Race Report: Chicago Marathon, October 11, 2026

I ran the Chicago Marathon this past Sunday, finishing in 3:44:12, which was good enough to win the Women's T35-38 division.

This is the fourth time I've run Chicago, and each time I've experienced it completely differently.  My first time, back in 2016, was as part of the regular (open) field.  Then in 2022, I ran it as part of what was then entitled the American Development Program (now High Performance).  In 2023 I returned to run in the Abbot World Marathon Majors Age Group Championships. This year, I ran Chicago for the first time in the para-athlete field.  

Essentially, I've sampled all of the different security gates of Grant Park on Chicago Marathon race morning.  I'm not sure that's the same as being a 50 state marathoner or a 6 Star finisher, but I think it's kinda cool.

I've always loved this marathon course, as it really suits me.  I like flat races (yes, I know most people do) and I also like how the course has enough turns to keep things interesting, but the turns are not so tight as to slow one down. The addition of substantial prize money for the para-athlete divisions ($2500 to the winner) this year made returning to Chicago irresistible.

So, after a training cycle that I was really happy with, both because I felt like my fitness had improved substantially and because I had somehow made it through a fall cycle without getting sick, I hopped on a plane to Chicago, landing at O'Hare on Friday afternoon.

So that was Friday.  Saturday was a 3 mile shakeout, bib pick-up, stretching, and Chipotling. While picking up my number, I started chatting with the volunteer who was handling bibs (there was a separate bib pick up for para-athletes, and nobody was waiting behind me). She casually mentioned that her daughter was a wheelchair athlete and was racing also. I asked for her daughter's name - perhaps I knew her?  

The answer: Tatyana McFadden. Um, yeah, I had heard of her. This was the cue for an awkward bit of fangirling on my part that ended when the para-athletics director came over to ask if I could be at the para-athlete holding area early tomorrow for an equipment check.

[editorial note: Deborah McFadden is no slouch either - Google her.]

***

Regular WPA legal top

Some time ago, in anticipation of a way-too-warm and sunny marathon, I purchased a white singlet in a cooling fabric and had the Capital Area Runners logo added to it. Our traditional singlet is red with a white logo on it, and I've worn some version of that top for every race for the last 10+ years. But I was worried about Chicago's weather and hoped that by assembling and packing an alternate singlet specifically targeted for hot and sunny I would ensure a clammy overcast day instead. (See, e.g., Boston 2018 when I caused the coldest most miserable race ever by sauna training in the weeks before).

Unfortunately, this strategy failed me. I held off as long as I could and then conceded defeat on Saturday. I emailed my coach to ask if I he was OK with me wearing white with the team logo in red instead. He signed off on it as a one-time exception, so I was good to go. Of course, there was the small

Variant top (limited approval)

concern that I had never actually worn the white singlet and thus was violating that whole "nothing new on race day" thing.  But I decided to go for it - the worse case scenario would be some chafing, and I could live with that.

***

Chicago's set up for ambulatory para-athletes differs from Boston's.  Instead of our own wave that preceded the main race, the instructions advised that most of us would be starting at the end of Wave 1 (a few with seed times faster than 3:30 would be starting ahead in the corrals that matched their seed times). 

As of Saturday afternoon, I knew that:

1. most para-athletes (including me) would be starting between 7:50 and 8:00 am
2. I had to be at the Art Institute of Chicago (the holding area for the para-athletes) by 6:15 am
3. It was strongly recommended that I get to the Art Institute much earlier - 5:30-5:40 am would be ideal.

(This last point was because I was hoping to set the marathon World Record mark for women's T36 at this race and needed to be available for an equipment check.)

Based on that information, I planned out my race morning schedule:

• 3:30 am - take first dose of Rytary 145
• 4:00 am - breakfast, then stretch/mobilize
• 5:00 am - leave for Art Institute
• 5:30 am - arrive at Art Institute
• ???
• 7:40 am - second dose of Rytary 145
• ~7:50-8:00 am - start the marathon.

Bedtime was, of course, at 7:30 pm. I tend to avoid reading about either running or Parkinsons before big races, so I read a few chapters of Tim Pope's I Shoot Rock Stars before drifting off to "non-restorative" sleep per my Garmin.

