Decisions, decisions.

Once a year, for the past 11 years, the city of Akron refreshes a beautiful blue line through our streets. Beginning on Broadway street near the courthouse, and Inventors Hall of Fame Museum and running downtown past Firestone, through the campus of the University of Akron, into the Cuyahoga National Forest, and back UP (and i mean up!!) to Highland Square, then back Downtown to our Minor League Canal Park Stadium. The city lights up with 15,000 runners, and thousands of spectators. I was a freshman in college and didn't even know how far a marathon was in Akron's first year. But 9 years later I would toe the line for what would be one of my fondest running memories. It was incredible to race and win before my hometown crowd that day. Last year as final preparations were underway the flu and a nagging hamstring injury would take me to the line in tears. How could I let down a city that has done so much for me. So I raced with the knowledge that I would have to work harder for a sub par performance than I have ever raced. The race, left me feeling a bit mangled, and at first heartbroken that I would be unable to excite the stadium in Canal Park the way I had the previous year. But the most amazing part was that NO ONE CARED! Not in a bad way, the people involved in the running community here supported me just the same on a "slow" day as they had on my best.

So when I hurt my knee about a month ago my reaction was panic. Then I remembered the love that everyone has shown and the support through good and bad. At first I did not want to race. But then I realized that I don't have to run a PR EVERY TIME I RACE. So, as I am back running and have a decent level of fitness to work with I have decided to toe the line once again. I am not running the full, I am not going for the Olympic Trials B standard in the half, but I am going to race! I feel pretty blessed to be getting out the door and getting in some miles. Knowing how lucky I am to be able to race that morning is going to allow me to race with excitement. I will do all I can to run to my current fitness level and enjoy the race and the city that I love so much!

My City loves me back! haha! Marathon banners throughout the city.

A picture from 2 years ago. Right about 12 miles!

Good luck to everyone racing! I will be cheering!

Set Backs aren't always a step BACK.

My training has been coming along very nicely. I have had some great workouts, probably the best I have really ever had. And aside from one tempo Nicole nor I could seem to hit, we were stringing things together pretty well and feeling decent doing it. I had my 30th birthday Aug 17th and decided to stay away from crazy nights until after Akron, so I wouldn't risk messing up training by a lack of sleep and simply not taking care of myself. So the following weekend when we went to Columbus for Carly (sister in law) and Kyle's (brother in law) wedding reception, I had on my Sober Sally pants and had a great time! It was fun seeing Carly and Kyle surrounded by the people who love them and seeing them enjoy it so much! We goofed off and laughed a lot with Ryan's family and all in all had a pretty low key yet fun night! Around 1 am and my 10th bottle of water later, I was ready for some sleep. In the middle of the night I woke up to a calf cramp. This is something I haven't experienced in 15 years! No big deal...but then I stood up in the morning. Something behind my knee was popping and not feeling too good with every step. I ran that evening and when I was done I knew one thing. This was a bigger problem than I had thought in the middle of the night!

So I took a day off, went to Ohio Sports Chiropractic, and slept as much as I could stand. My leg felt 100 percent fine on Tuesday. I had a solid track workout and believed it was over. Shew...then I woke up Wednesday morning. Needless to say it has been a battle since. I have spent time on my Elliptigo enjoying the valley and the wonderful weather we have been having (aside from the past 2 days) and wrapping my mind around being injured. I have been able to maintain some semblance of working out thanks again to Ohio Sports Chiropractic and the AlterG treadmill. But I know I have lost some fitness.

At first I was in a rather bad mood, but then I thought back to the injuries I have had in the past. How they have made me more excited for when I do get to run pain free, and more excited to race. It stinks not being able to train the way I expected but I honestly feel like I will come back stronger than before because of the set back.

My best example of coming back stronger is 2009. In January I had pretty bad achilles pain and 3 doctors and 3 months later I was still not able to run. Turns out that on a run I had cut my Achilles area because a zipper on my tights. A bacterial infection had embedded itself in my achilles and when I got a urinary tract infection the medicine took care of the bacteria in my Achilles...what a ridiculous injury! But during those 3 months I was on the elliptical as much as I could stand and 3 weeks after starting back to training I ran 17:05 for 5k (4 second PR), then 17:02, then 10:37 for 2 miles (my first time under 11:00), then a 1 min PR for 4 miles. 4 months later I ran my half marathon PR and 1 month after that I qualified to my 2nd Olympic Trials in the Marathon in a 3 minute PR.

