

The miles were ticking off and I realized based on my eat timer beeping every 30 minutes that I was faster than intended. But I running comfortably and decided to just stay with it. I took a gel every 30 minutes and for this race I alternated between Precision, Torq, and GU, 2 of each. 

I saw Eli run-spectating with a few friends in the single digit miles and was so stoked I was looking that way when our paths crossed.

As the course wound through Piedmont Park, I decided to get rid of my gloves. But it was chilly enough that I ended up keeping my arm sleeves on the whole rest of the race! 

I was all smiles through the first half of the race, getting high fives, pointing at funny signs, and thanking volunteers. The course splits between the full and the half somewhere in the 12th mile. There was sign pointing to the left for full marathoners, but volunteers started waving us to the right. I guess the sign was meant for the finish chute and they put it out early!

With the majority of runners in the field doing the half distance, it became noticeably quiet after the split. There were still people around me, but the vibe was very different from those about to finish their race.

One of my favorite sections is going through Clark Atlanta University as the spectators and volunteers are extra loud here. The water stop is always full of good energy! 

The miles started to wear on me in the upper teens for many reasons. Mostly because that's what happens in a marathon, but also because I started pushing a bit more knowing that I probably had a little over an hour left. I rode the waves of feeling good and so-so as they came. 

I welcomed the feeling of gambling with myself with nothing to lose. The easy choice was to just relax and jog it in. I had plenty of fun and the mission was to enjoy the day. But in that last hour, I wanted to see if I could squeeze it down. I knew I wasn't going to be setting any land speed records, but I did want to feel properly wrung out at the finish line. 

The hills chewed me up and spit me out, but I hung on to a steady pace all through the final miles. I heard my eat timer go off at 3:30 and this was after I passed the mile 25 mark. 

Sandbagger city.

I gave it a nice push in the finish chute and finished marathon #54 feeling both properly tired and happy. 

3:37:05

I'm very happy with my 1:51:22 / 1:45:43 splits and feel like they very much reflect the effort I was giving. 

The medals this year were really beautiful and featured dogwood details on both the ribbon and the medallion. It's not as though I wear them at any point after the race, but I do appreciate a good finisher medal!

Next up: Boston!

February 2025

 Belated musings | 10.27.2024

10ish years ago, I toyed with the idea of running a distance beyond a marathon. I can't recall the sequence of events that caused me to jump from 26.2 to 50 miles, but I do remember being excited and nervous about attempting it. I set a goal to finish a 50 mile race in fall of 2015. 

Prior to 2014 I'd run 6 marathons. To a normal person, that still is a pretty big number. But time and perspective changes everything and a decade later, I look back and think about how inexperienced I was. 

Naivety can be a wonderful thing. Trying something new can feel exhilarating and with running, there is a strong sense of personal accomplishment when PRing a new distance. 

During training for my first 50 miler, I ran the marathon distance on my own one day. Mentally, it was tough to get through the miles on my own and without any sort of finish line reward. 

Or so I thought. Something clicked that day in that I realized that the reward was the run. Yes, there was purpose beyond that day in the run, but something was shifting in my gears.

I loved racing and competing though and often used races to train for longer events. In 2016 and 2017, I raced a marathon or longer distance every month. And rarely did I let off the gas. I've always been a more is more is more type and even with a coach and wisdom, still find it hard to turn off the faucet. 

It's no surprise that after a few years of steady running, I was rewarded with peak fitness. But with the faucet always on, the water eventually ran out. Like most endurance athletes, I ignored the pain, I bargained with it, and eventually, faced the music. 

So I spent much of 2018 on the bench. A total of about 14 weeks between 2 injuries, but with setbacks and rebuilds, it felt even longer. It took a long time to trust my body again. I feared I'd never get back to where I was. 

I had big plans for 2019, including a very expensive and long trip to Nepal to run the Everest marathon. Oh, and a 70 mile race with 3 times the amount of vert I'd ever run before. With the Boston Marathon in between those two events. 

So I hired a coach because I knew that left to my own devices, I'd go too hard and end up either a DNF or a DNS at one or more of these races. I trusted the plan and was honest with my setbacks along the way and everything worked out that spring.

Over Covid, I still had my coach, but with no events happening, the purpose of my training shifted. Late that summer and early fall, I joined a group of runners on a few adventure runs. Ultra distances that were self-supported in beautiful places. 

By the time I was doing these, I had a lot more marathons under my belt, a few tough ultras, and even some 100 mile finishes. But these self-supported adventures were their own unique challenge. There was no physical reward at the end. No medal or buckle. No aid station to drop at. No aid station to resupply food or water (though sometimes I've been lucky to have friends help with this). 

