The lead-up / training: I’ve been rocking the training this year, thanks to my coach (Jess at Pace of Me), an additional focus on strength training, recovery, nutrition, and largely staying healthy. As I look at my training log for this year, I had some setbacks for sure (the “100 day cough” in January required steroids; Baby Kitty died in that month too so that was a rough time! Also, we took lots of trips, we had a full schedule of baseball and track in the spring, I got a cold in April, had a sore foot in May, then again in August). But this year it was easier for me to complete the marathon training, vs 2022, and I averaged 36.4 miles per week for the 20 weeks leading up to Richmond.
Goals: I have a goal of someday qualifying for Boston (which would be a 3:35 for me now, since I turn 40 next April), but I didn’t think I could feasibly do it here in Richmond. My “A” goal was sub-3:40, “B” goal was sub-3:50, “C” goal was sub-4 hours, and other non-time goals included have fun, run happy, finish strong, and don’t have any tummy troubles! In speaking with my coach, we decided on a pace range of 8:20-8:30, which put me around 3:41 finish time. I didn’t have a ton of confidence I could hold that pace for 26.2 miles, although now having run the race at 8:46/mile (including the bathroom stop), I’m more confident about it now.
Gear: I wore my black splatter-print Pace of Me team tank, black Under Armor shorts, black Lululemon bra, feetures socks, Adidas carbon plated shoes (Adios Pro 3), Garmin watch, oura ring, and new purple goodr sunglasses that Karyssa kindly picked up for me at Fleet Feet last week. My wear blue: run to remember bib went on the back in memory of 3 of my classmates: Daniel Hyde, who was in company E-4 with me as a cadet; Sara (Knutson) Cullen, who was in my plebe math class; and David Lodwick, who was in my company at Fort Sill for BOLC.


Fuel: 7 Science in Sport (SiS) gels, in orange, neutral, and strawberry lime flavors. Each one is 40 grams of carbs, and I took one every 30 minutes (so 80g carbs per hour). This worked really well for me. I also took 2 salt tabs, one at mile 14 and one around mile 20 I think. I took 2 SwissRX nitric oxide capsules at mile 14. I had 2 Tums with me and didn’t need them (my insurance policy, lol). I also carb-loaded with a goal of 550g/day for the 3 days prior to the race–didn’t quite meet that in the third day due to travel.
Pre-Race:
My best running friend (BRF), Karyssa, and I drove up together the day prior, November 15—kinda like we did for Pittsburgh in May ’23. My family was going to come, but then a baseball event came along, combined with traveling for multiple weekends prior, and we made the decision for Javi to stay behind with the boys. While I was very sad they wouldn’t get to see my race, I eventually realized it was much easier for me mentally to prepare (and have the hotel room) solo. Karyssa’s family came later that day.
We did some carb-loading, hydrating, and chatting the whole way there, and randomly met up with another Pace of Me runner, Kellie, at a rest stop in VA!


Before we knew, we arrived at the Richmond Raceway for the Expo, around 1 PM.

We got our race numbers, shirts, merch, pictures with Lindsey Hein (podcaster), and had some cheese quesadillas because we realized we were starving. We saw my coach and her fellow coach Amy, chatted for a few, then decided to go check in to the hotel.




We got the car parked (thanks valet team!), got our rooms (down the hall from each other), and headed for a late lunch at the Urban Farmhouse, where we shared an almond butter-honey-banana sandwich, then went for a short stroll around the Shockoe Bottom area. At this point, I felt calm about the race, but had some spikes in nervousness throughout the day. I had done a 2 day carb-load, and Friday was day 3—it didn’t go so well due to traveling. I ended up about 100 grams short, but did my best.
Our friends Rachel and Staci stopped by on the way to their hotel, and we hung out for it—so wonderful to share this experience with friends! I had such a great time in Berlin with Javi, but it’s different (and so special) to share the race experience with fellow mother runners.
After a hotel dinner of chicken and rice for me, rice and sweet potato for Karyssa, it was time to get the flat runner ready, and turn in for the night. I studied my race plan before bed, which included the race course broken into 8 chunks/sections, with mantras and key words for each, hoping all the little bits of info would come to me when I need them.
I have yet to get a decent night’s sleep before a big race, and this was no different. My brain starts on overdrive, thinking of things that could go wrong (mainly, that I oversleep, or have tummy troubles during the race). My body felt ready, but my brain kept reminding me—just as I was about to fall asleep!—that tomorrow was a Very Big Day, and it will require a LOT of energy and focus.

