January
New Year’s Day was spent with some of my favorites running an extended version of the Coosa loop, a pseudo tradition that is definitely type 2 fun. I found out in early January that I was accepted into UTMB and actually took a couple of days to decide if I was going to race it. I had already signed up for the Rocky Raccoon 100 in February in Huntsville, TX so I decided to jump into the Jekyll Island Marathon (which my coach helps put on) in mid-January as a supported long run. I camped out at a gorgeous island park the night before and the weather was perfect racing weather (re: chilly and very little wind). The race itself was a big loop of the island and quite beautiful! I placed on the overall podium for the first time in a marathon, coming in 3rd female. Though it was a super tiny field, it was fun to finally achieve this feat. Unfortunately, I had a physical the following week in which my doctor found a lump in one of my breasts and wanted a 3-D mammogram done. I assumed I’d be able to schedule this ASAP, but unfortunately, I had to wait nearly a month to get an appointment!
February
I tried to push all the scary outcomes of my mind in regards to the lump. I went into Rocky Raccoon 100 feeling like I was the fittest I’ve ever been and was ready to just cash in all my chips. 100s are never easy, but for the most part, I was calm and happy and strong all day. I’ve never felt better in a 100 before. The icing on the cake was a trail 100 PR and a 4th OAF finish. I didn’t know anyone racing and I didn’t have any crew or pacers so it felt pretty great to do all of this solo. When I got back home, I knew a big block of recovery was in order so I spent a lot of time going for walks and enjoying things like Blood Mountain in the snow. As for the 3-D mammogram (as well as a sonogram!), they found nothing. Zilch. Nada. I didn’t even realize how much I was worried about it until I drove away from the doctor’s office and burst into tears. Sweet relief.
March
Jekyll Island was my 48th marathon and the next thing I had was Boston for #49. It was the silliest reason to squeeze in another marathon, but I really wanted Boston to be #50! The Pistol Marathon in Alcoa, TN was within driving range and I didn’t have to take any time off work for travel. I drove up on a Saturday afternoon, went to the most delicious pizza joint for dinner, and raced the coldest marathon I’ve ever raced that Sunday. It was in the teens when we started and this was chillier than Everest Base Camp! The marathon is part of an entire racing weekend made up of every distance from a half marathon to 100 miles. Again, it was a small field, but this time I came in first OA. Overall overall. Beat the men overall. Pretty neat for a marathon I decided to just run on a whim!
At work, I accepted a new position within my division and switched gears to learn something entirely new to me. I'd been in my prior role for about 4 years so I decided to make a change when the opportunity arose to take on a new role.
April
I was in between marathons when some of the RippedTents crew wanted to do a Georgia Loop. Though I was game to do it again, I prudently held back and decided to crew instead. It was a fun day/night riding around North Georgia with my roaming aid station and they got it done! In Boston, I ran the B.A.A. 5k as per tradition now as a little Saturday tune-up. On race morning, I was feeling fit and ready and decided to just full send it. I covered up my watch with my arm warmers at mile 2 and decided to just not look at my pace the whole race. As I made the left on Boylston, I saw the race clocks and was shocked that I was under PR pace by about 30 seconds. At age 41, I was beyond stoked that I had a marathon PR left in my legs. Pretty sure I didn’t stop smiling for a week.
After a monster first few months, I took some down time before I started to build again for UTMB in September. It felt good to put a little distance between training blocks and big events. But I was excited to get my mountain legs back when it was time and helped pace Aaron for a section of Cruel Jewel 100. Over Memorial Day weekend, Alfonso and I had the best day ever in which we ran a large loop from Fontana Dam in the Smokies and ended the day with a brewery, ice cream, and a double rainbow.
Roger somehow coerced me to come back to Arizona to try running rim to rim to rim again in the Grand Canyon. My first experience was pretty awful so I was determined to learn from it and feel better the second time. Aside from the treacherous rope climbing on the north rim, it was a pretty banner night/day for me and I joked that it could become a new yearly tradition. The next day, we headed to Canyonlands and Arches National Parks and put ~60 miles on our legs over the weekend. I had always wanted to visit Four Corners, where Arizona, Colorado, New México, and Utah meet and Roger begrudgingly indulged this side trip.