You leave your car with everything you might need for running X number of miles and trust yourself that you can make it back. The further and more remote the run, the higher the stakes. Every once in a while on these runs, I think about how crazy it is that I'm so far from my car with a backpack full of gas station food, trusting my legs and mind to get me back to civilization.

So why do it? Why the risk if there's seemingly so little reward? 

It's a question with many answers, depending on the day. Yesterday, it was to see some incredible fall colors on trails that I'd never been on. Adam had the day off of work so he could be home with the dogs. The weather looked great. And mostly, I had been thinking about it for weeks and time was running out for this season. I couldn't shake the idea all week and I've become more attune to answering those calls when I can.

I'd been trying to let my body and angry toe take a bit of a break after my IMTUF DNF. I did not run for 2 weeks after the race and slept 9-10 hours a night. My toe was more or less as angry as it had been. I finally saw a podiatrist and while not a model patient with my running, became a model of wearing corrective devices. Maybe it's helping? I'll be the first to admit that a cold stop is warranted to become truly healed. But since that's not what the doctor said I had to do, I continue to manage it. I realize that I'll have to do some time for it, but much like the events of 2018, I'll postpone it as long as I can. 

There's a part of me that is cautious and patient and makes the connection between actions and future consequences. There's another part of me that says we're never promised tomorrow so enjoy what you can, while you can. 

Loving and living with someone who has a progressive physical disease is a juxtaposition in this grab life by the horns convention. I probably squeeze a little too much life out at times, knowing just how fleeting it can be. The fear of missing out feels omnipresent when I think back to just a short time ago that I felt like someone started to pour gasoline on this fire. I cans turned into I can'ts in a timeline that feels all too unfair, which is rich coming from the person who is merely the observer. 

Anyway, in regards to yesterday, if I was driving 3 hours to a trailhead with a 3:30 am wakeup call, I needed to make the most bang for my buck. The prudent thing would have been to stick to my training schedule and run 20 miles on the Greenway. However, I have zero regrets about spending a sun up to sun down day in the mountains in the fall. Despite my rolled ankle, angry toe joint, and some rather sketchy sections of trail, I needed this day. 

I say that I run so far so I don't have to face my feelings sometimes. If I wear myself down physically, I have no room for my brain to worry about anything other than survival basics. There's probably a sliver of truth there, but I also know that it's far more complicated than that. Moving through the woods with my own power feels both cathartic and fortifying. It's often as simple as being in awe of the visual spectacle of the changing seasons. It's about challenging myself with route finding and the ongoing puzzle of fuel and hydration. 

It's no different than navigating the regular days of life. Some are handled with grace and ease. Some are handled with tears and shouts. Sometimes there are no right answers. But we choose a path, shine a light on it, and move forward. 

Rocky Raccoon 100: Twice As Nice

Pre-race

When I was initially kicking around race plans for 2025, Rocky Raccoon 100 was not on my radar. I had the best day ever there in 2023, but I wasn't really thinking I was going to run it again in the near future. 

But I was itching to do something long after my DNF at IMTUF 100 to prove to myself that it was fluky day of me being sick. I needed to give myself enough time to be mostly recovered by the time that Boston rolled around in April so that narrowed my window to a race in January/February. Oh, and it would be really nice if this long thing was also a Western States qualifier. I'm doing Eiger 250 in July and it's also a qualifier, but I didn't want to put all my eggs in that basket since I've never attempted to run that far.

There were only a few options in those 2 months that were feasible from a cost/time/availability standpoint and I found myself thinking about Rocky again. I got through Rehoboth, let it fester for a couple weeks, and then decided to pull the trigger.

Casey and I went out for drinks shortly thereafter and within the hour, she had agreed to crew me for the weekend. Though I had no problems crewing myself in 2023, I was looking forward to having someone to share the experience with and motivate me if things got tough.

We left Thursday afternoon and landed in Houston around dinner time. After driving an hour to our hotel in Huntsville, we went out to the Mexican restaurant that I enjoyed 2 years prior. Sleep came easy after the giant margaritas, tacos, and travel. 

Friday morning, I did a short shakeout run in the shopping center parking lot next to the hotel and was happy that I felt relatively normal (unlike my shakeout at IMTUF 100). Casey and I had a leisurely breakfast, went grocery shopping for carbs, had lunch at McAllister's, and lounged in the hotel until packet pickup opened at 3pm. 

