Tiny Thunder Running

Since it's been almost two weeks since I ran my first 100k, I thought it might be time to try and make sense of all the thoughts in my head and write them down. At the beginning of 2018, I set a crazy goal of completing Devil Dog 100k after pacing a good friend at the 2017 event. It was pretty overwhelming and a lot SCARY to set such a goal after having only completed one 50k in 2017. I knew it was going to be a lot of work and that it would not be easy. In the first half of the year, I focused a lot on keeping my body strong and healthy with some cross training workouts that helped tremendously. I felt so strong and capable. In September, you might remember that I completed 45 miles at the 12 Hour Labor Pain  race and felt pretty incredible about that. I faced a lot of life changes between that race and Devil Dog and was honestly feeling extra anxious about it in the weeks leading prior. My schedule kept me from a few longer runs so I just hoped that all my other trainin...

This past weekend was going to be my only non-racing weekend in a 4 week period. That changed quickly back on February 17th when a friend messaged me asking if I was interested in taking her bib for the  Marine Corps 17.75k . The race is not an easy on to get into and often sells out within 10 minutes of opening. My friend, even though she had another race (her first 50k!!!!) that same day, thought she'd try just for the heck of it. As luck would have it she secured an entry. So why was this race important? Completely the race gives the racer guaranteed entry into the  Marine Corps Marathon  (MCM). More importantly, this will be her fifth year running it and get her into the lifetime club. So of course I said yes. This is a race I had never done and it would give me a chance to do something different and for a good reason. When I told people I was running this race, they got excited that I'd be doing Marine Corps Marathon again, so I had to explain the back story...