The photo on the left was taken back in the mid-2000’s before I took control of my life. On April 1, 2009 I collapsed on my living room floor, and I seriously thought my time was up. This was a wake up call. I took up this little running hobby to get healthier and 17 years later I’m still running. The photo on the right was taken four days ago at the Western Pacific Half Marathon, where I ran my 270th life time half marathon. The past 17 years of my life have been pretty incredible. Since that fateful incident on April Fools’ Day, I have experienced incredible highs and heart breaking lows, but at the end of the day, I am still keeping one foot in front of the other and am moving along. To date, I have completed 270 half marathons, 112 marathons, and 120 ultras. In addition, I have completed a 200 mile endurance run, a 150 miler, and eighteen 100 milers. I also have countless shorter distance race finishes to my name. These statistics may just be numbers, but they represent how far I have come. Along the way, I have made some incredible life long friends and have improved my quality of life in every way possible. I am happy that I found a form of exercise that I thoroughly enjoy. When you do something you love, it is not a chore. Thank you for following my journey. It is great having you along for the ride.
I now have 20 one hundred mile (or longer!) endurance run finish buckles. And a chiweenie. A chiweenie who is in an appropriate relationship with a cat somewhere over the rainbow bridge. I miss you very much Chewbacca!
Reality kicked in hard early Sunday morning. With only 12 hours left on the clock, I had to produce a 50k. Under any other circumstances, I could easily deliver. But I had a little over 170 miles on my legs. Sleep deprivation kept rearing it’s ugly head and the rain made the night cold and miserable. There was a tight intermediate cut off at mile 190.6. If I didn’t get there by noon, I was done. It was do or die. I had to pick it up and bank as much time as I possibly could. My pacer, Tom Rogozinski, kept me on track. One foot in front of the other, we kept moving. At the end of that lap, I scored one of my fastest 9.4 mile loops. Tom and I repeated this in the penultimate loop and made that mile 190.6 cutoff with a little over 60 minutes to spare. I went on to finish the race.
The goal today was to beat my American River Parkway Half Marathon time of 2:58:22 from two weeks ago. I did it in 2:43:49. I shaved off nearly 15 minutes. Not only that, but this is my fastest half marathon in three years, which was coincidentally at The American River Half Marathon where I ran it in 2:44:45. THREE YEARS. It has taken me three years to beat my last half marathon time. I’ve been dealing with injuries, illnesses, and grief for the past few years and every day I have worked so hard to get myself back to form. I ran an efficient and strong race today. This was very important to me. After 17 years, I am still able to do this, even after hitting rock bottom. I am over the moon!
The goal today was to beat my American River Parkway Half Marathon time of 2:58:22 from two weeks ago. I did it in 2:43:49. I shaved off nearly 15 minutes. Not only that, but this is my fastest half marathon in three years, which was coincidentally at The American River Half Marathon where I ran it in 2:44:45. THREE YEARS. It has taken me three years to beat my last half marathon time. I’ve been dealing with injuries, illnesses, and grief for the past few years every day I have worked so hard to get myself back to form. I ran an efficient and strong race today. This was very important to me. After 17 years, I am still able to do this, even after hitting rock bottom. I am over the moon!