So I am keeping my head up, working hard and praying for the passion I need to allow this "set back" to be a step forward!

NEO CED Ladies

Last November, after a 3rd year of struggling to race fast again, I happened into an incredible group of ladies. They have taught me a lot and helped me to reach goals I believed were no longer achievable for me. Ryan asked for a picture Blog so here it is Ry! Enjoy!

Jennie- One of the best friends a gal could ask for, she has been a staple over the last 10 years actually and I love seeing her move up in distance from the 800 to 5k and even a half marathon last year. She is FAST, and inspires me to try to find my sprinter side! Maria- She is a speedy little Zip, who has no filter and reminds me to laugh a lot at myself, and to remember that being a Zip is always something I am proud of!

This is after Johnny Cake 5 miler where we went 1 (Jess in the middle), 2 (me on the right), 3 (Nicole on the left) Jess- One TOUGH lady, boasting a 26:16 5 mile PR and still getting faster while being a mom! She has a great perspective, and training with her lately makes me hopeful I can be right up there with her next spring. Nicole- I mean, so much to say here, I have NEVER had a training partner like this. We never race in practice, always look out for one another, and have opposite, but complimentary strengths. These 2 ladies push me when were together, and get me out the door when it's just me and the roads.

"Girl Miles" only missing Heidi and Kaitlin here, up to the left of me is Lizzie- talk about regimented, Lizzie wakes up ready to better herself as an athlete and goes to bed dreaming about it. She was a sprinter in High School and I have no doubt will be an Olympic Trials qualifier in the marathon in 2016. She has the work ethic, and she is always good for a hilarious story. To the right of me you have Aubrey, "Aubs", "Aubtastic", and the list goes on. Getting faster every time she races, and reminding me that life is extremely funny. She can make nearly anything a joke and do it all without cracking a smile. Fantastic ladies that make me proud to be a member of Cleveland Elite Development.

This is a picture of the 2nd Place team at the USATF National Club Championships 8k. We had a ton of fun and raced very well to get 3 ladies in the top 10!

Just one more Nicole/Becki pic. We love pink (Nicole more so than I). This was before our 2 mile track race in July.

Ry and I enjoying some time not in running clothes! This is a rare occurrence for us!

Running Recap Late July-Early August

Since my last racing/running update I have raced twice, and have had a couple of good training weeks!

On July 21st (which happens to be 2 ladies I love very much birthday's), 7 Cleveland Elite Development ladies raced the Johnny Cake Jog in Painesville. We had a very hot muggy morning for it, but came away with some solid races. Jessica won in 26:41, I was 2nd in 27:48, Nicole was 3rd in 28:10, Lizzie was 9th in 32:12, Laura was 10th in 32:16, Aubs was 11th in 32:22 and Barb was 5th Masters (beaten only by women 12 years younger or more!!) in 35:47. Glenn looked proud after the race and it was fun to get a chance to hangout with all the local speedsters.

Mondays have been light running days following our lifting with Will at Aspire, and he is helping me to work on some pretty big imbalances I have created over the years. We usually have a group of 5-8 people running from Fleet Feet after and it is nice to enjoy some banter with our little group.

Tuesdays at the track are #girlmiles at their finest, and our workouts have been going in the right direction. On July 30th Nicole, Jennie and I laced up for a track 3200. I love 3k-5k. If I were leg speed fast I would never race one step above 5k! We got to the track that evening and did a longer warm up. We did our typical drills and strides and I scared Nicole and Jennie with my goal of running 77's. I felt that was probably as fast as I could handle right now, and they thought that was far too ambitious. But I was pretty set on it. After nearly strangling a kind, yet too talkative man on the start line (really we are being called to the line and you can't stop asking me about "is that a new tattoo?" despite me obviously choosing to ignore you?), we were set and off! 76 through 400 felt comfortable, but I knew too fast would come back to haunt me. So I slowed up a smidge to come through the mile in 5:05 high. I couldn't tell where Jennie and Nicole were, but I knew that if Jennie was within 5 seconds of me over 600 meters there was no way I could hold off her closing speed. So I raced a little scared. I managed 5:10 for the 2nd 1600 and a shiny new PR of 10:16. Jennie was 2nd in 10:3?, and Nicole was 3rd in 10:40. We had 4x1200 with 90 sec rest following at 82's and I let Nicole pull me through those. I was not feeling well. 12 miles later we were eating and giggling at Bricco. It was a fun night!