I tried listening to Emily Saul’s night for the race podcast, which was amazing and got me nice and sleepy, so unfortunately I didn’t finish it, and still didn’t sleep well due to being too warm, and so anxious.
When I woke up at 5, I didn’t feel awful, but definitely not energized either. I forced down 5 graham crackers (my “safe bet” carby pre-race breakfast), took a shower, got dressed, and generally felt like “What the heck am I doing? Why am I willingly choosing to run 26.2 miles today??” haha. Do most runners feel like this on race morning, or is it just me?
Thankfully, having Karyssa there calmed me down a lot, and we got pics and ready to walk the mile to the start. We didn’t really know where to go, but followed other runners.
We had allowed 15 minutes to walk there, and 30 minutes for the bathroom, and that was not enough time. We joined the porta-john line, and it barely moved in the 30 minutes we stood there. I knew I needed to pee before the race, so my nerves flared up again. We saw Jess (my coach) and Amy walk by, which was awesome, and they stayed to chat with us for a bit. I got a huge hug from Jess, and she told me “Full Heart, Can’t Lose!” which helped me put things into perspective.
Ultimately, we had to make the decision to forego the bathroom and join the nearest starting Corral, which was Corral 5. We were supposed to be in Corral 2 based on our start time, so this meant we started much further back that we should have. Not a great way to start…
Race:
We started a few minutes after the gun went off, behind the 5 hour pace group (yikes—I was hoping for 3:40 on a good day!) “It’s OK… we got this!” Karyssa and I told each other, on repeat. “We’ll just stop at the porta-potties at mile 2!” Solid plan.
Also we somehow spotted K’s husband and son, which felt like a miracle to me, given how many people were there, and that we were across the street from them.
Section 1: start line to mile 3.7, turn onto Westmoreland. Once we took off, we ducked and weaved, and weaved some more. That’s the problem with starting so far back. These runners all want to go more than a minute per mile slower than we do. We wanted our first mile to be the slowest, and it definitely was slow, at 9:50. The first miles were not great for me. Mentally, I felt like this rough start meant the whole race was shot (of course, that wasn’t true). And physically… I needed to GO. My bladder complained with every step that we missed the opportunity to go before the race. Note to Richmond organizers: more bathrooms are needed! Also, I had skipped my usual warm-up, so my body just didn’t feel primed to run yet. I felt really grateful for Karyssa’s positive spirit. I was also on the lookout for a bush or dumpster I could go pee behind, I was that desperate!
Thankfully, they had many porta-johns at mile 2, and once in sight, Karyssa and I sprinted to them. I believe she said “I’m coming in hot!!” haha. We both found empty ones and hurried in. Later she told me hers had no toilet paper; mine had new rolls that were hard to get started. The result: she came out, didn’t see me, and took off. I came out, didn’t see her, and waited for 30 seconds before texting her, “Are you still in the bathroom?” She replied with a “no”, so I took off, even grumpier now that we were separated. All good.. we didn’t intend to run more than two miles together anyway.
My mile 2 split was 10:25, and all I could think was UGH. Looking at my Garmin stats just now, it said I had a minute of idle time, so that was my bathroom stop. No more time to waste… it’s time to get this going!
I had a “speed limit” from Coach Jess of 8:40/mile for the first 6 miles. No worries on that, I thought ruefully. The streets, crowded with runners, had zero room for passing, and I had to sprint when I found openings to get around people. I didn’t enjoy this section, though there were cheering crowds, tree-lined streets with gorgeous home, and funny signs. I just felt like it was too crowded, and I was already behind my goal pace by a lot. I took my first SiS gel at 30 minutes, as planned (and continued to take them every 30 minutes during the race, so I won’t mention in these next sections).
Section 2: miles 3.7 to the Huguenot Memorial bridge. After completing section 1, I told myself to just focus on the next section, and keep going at the speed limit pace. I ticked off miles 3-6 with an 8:43, 8:49, 8:40, and 8:52. It’s gonna be OK… you got this!
Memory from this section: a guy running backwards was high-fiving people, and he ran right past me, so I put up my hand and… he put his down. OK then, haha.
I finally felt warmed up, and the sunshine felt good on my cool skin. I ran past the 10K timing mat, and immediately got my notification on my watch, along with another notification shortly thereafter. Karyssa! I knew that she must be close, because she was the only person I was tracking with the notifications turned on. Sure enough, I spotted her in her white Crazy Running T-shirt up ahead. I surged to catch up with her, so thrilled to have found her after 4 miles. A mini miracle!
I said loudly “Hey buddy!” and startled her, lol. Didn’t mean to! I was just so happy to be back together again. I felt my grumpiness fade away, but in its place… the rumblings of GI issues.
Noooo please no. I prayed my body would not have the urge to poop. I really don’t need a second bathroom stop. I put my focus outwards, away from my body. Just stay with Karyssa, and put one foot in front of the other.
Section 3: the bridge to the Hwy 76 overpass. Goal here: enjoy the views, and conserve energy.
Running with Karyssa is just sunshine and rainbows… she finds all the joyful things, points them out, cheers for people, thanks the volunteers, and generally makes life so much fun. We started across the bridge, and I realized just how gorgeous of a day we had for racing, as the sunlight glinted on the James River below.
We randomly saw a familiar face in Er Ralston, from the Twin City Track Club (and I just looked up his results, a 4:20 at the age of 68. Well done, sir!) and chatted with him for a few minutes.
We were passing lots of people, and as we turned left onto Riverside Drive, we got stuck behind the 4:15 pace group with its glut of people ballooning across the narrow road. We finally got past them, and savored some gorgeous river views. THIS is what I had envisioned for this race, and bonus: I got to share these miles with my BRF. I didn’t know how long we’d be able to stay together, but I knew this was a huge blessing to work together in these early miles.


