(No) Medal Monday

Many things have humbled me this year. We'll all this one to the list: my first DNS (did not start). I have been in awe (and somewhat prided myself) at the fact that I have been able to start every race for which I registered. (Well, not the COVID races, but that was outside my control.) I got hungry this year, and I registered for both the Shiprock half marathon and another one at about the same time. I saw no reason why I could not race one and fun run the other. Enter stress fracture and I'm not running at all.

I shed some tears when I cancelled our flights and hotels for this weekend. I could not find anyone to whom to transfer my race bib, but at least the race benefitted a local to the area charity. I have flight credits for the money I spent on our plane tickets. Maybe we will be able to find a new place to go. Maybe not.

The whole things stinks, but it is what it is. At least I am not back to walking outside for a decent amount of time. I found a bone stress injury physical therapist and have started back into the early phases of rehab. (Return to run is still months out.) I have many things for which to be grateful, and I am still grieving.

We planned to spend the weekend starting a gym membership (so my husband has an air-conditioned place for workouts, and so I have access to more machines for rehab). Our dear friends who knew about our cancelled plans, though, drove all the way across the valley on their one free Saturday for the summer to come visit us and cheer me up. We went to the park and watched their son run around and feed the ducks. We went to Henhouse Cafe and ordered Arizona's largest pancakes. We talked about life and dreams and hopes and healing.

Was it the weekend we planned? No, but in terms of eternity, it was probably far better. Our friends continued to show us their true character. I remembered that there are many places to find joy outside of running. We still got to enjoy some good food at at new-to-us restaurant. God is good. All the time. All the time. God is good (even on a no medal Monday).

Everything I Read (And Listened To) in May

With running records off the table, I went for a reading record instead, and I made this decision late in the game. I read (and listened to) 20 books in March. On May 22, I was only at 10 or 11 books for the month, however. That meant I would need to read 10 or 11 more books in the final 9 days of the month to meet my goal. Challenge on. I listened to audiobooks instead of podcasts. I might have tuned out my husband a little bit while I tried to cram in pages (not recommended). I read books (e.g. novellas) I probably would not have apart from this goal. Is that sort of cheating? Maybe. But whether it is cheating or not, it required effort and intention, and I am giving myself credit for that. Books for the month included:

65. Strong is the New Beautiful: Embrace Your Natural Beauty, Eat Clean, and Harness Your Power by Lindsey Vonn with Sarah Toland—Lindsey Vonn came back into prominence with her 2026 Olympics appearance (and near deadly crash). This book is dated—from 2016–but I still thought it might give me a window into who she is and how she lives. It did. While I don’t agree with everything in this book (and some pictures are inappropriate), I do appreciate her encouragement to work out to be strong (instead of just to lose weight), and learn to love (or at least appreciate) one’s own body. The book does contain some basic nutrition and workout advice, but it’s basic and at, this point, dated. I look forward to getting into more of Vonn’s actual life story through her autobiography, Rise.

66. For the Love of the Grind by Sara Hall—Man am I glad I read this book! I have been a fan of Sara Hall (and her husband Ryan) for quite some time! The Halls live in Flagstaff, and they are professed Christians who unashamedly share their faith and how it has changed over the years. This book shares more of Sara’s story in particular (since Ryan already wrote two books), from how Sara and Ryan met, to their journey of adoption, and the recent injury cycles Sara has overcome in order to keep competing in the marathon. This book is gritty, raw, and real. In it, Sara Hall shares some of the struggles of parenting children with a history of trauma (which she does so eloquently, naming the pains, but not the particulars, so as to protect her daughters’ privacies). She shares moments of despair, as well as true moments of joy. This is really a book not just for runners, but for anyone wrestling with their calling and trying to figure out not just how to show up in the world, but how to show up with love, care, and compassion for self and others. I don’t know how long Hall will get to run, but I do know that she is making a difference in the sport of marathoning, and many (including me) admire her for it.

67. Strong Like Water: Finding the Freedom, Safety & Compassion to Move Through Hard Things & Experience True Flourishing by Aundi Kolber MA, LPC [Audiobook]—Aundi Kolber is a trauma survivor and a therapist. In this book, she uses her own experience, as well as the composite experiences of her clients (written as individual characters) to share techniques for trauma recovery. Although she does not suggest doing self-EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing), she does suggest using some tools from EMDR in the trauma recovery process. While this book is very good, empirically based and written with so much empathy, I still think it might be a bit clinical for most people. I would recommend using this book in work with a trusted therapist for most safety and best prognosis for healing.

68. Eat. Lift. Thrive. by Sohee Lee—Lindsey Vonn’s book Strong in the New Beautiful got me interested in strength and conditioning and personal training concepts, and so I read this book. While I don’t intend to be a power lifter or body builder, I found it interesting to read about the “big rocks” of nutrition and sleep. The exercise descriptions and photos could be helpful to someone trying to fine tune a strength program. I would argue that hiring a personal trainer would be easier than trying to study and figure out moves on one’s own, but if that is what a person wants, this book even includes some starter body building plans. I do appreciate Lee’s focus on having a fulfilling life outside of exercise, and I hope reading this book can continue to help me, and others, continue to seek that full life.

69. An Apology in Bloom by Suzanne Woods Fisher—I didn’t realize this was a novella, so I was a little shocked to see how few pages loaded when I checked out the book on Libby. Still, it was fun, and it turns out there are three other novellas in the lot. A post-COVID book, this follows Jaime Harper as she attempts to make it as a wedding florist in New York City. This isn’t her home, but rather the place she escaped after she left her home in North Carolina. Jaime lacks self-confidence and even gets her job at Epic Events because of viral apology bouquets she makes for her neighbor. There are definitely some ends left untied with this story, but I am eager to read the next installment of the story and see if any of them get knotted, or tied into a bow.

70. Rise: My Story by Lindsey Vonn [Audiobook]—Lindsey Vonn recaptivated the sports world when, at 41, she skied in the 2026 Olympics, only to suffer a horrific crash that caused her to be airlifted off the mountain. This is her story of life before that moment, though, of her nine year-old dreams of becoming an Olympian; of the many injuries she suffered, and came back from; of the records she broke, and the sport that nearly broke her. She writes about mental health, relationships, identity, and more. This book could not have been more timely for me as I face a running injury and must take time off my sport. Sure, few are at Vonn’s level, but she is still an “every girl” in some ways because of how raw and real she is. With that, I do have to warn that she uses the “F” word (as well as some other colorful language) a lot in this book. If that is bothersome, read (or listen, as I did) with care. Otherwise, I think this is an insightful book.

71. Bouquet of Dreams by Suzanne Woods Fisher—Claire Murphy left Sunrise at the same time as her friends Jaime and Tessa. She ran off to work at Same Day Delivery florist in Georgia. After an altercation at a customer service rehabilitation conference, however, her job comes to an end. Her old boyfriend Chris Reid encourages her to go home, delivering to her a letter from her old boss, Rose Reid, inviting her to do so. Claire isn’t sure, but she decides to take the risk and go forward not on dreams, but on faith.

