In my early years of running, the joke was, when you get old and slow, you run ultras and buy Hokas! Well, I for sure ain’t old! And I still got a bit of speed on me still! And Hokas just don’t work for me. So the marathon is where I capped the distance at.

For years, a good ultra buddy of mine and I had this long standing stalemate that we mutually agreed upon. “When you do a tri, I’ll do an ultra.” A gentlemen’s agreement that has stood for about a decade. There we stood, line in the sand, that neither of us would cross.

Until one of us did. I signed up for the Noble Canyon 50K back in May. Equal parts giving in to peer pressure, listening to my mentors to do the scary thing, curiosity in understanding the runner’s POV compared to just coaching it on the sidelines. I always said if I were to do a 50K, Noble Canyon would be it. It also fell on the same day as my birthday. I figured the stars aligned to make this the year to make it happen. So I plunked down my money and put my training plan together.

Sixteen weeks later, here we are stumbling in the dark through the pot hole filled field to pick up my bib.

When you’ve been running a race multiple times over the years, you can become complacent in how to step to the starting line because you’ve done it before; you know all the twists and turns of the course. You sort of feel over confident about it. Well that’s what happened to me over the weekend running my eighth La Jolla Half Marathon.

When I say that training has gone by the wayside, it definitely has. I love racing hella much, but I love Joni more obviously. Running and the gym have always been my source of therapy; something I use to release stress. Joni’s cancer diagnosis definitely has me releasing stress out on the roads & trails and clanging & banging at the gym! But I just don’t have the mental capacity to stick to something regimented and strict right now. So I’ve been listening to my body and doing what I can.

What was supposed to be a bday party in Tulum, ended up being a race in Chicago to earn my second World Marathon Major star! What a run nerd!

Another AFC Half Marathon in the books! It was a great tune up race for me to see how training is going for my big race in October.