***

As always, race morning dawned way too early. I medicated and ate and stretched per schedule (Underworld's Dirty Epic sifting from my headphones into my brain to get me into the right rhythm for racing a marathon.)  Around 5 am I did a final check - shoes, bib, water bottle, gels, meds, hotel key card) and then headed out.  The walk to the L station was cooler than I expected - perhaps my singlet trick had worked after all.

At 5:30 am, getting through security into Grant Park was quick and easy, as was finding the Art Institute.  I checked in and then found a seat in one of the many classrooms - not coincidentally it was the one where two other runners with Parkinsons - Dan and Steve - had already set up camp.  I waited here so that I could be checked by the technical delegate. Save for a few bathroom breaks, I stayed in that room until 7 am when it was time to walk to the start line. At which point I learned that I had been mistaken and didn't need to be checked after all. Which was good (since I hadn't been checked) but also unfortunate in that I had missed my window to do my mobilization/warm-up routine. 

But it was what it was, and using the first two miles as a warm-up wasn't the worst way to start a marathon on a warm day.

The para-athlete/adaptive athlete contingent were escorted to an area just outside of Corral A, with portable metal gates separating us from them. I found a short sidewalk and jogged back and forth some to loosen up - not ideal, but better than nothing. Then I joined everyone else and watched the start of the Chicago Marathon from a prime location. The wheelchair racers started, and then the ambulatory elites.  Then the gun went off for the open field, and the corrals began shuffling towards the start line.

***

I had assumed that the para and adaptive athletes were our own corral, and that we would start as a group at the back of Wave 1. I was wrong. Instead, we had our choice of when to start. There was a small gap in the gates that separated us from the corrals/main starting area, with two volunteers serving as gatekeepers. As each corral jogged past, the gatekeepers would announce that corral.  Anyone who wanted/needed to start in that corral would then step through the gap and join that corral en route to the start line.

As I watched the waves of runners and debated when to jump in, I realized that my bladder was full again. Given the unique set up of this start, I probably could have stepped away to a nearby Portajohn for 20 seconds. But....I decided to hold it instead. My experience on warm days has been that a full bladder will eventually recede when running, as the body reclaims the water. So...the first few miles would be a bit uncomfortable, but I might appreciate it later.

[Rather than give you a mile by mile description of my need to pee, I'll just note that by mile 10 the urge was totally gone. And in retrospect, I think carrying this extra bit of hydration helped my race.]

With the bladder concern decided (though not remedied), I watched runners flow to the start line in front of me. When the 3:30 pacers appeared, I took a deep breath and reminded myself to always trust my instincts. Then I thanked the gatekeeping volunteers and stepped through the gap to join the thousands shuffle-jogging towards the starting mats 30 meters away.

***

The first mile of the Chicago Marathon passes beneath the Chicago River. This underpass is notorious for screwing up Garmin signals. This time, it was also surprisingly humid. Oppressive, even. As we ascended the very slight incline back up to street level, the humidity dissipated, but the feel of that first mile solidified my race plan. 

As always, I was pacing this marathon by effort and wouldn't look at my watch until I crossed the finish. On good weather days, my golden rule of marathon pacing is to do whatever I have to do (in terms of pacing, nutrition, hydration) to get to the half-marathon mark feeling good, and then I can start thinking about racing.

Given the weather, I'd go more conservative - 16 miles was the point where I still had to feel really good and like I was recreational rather than racing.  At that point I'd start to think about picking it up but would continue to listen to my instincts rather than speeding up just because I was supposed to. I had learned my lesson from the DC Half.

***

I got a few miles in and realized I had screwed up in a very awkward way - I hadn't pulled the drawstring on my shorts tight enough. This meant that my gels (which were pinned to my shorts) were gradually pulling my shorts down. And the pinned gels were also starting to flop around and get really annoying.

I fiddled with my shorts while running and then reluctantly stepped off to the side to fix them. Definitely not what I wanted to do, but 20+ miles is a long way to go with your shorts falling down. Based on my Garmin report, it looks like I lost about 20 seconds doing this. It was definitely worth it.

With that problem fixed, I turned my attention back to my race. And more specifically, to taking my gels (even though I felt fine) and sipping from my water bottle. The streets were crowded with other runners, making it harder to dodge potholes or find space on the carpets that only covered part of the metal grate bridges that dot the early miles of this marathon. But...this is what I had been training for (specifically, running on uneven surfaces in crowds) so time to put it to practice.