The sunshine now directly in our faces as we headed eastward, I didn’t see a pothole and nearly twisted my ankle—but didn’t, whew!
We passed the mile 8 potties, and so thankful I didn’t need to stop. Just keep this up.. you got this! The water stop volunteers frantically tried to fill the cups fast enough, but Karyssa snagged the last one and I didn’t want to wait there for more. She kindly shared with me (like the amazing friend she is!), and we got back to our faster clip.
Miles 7-10 were 8:28, 8:49, 8:31, 8:58. I knew I was slower than my goal pace range of 8:20 to 8:30, but I didn’t feel ready to leave Karyssa and venture on my own. She felt like my security blanket, and with her positivity, my attitude was slowly turning to the bright side too. My GI rumblings quieted down, and I felt like I was doing OK, especially given our challenges at the start. My goal word for this section was “Conserve” and I knew I was conserving energy by going a tad slower than I wanted to. Playing it safe, so that later I could throw down some faster miles, and hopefully negative split this race.
Section 4: Highway 76 overpass to the long bridge (miles 11-15.3). Mantra here: Patience.
As we trucked along, Karyssa mentioned her pinky toe was hurting, and said she may need to stop soon to adjust her shoe and sock. I felt terrible she was hurting, but not much I could do other than keep running next to her. This section had rolling hills, but a net downhill, so we could catch our breath a bit.
Coming up on the halfway point (and timing mat), she said she was going to pull over and try to fix her toe situation. I told her something like “I’m going to keep going. See you soon. Love you girl!” and we did a half hug while running. She pulled off, and I was on my own again, only this time felt much braver and more settled than I did earlier in the race. I was warmed up, and kept reminding myself to conserve and be patient here. I walked a bit at the mile 14 water stop so I could get a salt tab and 2 nitric oxide tabs out of my back pocket, and managed to swallow them. Otherwise, I kept a good pace, and enjoyed the crowd support through this section.
I think it was in this section, a lady had a sign in her yard that read something like “You are Fast, Fierce, and Fit” and I had to smile, because that was the mantra I used at races for years (except that I would add “As F***” at the end). An excellent reminder for today!
Miles 11-15, 8:41, 9:16, 8:37, 8:54, 8:18.
Section 5: The bridge to Main St, miles 15.3 – 18.2. Mantra for this section: Hang tough! And get in position for the tough miles.
I finally felt like I hit my stride and my race pace, and I felt good through this section, despite the wind, and the long, gradual uphill. The Robert E. Lee bridge didn’t have a lot of perks—the view wasn’t as clear of the river, since we were up so high, but I was happy to have a lot more space to maneuver. I passed a lot of people, realizing I couldn’t draft off any of them because I was moving faster.
Finally off the bridge, a long section of Army volunteers were handing out little cups. I took one, thinking it was water, and surprised to see a dark liquid. Coke? I cautiously took a sip, and it was indeed Coke. I haven’t had any carbonated beverages while running, but it sounded good, so I drank it slowly. I high-fived lots of Army people, and smiled at the memories I have of my Soldiers. I had the wear blue: run to remember bib on my back, and wondered if they noticed it. I thought of Dan, Sara, and David, their names written on my back, and pictured them “having my back” here. I wanted to make them proud, and honor their memories. I nearly got choked up thinking about them, and tried to think of something else.
Coming up to the turn onto Main Street, around mile 16.5, I wondered if Rachel and Staci were nearby. A few minutes later, I saw them—at the last moment, before making the turn, and I was on the wrong side of the street to go high-5 them. Nonetheless, seeing their smiling faces and hearing their loud cheers made me smile so big, and put an extra boost in my step.
Main St is a gradual uphill, and I wondered when (if?) the uphill would ever stop. Volunteers handed out wet towels at mile 17. I snagged one, grateful to wipe my face, arms, and all the sticky excess gel off my hands.