For dinner, I ordered a pizza to to pickup and thought I had ordered it from the Pizza Hut in throwing distance of the hotel. But, I actually ordered it from the one about 10 minutes away which ended up being a good oops because we saw a couple of places to check out on Sunday, re: Potato Shack and Cocktails Express (a place that had daiquiris to go). 

Back at the hotel, I got everything packed up for my drop bag, laid out my race outfit, and then fell asleep pretty easily at 9pm. 

Race day

I got up at 4:15am, ate a cinnamon muffin, drank a cold brew, and got dressed. We got to the park shortly after 5am, I picked up my timing chip, and made one last pit stop in the porta-potty. It was chilly, but I was comfortable in my puffy coat that I handed off to Casey right before I hopped into the start corral. I talked to the other runners around me briefly, a woman going for her first 100 finish after a couple of DNFs and a man who was returning to racing after having cancer. We all wished each other good luck and then we were off!

Loop 1

I was happy that I felt good in the first couple of miles, not crazy euphoric, but just super comfortable. Though I had run 5 loops on this course before and remembered a fair amount of it, I also knew that this first loop would be a good refresher for the rest of the day. I was further up in the field this time when I started and didn't too badly stuck in the bottlenecks in the beginning. 100 miles is a long way to go and I knew that once we got to the jeep road that it would be much easier to pass people if needed. 

The aid stations for each loop were at 4.1, 9.1, 14.1, and then 20. 5 loops of 20 miles each = 100 miles. At the first aid station, I didn't stop for anything as it was cool enough that I knew I had plenty of liquid to make it at least to 9.1 miles without a refill. I turned my headlamp off somewhere in the 5th or 6th mile as the sun finally came up.

Luckily, it remained cool for quite some time and I left my thin, long-sleeved shirt for the entire first loop. At the 9.1 mile aid station, I made a pit stop at the real bathroom and felt proud of myself for staying hydrated enough to pee. 

I had my eat timer on to go off every 30 minutes and was taking in at least 100 calories (or more) every 30 minutes. My plan was to alternate between 2 gels that had been working for me, Precision and Torq and then mix in easy to eat real food things like fig bars, granola bars, fruit chews, croissants, and cheese. Each bag that I packed for the loops had 4 gels and then 3-4 of the real food things. Plus, I was getting calories/electrolytes from Skratch. I knew I was going to want other things later on from the aid stations and would just go with my heart as far as any other calories that I could consume. 

The second half of the loop 1 was relatively uneventful. I ended up behind a trio of runners in their 20s who were chatting and laughing and though I wasn't contributing to their conversation, I was enjoying listening to them swap stories. 

Because the trails were ruined last year with flooding there were a few sections that were different as they had to reroute to avoid further damage. But it was mostly the same as it was when I ran it the first time and was very happy that it was dry this year.

Loop 2

It was getting warm and sunny so I dropped my long-sleeve with Casey and grabbed my sunglasses. I refilled all my nutrition, dropped my trash, and grabbed my headphones for a little music boost. 

I asked her how her day was going and she told me that it was pretty exciting. She had just helped to hold the wrist of the 3rd place woman who fell and dislocated her pinky finger. The woman's fiancé popped it back into place and after a bit of tape, Casey said she just kept right on running. 

I felt really good on the first half of the loop 2. I had my tunes, I was hydrating and eating, and everything seemed to be clicking. 

However, as I neared the middle part of loop 2, my stomach started rumbling. I knew I was near the real bathroom so when I got to the aid station, I raced inside. A few seconds later, I immediately had to puke. And wow, I was hydrated because I had never thrown up so much liquid in my life. Luckily, it seemed it was only liquid and made me feel a million times better once I was finished.

The reset seemed to put me right back into good shape for a mile or two, but then I went downhill fast. I started to feel really, really terrible both mentally and physically. I got worried that I was only 30ish miles in and that I was going to have to death march the last 70 miles. Fortunately, I was feeling so miserable that the two times I tripped and fell in this section I was going slow enough that I didn't hurt myself.

It was so frustrating to feel so awful so early, but I tried to just stick with my plan, eating and drinking on schedule and going as fast as what felt reasonably comfortable even if it meant taking a few extra walk breaks. 

Somewhere around mile 35, another runner had stopped to check on the woman who's finger had been dislocated as apparently he had been near her when she fell. I saw her taped fingers and probably was way too excited to share my connection to her - Casey having helped her 15 miles prior. We started chatting and since I was in such a low point myself, I found myself happily distracted for a few minutes.

