Michelle Runs With It

Stone Mill 50ish-miler fell on my 9th wedding anniversary. Fortunately, Nick didn’t mind me spending the entire day doing one of my favorite things - running in the woods with friends! The weather was much warmer than expected for November (60°/73°) but we were relieved that the forecast changed and the rain ended on Friday that just left us with very muddy trails! With 11 aide stations aka parties, we counted down every time we reached a fabulous group of volunteers and their treats (I mean fuel)! Tater tots, ramen, grilled cheese, sweet potato & avocado quesadillas, PB&Js, homemade vegan cookies, Pringles, jellybeans, chicken noodle soup, pierogis, pickle juice, Mtn Dew, and beer were just some of the faves! The course was hillier than I expected (probably a good thing), with many stream crossings, slippery leaves, hidden roots and rocks. We did the Stone Mill Shuffle along some beautiful scenery - Seneca Creek, Clopper Lake, C&O Canal, Black Rock Mill, and through the “S...

San Francisco, Golden Gate Half Marathon Still on EST, I was up early. I ran to Aquatic Park at 6am in shorts and a long sleeve shirt. 🤞for less foggy conditions. As the sun rose, the skies were clear. It was going to be a great day to run across the Golden Gate Bridge 🌉 There was a slight delay for the pacers to line up with runners so I ended up in the first wave - oops! Met a woman from the eastern shore of Maryland who was celebrating her 40th birthday! The race started on a steep incline up around Fort Mason and then descended to the Presidio. The air was crisp but the sun was beginning to warm us up. The bridge looked majestic against the green grass at Crissy Field. The bay splashed against the rocky shore. Pelicans flew overhead. The climb up to the bridge was brutal. We winded around an equestrian center and the horses looked up at us in bewilderment. The view of the sun coming up over the hilly skyline was a great distraction. Then we entered the bike path on to the bridge....

“All events are neutral until perspective is applied.” ~ Julie Piatt - I never thought I’d say, “I ran 50 miles today.” There’s no way I would have done it without family and friends who constantly encouraged and educated me, including my dear friend Faye who signed up and trained for Greenbrier not once, but twice so we could run it together. 16 months. 3,117 miles. 589 hours. How do you measure, measure a race training cycle? The training for the 2022 Greenbrier 50-miler actually began in 2020 when I was signed up for the 2021 race. Unfortunately my hopes of Covid being over by 2021 were completely wrong. However, I still ran all the miles including a wild weekend at the end of February 2021 where I ran 88.44 miles total from Friday through Sunday, including running the 41-mile Northern Central and York County Heritage Trails in 80% snow-covered terrain. I destroyed my left hip, knee, and had tendonitis in my ankle that required some chiro and PT. Dr. Jake was able to get me recovere...