Momentarily refreshed, I pushed on, and saw the 4 hour pace group up ahead. Yesssss. If I can get in front of them, I know I’ll be sub-4 today! In a few more minutes, I overtook them—again, difficult to pass because the street was narrow and the group was wide.
Miles 16-18 (all uphill, 142 ft in total over 3 miles, per my Garmin): 8:30, 8:46, 8:38.
Section 6: Arthur Ashe Blvd to Crestwood Road, miles 18.2-21.4. Aka: The Crux. Mantra: Embrace the fatigue, climb this “mountain” (since the race course itself sort of looks like a mountain that “peaks” at mile 21.4–see map at the bottom of this post. It’s the northernmost point of the race course).
Going into the race, I had framed this section in my mind as potentially the hardest. Fatigue would be setting in, but there would still be 10K to go. The sun was beating down, and while it wasn’t hot, I was definitely warm. Somehow, I was able to focus really well on this section, and the miles went by fairly easily.
Just get to mile 19…
Just get to the water stop (and timing mat!) at mile 20…
20 mile split: 2:57:41
The “math wasn’t mathing” as my friends like to say, nor did I want to try to calculate my projected finish time. I knew if I could run a decent 10K, I’ll be well under 4 hours.
Just get to your next gel intake (I hit 3 hours during mile 21). Only one gel left!
I don’t like to think about having a certain number of miles remaining, so I continued on with the “just get to the next milestone,” and that seemed to work.
Soon enough, I was making the hard right turn onto Crestwood Road, which signified the end of this section, and completing my “climb” up the mountain. It also helped this section was super flat!
Miles 19-21: 8:27, 8:32, 8:35
Section 7: Crestwood Rd to Grace St., miles 21.4-24.6. Get in position for the final stretch. Hang tough and be gritty!
Mantra: Run with Joy!
I recognized the course here from 2016 as the long section I had to walk when I got severe GI issues during the half marathon 8 years ago. I reminded myself how grateful I am to be running, over and over.
I received some encouraging texts from Javi and my friend Sandra in these miles, and they were so helpful. Then a song that Sandra recommended came on—joy. By for KING & COUNTRY. And I nearly started crying. The timing of it—her text, then the song coming on, then these lyrics:
Oh, hear my prayer tonight, I’m singin’ to the sky
Give me strength to raise my voice, let me testify
Oh, hear my prayer tonight, ’cause this is do or die
The time has come to make a choice
And I choose
Joy
Let it move you, let it move, let it move you
Yeah, I choose joy
Let it move you, let it move, let it move you
It was my first time listening to this song, and it just spoke to me in that moment. “Gotta get that fire, fire, back in my bones”—I loved it, but especially loved the part about choosing joy. Thank you, dear friend, Sandra. The timing was divine, and I almost broke down in tears.
Instead, I took some deep breaths, and carried on to the last 5K of the race.
I felt super strong and focused—exactly how I’d envisioned (and hoped) I would finish the marathon. These miles somehow went by fast. My body continued to cooperate—no pain or tummy troubles, just some tired legs. I was pushing hard, and started to get a cramp in my side, so I backed off slightly and it subsided.
Nearly there! Last gel during mile 24, at the 3:30 mark. Good thing Coach Jess told me to take an extra gel, and I listened! (I was only going to bring 6, then grab a GU on course at mile 21). I continued to take water and Nuun from each water stop, and just concentrated on getting to the next mile marker. Thankfully the last 5 miles all had water stops, and mile 23 even had another wet towel stop, which was much-needed since I got more sticky SiS gel on myself.
At some point, I received a text from Rachel and Staci that they were positioned at mile 24.5, so my next goal became “Just get to Rachel & Staci!”
When I saw them in the distance, I nearly broke down in tears again. I just felt so lucky to have such amazing friends, that drove all the way to Richmond to join in this race weekend, and made handmade signs, and cheered us on with so much love and energy.
More deep breaths… no tears! You got this.
I high-fived them on my way past and had a huge grin on my face. Seeing them gave me SUCH a boost, and I sprinted away knowing that I was headed for a massive personal best.