Well, a few minutes turned into a few miles and by the time that we reached the end of loop 2, both of us were in much better spirits. We both were not wanting to impede on each other's races, but also really grateful for the company and agreed that if we took about the same amount of time at the aid station, we should keep running together. 

I refilled my nutrition bag and Casey reminded me that I needed to register for the Rehoboth Marathon. They were offering a $20 discount between noon and midnight on that Saturday only and so I found myself registering for a race while running a race. I forgot to take my headlamp out so there was no need to remember it for loop 3 since was it was already in my pack!

Though I had been mostly sticking to my own nutrition at this point, I did take a couple of cups of virgin Mai Tais from the main aid station. The cold and sweet hit the spot in the middle of the warm afternoon.

Loop 3

As I was walking out of the main tent area, a guy stopped me and asked if I was the one running with Jo and I said yes? This was Erik, Jo's fiancé, and he told me she had just started the 3rd loop and that she was excited to run with me. So I shuffled a little faster until I finally got her within my sight and then yelled out to her. 

I think both of us would agree we finally got our situations turned around in those next 10 miles before we met up with her first pacer. We talked about any and everything. Conversation flowed easily and it made the miles pass by so much faster. I was worried about infringing upon her pacers and didn't want to be the annoying third wheel. But she was genuine in her encouragement to stay with her if I wanted to so I took her up on it. 

This was the section that my vet called me mid-race when I still had my headphones on (but no music playing). I thought something happened to Adam because hardly anyone ever calls me so I took the call. I laughed as I said something to the effect of um, I'm a little busy right now, can I call you back when I'm in a better place to talk? 

We picked up her pacer, Sarah, at mile 49.4 and both of us were in a good enough space to be pushed a little. I started to eat a little more food from the aid station, mostly bacon and bananas in those middle miles. The gels were still going down reasonably well, but I knew topping off calories would help too. I started drinking Mountain Dew from the aid stations fairly early on and had no issues with it as long as I walked for a minute or two after consuming it.

Sarah had fresh legs and a fresh brain and it was good for both Jo and I to be pulled along by her. I know I wouldn't have run those miles as fast on my own. The 3 of us chatted like old friends and there were definitely portions of this section that I almost forgot I was racing. 

Aside from the soles of my feet aching and the madness of loop 2, I really didn't have too many other malfunctions. I kept loosening my shoes to give them more space and it seemed to help for another 10 miles or so before I'd need to do it again. Despite the risk to my kidneys, I did take a few Aleve and Excedrin during the race which helped immensely with the feet aching. Strangely enough, I didn't really have any problems with my toe/ball of foot problem that I'd being seeing the podiatrist for. Running is weird.

Jo didn't have a light and was worried that she would be caught in the dark before we finished the loop so we tried to speed up as much as we could. Luckily, we finished loop 3 with about 20 minutes of daylight left!

Loop 4

In races long enough to need a drop bag, I like putting reminders to myself in my drop bag, especially for the later miles when my brain starts to get mushy. Thanks to the love note to myself, I remembered to change my t-shirt and buff, stuff a long-sleeved shirt in my pack, and get rid of my sunglasses. Casey helped me with each loop by refilling my Skratch in bottles and taking my piles of trash. 

I knew where Jo's tent was setup now so as soon as I was done with my own pit stop, I walked down eating a cup of mashed potatoes to find her so we could start the loop together. Though I wasn't sure if we'd end up sticking together until the end at this point, I was still really happy to be running with her.

At the Gate aid station, mile 4.1 into the loop (mile 64.6 at this point), a cute duo of perfectly behaved golden retrievers were sitting on a blanket next to the tables. I asked the guy standing next to them helping at the aid station if I could pet them and he said with a laugh, "I dunno, they are pretty ferocious". Clearly I spent the next 60 seconds making a couple of new furry friends.

The jeep road section is the most runnable and Sarah pushed us to run the next 5 miles. It wasn't easy, but I felt surprisingly ok to go a little faster here. I decided I'd call Adam at the Nature Center aid station which would be around mile 70 and that gave me a little extra motivation to get through the miles. I talked to him and Megan briefly and he reassured me that I sounded good. I was tired, but moving and felt reasonably confident that I was going to get it done and get it done within 24 hours.

My stomach started to sour a bit in the next section and I took the one gel I had with caffeine in it here, hoping to have it pep me up a bit. It tasted really weird and I immediately gagged. I consumed about half of it and though it didn't come back up, I did have to stop for about 30 seconds and let the gagging sensation stop. Ultra running is so glamorous.

