2024 Rewind: From Setbacks to New Beginnings
My Crazy Year and Plans for 2025.
Hey runners, it’s been a little while, so I wanted to kick off the new year with a recap of 2024—a year that was nothing short of crazy for me. I’ll also delve into my running goals for 2025 and share a sneak peek of a new series I’ll be doing on marathon training as I prepare for my Boston qualifier marathon this year.
2024 Started Out Fun!
Let’s rewind back to the beginning of 2024. I was super excited for a couple of reasons. I began the year running a local trail race known as the Mega Fat Ass. The significance of this race is that I was the race director for the previous 10 years or so. Finally, in 2024, I retired from race directing and actually got to participate in the race. It was an amazing experience… I just showed up, ran, celebrated a bit, and went home. It was a huge difference compared to all the work involved in organizing it, from being there for hours and getting home late.
From Excitement to Unexpected Challenge
In 2024, I was entered in the Boston Marathon, which was a dream I had for a long time. Despite having run marathons for many years, I never got around to actually running Boston. I was training and preparing to head to Boston in the spring when suddenly, in March, I suffered a major heart attack. This setback obviously canceled my Boston plans. Fortunately, despite being serious, the heart attack didn't cause extensive damage. Yet, there were still issues to be addressed.
Heartfelt Community Spirit
One of the most inspiring moments following my heart attack was when our trail running group organized a 26-mile relay race around our local lake—dubbed the 'Herb-A-Thon'! It was a inspirational display of community spirit, allowing me to run a couple of segments and celebrate being alive. That event was a real highlight of the year.
Overcoming Setbacks and Persevering
Throughout the summer, I dealt with periods where I could run, but I was waiting for a final procedure to clear my arteries. Finally, in August, it got done, allowing me to resume normal activities.
Excited about my recovery, I signed up for a 50K race near Mount Hood, Oregon, only to face another hurdle—developing a painful corn on my left foot just days before the race. Despite the discomfort, I ran and finished as the oldest participant, winning my age group(and beating the 60 year olds!), but later discovered it was a deep ulcer requiring a month in a recovery boot.
Due to this setback, I couldn’t partake in a much-anticipated final leg hike on the Pacific Crest Trail into Canada. Over the last few years, a group of us have fast-packed a section of the PCT each year, and this was the last section. It was my epic adventure of the year and it was incredibly disappointing to miss out.
New Year, New Goals
Fortunately, my foot healed, and I resumed running towards the end of the year. As the new year begins, I feel great and have big plans for 2025. I’m focusing on three main goals for the first part of the year:
1. Marathon Training and Boston Qualification: I’ll be running our local Boston qualifier, the Capitol City marathon in May, aiming to clock around four hours.
2. Western State’s 100-Miler Support: I’m thrilled that one of my running partners got into Western State’s 100-miler. In late June, I’ll be pacing part of this incredible ultra-marathon event, helping him to finish and soaking in the vibes!
3. Waldo 100K Ultramarathon: Come August, I’ll tackle the Waldo 100K in Oregon, a race I haven’t run in 15 years. I’m eager to relive the experience and run this challenging course.
Gain Some Training Insights
I’m looking forward to sharing this journey with you. Over the next 20 weeks, I’ll be posting weekly updates on my training progress, incorporating the Forever Runner method that I’ve honed over the years. Stay tuned for some insightful content and highlights throughout my journey. Please subscribe so you don’t miss out on the exciting things ahead!