Friday, December 29, 2017

#2017bestnine

I created this IG account because I wanted to document my running journey
(and not bore my non-running friends with endless workout/distance/pace posts!) but it quickly evolved into so
much more as I became connected to this amazing, worldwide #fitfam!
I have loved following everyone’s fitness journey and have been inspired by so many of your stories.
Each of you offers a portal into different parts of the world, many of which I may never experience in person, and I
am greater for it. So much gratitude to each of you who have chosen to follow me and my adventures.
Here’s my #tbt #2017bestnine…



Running has introduced me to some of my dearest friends, and the 1st picture is 3 of my closest pals with our
annual post #surfcityhalfmarathon beers. That race on the first Sunday in February has one of the finest postrace
beer gardens. We spend more time in the tent that we do on the course!


The 3rd photo depicts #peterscanyon, my neighborhood running trail, in all its glory early this year. An October
wildfire gutted the canyon and now it looks a desolate wasteland. I’ve run so many miles on those trails: with
friends, by myself, with music, listening to a podcast, just listening to the sounds of the canyon. Watching the
flames consume it on television felt like losing a companion. But the recovery has already started and like a
runner returning from injury, the canyon will come back better than before.


This was a year of many firsts for me, the 8th photo shows me at the #santamonica10kclassic just after I ran a
10k under 46 minutes for the first time (just being the key word, 45:56!)


This was the first year I ran 3 marathons: #lamarathon2017 (2nd photo) the first time I used a run-walk strategy
and actually beat my course record by 5 minutes, #parismarathon (my first international race) and
#tcsnycmarathon (6th photo) where I ran a sub-9 minute mile at a marathon for the first time (8:54s, 3:52:59, PB!)


My marathon and 10k PRs have stood since 2013, and the 7th and 9th photos remind me how I was able to
break through this year. The first day of my nyc training plan coincided with the first day of our 10-day Caribbean
cruise. People don’t generally board a #royalcaribbean boat to get fit! I ran 36 miles over 7 of the days, many of
them looping the ship’s 553m track. The 9th photo was from a trail race I ran a couple of weeks after the holiday.
It was a hot summer evening and the hills were steep, but I found that extra bit of determination, captured in that
gaze, that carried over to the rest of my training. “You are stronger than you think”

At the center of everything is my family. All I’ve been able to achieve in running begins with them. They are my
support, my cheerleaders, my inspiration.