Jo's pacers planned to swap out at mile 74.7 and I was a little afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up if Erik was really pushing everything out of her. I knew if I started the last loop, I would finish so I told her that at the very least I'd try to hang on until then. I got another cup of mashed potatoes at this aid station and felt immediately better with warm calories.

Everything seemed to be going really well as we wrapped up loop 4. I grabbed a handful of bacon from the aid station and refilled my pack for the very last time, remembering to change out my headlamp batteries just in case. It was cool enough that I wasn't really going through much liquid, but I was trying to continue to sip as much as I could remember.

Loop 5

I met Jo again at her tent and she, Erik, and I made our way out on the final loop. I joked as we went through the first few sections that we never had to run through this again and through that again. Though there were still 20 miles left, it really did feel like we were in the home stretch. 

We were jogging as much as we could and power walking the modest inclines, getting it done one step at a time. Any time Jo needed to stop for something, I was using that to just keep walking, partially to give her a little push, partially to just keep a more even cadence.

Out on the jeep road section, Jo grew really cold and mentioned it a few times. I was wearing a short-sleeve, but for any one who knows me, knows that I am always in the least layers. I gave her my long-sleeve to wear and helped pull it over her pack. As we were headed to Nature Center, I decided to text Casey to ask her if she could meet me at mile 89.8 with my bag to bring my emotional support jacket. I didn't really think I would need it, but if we were doing a lot of walking, I didn't want to be dumb if I could just carry it. 

Seeing Casey mid-loop was fun and instead of my jacket, I actually ended up just putting my thin long-sleeve back on that had dried out during the day. My feet were really sore by this point, but I reminded myself that something was bound to hurt and everything else was still feeling shockingly okay. 

The last 10 miles of a 100 are a slog and this one was no different. Jo was in a lot of pain, but in some warped way, her pain distracted me from any of my own. I tried my best to encourage her and because her watch died, keep her updated with the mileage we had left and pace. I hardly ever look at my own watch while racing, but we started to set little time goals and the push to get under 23 hours was on!

When we got to 5 miles left, I started giving her updates every time we chipped off another 0.5 miles. We both had planned to eat every 30 minutes throughout the race and kept this up all the way through the final hour. I've never had the eating portion of my race go so well and whaddya know, I only felt really awful for the time immediately after I puked on loop 2. 

I had no skin in the game about placement or time for this race as we came into the finish. We weren't on the podium, it wasn't going to be a PR for me, and we were solidly under the 24 hour mark. So I was all set to just hang back and let Jo go ahead when we got to the finish line area. She did run 84 miles with a dislocated finger and I cheesed off of her pacers for 50 miles. 

But then she suggested that we run it in together and I couldn't have been more happier about this. When we got to a mile to go, we started to push as much one can at mile 99. When we reached the final stretch of grass in the finish chute, she grabbed my hand with her good one and I couldn't have pictured a better way to cross the finish line.

22:39:24

We took a few photos together, I got my shirt back, and we exchanged contact info. She told me she was signed up to run Cruel Jewel this year so hopefully we get a chance to see each other again very soon!

Post-race

Casey grabbed all my gear for me and walked me to the car, my body immediately going into stiff mode post-race. Everything started to hurt a lot more and I ended up lying on the hotel room floor for awhile until I climbed into the shower. After the shower, I tried to sleep, but only napped for about an hour before giving up and deciding to go get some breakfast. I had been carb-loading for the 3 days prior and ended up having 19 gels throughout the race so I was done with carbs and sugar. I filled up my plate with eggs, sausage, and bacon. 

The rest of the day was spent being mostly useless. We hobbled to Target for foot masks, picked up lunch at the Potato Shack and daiquiris at Cocktail Express, and then laid in bed watching Friends all afternoon between naps. Eventually, we went to a ramen place for dinner and then felt really old watching the Grammy's.

Our flight was super early in the morning, but that meant there was no traffic and as a bonus, we got upgraded to first class so I was not mad about drinking a mimosa while watching the sun rise from 30,000'. Much like everything in life, the weekend wasn't perfect, but it was pretty darn good and I sure feel lucky to have these experiences. 

2024 Recap: Doing Epic Shit!

Best sandwich of 2024

It always seems impossible until it's done. A pretty contrived quote to begin a recap, but it's one I've carried with me for a long time.

There's a part of me that knows that some of these highlights are extraordinary. Things some people can't fathom doing ever in a lifetime and I've squeezed them into a calendar year. But there's a part of me that knows that I'm just a regular human doing regular human stuff too.

