I like to have a race on the calendar in ether December or January to get through the “food holidays” with minimal weight gain. If you think that’s a little extreme, you haven’t tasted my Mother-in-Law’s french toast casserole! Anywhoo, this year’s race was in Minnesota. What’s crazier than January in Minnesota? An indoor marathon. Zoom! Yah! Yah! began in 2006 as a way to break cabin fever and support the cross country team at St Olaf College. Because the track can only accommodate 45 runners (plus the fact that there are 45+ people that actually want to do this!), there is a lotte ..read more

My primary goal is to run a marathon in each of the 50 states plus DC. Along the way, I got progressively faster and created a “stretch goal” of doing each of them under 4 hours. Two goals at once? Yes. Here’s how I see it: I always want to be challenging myself. If I’m in a position to look back and say, “that was nice. What next?”, I’m doing something wrong. Always have another goal on deck. There are some states where I have completed a marathon, but not in under 4 hours. I don’t always choose my races based on time based goals, so sometimes I don't intend to run in under 4 hours (Run wit ..read more

There are many reasons to run a marathon; a bad week is one of them. After a tough few days personally and with no big Labor Day plans on the horizon, I found the Logan View Marathon. My logical self said, “hey idiot- weather forecast is calling for 90 degrees on race day. The course is run on 90% gravel road and is described as challenging. You’ve only been running regularly for 5 weeks. Seriously? This is a good idea?!” I didn’t listen. I had a bad week and running is a coping technique for me.  This was also held in a state I hadn’t marked off my list yet- even if I crawled acros ..read more

As a runner, sometimes, your aim is to go as fast as possible and achieve a personal record. Other times, you just get out there and have FUN. After a tough fight in Boston, I needed an enjoyable race. Lucky for me, I bought this fabulous Dorothy outfit and spray painted my old Mizunos glittery red for the Garmin in the Land of Oz Marathon. The role of Toto played by Pavel Goodwin This event was planned as a part of my move to Missouri, so it wasn't ideal to make a 15 hour drive just prior to running...but y'all know me. The "fun size" expo offered a quick in- quick out and I enjoyed ..read more

“We’re all crazy!” That was both my first thought at the starting line as well as my last thought at the finish. Most people think you have to be pretty insane to run 26.2 miles in the first place, but if you survived this year's Boston Marathon you've got an extra layer of crazy. Unless you live under a rock, you probably are well aware of the brutally hot weather that was forecasted for Marathon Monday. At first I thought the Weather channel was playing a cruel April Fools joke on us runners- temperatures in the 80s? Didn't I wear fleece and gloves the last time I did this race ..read more

Aspiration: My aim is to run a marathon or ultra in all states. Recently, I set a second stretch goal to achieve each of these in less than 4 hours. Upon finishing the first circuit, I'll need to go back and 're-do' states that didn't meet the time criteria for goal #2. With hopes of efficiency, I wanted to earn my 34th overall state and 20th sub 4 hour in a single race- the Houston Marathon. Body Glide: Used a lot of it during training. Y’all know why! Crossfit: I used an adaptation of Crossfit Endurance for training. It is very low volume compared to more traditional plans ..read more

Short version: I earned my 33rd state in South Carolina with a time of 3:47:12. Quality time with family and friends more than made up for IT band hell during miles 21-26.  Long version: My training runs for the Kiawah Island Marathon were also recovery runs from the JFK 50 Mile, which I completed 2 weeks earlier. With the intent to achieve a sub 4 hour overall time, my mindset changed from "just keep moving" to a very specific pacing goal of 8:30-8:40 per minute miles. Adding resourceful as a way to describe her (also on the ..read more

I don’t typically do the same race over and over again.  There is a lot to be said for testing yourself against an exact course (apples to apples), I just haven’t done it in my 50 state effort for efficiency purposes.  Except Boston.  2019 marked my 4th Boston Marathon; I also ran in 2009, 2012, 2018. I just love this race.  You have to qualify to run in Boston and the times are pretty aggressive; so sure, there’s a feeling that the race itself is special because you earned your way in.  I love the history of the race, from Katharine Switzer to Duel in the Sun legends Alberto Salazar and Dick ..read more