Wednesdays and Thursdays have been easy runs. A few from Lock 29, including one with Coachers that made my week. I haven't run with him since 2006 the morning after Mt. Sac Relays. It was nice to see him and catch up a bit. During these runs Nicole and I have decided to call Sigmund "Jeffy" and he seems to like his new nickname. Nicknames make me smile.

Fridays are tempo days and Nicole and I had a solid 11 mile tempo, so our longer fitness is improving.

Saturdays have been my long runs because of family/wedding obligations that are not very conducive to running long on Sunday. It has been great to get in 18 instead of 14-15 and I feel a lot stronger when I am used to being on my feet over 2 hours.

Sundays have been pretty light days and a good way to get ready to start our next week!

I feel pretty comfortable, but a bit tired in our half/marathon training cycle. It is a lot of fun really feeling like I am getting ready for a go at the Olympic Trials 'B' standard using the Akron Half in September. I am also excited for a trip the following week to visit Carol, Finan, and Nick while heading out to cheer for Nicole in Minneapolis on October 6th! Then 2 weeks later I get to watch Ryan (who's training is going really well) race his first full in Columbus! Because of the typically cooler weather and all of the races Fall is my favorite time of the year. This Fall is already looking to be a promising one!

It's been (almost) 30 years!

30 years ago my mom was almost five and a half months pregnant with me, kiddo number two! My sister, Liz, was all of 9 months old, and I can only imagine the thoughts my incredible Mom was having. Mom never wanted kids, so if Liz was an accident, I was a undoubtedly a long list of words like catastrophe, blight, and woe! Haha. Now, I say those things as lovingly as one can. Our Mom has never treated us as if we were mistakes, but she has always made it clear that she never wanted kids. My sister and I didn't fall too far from the tree on that one. Although I have one incredible niece, Liz is in no hurry to knock out a sibling for Roslynn, and despite my in-laws best efforts, I am in no hurry to yield her a cousin.

But I digress, back to my story. Little did Mom know, the world just couldn't wait for me, and on August 17th I was going to make a grand entrance. Mom isn't the best with pain, so I tried to teach her a lesson. I put her though 48 hours of labor and nearly took her life, as well as my own. You see I wanted to enter the world feet first and face down. Turns out the doctors don't like that, and until I went into fetal arrest the doctors wanted that to be different. But I won! Feet first, face down, and a few minutes of not breathing, and they let me have it my way! Mom was down for the count and in need of a few blood transfusions, but she made it! Not only that, the crazy lady would have another kid 8 years later...also an accident! Someone should have explained that you have to take your birth control daily if you want it to work. I don't think she understood it!
Since my lungs were underdeveloped, I struggled a lot as a kid. I was in and out of the hospital with pneumonia for the first 8 years of my life. But in between bouts of illness I was a lively, loud, seemingly bottomless pit of energy sort of child. My father didn't enjoy my banter, but for some unknown reason I decided I was going to stand up to him as often as I could. I always wanted to stand up for something, even though I had nothing to stand up for. That didn't go too well and his temper mixed with my button pushing got me into a lot of trouble. My father was abusive and his religious zealot side infuriated me. I had a number of ideas as to how I believed the world worked, and if it didn't work that way I simply did not care. My world was going to work that way. At 12 my parents divorced and I was free of the fear of him.

Shortly there after, while being my sisters constantly following puppy, I found something that would end up completely consuming my life. Running. It was a way to take out aggression, to compete, to finally be really good at something, and to put my unwarranted desire to fight for things to some good use. Because of running I came to know and love a God, that seemed much different than the one I remember our father throwing in our faces as kids. I choose to spend time overseas working with missions organizations and getting a much broader understanding of the world than I had previously known. I learned that along with running, loving people is truly my passion. Sometimes I over do things a bit and my obnoxious side comes out. I have to reel it back in and realize I am smothering people, which turns out is creepy, not so much showing the love I have! Lol. My family supported both of my passions by allowing me to travel and taking me all over the place in Popa and Grandma's RV, or in Sam's (my step dad) car to race. We had some fun times getting to races and it made me feel important that they were, and still are so involved in my pursuit of the sport. Running brought me to Akron in 2002 and I fell in love with a place for the first time. I met many of my friends here, including Ryan, and my running blossomed into something that has lead me to experience a number of great things. Because of running I have met more people than I can count that make everyday such a blessing. I have fallen in love with those people, spandex, clocks, hills, pavement, blue lines, data, legs, shoes, peoples ability to dream, the feeling of winning, the silence in the early morning, the sound of shoes on pavement, girl miles, reflections in puddles when it rains, spring, fall, doing something you didn't believe you were capable of, coffee, laugher, shade, and being sore (just to name a few). I have done a lot of things that have made some incredible memories, a lot of things I look back and think were stupid, some things I shouldn't have, yet I would do them again. I have been tougher than I thought I could be somedays, and more fragile than a plate of china others. By and large I have enjoyed it all along the way.

