A Work in Progress

A lot can change in twelve months. Sometimes in a good way. And sometimes in a bad way.

But sometimes the seemingly bad can actually lead to something good.

Last year at this time, I was finally getting back into what felt like a good rhythm with my running.

When I signed up for Race to the Stones at the beginning of 2025, I had grand expectations. I was going to train for several months to run a 100km trail race in England last July. And in the midst of that training, I was going to run my first 50km (31 mile) race and focus not so much on time and pace but just finishing the race and maybe (hopefully) getting more comfortable with trail running.

Little did I know, things were going to change – just not in the way that I imagined.

Training was going fairly well for the first couple of months, with the exception of a couple of longer runs that I really struggled on. I completed my first 50km trail race in the middle of May and still had eyes on completing the training and doing whatever I needed to do in July to finish the 100km race.

Then, at the end of May, after a 21 mile run I had a bit of a scare – almost passing out an hour or so after I was done with the run. From then on, I questioned everything with the training and if I should even be doing the race at all.

Ultimately, I decided to withdraw from the race. (If you need a reminder – here you go).

I still went on my trip to England, but instead of a race medal I came back with confidence.

Confidence that I could enjoy running again by focusing less on the details.

Having done some great running on my trip to England with some good friends and in some great locations, I came home feeling like a weight had been lifted. I noticed that the change in my mindset that came with starting ultramarathon training in February had continued now that I was running without a specific daily training plan.

(Looking back now, it seems like the stress of potentially running 100km took its toll on my mind and, when I had the post-long run scare, I took that as my opportunity to withdraw from the race.)

And this newfound freedom continued through the rest of the summer last year, which is usually when I struggle the most due to the heat and high humidity. Aside from the rare exception, like the half marathon on a very hot day in September, the feeling continued until I ran the Marine Corps Marathon last October. There, I started with a conservative expectation and finished with a huge surprise, my best marathon time in three years.

As races like that often do, I was filled with even more confidence for the next weeks and months as we got towards the end of the year. I finished 2025 and started 2026 with a couple of half marathons in San Antonio and Las Vegas. And even though those races didn’t go exactly according to my plan or expectation (more on that in a minute), meeting my friend Nick in Las Vegas made the trip and the race worth it.

Everything was seemingly going great, except for one thing – raceday!

Almost every race I took part in last year and in Las Vegas this past February, I felt sick in the first few miles and sometimes for a little bit longer. It was only happening on race day. I was still using the same in-race fuel that I had been using for the last few years – SIS gels and Clif Bloks – but for some reason on race day things weren’t feeling right in those first few miles.

So in an attempt to keep the positive outlook that I had had since last summer, after Las Vegas in February, I decided that I wasn’t going to run any more races this year until my fall marathon. I would just keep my running streak going, gradually increase the mileage and see how things went.

I knew that my fall marathon would be the Marine Corps Marathon again, but that was still 7-8 months away, which meant there was plenty of time to get things right!

Shortly after that, my friend, Robin, encouraged me to go to my local Parkrun for something a little bit different than my everyday run, but something that was still casual and fun.

For those of you who don’t know, Parkrun is wildly popular in a few other countries but especially England. It’s a free, weekly 5k that’s open to anyone and organized by volunteers. It’s officially timed, but basically everything else is unofficial. And there just so happened to be one about 20 minutes from my house.

I had known about my local Parkrun for a couple of years since I had my first Parkrun experiences in England and Scotland. But for whatever reason, I had never gone to check it out.

A few days later, in mid-March I went and enjoyed it so much that I went every weekend for a couple of months. It provided me with a great outlet of running faster, but in a less competitive way. I wasn’t really worried about how I would do as I showed up each week and my times kept getting faster – my fastest 5k times in two or three years.

Then in April, I started doing some basic, at-home strength training three days a week for 30 minutes. While I wasn’t really expecting (and didn’t feel) any huge differences or changes, it felt good to have something in addition to my running that I could build off of over time.

In May, I started eating a bit better and counting calories, just to lose some weight and add to the confidence levels.

Losing a few pounds after only a couple of weeks gave me the motivation I needed to stick to it. And as we got into some of the hottest days of the year, I was consistently feeling as good as I’ve felt in quite a while!

Bit by bit things were falling into place. Each new thing I introduced (or re-introduced) to my training or daily life was adding to my increasing confidence and fitness levels.

Knowing that summer would be over and the 2026 Marine Corps Marathon would be fast approaching, I decided to drive to Washington DC a few times to try to get more comfortable on parts of the marathon route that I have struggled on during some or all of my five previous times running the race.

On my first visit to DC I ran about 6 miles just to get used to the surroundings and see what areas were good to run on a normal day (rather than the closed route on raceday). I went back a couple of times over the next few weeks and ran 12 and then 14 miles. And each time I felt better and started looking forward to the upcoming race even more.

This past Friday, I was in DC again. The temps were cooler than they have been but there was still some humidity. I had planned for 16 miles, but after a few miles I was starting to struggle and my legs were feeling very tired. I adjusted my pace and walked a little bit when I needed to and still got the 16 miles done. During the run, I was a little frustrated that I couldn’t maintain the pace. But afterwards, I was feeling much more positive when I thought about the progress I’ve made in the last few months. (Never mind the last year!)

The race is now just over two months away and I feel like I’m in a really good position to run a great race there. Will I improve on last year’s time? I’m not sure. Actually, I haven’t really even given much thought to what my planned race pace will be yet.

For right now, I’m just continuing to piece together the little things as they come and see where I end up come the end of October!

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If you made it this far, thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. I’m hoping to give more frequent updates especially after my upcoming trip to England, the remainder of my marathon training and of course the marathon itself in October.

Also, if you know anyone that you think might enjoy this, please share it with them!