72. A Field of Beauty by Suzanne Woods Fisher —Tessa Anderson fled Sunrise, North Carolina after a series of bad high school decisions. Now she’s graduated college and turned an acre of land into a wildflower farm with the help of Dawson Greene, a sustainability instructor who becomes her farm manager. When things with her boyfriend go south and it looks like the city will eminent domain her farm, Tessa goes home to Sunrise and finds there an opportunity to once again compost the past and work to rehabilitate land and turn it into a place of beauty. This book, perhaps because of its more complex plot, is my favorite novella on the series so far. I am excited to see how all the stories align in the last installment of this series.

73. A Future in Blossom by Suzanne Woods Fisher—The Year of Flowers anthology concludes as Jaime, Claire, and Tessa all return to Sunrise, North Carolina. Jaime and Claire run Rose’s flower shop while Tessa works to start a new flower farm. They come together to throw a wedding for the client from An Apology in Bloom, and then to rehash what happened the night of the fire that drove them all apart. They learn about why Rose called them back, and get opportunities to love and be loved. Short and sweet, I liked each of theses stories and would recommend them to anyone—short attention span like me, or voracious reader who wants a lot of sweetness in not too much story.

74. And Then Came Joy by Jodi Cowles—Such an engaging heartwarming (and heart wrenching) story, and it’s true! Jodi is not only my cousin, but also a gifted author, and such a brave woman of faith. This is Jodi’s story of early loss and grief, the Beast of fear that dogged her for years, and the many victories God gave her over him, both small and great in degree. It is the story of Jodi and her husband Tim adopting their daughter Joy and getting Joy physically out of Joy’s birth country of Turkey, but also a story emotional, mental, and spiritual wrestling. Profound and deep, but also comical at times, this is a gritty memoir about joy in all its facets, as well as a continued celebration of the beautiful girl Joy herself.

Order the book here: https://bluehatpublishing.com/products/then-came-joy-by-jodi-cowles 

75. Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life by Nir Eyal—This book came to me by way of citation in The Fun Habit, and it seemed apt for a season of life where I have been anything but indistractable. With nice short chapters containing clear headings and bulleted conclusion points, I found this book easy to read. (I tried not to let myself get distracted as I read each chapter, but alas, I still did sometimes.) In these chapters, Eyal details his own struggles with distraction, as well as giving readers a road map for exploring what they are trying to escape, addressing it, and then hacking back external triggers for distraction. He encourages values based-living, and time-blocking to live out those values (rather than just ignoring tech and other distractions all-together.) It would be great if I could just have the fruit of the Spirit of self-control and be indistractable, but the reality is that fruit takes some nurturing to grow. This book provides some ideas about how to get there.

76. Stranded in Paradise: A Story of Letting Go by Lori Copeland—A little bit romantic comedy, a little bit self-help, and an engaging enough story make this a fairly quick read. Tess Nelson just got laid off, but she still has her business plane tickets to Hawaii. Carter Nelson is trying to release the stress of his job as flight controller. They run into each other at the airport and together experience a series for very unfortunate events, including a hurricane. Carter’s faith grows, and Tess learns about trust, in God and in people. While I wouldn’t rank this book at the top of my preference list, it’s far from one I’d be forced to read if stranded. The takeaway message about trust is one I needed, too.

77. Hungry for God: Honoring God’s Voice in the Ordinary and the Everyday by Margaret Feinberg [Audiobook]— Honestly, I listened to this book because it was short, and I had a book goal to meet for the month. It was a beneficial book in which the author lays out various ways to hear from God. She includes her own experiences as well as quotes and stories from others to show how God speaks through scripture, prayer, Lectio Divina, liturgy, dreams, journaling, conscience, wise counsel, art, nature, circumstances, and more. This is a good book, and one that encouraged me to consider more ways that I can attune to God’s voice.

78. Conquering Anorexia: The Route to Recovery by Clare Lindsay—Clare Lindsay had good enough parents, but she did not learn to express herself or be assertive with them. This, coupled with poor early peer relationships, resulted in low self-esteem, and a descent into anorexia that she realized she used to gain attention and care. Her story isn’t everyone’s story, and due to the potentially triggering details included, I cannot really recommend reading it. Lindsay writes that putting together this book gave her motivation to conquer anorexia, however, and that is admirable. At the time of writing, she was a counselor for individuals with eating, disorders, too. That also is laudable. The existence of this book, even if not a recommended read, does provide hope for recovery, and that is definitely worth writing about.

79. There’s Always Tomorrow by Darlene Mindrup—Dathan Adams lives in isolation, running the lighthouse. Adrella Murphy sees Dathan only occasionally when she and her father, a shopkeeper, take deliveries to Datah. Adrella is intrigued by Dathan, but knows little of his world. Then a hurricane thrusts them together for an extended, and frightening time on the island where their trust and friendship grow. When they are able to go back to shore, there is no place for Adrella to stay, so out of duty and propriety, Dathan marries her and takes her back to the lighthouse. For a shorter story, this tale really packs in a lot about learning to trust God and others. This book failed to be about Ireland, which is why I selected it, but there's always tomorrow for reading Irish books. This one was a good one, and I am glad I found it!

80. Serena’s Strength by DiAnn Mills—This is a true Texas novella, about Texas Ranger’s daughter Serena Talbot and the Ranger’s lieutenant, Chet Wilkinson. Just turning 18, Serena has been in love with Chet since he first came around. She may be slight, but she is strong, and when Chet sees her strength, he falls in love with her, too. Serena’s protective Pa, however, strictly forbids the relationship. It takes Chet (with Serena’s help), saving the family from banditos, to make Pa reconsider. Serena then gets both a new horse and a marriage proposal for her birthday. Historical fiction isn’t usually my thing, but since this novella was short, didn’t mind reading it in order to get to my reading goals for the month.

81. I Just Wish I Had a Bigger Kitchen And Other Lies I Think Will Make Me Happy: Simple Mindset Shifts to Love the Life You Already Have by Kate Strickler [Audiobook]—I think this book was more for moms than for me, but it was still a good one for me to listen to. In what she calls a "working memoir," Naptime Kitchen founder Kate Strickler works through ten lies she has believed. She encourages mindset shifts to reframe each lies, as well as ways to make the shifts "practical." She encourages thinking about priorities and focusing on those, letting other things go. "If I can get serious about what matters to me, I can own my choices and stop worrying abut how I stack up on score cards that aren’t even mine," she writes. That quote stuck with me. Loving my life really is more about increasing contentment and decreasing comparison-to my ideal self or to anyone else.