I’m doing this!!
Miles 22-24: 8:30, 8:30, 8:27 (my most even splits of the day!)
Section 8: Grace St to the finish line, miles 24.6-26.2. Mantra: Finish strong and happy!
With 1.6 to go, I felt invincible. I knew even if I walked it in from here, I’d still be well under my best from Berlin. But I wanted the most out of myself, so I poured it on.
Just a mile to go… time to drop the hammer and give it everything.
I nearly tripped at one point, but thankfully caught myself. The crowds spurred me on, and I got to the final 3 turns feeling on top of the world.
All that remains is a right on 3rd, left on Franklin, and right on 5th St all the way downhill to Brown’s Island.
At first I welcomed the downhill, then I remembered how steep and long this hill is, and my tired, jello-ish legs felt like they could give out.
Go fast.. but not so fast you’re gonna fall.
My playlist, which I had set on shuffle at the start, served me up some perfect songs when I needed them all throughout the race (especially “Machine” by Imagine Dragons, and “Warrior” by Atreyu & Travis Barker in the last miles), now blared the song that Javi gave me “Mama said knock you out” by LL Cool J, which just made me smile–because my husband gave me to me, and because of the lyrics 🙂
Now on 5th St, I heard my name and looked up. Karyssa’s husband and son were up ahead on the right! I was so thrilled to see them because I knew this was it… all downhill and so close to the finish.
I gave them a huge smile and high-5’s and continued to push.
This is the icing on the cake. This is what you trained for, and it’s all paying off. That B goal (sub-3:50 is in sight).
I finally allowed myself to check my watch, and it was 3:49 and some change.
Crap! Time to really kick it in! Put the bow on top of this beautiful thing!
I was absolutely flying down the hill, finally saw the finish, and didn’t plan to do this, but pumped both fists in the air! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.
3:49:44 (although I didn’t know that at the time—I just knew I was around 3:50. I didn’t know the exact time til my dad texted me later, since the app wouldn’t work on Brown’s Island). A massive PR, almost 30 minutes faster than Berlin. In the moment though… I was just so darn happy to be done!
Coach Amy came over to me, we hugged, I remembered to stop my watch, and she helped keep me upright as I walked down the finish chute. My brain wasn’t working well so I have no idea what I said. I couldn’t believe I did it. Then Coach Jess came gave me a huge hug, and we talked about the race—I told her the start was rough due to the bathroom issue, but dang the second half turned out so, so well. She knew something had happened, because of my slower splits at the start.