***

The next miles were on autopilot - I tried to expend as little mental energy as possible while continuing to cruise, eat, and drink. Even just a few miles into the race, some people were already starting to struggle.

It was at this point that I realized that my decision to wear the optional "physical impairment" bib on my back had an unintended consequence - when I passed people a few surged aggressively to keep up with me. I'm guessing that being passed by someone with a physical impairment bib just added insult to injury (that wasn't my intent in wearing the bib - I just wanted to make sure people knew my gait wasn't always predictable). I felt a little bad for unintentionally provoking someone into blowing up their own race, but I guess they were ultimately responsible for their own choices.

I was draining my water bottle surprisingly fast, requiring me to refill it at the many water stations on course (I was later told that there were 22 water stations out on course - nearly one for every mile). As I got to the 10 mile mark, I noted one of those new water bottle refill stations was just ahead of the next traditional water-in-cups station. More importantly, the refill station seemed much less crowded and chaotic than the cups station.  So, I decided to try the refill station.

I was a skeptic but now am now completely sold. These are not like the water bottle refill stations one might encounter in the office.  Instead, high pressure pushes the water out shockingly fast as soon as you pull the lever-thing (technical term).  Refilling my bottle took exactly 2 seconds, with about 1.5 of those seconds being me figuring out how to pull the lever-thing. It was much faster, easier, and less stress than trying to grab a cup while jogging.  I really hope these water bottle refill stations become standard at marathons.

***

I made it to the halfway mark feeling good, which seemed to put me in the minority. The marathon had been yellow-flagged at the start - meaning "less than ideal conditions."  I didn't see any yellow flags after that point, which surprised me.  I later realized that the race was red-flagged at that point - meaning "potentially dangerous conditions." 

[I did note red flags during the rest of the race, I just thought that they were markers for medical aid stations. Oops.]

The further I got in the race, the more of an obstacle course it became.  Many people were walking, and the course was crowded enough that they couldn't all walk on the side. The crowds of people cheering on the racers were also narrowing the course, creating bottlenecks at times. 

Sponges with some sort of cooling fluid were being handed out, which was great for those who used them (I didn't try one). But those sponges were then dropped on the road - more stuff to have to navigate around - and the cooling fluid made the pavement slick in places.  

And of course, the crazy compulsion that some people had to film themselves blowing up on course (or worse yet, have a friend film them struggling) added to the chaos.  It was all very frustrating.  But all of this was balanced out by the fact that I actually still felt in control and even strong. I was on top of my drinking and eating and had also discovered while running under an arc of water from a fire truck (thank you Chicago FD for your assistance) that my fancy white singlet felt like an ice vest when wet.  Amazing.

At mile 16 I felt good enough that I could start picking it up, so I did.  Only to find that there was no clear path to do so. I'd roll for about 30 seconds and then a gap ahead of me would close and I'd have to swerve to find another place to run.  I can't really blame anyone else for this - everybody was just trying to do the best they could to get to the finish line.  And though I was a bit frustrated that I didn't have room to run freely, I rationalized that I would much rather be the person who felt good and had to dodge others than the person who was barely getting one foot in front of the other.

That's how the rest of the race went.  I was just starting to get a bit tired when I saw the final signs counting down the 400m marks to the finish line. The right turn to Mount Roosevelt (the ramp up into Grant Park, and the only real climb of the course) came up quickly.  Mount Roosevelt felt a bit harder than I expected, but then I was at the top with the finish line about 200m ahead.  I rolled into the finish and stopped my watch - 3:44 and change.  Significantly slower than I had hoped to run when I entered, but I had also hoped for much better weather.  Given the conditions, I was happy with it. And it also felt really good to finish a marathon feeling good and passing people all the way to the end.

Splits were:

First 5K - 29:03 (9:03 pace)
balance of Mile 4 - 7:36 (8:27 pace)
Mile 5 - 8:36
Mile 6 - 8:54 (fixing shorts)
Mile 7 - 8:26
Mile 8 - 8:33
Mile 9 - 8:21
Mile 10 - 8:22
Mile 11-12 - 17:22 (8:41 pace)
Mile 13 - 8:36
Mile 14 - 8:31
Mile 15 - 8:22
Mile 16 - 8:28
Mile 17 - 8:16
Mile 18 - 8:08
Mile 19 - 8:17
Mile 20 - 8:18
Mile 21 - 8:43 (stuck in big bottleneck behind walkers in narrow area)
Mile 22 - 8:20
Mile 23 - 8:13
Mile 24 - 8:24
Mile 25 - 8:19
Mile 26 plus finish - 10:07 (8:10 pace)

This was a negative split - 1:54:44/1:49:28. Some might say that I left time on the table splitting it that way. I disagree.  I think going out harder would have resulted in me hemorrhaging time in the last 8-10 miles.