82. Recapturing the Wonder: Transcendent Faith in a Disenchanted World by Mike Casper—I read this book in my sprint to the finish of May so read this review in that light. I think this was a good book, but for me, it was a subject better covered by an article, than a book. In the book, Mike Casper argues for a more “enchanted” life in the world, being aware not only of the world, but of God and others in it. He has some good points. I agree that Christians need not just spiritual disciplines, but more connection with God. Casper suggestions some pathways towards that end. Those are interesting and could be helpful if practiced. Maybe I should have dug in deeper, and gotten more enchanted with this concept, but for me, this book was not particularly transformational.

83. The Reluctant Fugitive by Darlene Mindrup—April Hansen feels ecstatic when her prodigal brother Ted returns home. Her elation is short lived, however, as Ted rapidly gets her involved in a bank heist that leads to her being taken hostage. Soon enough, April is no longer with the robbing band, but under the watch of Texas Ranger Yellow Wolf Jackson. While she initially rejects the ranger's attention, and he struggles to believe her innocence, they eventually fall for one another. Ted returns in an unexpected ending. Though I was a little reluctant to read another Texas novella, this one was a nice surprise!

84. Saving Grace by Kathleen Y’Barbo—Jedidiah Harte, aka Heartless Harte gives up his rangering ways when he comes to saving faith in Jesus. Unfortunately, his past follows him and he arrives at the home of his friends Grace and Bennett Delaney near death. What he doesn’t know is that his friend died two months ago, and that Widow Grace fears she may follow when she gives birth to her last child. Jedidiah survives, long enough to promise Grace he’ll take care of her children if she passes. She doesn’t, but he keeps his word to make sure she and her children have what they need. After orchestrating reconciliation between Grace and her father, he rides off to go back to rangering, or so he thinks. What he finds is a God who won’t let him go, and a scripture God impresses on his mind to show him what to do instead. For a novella, this had a pretty good plot line. Read carefully if squeamish, though, as injury recovery and medical drama and trauma make up much of it.

85. This is the Day: Reclaim Your Dream, Ignite Your Passion, Live Tour Purpose by Tim Tebow with A.J. Gregory, read by Fred Berman [Audiobook]—Self-help/feel-good/devotional/memoir? I am not really sure how to categorize this book. It’s somewhat about how Tim Tebow chased his dream to play professional baseball, but also includes stories from individuals served by the Tim Tebow foundation. It’s about taking chances, but also about prioritizing people. I would not call the book life-changing, but it was heart-warming and encouraging, without taking on airs of toxic positivity. In this season of my life, I will take it!

86. An Inconvenient Gamble by Michelle Ule—Charles Moss was once a gambler, but he quit betting four years ago after coming to faith. Jenny Duncan’s husband Tom was a gambler, and when she finds out that the man God sent to help her after her husband died of yellow fever struggled with the same temptation, she is livid. The problem is, that she needs Charles’ help, with the horse farm, her brothers, and the birth of her upcoming child. I honestly struggled to follow this story. Maybe there was just a little too much story and not enough exposition?

87. Angel in Disguise by Darlene Franklin—Rosie Carson is a redeemed thief. Owen Cooper is an injured (but recovering) Texas Ranger. (See a theme in these novellas?). The two meet at a church event and are somewhat taken with each other. The problem is that Rosie has not quite redeemed her ways, and Owen is tasked with finding the “Easter Angel.” I liked the element of mystery in this story, but struggled with the flight into righteousness/salvation from all of sin’s earthly consequences aspects of the story. In summary, I am torn on my review of this book.

88. Reuben’s Atonement by Lynette Sowell—Reuben Wilson left home early, and spent time thieving and otherwise breaking the law. Returning to Raider’s Crossing after a stint in jail and a come to Jesus moment, he is determined to make things right, and to make good on a promise he made to his dying mother. Charlotte Wilson, Reuben’s childhood friend, is determined not to let Reuben get into her heart…again. This is a sweet, slow-burn story, accentuated by Reuben’s understanding of Jesus’ atonement, and what that means for his life goals. I really enjoyed this one, both for the story, and for its theological truth!

89. The Peacemaker by DiAnn Mills—Finally, some continuity in these novellas! This one follows Colt Wilson (brother to Reuben) as he gets out of prison and takes care of the matter that plagued him. Finding Will Langley proves to be elusive, though, as the man has died. Somehow, Colt ends up as a ranch hand on the cattle and horse farm of Will’s widow, Anne, and there Colt falls not only for Anne and her daughters, but for Jesus as His Lord and Savior. Along the way, he has to wrestle with some cattle wrestlers and truly learn to trust God. This is truly a good book, one belied by its title, but good nonetheless.

--

At 24 books, I exceeded my reading goal for the month. I am tired. I am not loving the novellas I am reading (though I do like the fact that I can read them in a day), so when I am done with this anthology, I think I will go back to a book of more substance. And as for audio books? They're great, but not all the time. I also have a lot of podcasts pinned for later listening. All that being said, expect a shorter reading list next month (but also hopefully less screen time, too).

LESS No

I realized somewhere along the way that I say, "No," a lot, so much so that I often mind myself saying "No" without thinking. I say, "No" to social invitations. I say, "No" to surprise plans. I say, "No" to treats people want to share. I think, "No" has become a protective reflex. "No" is a way to prevent anxiety due to changing of plans. "No" is a way to avoid that overthinking spirals in which I find myself often. "No" is a way to keep my space small, and in my control.

I do not necessarily want to live a small life, though. I want to live a wide, expansive life. I want to live with joy and whimsy, so this month, I told myself to try to say, "No" less, and "Yes" more. It kind of worked, until it didn't.

When I chose this, "less" for the month, I envisioned a month of fun and celebration. What my injury brought on was a lot of saying, "Yes," to medical appointments and, "Yes" to help doing everyday tasks (like carrying in groceries, carrying the grocery bags back out to the car, doing chores, etc.). It kind of stinks.

I did get a chance to say, "Yes" to a few fun things, though. I said, "Yes" to dinner with my husband after we got back from that fated race, even though it was late and downtown was mobbed. I said, "Yes" to establishing a morning coffee routine. [To me, caffeine is a vice, but apparently collagen might help with fracture recovery, so coffee with collagen is a frequent occurrence right now, instead of a sporadic pre-run supplement (Karaytug, 2021; Konig, 2018; Sun et al., 2025.] I said, "Yes" to my husband taking me to ride a ferris wheel for the first time. I did say, "No" to Dippin' Dots on that trip, though, which made me sad because although it did not sound good at the time, I have never had it before.

I said, "Yes" to taking on some roles I did not plan with my brother's wedding. Maybe that was me channeling big sister bossiness, but I hope my, "Yes" let them say a few more, "No's" and enjoy their special day. I said more, "No's" then I probably should have on that trip, but saying, "Yes" to every goodie that came my way (eg at the lavish rehearsal dinner) would have left me feeling ill. I guess their are some places to say, "No."

I said, "No" to sourdough during our San Francisco day, but then I got redemption when my husband asked again. (He claims he gave me some at the restaurant, but I don't think so). I didn't really want sourdough, but it was good to take a bite and remember that I like my husband's sourdough better.