I often feel I walk the line of having enough gumption to jump right into something crazy/expensive/hard. One crazy idea often leads to another and somewhere along the line the 6th most interesting (by my own definition) thing I did this year was run a 100k fairly untrained.

January

I started the year off with a quick weekend trip to Bandera, Texas to run a 100k and secure a Western States qualifier. Though I was pretty undertrained for a trail 100k, the weather was fantastic, I saw a few friends, and felt surprisingly good for most of the race. 

Mile 21ish of Bandera 100k

A week later, I was in Brooklyn for work and enjoyed a couple of mornings of running through Prospect Park in the snow. 

Snow is always a novelty when you live in the South

Sara came to Atlanta for a work event and she, Adam, and I had a wonderful dinner talking all things baseball, running, and debate.

Dinner at Sprig with Sara

February

I decided at the last minute to squeeze in another race before Antarctica and headed up to Tennessee one morning for the Gone Loco 55k. The rail trail made for fast running and I ended up coming in 3rd female.

High fives on loop 1

3rd F

The rest of February was kind of shitty. Max was neutered and we had to baby him for a few days while his incision healed.

We joked that he looked like was ready to board a plane 

Riley had a dental and ended up having a tooth extraction. Adam's car had major issues thanks to his hand controls and it took him a tow truck, many days, and many visits to get to the root of the problem. I got new tires and promptly ran over a nail 2 weeks after getting them. 

Sitting the tire shop instead of running at Wednesday Friendsday

But certainly the worst was the passing of my 101 year old grandma. Our family was grateful to have her as long as we did, but it definitely felt like the end of an era with her gone. My brother, sister, and I all traveled to Salina, Kansas for her funeral. 

With Uncle Bob, Aunt Sue, mom, sister Tasha, brother Chris, me

Though it was a bittersweet reason for us to be there, I also was really happy we were able to share this rare time together.

Riding across I-70 in a convertible in February

Middle child relegated to the backseat

March

The big big big one! Antarctica had been on my bucket list for a really, really long time and it finally happened.

Stepping foot on the continent was a special day

Jared and I were travel buddies for this adventure, but I was also lucky enough to be on the same trip as Jen and Rhea. Plus, through our mutual friend Matt, I was able to connect with Layla.

Jared and I in Uruguay in an old bull fighting stadium

Jen, Rhea, and I enjoying post-race beers on the ship

Layla and I in Buenos Aires

We spent a few days in Buenos Aires and took a day trip with a guided tour to Uruguay. 

Obligatory passport stamp

With our guide in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

Then we headed to Ushuaia, at the southern tip of Argentina and sailed to Antarctica. The race was first and I ended up winning the 50k!

Pretty happy about this one!

Then we spent the next 4 days riding zodiacs to watch penguins, seals, whales, and all kinds of flying birds in their natural habitats. 

Leopard seal females are 1.5-2 times the size of males

Whale sighting from the boat

 

Gentoo penguins can swim 22mph underwater

The highlight of the trip was stepping foot on the continent itself and not just one of the islands. I also loved the polar plunge (brrr!) and kayaking in the most beautiful Narnia-esque place on earth. 

Polar plunging in Antarctic waters. I'm in a green bikini in the middle.

Kayaking in Fournier Bay was a top 10 day in life

I've been lucky to have been to some gorgeous places in my travels, but this one is hands down the most incredible. 

Days and days of this incredible view

It's easy to feel very small in this vast and unpopulated continent

On our way back north, Jared and I opted for an extra day in Buenos Aires and spent the day mostly eating and shopping. Most people probably don't have a favorite sandwich of 2024, but I do and it was found in Buenos Aires.

Best sandwich of 2024

April

I had to scurry to get my legs ready for Boston and everything was coming up roses up until the week before the race. Adam was in bed for 6 days in pain and after finally getting him to do a telehealth visit, I got him to the hospital. He had a massive infection due to a kidney stone and was scheduled for emergency surgery the next day.

Care partner things

Surgery was Wednesday. We were supposed to leave for Boston Friday. Through some sort of miracle, he felt so good when he left the hospital Thursday afternoon, he wanted to try to keep our plans as they were. The weekend was less than ideal with him recovering, but I was okay ordering heaps of pasta to our hotel and relaxing.

The makeshift dining table in the hotel room

I ran the 5k on Saturday and got to see my mom and cousin and their respective menfolk along the course.

B.A.A. 5k

I celebrated my 42nd birthday at a Cambridge brewery Sunday.