Other notes:

• When I started this race just before 8:00 am, it was 62 degrees with a dewpoint of 57. By the time I ended at 10:40 am, it was 73 degrees with a dewpoint of 61. Very little wind and also very little clouds. Some have mentioned high humidity, but I didn't really notice it except for the first mile. My hunch is that I'm just acclimated from training in dewpoints about 10-15 degrees higher than that all summer - for those in Chicago where anything over 60 is humid, the humidity probably felt much worse. I do think the sun was a major factor in why so many in the 3:30+ time frame struggled (I also think that my white singlet really saved the day here).
  
  
• After a hot and humid summer DC had really cooled down in the last week before this race. I deliberately overdressed in my last few runs (tights, jacket over longsleeve, gloved) and I think it helped me keep my acclimation.
  
  
• Total gels on course - 9. Most of these were GU Lemonade Rocktane (extra salty) but I did take a few Maurtens to balance them out.  I also drank Maurten 320 on race morning for breakfast along with a small bit of oatmeal, and I think that helped also. The Maurten drink mix had plenty of carbs and hydration, and also kept my GI tract empty which meant that I absorbed my 7:40 am pre-race dose of Rytary really well.
  
  
• My 3:44:12 was good enough for the T35-38 division win, which I'm happy about - both because I like winning and because the $2500 in prize money just about covered my flight and hotel for the weekend (hotels anywhere within two miles of the start line were not cheap, and I didn't want to stay too far away because I had to be at the Art Institute early.
  
  
• Since I'm internationally classified as a para-athlete and Chicago met all the requirements for setting a World Para Athletics record, my time should also be either the World Record or the World Record Mark for the women's T36 division for the marathon distance. What's the difference?  Well, on the track, the first time a distance is run by a classification, the time is called the record mark (after it's ratified). If/when someone runs faster, then that faster time is the world record, once ratified.  Since this was the roads, I don't know if the same rule applies there.
  
  To be honest, I don't like this rule very much. My dislike is unquestionably driven by self-interest, but I think there's also a real concern here - what if the world record mark ends up being an extremely fast time that is of reach for all others? Then you could have a situation where you could never recognize a world record for that distance, even though there might eventually be many valid performances recorded for that distance. That doesn't make sense to me.
  
  I can see having a rule where there have to be at least two performances at a distance to recognize a world record. That makes some sense. But in that case just recognize the faster of the two performances once you have two.
  
  In any event, the good news is that it was hot and I ran slow here. Hopefully next year I can run a WPA approved marathon on a record legal course in better weather while having the same or better fitness and run faster.
  
  
• After the marathon, and after I had confirmed that I wasn't going to be drug tested and had made my way back to my hotel and had showered and shipped a box of stuff home, I visited the Museum of Post-Punk and Industrial (honestly, this was my other reason for picking Chicago as my fall marathon). It was even cooler than the last time I visited.
  
  After the tour I made Martin Atkins pose with me and my marathon medal.  I'm not sure he was happy about it (the Venn diagram of marathon runners and industrial music fans is an extremely small one), but whatever. I was just being punk in my own way.
  
  
  
  
  

Training log - Week ending 10/11/2026

This week was 52 miles of running, 500 yards of swimming, and an hour of hiking.

Chicago Marathon week (race report coming). I'll save most of my writing for the separate race report (currently in progress) but I will note that my taper looked slightly different then planned this week because a dime-sized blister popped up on the arch of my left foot after Monday's run.  I'm not sure why I got it - I've run in those shoes before with no issue.

But anyways, I had a blister that I needed to heal and not get infected before Sunday's marathon.  I found that I could run without irritating it, so I did (pulling back the pace a bit on Tuesday's intervals to be careful. I didn't want to risk the pool until the blister healed, and so I ended up hiking for cross training instead of going to the pool on Wednesday.

The blister was healed by Friday, and I didn't get any blisters during the marathon, so yay.