My increasing number of medical appointments has forced me to say, "No" to work obligations and give up a few more of my responsibilities there. (Thankfully, my director is understanding.) While I would rather go on with life as it was, I have to step back in order to take care of myself. Needless to say, this month of less has not turned out as I hoped. 

I imagine that I will continue to need to say, "No" for the sake of my health and well-being, but even in that, there are probably rooms to say more, "Yes." Maybe I don't always want to say, "Yes" to all, things, but a few more yesses would probably benefit me. They could continue to expose me to new experiences, and bring me for joy. This month was practice in trying to stop defaulting to, "No." Maybe it could be "Let me think about it," or "Give me a minute." That would at least give me a chance at an experience versus always missing out....

References:

Karaytug, K., Arzu, U., Ergin, O. N., Bilgili, F., Unverengil, G., Bayram, S., & Sen, C. (2021). Effects of Collagen- and Arginine-Fortified Osteokine Supplementation on Fracture Healing. Cureus, 13(10), e19072. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.19072

König, D., Oesser, S., Scharla, S., Zdzieblik, D., & Gollhofer, A. (2018). Specific Collagen Peptides Improve Bone Mineral Density and Bone Markers in Postmenopausal Women-A Randomized Controlled Study. Nutrients, 10(1), 97. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu10010097

Sun, C., Yang, A., Teng, F., & Xia, Y. (2025). Efficacy of collagen peptide supplementation on bone and muscle health: a meta-analysis. Frontiers in nutrition, 12, 1646090. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2025.1646090

What We Cooked and Ate (Week 21)

This Week's Eats:

A delicious chicken kebab pita bread situation with fresh tzatziki sauce my husband made for Memorial Day

Sour cream and onion chicken salad (100 Days of Real Food)

Sourdough English muffins (Pantry Mama)

Sourdough zucchini fritters (Pantry Mama)

Noteworthy Repeats:

Big-batch Instant Pot white beans (Epicurious)

Cottage cheese egg bake (The Real Food Dietitians)

Shredded chicken (365 Days of Crockpot)

Freezer Pull-Outs:

Pumpkin spice sourdough discard oatmeal bake (Acts of Sourdough)

Savory sourdough discard vegan zucchini bread (Adapted from Atlyyt on Reddit)

Sourdough pumpkin oatmeal cookies (Everyday Homemade)

The More of Less Report (May)

Well, this has not been a great month. (See my post from last week for more details.) I have given into plenty of vices and I am not proud of it. I am not very proud of anything right now. I am just surviving. But anyway, onto how that has affected my year of less.

January-LESS scrolling: Did I scroll less this month? Oh no. I scrolled a lot. Nir Eyal (2019) writes in Indistractable that people scroll to escape discomfort. I definitely did that this month. I scrolled to distract myself from both the physical pain of my injury, as well as the emotional and mental pain of it. I scrolled to distract myself. I scrolled to numb. None of it really worked. It just prolonged the hard work of grief that I need to do. It also perpetuated the continually shorter attention span that I seem to be developing.

February-LESS picking: My habits have been all over the place this month. I kept up some of my skin care, and just suffered through at other times. Honestly, I did not give this goal much, if any priority.

March-LESS hunger (judgment): Of the few goals I made for April, the one I did keep was to increase my intake of healthy fats. Well, it was too little too late. I got that injury I have been fearing. From what I read, not fueling well enough keeps bone from repairing itself as fast as it should.

When my injury happened, my training load went down, a lot. I had a hard time even getting in the minimum grams required from my carb load. I got a little bit hungrier after running, but still not as much as usual.

The first few days of my injury, I was not very hungry at all. Then, despite my much lower intensity, and lower volume training, my hunger spiked. Apparently this is normal, as injury recover boosts energy needs 10-20% (Hughen, 2024). While in the past, I had tried to reduce dairy and processed foods to address my high cholesterol, now I am here for all of it. I imagine I am going to gain weight from what I am doing, and that may be uncomfortable, but if I want to heal (and I do), that is the price I will pay.

April-LESS goals: Well, this one unintentionally came to fruition. My goals were to rehab what I thought was tendinopathy to run another race at the end of the month. I can't even do the exercises I wanted to do to get ready for the race, and the race goal is long-gone. I did read Sara Hall's (2026) book For the Love of the Grind, though, so I met that goal. Hallelujah for non-running goals....

--

Apparently this year of less is also going to include less running. Hopefully it lets me rest. Hopefully it helps me reprioritize. My goal with less was to focus on what really matters. I guess I am going to learn that a very hard way....

References:

Eyal, N. (2019). Indistractable: How to control your attention and choose your life. Ben Bella Books.

Hall, S. (2026). For the love of the grind: A memoir. St. Martin's Press.

Hughen, C. (Host). (2024, October 22). Nutritional priorities during rehab w/ Adrian Chavez (No. 171) [Audio podcast episode]. In E3 r3hab. https://e3rehab.libsyn.com/171-nutritional-priorities-during-rehab-w-adrian-chavez

What We Cooked and Ate (Week 20)

This Week's Eats:

Chocolate chip Greek yogurt muffins (Hummusapien)

Mississippi chicken chili (365 Days of Slow + Pressure Cooking)

Mississippi pot roast Meal Prep in an Instant

Peanut butter-lemon sauce (Easy Vegetarian Slow Cooker) 

Sourdough pumpkin oatmeal cookies (Everyday Homemade)

Noteworthy Repeats:

Big-batch Instant Pot white beans (Epicurious)

Cottage cheese egg bake (The Real Food Dietitians)

Chickpea "tuna" salad (Drugstore Divas)

Freezer Pull-Outs:

Five-minute chicken gravy (Fixed on Fresh)

Shredded chicken (365 Days of Crockpot)

Sourdough discard blueberry bagels (This Jess Cooks)

A Forced Break

One thousand, two hundred and sixty-two days, and my run streak is over. (Well, it's been over for a while at the time of this publishing.) Running was always there for me, until it wasn't. I experienced a banner year last year in running, and felt like I had finally found "my thing." Now, I am no longer a runner. I probably pushed too hard. I knew that some things were not quite right, and I pushed on through anyways. And now here I lay.

That stress fracture I worried about pre- and post-Shiprock? Well, it turns out my differential diagnosis skills are pretty decent. That is exactly what I have: a break in my bones from too much: too much impact, too much intensity, too much pushing through the pain.

I have been through a barrage of tests, from the initial x-rays, to bloodwork, to MRIs, to bone density scans, and more. Though we cannot pinpoint a precise cause for my stress fracture, quite a few things are not quite right. I am getting treatment from a team of professionals, and now I have to wait to see how my body will respond.

My running goals are on hold for now, possibly permanently. Only time will tell if I get back to running at all. If I do, it probably will not be like it was before. I am older. I broke my body. I don't want to break it again.