In 30 years I grew into a healthy adult, who is rarely sick, ALWAYS early, constantly finding ways to again try to kill my Mom (Via heart attack with my crazy endeavors), a little (or maybe a lot) crazy, passionate, and all in all filled with a desire to run and love people, so not much has changed. HAHA!

My first (almost) 30 years have been fun. When I was young I thought I would be very mature and grown up at 30. I am not. Most of the time my Peter Pan side gets the best of me, and I enjoy it that way. I plan to keep it up! I am excited to see where my next decade of life takes me. I have full faith in 10 years I will still be the luckiest person I have ever met!

Summer Is Flying By

The past month has gone by much faster than I can remember most months going by. Since returning home from a disappointing finish in Duluth training has pushed forward to new and exciting times, vacation has rocked my face off, and our family has lost someone very dear to us.



The week following USA 1/2 Champs I went to see Leo Kormanik at Ohio Sports Chiropractic to figure out what is behind the hamstring issues I've had. Leo is a good friend/former roommate/ and stellar runner that has a heart for helping people run and live healthy. We are lucky to have someone in North East Ohio like him! Pretty much the moral of my hamstring is I've developed some major lazy habits over the years. So I am working to correct those issues, and hopefully have a go at the Olympic Trials "B" standard for the marathon using the Akron Half in September. I believe that if I am diligent in focusing on the underlying issues I will be able to correct them and come away a better athlete for it.

I had much needed down week on vacation. We had a ton of fun and enjoyed the Gulf of Mexico! I was able to get in a run everyday and still soak up enough sun to show off the incredible concentration of melanocytes my skin holds! haha! I tan a little too easy and it was obvious on day 2 of vacation! We had a blast and loved every day at the beach! My sister-in-law, Carly, married Kyle on Friday and it was a beautiful wedding with a hilarious officiant. I was easily brought to tears of laughter through his semantics. Carly was stunning, and Kyle was handsome as always! The day seemed less than perfect with a few rather strong storms passing though, but just in time the sky lit up and for an hour or so held off for a perfect beach wedding! So happy for you guys!

Late friday evening we received the news of Grandpa Spellman's passing. It made for a long drive home the following morning, and my heart hurt watching people I love so much suffer from grief. For me my main focus was to help in anyway I could and try to show support in a way that each of my family members needed. Wednesday and Thursday were the calling hours and funeral, and it wasn't until Wednesday evening that I really wrapped my mind around the loss of an incredible, loving, sincere, and truly funny man. I struggled a lot on Wednesday and Thursday to keep myself together, and I found the people around me being the supporter I hoped to be. My friends and family close and far consistently send support in small and large ways. I haven't dealt with death much in my life, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I can honestly say watching the family come together was a thing of true beauty. The love they have for one another is selfless and altogether stunning.

Once back in Akron, training and spending time with so many ladies and gents I love felt familiar and thus comfortable. I tried to express my gratitude for the relationships I have a little more. Now I am a rather affectionate, loud, and passionate person, and not much is awkward for me, so that means my friends and family may have been smothered with a whole lot of hugs and "I love you"'s. Ask Kyle or Nicole what happens when I say "I love you", and you don't respond...haha!

The heat and humidity have made hard and easy efforts alike a little more of a challenge, and staying hydrated is seemingly a losing battle these days. However Nicole, Aubrey, Lizzie, Meredith, Heather, Laura, Barb, the rest of the CED group and I have had some pretty great workouts. We are hoping to see fast times in our upcoming races because of them. Nicole and I have been pretty excited to see the times were able to hit and eager to watch the outcome of enduring them! We will be racing tomorrow, July 21st, in Painesville. The Johnny Cake Jog 5 miler is a tough course, but usually yields some fast times with good competition!

