Beyond 26.2

Today’s run was supposed to be simple. Three miles. Nothing flashy. Just a short run coming off this weekend’s long run of eight miles. But if I’m being honest, I wasn’t confident walking into it. My legs were very tired all day. Heavy. Sore. The kind of tired that makes you question whether running is a good idea at all. And I kept thinking about last week, when I was in almost the exact same spot. After a six-mile long run, I had three miles scheduled a couple days later — and I could barely run. I ended up walking because my legs were so sore and so tired. So today, I went in with no expectations. I headed to the park, told myself I’d do what I could, and stayed open-minded. If I needed to walk, that was fine. If it felt awful, I’d adjust. And then something surprising happened. Despite feeling tired all day, my legs felt good once I started running. Not perfect — but capable. Steady. Willing. I settled into a fairly decent pace, not quite marathon pace, but close en...

I’ve run a lot of marathons. When I look at the list now, it almost surprises me. Years of training cycles, early mornings, finish lines in cities all over the country, and versions of myself that no longer exist in the same way they once did. From my first Derby Marathon in Louisville in 2011, to Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati (more times than I can count), Disney, Marine Corps, Rock ‘n’ Roll races, and finally Pocatello in September 2023 — these races span over a decade of my life. Some were fast. Some were ugly. Some were done on tired legs, broken plans, or sheer stubbornness. A few highlights (and lowlights): Sub-4 in my early years, when everything felt possible Learning how hard patience actually is Multiple Flying Pig Marathons — because Cincinnati has a way of pulling you back A 12:58:30 50-mile ultra that completely changed how I define “hard” Finishing marathons when I was undertrained, overworked, or just mentally exhausted And plenty of races where the goal wasn’t a tim...

Weekly Training Recap — Week Ending 1/11/26 The Week at a Glance Planned focus: Staying consistent while easing back into structured mileage Training plan: Tuesday: 3 miles Wednesday: 4 miles at an increased race-pace effort Thursday: 3 miles Sunday: 8 miles What actually happened: I followed the structure, listened to my body, and adjusted when fatigue showed up. Runs & Movement Monday: Walked 1 mile Tuesday: Felt tired and walked 2.33 miles instead of running Wednesday: Ran 4 miles at a harder effort Thursday: Planned 3 miles , but my legs were exhausted from Wednesday. Adjusted and walked 2.5 miles Friday: Walked 1 mile Saturday:  Walked  1 mile Sunday:  Run 8  miles What Went Well On Wednesday, the plan was to run 3 of the 4 miles at near race pace . My goal race pace is 13:44 (based on a 6-hour marathon cutoff for Med City), and I completed those miles at 14:15, 14:08, and 14:17 I showed up for the harder effort even though the rest of the week...

It’s 9:46 pm, and I just finished my mile — walking, not running. Today was hard. Not dramatic hard. Not crisis hard. Just the kind of day that slowly drains you without asking permission. I was up at 7 — not terribly early, but early enough. I spent the morning at the restaurant doing a little work, then sat with my daughter while she got her hair braided. One of those quiet, ordinary moments that somehow holds more weight than it looks like from the outside. Then it was back to the restaurant for the rest of the day. Working. On my feet. Most of the time. The interactions weren’t great. Mentally, it was tough. Somewhere in the middle of it all, I sliced my finger open — one more small thing in a day that already felt heavy. Nothing major, just enough to be annoying and exhausting in the way only those little injuries can be. By the time I left at 7:30, my back was hurting from standing and my mind felt done. I was tired. Physically uncomfortable. Mentally drained. ...

Marathon training doesn’t always look like long runs and perfectly executed workouts. Right now, I’m working on something much simpler: not skipping the run . On days when I don’t have a scheduled training run, my goal is a minimum of one mile . Most days, that mile is walking (and with my dog Emma) — and that’s intentional. Because the hardest part isn’t the distance — it’s showing up. My structured training days are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, with one longer run over the weekend, depending on life, schedules, and energy levels. Those days have purpose: speed work, steady runs, or building endurance. They’re the backbone of my marathon training. But even structured training days don’t always go as planned. This week is a perfect example. On Thursday, I was scheduled to run 3 miles. But I ran hard on Wednesday, and by Thursday my legs were exhausted. Instead of forcing the run and risking injury, I adjusted. I walked 2.5 miles instead. And that still counts. That decision wasn’t...