If I am honest, I probably needed this break. I have a type A personality. Had I not broken my body, I would have kept pushing through. That's me. That's running. I have time, and hopefully now motivation, to attend to my health. This break in my bones is revealing just how tired I was, and forcing me to rest. Time off is helping me explore other ways to move my body (and also forcing me to make peace with a lot less activity). I hope I recover. I hope I come back stronger. Only God knows if that will happen. Whatever may come, may God use it for His glory and my good. 

San Francisco, a Deux

My brother got married outside of San Francisco on Saturday. Our AirBnB checkout time on Sunday was 11 AM, and our flight left the San Francisco airport at 7:16 PM. What do we do with the time in between? We asked? Make a day date of San Francisco, (on mutual agreement this time, see last year's post for the backstory on that).

First up, how to get from where we were to San Francisco? We took an Uber from the AirBnB and then took the ferry over from Sausalito. 

This was entirely the genius of my husband, and at $14 a person, probably cheaper than another Uber ride, and more scenic! From the top deck with saw the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay Bridge (where I ran last year), Alcatraz, the port, and more. We also spotted dolphins, a pelican, and sea lions.

Once in San Francisco, of course we had to visit Boudain Bakery again. It was a bit of a walk, but worth it. I think we even sat at the same high-top table.

I wanted food, but not necessarily a sandwich. My husband asked what sounded good, and all I could think off was fish and chips, so we schlepped over to Broad Street Oyster Co. (Note that while we both wore/carried our backpacks, my husband pulled our 46 pound piece of checked luggage this whole way.) 

We were in Ghirardelli Square, and my husband wanted to try Dubai style chocolate, so we made a stop

(I did not think the chocolate was that great, but I am a dark chocolate girl and not the biggest fan of pistachios, so no big surprise. My husband likes to take a treat from travels back to his office, so he plans to share the rest of the treats with them.)

Then into the cable car line. (We wanted to ride last year, but did not have the time.) I would say we waited about an hour to get to the car, and then the drivers packed that thing full. But while we waited, we got to see the workers change the car tracks, and heard an accordion player perform.

The ride was much noisier than I expected, but at $9 a person, it was cheaper than getting another Uber or Waymo (since Waymo does run in this city).

From the cable car, we took the BART into the airport. Time burned? Six hours. Money spent? Well, probably as much as we would have paid for a better flight time. But hey, we got a day date out of it, and a maxed out one at that.

San Francisco, a Deux? Thumbs up. And after enjoying the respite of cool temperatures during our already hot Arizona summer, maybe we will be back?

What We Cooked and Ate (Week 19)

This Week's Eats:

Pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bites (Joy in My Kitchen)

Noteworthy Repeats:

Barn raising casserole (365 Days of Slow + Pressure Cooking) (Left over from last week)

Big-batch Instant Pot white beans (Epicurious)

Cottage cheese egg bake (The Real Food Dietitians)

Chickpea "tuna" salad (Drugstore Divas)

Shredded chicken (365 Days of Crockpot)

Freezer Pull-Outs:

No knead pan pizza (Budget Bytes) 

Savory sourdough discard vegan zucchini bread (Adapted from Atlyyt on Reddit)

Seeded PB oat energy balls (The Dietitian Runner)

Sourdough bread

Thin and crispy pizza (Budget Bytes)

Real Life Marriage: Telling My Husband What to Do

My husband asked me for a list of things to do. I had tried giving him lists before and they hadn't worked, but he asked for one this time, so I gave it to him. To my surprise, he actually completed it. And then he asked for another list the next day.

Lists are my thing. I like them...for me. It kind of stinks to have to give my husband a list of things to do, though. There is something within me that resists giving him lists because I feel like a school mistress giving her pupils homework. But hey, if this works, and this is what it looks like to share the household load, so be it.

The only other alternatives to giving my husband a list of things to do are to do all the things myself (which results in me either feeling bitter, or melting down, often both) or expect him to remember the things to do and constantly nag him (also ineffective). My husband tells me that if I give him a list of things to do, maybe he will eventually learn the daily tasks. Maybe, maybe not, but it's worth a shot.

We've been at this sharing household duties thing for a while now, and I must say, we are still pretty bad at it. I do not communicate as much as I should. I don't communicate as clearly as I should. I still make way too many decisions on my own, and I would still like my husband to initiate more tasks himself. But a few things are going better, so maybe the lists have helped.

Mi Madre

I didn't grow up speaking Spanish, but somewhere along the way, I did start calling Mom, "Mi Madre." I meant it as a term of endearment, but the more I called her that, the more I came to attach meaning to the words: "Mi," mine, and "Madre," mother. That last word is so limiting. My mother became my mother by birthing me, but past that, she has done/is so much more.

Growing up, my mother fed me. She helped clothe me. She cooked for me, tended to me when I was sick, encouraged me, prayed for me, schooled me. She taught me about Jesus. She taught me about life. She read to us the classics (think Les Miserables by Victor Hugo), as well classics to her (C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the like). She chauffeured us. When the time came (and I frustrated my dad nearly to death), she taught me to drive.

When I was away from home, she wrote me letters. She master-minded a lot of my birthday, Christmas, and other celebration gifts (and still does). When I visited, even as a married person, she let me rest.

My mom is strong, resilient, sturdy. She's endured a lot. She endures a lot. She still prays. She still encourages. She's a role model, and a mentor.

Words, English or otherwise, cannot really contain the wonder that is my mother. So on Mother's Day, I guess the best I can do is just give thanks that she is "mi madre," a gift from God to me to show me just a little more of God and His infinite, immeasurable love. If her love is any indication, the love of God has got to be pretty great!

What We Cooked and Ate (Week 18)

This Week's Eats:

Barn raising casserole (365 Days of Slow + Pressure Cooking)

Crispy potato taco bowls (How Sweet Eats)

Lentils in the Instant Pot (Rainbow Plant Life)

Quick pickled onions (How Sweet Eats)

Pumpkin spice sourdough discard oatmeal bake (Acts of Sourdough)

Noteworthy Repeats:

Big-batch Instant Pot white beans (Epicurious)

Cottage cheese egg bake (The Real Food Dietitians)

Chickpea "tuna" salad (Drugstore Divas)

Five-minute chicken gravy (Fixed on Fresh)

Grilled corn on the cob (Love and Lemons)

Instant Pot baked potatoes (Platings + Pairings)

Freezer Pull-Outs:

Healthy banana muffin bread (Fit Foodie Finds)

Sourdough bread

38.

I have much to reflect on this year. First of all, there is my tradition of making a goal for the year on my birthday. Honestly, with choosing a word of the year, I neither remember nor prioritize my birthday goal, so this will be the year I drop that practice. For reference, though, my goal last year was to reclaim my life. I took more risks, traveled, ran in a lot of races (some last minute). I decided it was okay to prioritize life over work (trying to do my best at work, but not spending time outside of work on work, if that makes sense). I quit counseling, in part because I felt ready, and in part because I wanted more time to live life. I am not sure I practiced contentment or at least practiced it well. I think I ten get on the "hedonic treadmill" of always doing and wanting more. It's good to have goals, but not too many....