A few of my favorite things - IPAs, a sour, & a stout

And on my 10th Marathon Monday, despite a hot day and an infinite load of psychological stress from the week, I managed a 3:25. This one I felt especially proud of for so many reasons.

Nothing much better than Boylston Street on Marathon Monday

May

May started off fun with a margarita mile with the Rippedtents crew on a steamy day.

Me, Cassy, & Katherine finishing the marg mile

My family celebrated moms at Rumi's Kitchen for Mother's Day.

With two of my favorite moms, my sister and my mom

Max started puppy school, an hour each Wednesday evening.

Max after being cardboard dog of the week, aka the one that had to be put behind cardboard so as to not distract the other dogs

And I went with Jared to Arizona over Memorial Day weekend to complete my 3rd R3 with him and Roger. It was another epic type 2 adventure full of belly laughs, amazing scenery, and my body feeling properly destroyed.

Headed down South Kaibab at sunset

Looking towards the North Rim overnight

Crossing the Colorado on our way back in the morning

Sun protection is a must

June

The month began with a Braves game with Adam, my dad, niece, and nephew which was really fun for all of us.

Adam and I

Me, Charlotte, Rhett

Me and dad

Max graduated puppy school. 

The proud student with his certificate

I picked probably 10 pounds of blueberries from my yard.

A day's worth of picking

On a short run with Aaron, I completely ripped open my elbow and knee with a bad fall, a theme that would follow me the rest of the summer.

Do not recommend

Alfonso and I did a point to point on the BMT and AT that totaled 27 miles mid- month and I was getting excited about a summer of training for a trail 100 in September.

June is the prettiest month on the BMT/AT

I went out solo and had planned for a 20-25 mile run from Unicoi, but ended up being spooked by a mama bear and cub and felt like complete garbage even just hiking so I turned around with 6ish miles on the day.

Before I called it a day way earlier than expected

July

I helped push Tyrece for a 5k on 4th of July as part of the Ainsley's Angels team with Alfonso and Mike.

Ainsley's Angel team at the Red, White, & Blue 5k

That evening, Adam and I hosted our annual 4th party in our backyard.

Ready for the 4th festivities

I completed another Brasstown Triple with Hanna, Katherine, and Alfonso which is impressive as I got stung TWICE, as in two separate occasions early on, by yellow jackets. I had packed Benadryl after last year's incident and somehow made it 30 miles after taking some.

On our second summit

Guess which ankle was stung?

At the end of the month, Aaron, Alfonso, and I went to North Carolina to run the Standing Indian loop. We got super lucky that the day was cooler and that we had enough time to hit up Lazy Brewing for burgers and beers that afternoon.

Albert Mountain giggles with Alfonso and Aaron

I picked a bunch of peaches from my peach tree, but I believe the tree has some sort of fungus and they go from unripe to rotten before I can eat any.

Too bad I never get any that ripen

August

To get in another long run and some overnight training, I entered the In The Heat Of The Night 50k in Alabama. The heat part didn't disappoint. It was 90° at the start at 6pm. But I love gravel loops and had a good race, finishing 2nd female.

First loop of the 50k

The following weekend, I was supposed to run a 5k with my nephew, his first one! But it was canceled about 15 minutes before the start because of a storm. It was an evening race and I guess because it was a threat for a couple of hours, they decided to play it safe. I ran the distance in a nearby parking lot while I waited for traffic to clear out and it didn't even rain. Oh well.

We all got medals anyway

Over the next couple of weeks, I had another yellow jacket sting and fell really hard on the Greenway. Oof.

The summer of splats and stings

At the end of the month, I traveled to New York again for work and got in a few more runs in Prospect Park in the mornings. My co-worker and I had to see a client in Manhattan so we also decided to go to the Edge that evening to be tourists.

Running around Prospect Park

Not a bad way to end a work day

September

I had yet another sting and another fall as I headed into my taper. My running friends threatened to wrap me in bubble wrap.

I headed to IMTUF 100 in Idaho feeling reasonably good about my training and ready to put it to work. I felt pretty off the morning before the race, but I thought it was just travel and nerves. I was congested and my shakeout run felt like I was dragging a bag of bricks.

View from my shakeout run > how I felt

Happily eating a maple bar, but my face is as puffy as my jacket

A beautiful spot I saw while driving around playing tourist

Megan came midday and she put me in better spirits. We went to bib pickup, had an early dinner, and I toed the line the next day thinking I'd feel better once I got going. That never really happened. I had some periods where it was ok and the views were gorgeous.

