Dream Big: Reviving my Marathon Dreams!

Portland Marathon I haven't completed a full marathon since 2005 and when I tried again in 2006, I was medically pulled from the course at mile 22.  I felt I had unfinished business, but I've had a very inconsistent training season.  The interruptions of very hot weather over the summer, fires that caused unhealthy air quality and my nagging hip/sciatic issue has led to running some half marathons and hardly doing any training during the week.  So, needless to say, on the ride down to Portland, I was TERRIFIED!  So terrified, I nearly walked up to the information booth to switch to the half marathon.  But, I kept thinking...how would I feel if I dropped down.  I would feel disappointed for sure, sad that I let my confidence waiver, and I would be SO behind on long run training for NYC too. So, I tried to calm my nerves and prepare for the long day.  I was in the last corral, very last one.  I observed those gathering in to our holding area...

I had a monumental task ahead of me, drive about 2.5 hours north of home in the early hours of the more, complete a 6 hour endurance run and then drive about 3 hours home (traffic picked up by then).  I left home bright and early before the sun was even up and nerves were building up as I hadn't run more than 13.1 miles in the past 12 years!  Those little whispers of doubt were setting in but I needed to do this. I needed to prove to myself that I was strong enough to do it. When I arrived, I was thankful to see that the course was around this beautiful lake, Lake Padden in Bellingham, Washington.  I had never been there but the views on the entire course were very pretty.  I'm not typically a fan of loop courses and this one is a 2.6 mile around the lake for each loop.  Doing this for nearly 6 hours sounds boring, but somehow the trail was enough to keep you distracted and taking in the beautiful nature around you that it didn't seem annoying.  I...

Race 1: Oregon Summer Half Marathon I've done plenty of back to back 10K and Half Marathons and thought that was my limit but in July, I took on a new challenge and decided to try a double half marathon weekend.  The first race was the Oregon Summer Half Marathon put on by Uberthons and honestly, it was a beautiful run!  They shuttled us to the top of this hill in a state park, lush scenery all around and an awesome downhill start!  The race was extremely organized.  The photo below is from the start line. Wearing my Skirt Sport Mod Quad in Clarity print   I honestly give Uberthons an above and beyond award and this is why.  I was driving from about 2.5 hours away and arrived at 10 p.m. that night when packet pick-up ended hours earlier.  I happened to book a room at the hotel where they were hosting packet pick-up and I very apologetically asked if it might be possible to leave my packet at the front desk.  Not expecting a positi...

I've had a tough training year so far with a nagging IT Band issue and continued pain along the sciatic nerve.  So, I hadn't trained as well as I wanted for the Grand Teton Half, Yellowstone 5K, and Yellowstone Half Marathon.  They were back to back events, so no time for much rest in between. Grand Teton Half Marathon Before the half marathon, we spent a day exploring Grand Teton National Park.  It was so beautiful and we hiked around a little lake.  I was really happy to see snow still on the peaks and in the parking lots in places too!  I could tell the elevation was getting tougher on my lungs as we did some light hiking.  It made me a little nervous for race day.  We hung out in Jackson Hole downtown area where we had some really awesome food!  We even found an awesome dessert spot with very fancy looking chocolates.  Jackson Hole is an interesting town, definitely sprinkled with that old west feel.  Th...

I have heard about the Mud & Chocolate Trail Runs and really wanted to run one this year.  I decided to just do it instead of thinking about it for another year.  So, despite the fact I didn't train on trails, big mistake by the way, I learned a lot about myself during this run and so proud that I finished this race!  This was a challenge and it has been a while since I've been this proud of myself post race.   The morning of the run, it was dry, sunny and beautiful in the South Sound where I live, but once we were within 5 minutes of the race location at the Redmond Watershed it started raining and was a soggy mess!  Guess that means there will be plenty of mud!  I checked in, got my number and shirt and then gathered my fuel belt while waiting for the race to start.  This was my first trail run and it was a half marathon distance.  I was crazy nervous but excited to try something new.  For a veteran road runner, I knew it wo...