I ran the 6 hour/9pm start race at Merrill’s Mile and spent a lot of time redecorating the pain cave. But it was good night training and I managed 35 miles or so. On the 4th of July, I raced with Alfonso and Ainsley's Angels as part of a pushchair team for a local 5k. That evening, Adam and I hosted our 16th annual 4th of July party with friends and family.
On July 13th, I was making pasta for the weekend's big training run in North Carolina with a few friends. The pasta sauce jar exploded when I added warm water to the cold glass and I unfortunately ended up needing 8 stitches in the top of my foot. UTMB was 7 weeks away. Not wanting to risk infection or popped stitches, I did nothing for 10 days. If you know me, you know this was a long 10 days. After the stitches were removed, I ran another Ainsley's Angels 5k and felt cautiously optimistic.
August
I wanted to put in a few more big training days and finally did the Brasstown triple, another route on my list for years. On my last longer run of the training block, I was halfway around the Coosa loop when we went through a yellow jacket nest. I got stung multiple times and experienced anaphylaxis. My friends got me back to the car and some Benadryl safely, but I felt stupid for not having my epipen with me. I was bummed to have yet another run of this cycle cut short, but all in all, I felt as prepared as I could be given where I can train. Cassy and I went to The National on a school night and it was fun to do a non-running thing together.
September
UTMB! I arrived in Geneva ready to go, but my luggage took another plane. Luckily, I retrieved it the following day and got to hang out with Megan and Roger for a few days in Chamonix. It was chaotic and crazy, but I loved feeling a part of something so monumental. The course was incredibly difficult, but also incredibly beautiful. I ran with Megan for 50k, made new friends, soaked in the views, ate croissants and stinky cheeses, and slept 15 minutes over 42 hours of running. I finished with tears in my eyes, unable to believe I did something so tough. Roger and Casey were amazing crew and I was so grateful to have them there.
Casey and I hopped on a plane to Lisbon, Portugal a few days later. We had the best time wandering the city streets, sailing, attending a dinner in which a drag queen read our tarot cards, touring Sintra and the Atlantic coast in a Jeep, and lying around our Airbnb drinking wine.
Adam picked me up at the airport when I arrived home and he had a Boston Terrier puppy awaiting me. He picked up Max while I was traveling and surprised me with this very cute (and very naughty) dog.
Once I was finally feeling okay to run again, I got back into the swing of things. I volunteered at Bull Mountain Epic, did some solo runs in perfect fall weather along the AT, and squeezed in a few speed sessions. Adam and I celebrated our 15th anniversary with 15 tacos from Taco Bell and a bottle of champagne. Halloween is my favorite holiday and though I felt like absolute garbage that night because I'd been double vaccinated (Covid/flu) the day before, I handed out full-sized candy bars in a unicorn onesie on my porch.
I returned to The Stinger to race the 24 hour event in early November. I knew it was risky trying to run 100 miles so close to UTMB, but I gave myself the option to bail if I was feeling particularly awful. Race conditions were cold and rainy from the start. Jared did the 6 hour and it seemed a bit daunting when he wished me luck in the last 18 (gulp!) hours. Despite 3 naps and a lot of negative self-talk, I managed to run around the track 426 times, earning another buckle and a 2nd place finish.
Roger came for Thanksgiving week and we had a relaxing few days of eating, drinking, short runs, and lots of BT snuggles for Roger.
December
I ran my 10th Rehoboth Beach Marathon the first weekend of December and while it was the worst I'd felt during a marathon in a long time, I did eke out a BQ. The weekend was as fun as usual and I was sad to drop my buddies off at the airport and switch into work mode. I drove from Baltimore to Philadelphia to New York to visit clients for a few days. One of my bucket list items was to ice skate at Rockefeller Center and my co-workers obliged me one evening to go make it happen! The following week, at our company holiday party, I was presented with the Employee of the Year award. Adam celebrated his 47th trip around the sun with dear friends and we went out for a fancy dinner that weekend.