Like I said it has be a quick month, and summer is flying by! I look forward to seeing what we can do over 5 miles tomorrow and eager to see where this summer leads us going into the fall!

Grandma's Marathon

Nicole and I had an incredible weekend in Duluth Minnesota! There really is no other way to start this blog than to say that!
We left Akron pretty early on Thursday morning, with PR shaped numbers dancing in our heads! After meeting up with Heidi in Chicago we were on our way to Duluth. The plane was full of thin remainders of people who had endured long miles and wore there latest racing t-shirt proudly. Mesh and EVA foam covered the floors in place of what would usually be a barrage of leather. People smiled friendly knowing the common goal we all had. One hour later we were on the ground in Duluth. The Grandma's Marathon volunteers were there to meet us with beautiful accents and a incredible swell of pride for their city and race. A short drive, and near death experience later we were at the hotel and getting ready to run. The path behind the hotel wrapped around the city hugging the shore line of Lake Superior. It was foggy and 50 degrees with a few sprinkles. We tried to figure out the course as we ran but, none of we're doing a great job. In fact we convinced ourselves we were right and man were we wrong! It was funny when we looked at the course map. We had heard of "Lemon Drop" a hill around 9 miles for us and 22 for the marathon. Well, the city is built up a m-f 'er of a hill so...we assumed it was part of things. We were in for a treat at mile 9.

We spent the rest of the day talking about eating I am pretty certain. After some Mexican and a trip to Whole Foods with Aunt Nancy, Nicole and I settled on a little pizza place across the street from the hotel. It was scrumptious! The quaintness of this little place was refreshing. The pride the people here had for their city was uplifting. And the air I was breathing felt fresher than I've remembered ever breathing. I liked Duluth regardless of the outcome of the race.
Friday was a fun day getting to catch up with some old friends and meet a few new. We went for a run with Ricky and Finan in the morning. It was the sort of run that went by all too quickly. The weather was incredible, and the banter made me giggle. By afternoon my nerves were settling in a bit so I tried to just rest up. The day went by quickly.

Saturday morning we were on the bus by 4:20 to head to the start. Warming up calmed my nerves as we went through our typical and comforting ritual of preparing for a hard effort. My legs felt good and like I mentioned before the air was incredible, so my lungs were happy. A few final "good luck" wishes between friends and we were chasing after the guys who had started 15 minutes prior to us. Nicole and I quickly became the chase pack as the race went out fast. The miles were passing by around 5:35-5:45 pace and I knew we were ready to run fast. I settled in a bit too much on the 4th mile but was able to get right back on pace after. Nicole was pulling away and I was excited for her! Around 12k my hamstring began to really tighten up. I panicked for a minute. "This hasn't been a problem in months!" I thought. I convinced myself it was just fatigue setting in and tried to push to get back where I knew I should be. Unfortunately I was wrong. My glute still is not strong enough for the 1/2 distance and it was becoming quite obvious by 10 miles. Despite my pain I still nearly laughed out loud when we finally reached the infamous "Lemon Drop", it was a lemon alright...a sad representation of a hill. At best it was 120 meters long and moderately steep...in the eyes of a 3 year old. I did what I could and finished disappointed and frustrated in 1:17:38. My best half in 3 years, but so far from a reflection of the fitness I have. Nicole had run incredible 1:14:41 and I was a proud little, well I guess next to her, BIG teammate! Heidi ran the race of her life and crushed her PR by 2 minutes!!! What a good morning in Duluth. Even my sub par finish wasn't going to be able to get me down after those 2 ran so incredible!

After showers we went for some brunch and met up with Ricky, Finan, and Scott. We had a fun morning goofing off and taking in a little more of what Duluth had to offer. We finally met up with Nick, a guy we were confident had "cat fished" Ricky and Finan for a few years via their running log. Turns out he was an incredibly hilarious and kind hearted guy who just has a thing for Ricky and Finan. But who could blame him? Right Nicole? I got to see Jenna and Chris for a bit and that always makes my heart happy. Jenna ran a great race in the full, running 2:40:38 and finishing 8th. After too many laughs to count, a few sleeper holds, Finan feeling violated, port o' jog photos, some awkward yet hilarious dancing, and great conversation, it was time to rest before heading out for the airport at 4:20 am.

We had an incredible weekend racing and catching up with runners we miss all too much. Duluth you did not disappoint. You made it hard to want to leave. I hope to be back next year!