Mile 11ish 

I ran about 50 miles of the race with Megan

DNFs suck, but lucky to see places like this

However, I felt pretty awful all day. Plus, I'd been dealing with foot pain off and on all year and it flared up pretty bad during the race. After 70 miles, I decided to call it quits. I would've been going into a 12 mile section basically at the cutoff and decided it was not worth risking myself or others by doing something stupid. I was barely walking the downhill gravel road (re: I was a mess). The DNF stung, but Megan finished and I was able to distract myself by her accomplishment. Within the next day, I'd realize one of the many reasons I felt so terrible was because of how sick I was.

Post-race, feeling like death in our Airbnb

 

October

After basically sitting at death's door for 2 weeks, I slowly started to come back to life. I traveled with my sister and her family to Delaware to attend my aunt's wedding.

With cousin Lucas & brother-in-law Tim

With my niece Charlotte at the wedding

I cobbled together some short runs from the hotel and just took it easy. Back home, I started to add miles and finally saw a podiatrist about my foot. I have a very angry second toe joint caused by a bunion, capsulitis. I took some anti-inflammatories for a month and an oral steroid for a week. This seemed to help. I went to the Pride parade in Atlanta and met up with Sarah and one of her friends for a fun Sunday. 

With high school friend Sarah at Pride

Adam & I celebrated our 16 year anniversary with a dinner out at Bottles & Bones.

Our marriage can drive now

At the end of the month, I went to North Carolina with Alfonso for a run in the Smokies up to Kuwohi. We picked a perfect fall day and caught the prime part of leaf season.

Leaf season in the Smokies is spectacular

Happy place

Atop Kuwohi, the highest mountain on the AT at 6,643'

For Halloween, I gave out full-sized candy bars and achieved my life's goal when I overheard a kid say to another as they walked up my driveway, “I remember this house from last year, this is the cool house.”

"The cool house"

November

November was busy! I was deep in marathon training and decided to continue my (dumb) streak of a marathon-or-more every month by running one solo on the Greenway.

Post-solo marathon on the Greenway

We had Adam's brother and sister-in-law visit and had friends over that weekend for an impromptu Florida Gators party.

Frank is watching the game. Max and I are not. 

Adam had an appointment at the seating clinic at Shepherd and is now in the process of getting a power chair. Roger came for Thanksgiving and we did the Gobble Wobble 10k that morning.

Gobble Wobble 10k with Roger

Then Adam, Roger, and I went to my dad's for Thanksgiving dinner. I took Roger to Helen, Georgia for German food and a laugh.

A run up Tray Mountain with Roger before a visit to Helen, Georgia

He stayed the entire next week and we went out to a lovely dinner at Bottle and Bones and one with Jared and Cassy at the Gasthaus.

Dinner with Adam and Roger 

Cheersing with our boots at Gasthaus Tirol

December

Adam's dad and brother came to help with Adam while I went to Rehoboth Beach so I saw them briefly before I left. Roger and I flew to Baltimore together and met Angie at the airport. All my road training paid off and I secured a BQ for 2026 by running a 3:28.

Mission complete!

The beer tent was kind of lame this year since they ran out of Dogfish Head.

Post-race beer tent with Jen and Angie

But we still had fun and did most of the traditional things, though no one made it back out after dinner. The following weekend, I finally got to run a 5k with my nephew and the kid's race with my niece. I think I had more fun than the kids!

Sleighbells on the Square 5k with Charlotte and Rhett

Adam wasn't feeling great on his birthday this year so we just hung out at home and ordered dinner in. The following weekend, I did Tray Day a day late with the Rippedtents crew and that evening, I went to my dad's for Christmas part 1.

Alfonso, Hanna, Cassy, Taylor, Aaron, and me before our Tray Day run

On Christmas Eve, Adam and I met Megan, Jeff, Courtney, and kids at Waffle House for our traditional dinner.

We forgot to take a picture inside before we left, oops

And then Christmas part 2 was at my sister's on Christmas Day. Hanukkah started that night so we had a busy few days of celebrations.

On the sixth night

Adam and I were both busy with work the last week of the year, but did host Megan and Frank for a very low-key sofa-surfing New Year's Eve.

As with most years, there were some really high highs and some really low lows. In a year that I went to Antarctica and ran my 10th Boston Marathon, it's hard to say anything negative. But those were highlights. There was a lot of tough stuff too. Losing Grandma. All the complications that MS adds to our lives. Dealing with all the adulting things. As I often say, life be life-ing.

Turning the page to 2025, I can only hope to continue to stay healthy, run some fun races, and travel to some new spots.