As I get older, I don't want to "just live." I want to enjoy life, savor it. I only get one life on this earth! Far too often, though, I am cranky, tired, worn out. That's not the way I want to live, but it unfortunately seems to be my default. After the "have-to's" are done, I just don't have much energy left. I could blame this on my personality, or work, or what have you, but my attitude is really my own problem on which to work.

So maybe in this year of less, I should focus on having less grumpiness and more joy; less discontent, and more gratitude; less scraping by, and more presence. I really don't have it bad. God has given me a good life (albeit with the pains and hardships of living in a sin-stained world.) I want to live this life. I want to enjoy this life, because really, nothing is guaranteed.

I do have some bigger goals for life as a whole. We'll see if they happen. I'm trying to work towards them little by little, but then there's...life. So for now, I'll try to enjoy what I can, hold a lose grip, and surrender my dreams to the Lord because He'll either empower me to achieve them, or He won't, and in the end, He will be the greatest reward and the greatest prize.

The Grace Race

Where do I even begin with this one? Shiprock half marathon was my backup birthday race last year. When I chose to do Bay Bridge instead, I decided this would be my birthday race for 2026. Cue a lot of life in between.

I thought this would be an easy race to run post Mesa marathon. I would have the fitness and could just rehab myself and be able to run a half marathon no problem. While I had some pain in my left knee (IT band?), it went away, and I was back training. Pat's Run wasn't a PR, but good enough. I'd been running pretty long, and often with no problems. I was following the six week half marathon plan by Snacking in Sneakers, but it didn't feel like enough (Carroll, 2019). I looked at the final weeks of my Columbus half-marathon plan and thought I could just flip back into that. Maybe I was greedy? Maybe I wanted more miles? I did look at the results from last year's Shiprock half marathon and think I could place if I could back to similar half marathon times as I had run recently. I returned to the Columbus plan with, initially, no problem, but that was probably my first mistake. That plan contained more running and more strides (fast sprints) than the other plan. Initially, I felt fine, but then problems emerged. The week before the race, I felt some twinges of pain running my easy run on Friday (having run easy with some strides the day before). I also felt some tightness in my left hip when my husband and I went for a walk that evening. I did some extra yoga and stretching and figured I would see how I felt before my long run on Saturday. I didn't really even think about axing that long run. That was my second mistake.

I woke up early on Saturday, feeling energized, so decided to go for my run. I fueled well, I thought, and enjoyed my run. I felt a few twangs of pain starting and stopping at crosswalks, but it was only 10 miles with no speed. I'd be fine, I thought. Third mistake. I probably should have cut that run short.
After that run, I stretched and refueled, but I hurt. Throughout that day, I felt more and more sore. By bedtime the pain in my pelvis/groin was pretty bad. I worried I had a stress fracture. I had some of the symptoms, but not all. My husband told me to wait and see, as only time could tell what was wrong.

I took Advil to sleep that night, but slept horribly. I lay awake so long in the night that I got up and got my phone (which I leave charging in the office) to read. I told myself I could NOT research my injury, and instead spent time reading my Bible and completing Spanish lessons in DuoLingo. I eventually got drowsy and went back to sleep, but even at that, I ended up with only about five and a half hours of sleep, which is not enough, especially for recovery from an injury. Sunday night, I took Advil and Tylenol again to sleep, and went to bed early. I vowed not to get up early, but rather to try to sleep and see if I could rehab myself in time for my race.

What followed was a week of trying to see if I could run, find myself in pain, and end up walking. After days of researching, I finally settled on what I thought was my condition: high hamstring tendinopathy (the bruised feeling was what clued me in), and what I read wasn't good (Louw, 2025). It is hard to heal, long lasting, and gets worse with both speed and distance. Great. There went my speed goals, for sure, and maybe the race. I knew it would be grace if I got to run, and grace if I didn't. The Lord had to be Lord of it all, or Lord of none of it all [a loose paraphrase of Hudson Taylor's famous quote (Moore, 2018)]. I wrote in my daily devotional journal on Wednesday:

God could be gracious to me to let me run, even if not race like I’d hoped. Or He could be gracious to let me start and not finish. Or He could be gracious to not allow the pain to dissipate for me to be able to run (or somehow otherwise bar be from running). God, you are always gracious, and have shown that to me time and time again, as well as through thousands of years of biblical history. Let me not forget it!

I did Nourish Move Love's mobility routine daily (Bomgren, 2021). I took my collagen. I bought KT tape (well, off-brand), and tried taping my hamstring, and then my groin. Things seemed to be getting a little better Wednesday, the day by which we would need to cancel our hotel, and we decided to still go on our trip. (Well, my husband heavily recommended that we go, even if I could not run. I was not keen on this idea, but we both did want to get away.) Thursday, though, things felt worse. I ended up carrying a cushion to my off-site workplace in hopes that I could abate the effects of sitting on the hard chairs there. It was a discouraging week.

After all my studies, I found a PDF about high hamstring tendinopathy on Thursday, and decided to try some of the exercises, at least the pain relief ones, after work (Sports Medicine Institute, n.d.). Well, my 20 minute commute from offsite turned into an hour due to highway closure. If I wanted to get sleep, that cut out a lot of my evening. Every day, I wanted to quit my carb load, and this night I was so angry and just wanted to throw in the towel and scrap the carb load and the whole race, but I didn't. I crammed in more carbs, slotted in a few PT exercises, and hoped that I had what I needed packed. Normally, I would have spent the week studying the course, double-checking packing, etc. Not this time.

Packet pickup:

I woke up Friday with lyrics from the song, “He is with us” by Love & the Outcome (2013) running through my head:

"We can trust our God
He knows what He's doing
Though it might hurt now
We won't be ruined"

My pain felt okay, and with some home, we left Mesa about 10:30 AM on Friday morning. (We needed to wait for one load of laundry to finish so that I could have socks and underwear. That I remembered I hadn't packed!) We headed straight for Shiprock, as packet pickup was only until 7 PM. We rolled in about 6 PM (with the time change, we had added an hour), and parked in the very dusty lot to walk over to the packet pickup tent. I was pleasantly surprised to receive not only my bib, but also a Shiprock bag, poster, cup coozie, sticker, sweat towel, disposable cup, and t-shirt. I did panic a little when I saw the disposable cup and heard that the race was cupless, though. I am sure the race registration e-mails told me that, but I had been frantically looking for ways to rehab my injury and had not studied up. Had I really recognized that the race was cupless, I probably would have brought my running pack and fluids. Oh well. I did not have them and I would need to figure out another way to hydrate.

