One Bad Ass Runner

Sigh, I thought I was done racing this year, but then a cold front happened! My next race is the Disney Marathon in January, 2018, but I have been eyeing some short races to see where my speed is at (basically to see if the 10K was a fluke or not).  I registered for the Ft. Lauderdale Jingle Bell Jog 5K next weekend (which now I will probably skip), but I said I wasn't running the Weston Run for Tomorrow Half Marathon unless it was 40F in South Florida. Which in December is basically impossible.  We hit 90F heat index Thursday and 85F on Friday, which is sort of our new normal all year long.  Damn climate change... 😡 But a cold front was coming.  I saw the weekend would have a low of 45F on Sunday and then realized the race was on Sunday!💡  I quickly asked my coach if OK to run it (I had a 10 mile LR but we had talked about the race a bit in prior weeks) and got the OK to register and boom, both me and my husband were in! I have run this race befo...

On Sunday, I ran the Space Coast Marathon, my last goal race of the year and the fifth one in the series to earn the Intergalactic Medal.  As usual, we had tons of fun and even better, we both had great races. For those that do not know, I had a meniscus tear in early 2017 due to a car accident when an asshole T-Boned me while leaving the Publix parking lot.  I guess my car was not the only casualty that night.  To read the details of that, read here .  In late September/early October, I had a patella issue due to some weakness surrounded the knee, and more PT was needed, detailed here .  But still, even with all that, up to last weekend, I had run five (5) marathons plus HMs with my husband, and raced the fastest 10K in six years.  Until this race, I had not felt ready to race a marathon this year.  But finally, I felt like the knee was fully healed. The Space Coast Marathon is the oldest marathon in Florida, celebrating it's 46th year this y...

Today, I raced the Flanigan's Rockin' Rib Run 10K in Davie, Florida. It's been forever since I have raced a 10K, so why the hell did I decide to run one now?  I don't even know the answer to that, but it happened.  The race has been ongoing for the last five years, but I have been running the Space Coast Marathon in the last five years so I never thought of racing a 10K the week before a marathon.  Who knew it would be this much fun? I had forgotten this race was around until I saw the race post sponsored by FB on my news feed.  All I read was Flanigan's ribs and beer and I was hooked.  But first, I checked to see if the weather would be at least OK (we are normally hot still in November and the last four years have not been kind to us), and it looked like the morning of the race would be in the high 60s so I registered before it would sell out (it does every year).  It cost $45 at the time I registered and it included a pre-race backpack, pictured...

Last Saturday, I ran the Indy Monumental Half Marathon with my husband.  Coming from two weekends of marathons, I thought it would be a nice break to run it with my husband and taking it easy.  We had a great trip and had a great time at the race, coming in two minutes slower than his HM PR from Seattle earlier this year. I had run the Indy Marathon last year with my BFF Mary and we had a great time, but I had a tough time during the marathon with my asthma and my medication side effects (exhaustion, weight gain, etc.) that I did not have at all this year.  However, I did not want to run another marathon (well, I did, but mentally I needed a break) before Space Coast later this month, so taking it easy and running the half worked perfectly. When we looked for flights to Indy, the flights were pretty expensive (contrary to last year), so we started looking for airports nearby.  We remembered that Fiona the Hippo was already a sensation at the Cincinnati Zoo, ...

On Sunday, I ran the Detroit Free Press International Marathon and boy what an experience.  It was frankly one of my favorite marathons.  What else can you say when a race takes you to Canada and back?  I really loved the race and would like to do the race again (the US Half Marathon course looks like fun, especially with all the beer on the course, as detailed below). :) As I had just run the Chicago Marathon and at a time I wasn't even expecting, I knew going into this race that I had to race it easy.  It's been a few years since I've done two marathons in two weeks, and it won't be the last time I do this, but I'm not getting any younger, ha. Chicago left my calves VERY sore, especially since I had three calf cramps during the race.  Although I was given the chance to run on Tuesday, I was like hell no, and rested.  By Wednesday, the 6 miles I ran felt awesome.  I had to take a rest day on Thursday for other reasons, and I had to cut my run...

I ran the Chicago Marathon this weekend (once again!) and had a lot of fun.  It was a hot race, as Chicago has been famous lately for, but I was still able to improve on my post knee surgery times and inching closer to my old times little by little.  Managed 4:58:51, an 11 minute post surgery "PR" and closer to my best times of 4:34, which I have not been even able to see in 2+ years.  I really didn't expect to see a 4 until later this year, if at all, so I was really happy to have managed to break 5 hours once again. As every year in the last five (5) years, I ran one of my favorite races in my favorite city.  The Chicago Marathon is an amazing race and I noticed that from the first time I ran the course (I DNFd that year) and every year since.  I am going for legacy status so that I can get guaranteed entry and I am one year short of it, so I hope to complete it next year (hoping they don't change the rules, ha). For those that don't know this, a...

On Saturday, I ran the Reykjavik Marathon (yes, in Iceland!!!!) and had a lot of fun on this trip and race.  Three weeks ago, I wasn't even sure if I could even start the race (see below), but more PT and a giant taper helped.  I ended up running a 21 minute post knee surgery PR and the fastest marathon in close to two years. It's been one heck of a month for me and my knee.  As I have mentioned, my recovery from meniscus surgery went really well and I did two marathons post surgery without any issues whatsoever.   Training for Iceland was going great and I had even restarted doing speedwork and hitting Orange Theory workouts with ease as well.  However, on peak week in preparation for this race, around three weeks ago, I was at Orange Theory doing a 12 minute distance run (trying to run straight for 12 minutes, haha, which I have covered).  When I stepped off their treadmill, my operated knee hurt around the patella.  I have never felt this kind ...