She walked with me a bit longer, I got my medal, and we got this very smiley selfie—so very grateful for Jess. I couldn’t have done this without her.

Official medal pic–I was on cloud 9!
Post-Race Party:
I didn’t want to walk too far down the finish chute, as I really wanted to see Karyssa finish, but didn’t know how far back she was, or if I’d be able to get to the finish line in time. My race app wasn’t loading, but Javi texted me that K was right behind me. I decided to text her hubby and she if she had passed him yet, and he said no. So I knew if I hurried, I might get to the finish line in time. I had to go around the fence, but I made it there just as he texted, She just passed us about .2 from finish.
My very slow mind couldn’t figure out how I was going to get close enough to see her—the crowds were so deep. Finally I just asked the ladies in front of me if I could join them, because my friend is coming right now! They were super nice and let me in, and I was able to scream at Karyssa as she ran an 18-minute personal best, and she shouted “F yeah!” across the finish line. Coach Jess was there to give her a big hug, and my heart nearly burst with all the love I have for both of them.


So freaking proud of my BRF. We have shared so many miles, and all the hardships and juggling that comes with being a working, running, doing-all-the-things mom. She’s so amazing, and I am so blessed that we found each other a few years ago, and that we run nearly the same pace.
Next I needed to get to her—I was on the wrong side of the fence. I found my way through the crowd and we got to share an emotional hug, a few hours after we had parted ways at the halfway point.
We did it!!! So proud of you.
We headed to Brown’s Island to get our free race swag (fleece blanket and white hat), snacks (banana, chips, granola bar), and somehow carried all that plus bottled water over to an open space, before we plopped down in an exhausted heap.
She checked her feet and we chatted with another runner while waiting for her family and our friends to arrive.
We linked up with her brother and his fam, Rachel and Staci, and her husband and son, who surprised us with flowers. We found a table with chairs, and we enjoyed catching up over pizza and beer (for them).


After sharing race stories and congratulations, the 4 of us ladies headed out to do “errands”—photo ops with the marathon sign and PR bell, medal engraving, more drinks, and tried to get shirt sizes switched (didn’t work out, but hoping K and S are still able to switch their mediums for small. For once, I chose the right size and the small fits me).


We had a ¾ mile schlep back to the hotel but my legs felt surprisingly OK. Probably could have pushed just a whisker harder… but it’s OK.
I really needed a shower, but stretched first with Karyssa on the floor of my hotel room, as she waited for her boys to join us at the hotel.
After a shower, we met R&S for lunch at Urban Farmhouse, then they headed back to NC. I headed over to the social event that my coach and her team coordinated. It was nearly a mile, and I walked it—oof. It wasn’t practical to get the valet to get my car and drive it, because I didn’t know what the parking situation would be. In hindsight, I think it helped my recovery, but dang was I tired.
Had a great time chatting with Amy, Dana, and Kellie at the social event, then headed over to the Irish bar & restaurant near the hotel to meet up with friends from run club, Jenn and Lacy, and their hubbies for a bit (they ran the half and crushed it!)

K’s family came for dinner, so we just ate at the Irish place. I enjoyed some fish tacos and great convo. Back at my room later, I got my second wind and finally fell asleep feeling so happy and grateful for this weekend.
I headed home the next morning, after breakfast at 521 Biscuits and Waffles (huge line, long wait, but good food!) with sore hammies and a full heart.

After an uneventful 3 hour drive home, I was reunited with my boys! They even got me flowers and a fun balloon. We decorated for Christmas that day–a beautiful, cozy ending to such an excellent weekend!


Results:
3:49:44, with a first half of 1:58:13 and second half 1:51:31, a massive negative split due to the bathroom stop and starting so far back. I was 62 of 296 in my age group, and 1,534 of 5,029 total marathon runners.
I don’t have 5K or 10K splits, so I’m breaking it up into 6 mile chunks like a good data nerd:
Miles 1-6, 55:20
Miles 7-12, 52:42
Miles 13-18, 51:42
Miles 19-24, 51:00
Miles 25-26 (+0.43, ran a bit extra), 19:26
The last mile was my fastest! Happy with my conservative start and fast finish, but of course it’s left me with wanting more–just wanting to see how fast I can go without a bathroom stop, and with more confidence that I can go fast the full distance.
Recommend: Yes—this was a well-supported race, despite one of the water stops not having water ready. The crowds were good—not as loud as Berlin, but still felt supported and cheered on. I like the race swag (shirt, blanket, hefty medal), but the extras were all an additional fee (photos, engraving). The course was great for me, a tad hilly and straight stretches that aren’t too long–kinda weird, but that’s what I prefer. Richmond is a beautiful city! And bonus that it’s only 3 hours from home.
Maps & Data:

Next up: After some good recovery, and a chat with my coach, I’ll make a plan for next year. I’m hoping to get into Chicago or Berlin (again) but if not, there’s plenty of other marathon options: Philly, CIM, Every Women’s Marathon (which was the same day as Richmond, and my friend Becca rocked it! I definitely had some race envy–that race had some major perks!) If you made it this far, thank you as always for reading!
What an event. Your performance is a strong tribute to your friends, coach, and entire support network, including your boys.
Appreciate the choice detail you captured here from culinary, digestive, environmental, musical, slumber, attire, race particulars.
Mile splits, road idiosyncrasies, Richmond crowd and scenery – you chronicled this journey so that we felt every emotion.
What do you mean “Probably could have pushed a whisker harder …” Augh! You and Karyssa look pretty darn fresh and beautiful.
You two picked good running buddies for sure. Such amazing results!
Thank you for this journal and photos. Vicariously we ran with you. Be sure to follow Coach Jess’s recovery plan, and you will find your
fine self in Chicago or Berlin before you know it.