The Night Before:

We stayed at a Marriott Townplace in Farmington, New Mexico, about 45 minutes from the race. It was quite a nice setup, small and compact, but very adequate! I felt especially excited about the refrigerator for all the food I brought, a microwave for the heating pack I had been using to help my pain, and a toaster for my pre-race bagel.

The time flew by as I unloaded and we got set-up. (Thanks, time change.) While laying out my flat runner, I discovered that I brought capris instead of the running shorts I planned to wear. That was no good, as the pants did not have the side pockets I needed for gels. Without my running pack, I had no where else to put them. Thankfully, I had brought a pair of shorts to wear home, and since they had pockets, I was able to sub those in.

When snack time came, I did not feel ready to eat more carbs, but I told myself I would regret it if I skipped my carb-load and bonked the race on that factor. Plus, poor nutrition would only further hurt my injury. While I did not get in the 30 oz of extra fluid that I should have when carb loading, I am proud that I got in the minimum carbs (Featherstun, 2022). I had to count my blessings!

I was in bed by 9 or 9:15 PM and slept okay, though not well. (Please, people, ask your children to be quiet coming into hotel hallways late at night.) I got really, really warm at some point (maybe trying to burn off all those carbs?). I kept waking up, and I know at least once, I read 3:30 AM on my watch.

Race Morning:

I had taken Advil and Tylenol each night until Thursday, and Friday, I took it morning and night. My leg felt the best it had, and I debated about whether or not I should take Advil and Tylenol again race morning. This is documented to NOT be good for you, and carries some big risks. I wanted to finish this race, though, and once again, I didn't want to wonder what would happen if I veered off my routine. So I decided to take it [having read a few stories of success on Reddit—admittedly not the best place for advice, but I was desperate ([deleted], 2024). First, though, the whole PT routine: for my arm/hand and now my leg.

I wasn't the fastest at getting ready, but that was part of why I decided on 4:30 instead of 5:00 AM for my wakeup. I dawdled. I did all the PT. I toasted my bagel. I heated my Cherapy wrap (Cherapy, n.d.). By 5:15 AM, we were downstairs to get coffee (and mix in my RNWY) and get in the car (with my heating pack and toasted bagel in tow).

We drove another 45 minutes back to Shiprock. The moon was beautiful. We got to drive across the old bridge we had seen coming in. At about 5:50 AM, I started in on my bagel and coffee. I also took that Advil and Tylenol. Out of shame, I announced to my husband that I had done so. He told me that was what I had decided to do, and I should stop talking about it.

At about 6:15 AM, we arrived back in the dusty parking lot (seriously, my only complaint about the whole race), and I got out to photograph the sunrise, but then got back in to sit until 6:30 AM. With a low of 43 degrees and wind, it felt very cold outside! At 6:30 AM, I got out and used the bathroom for the first time. Lines were short, probably because there were less than 300 people starting the marathon at 7 AM. I went back and sat in the car until 6:45 AM, at which point I did an 0.7 mile warmup. (This was my birthday race, so at least the last digits could total my new age of 38: 13.1 + 0.7 = 13.8). I felt my hamstring/groin muscle some, but it was bearable, less than a 3 on the 1-10 pain scale. If I could keep things there, I thought the race would be manageable. I did run that warm-up at an 11:00 mile pace, though. I reminded myself that I had changed my goals:

1) Start.
2) Finish.
3) Finish under two hours.

I used the bathroom again at 7 AM, and then 7:10 AM. At 7:15, I lined up.

Race day conditions:

As stated previously, the low was 43. The high was 71. With some winds, the starting temp was closer to the mid-30's. I wore a windbreaker and gloves while waiting. I also stood in the sun, which helped kept me warmer. I planned to ditch the jacket and gloves, but almost didn't, as I lost my husband as I moved to the start line. Thanks to texting, he found me, and I was able to pass them off. While we waited, we heard the drum circles. A lady sang the national anthem in Navajo. The experience was moving.
Not sure how my race would go, and stuffed with carbs, I forewent the 15 minute pre-race gel. I figured I would just go out, fueling at 30 minute increments, and hope for the best. I took with me a 16 ounce water bottle to which I had affixed a squirt cap. (Thanks, Jess Tonn McClain for making this suggestion on some podcast I listened to long ago, and can no longer locate.) The water spilled a little, but the bottle was lightweight, and I figured I could ditch it once I finished it.

Course:

While I had briefly looked at the course when I registered, I had not paid it much attention. I asked my husband to help me figure it out as we sat in the parking lot. What I did not want to do was go the wrong way! He helped me see it was out-and-back, basically up the road a ways, and then back down. Easy enough, or so it seemed. I knew there would be a little bit of elevation change, but it was sneaky.

Miles 1-3:

The Navajo first lady said some words. A lady prayed in English. A man prayed in Navajo. There was a moment of silence for a runner who died in a car accident two days prior (and I was frustrated about my injury). That gave me perspective.

The announcer counted down. I started my watch, and we were off, out the Shiprock Youth Center parking lot and onto the road. I wanted to go out fast, and I did, with a start in the 7:50 range—which is where I would have wanted to be sans injury. That hill crept up on me quick, though. I felt some pain coming on at mile 3 and told myself to try to widen my stride to see if it helped. It did, and I kept going.

Miles 4-6:

The steady uphill continued. I took my first gel, a Hammer vanilla, at exactly 30 minutes, sipped some water, and tried to keep going. While I wanted to enjoy the scenery, I have to admit that I did not do a great job of that. I was very focused on how much my leg hurt, or didn't, and if I could finish. I tried to remember my “why” for running, my Granddad, who had worked as a missionary on the Navajo reservation, and a dear family I wanted to come to know the Lord.

The course veered right at about 6 miles. I told myself I only had 0.2 to go. No, that would be incorrect. I had 0.7 to go. I wondered why I was going so far and thought about turning around, and then reminded myself that I cannot do math in my head, and that this course was USATF certified, so I should run the course as marked.

Several men had passed me by this point, and I thought maybe, maybe, I could still place in the top female group. While I felt a little sad as I counted the women ahead of me, I told myself my goal was to finish.

Miles 7-10:

I took another gel at 60 minutes, this time a Hammer chocolate. I still had water left, and told myself to sip it. By this time, the pain in my left leg/groin had abated some, and my right quad had started to really hurt, like almost marathon hurt. I told myself to hold on and make it to the last gel, a GU birthday cake one, and 5K to go. I was averaging 8:38-8:40/mile here. People passed me. I just had to let it go. I did see who I think was the Navajo first lady here, though. She was dressed in a beautiful skirt and had a police escort on a bike with her. Seeing her made me smile. She had said in her opening words that running was good for community and mental health, and here she was proving that.

Miles 11-13.1:

I just kept going. I hurt, but I wanted to finish. And I had known it would hurt. At least two men passed me as the downhill cascaded. I did see the Philippians 4:13 sign I had seen on the way up, though. I recited that verse as I got to 1-2 miles to go: “I can do all things through, Christ who strengthens me” (New International Version, 2011). I did pass one lady in these final miles, and I tried to encourage her to keep going.

