One Bad Ass Runner

On Saturday, May 8, 2021, I ran the Chase the Checkers, Kiss the Bricks Half Marathon in Indianapolis, IN. The race was a one and only race created by one of our local race director companies, Racemaker Productions. It was created solely to substitute the Indy Mini which was postponed once again due to Covid. After my dad's sudden illness and death from Hodgkin's, I was glad I had deferred the Carmel Marathon and that the Indy Mini was not happening this year. I had barely run since February and my knee had been injured after jumping on a step during a Tabata workout. I started PT in late April to work on the scar tissue and other issues with the knee and the knee had improved substantially. After noticing that race day for this half marathon was going to be gorgeous and after running two 8 milers as long runs, the crazy Docket Rocket returned and thought a half marathon wouldn't be too crazy, so I signed up for the race last minute. Coach and I arranged the week a bit to m

On Saturday, I ran the Choose to Move 5K, a race benefitting the Indiana Parkinson Foundation. Although the race has been around for 4-5 years (except for 2020 which was virtual), I had not heard of the race until a week before the race. Ironically, the race course is part of my daily running routes and the same course as the Gobbler's Jog 5K I ran in 2019. The race was very well organized, with packet pickup the morning of the race only, and with Covid-19 requirements, like masks when no social distance is possible, as well as all outdoor events, packet pickup, etc. The race was chip timed. My PR for the 5K is 24:02 but those times, I feel, are sadly gone. Between my asthma, my medication-related weight gain, and age, my 5K times have been dismal in the last decade and they have only gotten slower as I do more marathon training. However, since arriving in Indiana, I have been doing more shorter races (first because the weather here is not the surface of the sun and second because