I managed a surge for the last mile or so. [Side note, but I really think GU might be a better gel for me, as the sugar DOES spike my blood sugar, giving me more energy, versus the steady Hammer maltodextrin. See discussion in Episode 130 of Fuel for the Sole (Featherstun, Neuberger, & Murray, 2026)]. I squeezed out a 7:46 for mile 13 and 7:26 for the last 0.1 mile. I am thankful for, and proud of that.

Navajo royalty (maybe their beauty queens?) handed out the medals. I didn't look long at the little girl who gave me my medal, but I glanced back later, and she was still there handing out medals in her native dress. The people of this race really were servants—volunteers working with smiles on their faces, and cheerful and encouraging words all around.

After the Race:

Fortunately, I found my husband pretty quickly after crossing the finish line. (They did announce my name and that I was from Mesa, which was cool.) I immediately wanted water, and a massage. I found a sports drink, then water, and went for the massage. I had to sign a waiver to not sue the volunteers, but why would I do that? While waiting in line, I talked to one of the men who had passed me. He shared that he was training for wildland firefighting. I told him about why that mattered to me (the Granite Mountain 19), and about Kellyn Taylor. He didn't remember the Granite Mountain 19 until I got quite into the story, and didn't know Kellyn Taylor at all. I guess I am a running nerd!

I had two to four women working on me for the 10 minute (free!) massage, and they were so sweet. They gently rubbed my legs and arms with massage oil to promote blood flow. They kindly took off my shoes and massaged my feet and legs with a massage gun. They really did a great job, and I think the gentle promotion of blood flow helped (though I still felt so sore)!

Despite being a cupless event, there were LOTS of tables. I may have gone a little overboard taking one of most everything, but hey, I was going to be hungry (maybe sometime) and wanted to be prepared. I got nuts, and bars, and trail mix and fruit. They also had hamburgers and hot dogs. I really didn't feel like eating, so gave my hamburger to my husband (MVP cheerleader and bag carrier, as usual!).

I heard they had free medal engraving and tried to figure out where to do that. I went to the timing tent and almost skipped the line, but then realized I needed that official time for engraving, so I waited. Fortunately, it really did not take long.

When I got my tiny time sticker, the man said, “You got third in your age group. Make sure you stop by the medal tent.”

“Really?” I thought. “Wow!” My time was 1:53:02, my slowest yet since returning the the half marathon in 2024, but whatever. I didn't care. I gladly received my 3rd place medal, had my husband take more pictures of me with it, and went to the engraving tent.

In front of the engraving tent sat a table with half sheets lying on it. The sheets instructed runners to list what they wanted on three lines of engraving. I thought about it for a while. I wondered about space. Could they engrave my bigger third place medal? I decided on my time, the verse associated with the butterfly I had drawn on my wrist (2 Corinthians 5:17), and who I ran for. The laser engraving was pretty quick, and we were off.

The car was already very dusty, inside and out, from sitting in the parking lot, but I was now massage oil greasy, and dusty. I had my husband help me use the car seat cover we got from the Fresh 15 to protect our seats. (Some niche items really come in handy in a pinch.)

It was forty-five minutes back to the hotel. I'd already had one bottle of water and a protein bar. I forced down an apple and another bottle of water. I didn't feel hungry, but knew I needed to eat. On the way home, I pondered how to share the results of my race with my family. I settled on:

On a wing and a prayer (and far more Advil than I should have taken)...
—
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor 5:17).
—
For Granddad, and for those whom I long to know Jesus and become new creations in Christ.
I teared up thinking about my Granddad and clients. I had done this. I had raced for them. I was SO thankful!

I indeed felt very sore after the race. The right quad pain eased up some, but the left hamstring/groin/tendon pain hurt worse! I knew this was my doing, though. I had chosen to run, and I would pay the price.

Back in the room, I unpacked my snacks. Yes, I got a lot of them, but they would help carry us home. I stretched and foam rolled. I showered. We slid out at 12:10 PM and headed for home.

Final Thoughts:

It's Monday now. I still hurt. (I did stop taking the Advil and Tylenol.) I went to the doctor, and she ordered x-rays. We will see if they show anything. In the meantime, I made an appointment to return to physical therapy next week (the soonest they could get me in). 

Thankfully, I can walk with only a little limp, but I can barely run even a mile (and that in pain). How I managed to run 13.1 miles on Saturday is truly amazing. While I might not should have run this race, since the Lord allowed me to do so, I am going to give Him all thanks, honor, and glory and praise His great grace.

References:

Bomgren, L. (2021, June 23). 10-minute dynamic stretching + mobility workout |SplitStrong 35 Day 9 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlH6pyo1nSI&list=PLpa0d6IJAhbjlpUpLtgGi0k1maJ70hoPS&index=10

Carroll, C. (2019, July 23). 6 week half marathon training schedule. Snacking in sneakers. https://www.snackinginsneakers.com/6-week-half-marathon-training-schedule/

Cherapy. (n.d.). https://www.cherapy.com/

Featherstun, M. (2022). Race nutrition planning guide. Featherstone nutrition. https://www.featherstonenutrition.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Featherstone-Nutrition-Race-Nutrition-Planning-Guide.pdf

Featherstun, M., Neuberger, T., & Murray, M. (2026, April 21). Oral iron strips, UCAN alternatives, runner's colitis and Grand Canyon nutrition (no. 130) [Audio podcast episode]. In Fuel for the sole. https://believeintherun.com/podcasts/fuel-for-the-sole-ep-130-oral-iron-strips-ucan-alternatives-runners-colitis-and-more/

[deleted]. (2024). Has anyone taken ibuprofen or any painkillers during or before a marathon? [Online forum post] Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Marathon_Training/comments/1fgap3d/has_anyone_taken_ibuprofen_or_any_painkillers/?solution=855a370445d3726b855a370445d3726b&js_challenge=1&token=bbbe4bf1c9a2b5160829c4be34da5861f43b808c48f3cd8cd4f8a66411b97e54&jsc_orig_r=

Louw, M. (2025, August 15). Running with proximal hamstring tendinopathy—Tips to help recovery. Sports injury physio. https://www.sports-injury-physio.com/post/running-with-proximal-hamstring-tendinopathy-tips-to-help-recovery

Love & the Outcome. (2013). He is with us [Song]. On Love & the Outcome. Word entertainment.

Moore, B. (2018, April 3). Christ is either Lord of all, or is not Lord at all. Medium. https://medium.com/@benmooreblog/christ-is-either-lord-of-all-or-is-not-lord-at-all-4ea907cd7737

New International Version. (2011). BibleGateway.com. http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-International-Version-NIV-Bible/

Sports Medicine Institute. (n.d.). High hamstring tendinopathy. https://smiweb.org/wp-content/uploads/HighHamstringTendinopathy.pdf