***

Monday: 7 miles very easy (9:44) in the morning. Yoga and foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 7 miles on the treadmill, including a careful interval workout of 6x3:00/2:00 + 4x0:30/2:00.  3:00 intervals at 8.2-8.4 mph (7:09-7:19 pace) and 0:30 intervals at 9.1 mph (6:36 pace).  All jogs at 6.2 mph (9:41 pace). Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 1 hour hiking in the morning.  Light upperbody weights/core + foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 6 miles with PT exercises and 4x100 - all in 24 seconds.  Sports massage in afternoon.

Friday: 3 miles very easy (10:03) and 500 yards swimming in the morning, then fly to Chicago.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday:  3 miles very easy (9:57) including four short strides at marathon effort.

Sunday: short warm-up jog and then the Chicago Marathon in 3:44:12. 

Training log - Week ending 10/4/2026

This week was 41 miles of running, 15 "miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards of swimming.

Penultimate week of taper, and I'm really happy with where I am. I believe I'm substantially fitter than I was at this time a year ago, or even a few months ago.  And I also feel fresh and ready to run.

A few things that I think worked really well for me this cycle.

• Instead of building my volume by increasing my running and pool-running mileage simultaneously, I first increased the pool-running while holding the running mileage constant and then held my total volume steady while increasing the running as a share of that volume. This felt like a much safer way of increasing my weekly mileage because I first increased the total time I was training and then increased the pounding on my body, instead of doing both simultaneously.
  
  The end result was that I was able to get to and sustain a much higher volume of training than in previous recent training cycles and do it without feeling overtrained or beaten up.
  
  
• During my peak weeks, I shifted to doing one big marathon workout on the weekend, and then one "normal sized" workout during the week (either a tempo or intervals). 
  
  This differs from previous cycles where (in addition to the big weekend) I would do either one big weekday workout (something like 12-14 miles with 3x2 miles) or both intervals and a tempo during the week. You only benefit from training if you balance the stress correctly with recovery, and I think I've found the right balance for me for now.
  
  
• This training cycle was 6 weeks of focused marathon training, and then a very gradual 5 week taper.  So yes, the taper was nearly as long as the hard training. But I think this will work well for me.  Essentially exercise is like medication for me, and thus cutting back on exercise results in withdrawal - an exacerbation of Parkinsons symptoms.  Doing a very long and flat taper seems to be minimizing (though not eliminating) that exacerbation.
  
  
• My rule for this cycle was: if there was any question in my mind as to whether I should do a workout, I skipped the workout or pushed it back a day.  That was even harder than it sounded, but I think it paid off.
  
  
• My other rule was that I started masking at nearly all indoor events within 6-8 weeks of my goal race.  No - this isn't fun at all.  It's honestly pretty awkward.  But in the last three years I've missed two marathons due to getting sick within the last few weeks before the race and also experienced a major setback when I got bronchitis last fall.  I'll gladly deal with some awkward situations in order to avoid that happening again.

***

Monday: 8 miles very easy (9:39) in the morning. Yoga and foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 8 miles on the treadmill, including an interval workout of 2x4:30/3:00, 2x3:00/2:00, 2x1:30/1:00, and 4x0:30/1:30.  4:30 intervals at 8.5-8.6 mph (6:59-7:04 pace); 3:00 intervals at 8.6-8.8 mph (6:49-6:59 pace); 1:30 intervals at 8.8-8.9 mph (6:44-6:49 pace); 0:30 intervals at 9.5 mph (6:19 pace).  All jogs at 6.2 mph (9:41 pace).  Followed with light leg strengthwork. Sports massage at night.

Wednesday: 6 "miles" pool-running and 1000 yards swimming.  Yoga and foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 7 miles very easy on the towpath (10:05) followed by PT exercises. Upperbody weights/core and foam rolling at night.

Friday: 9 miles on the track, including a 6400m tempo in 29:20 (7:35/7:24/7:16/7:05) followed by 2x100m in 23 seconds each.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 12 miles, mostly easy but with 8x(1:00 on/8:00 off) starting after 50 minutes.  Followed with light leg strengthwork.

Sunday: Upperbody weights/core, PT exercises, and 9 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling at night 

Training log - Week ending 9/27/2026

This week was 41 miles of running, 21 "miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards of swimming.

Most of this week was focused on recovery from the DC Half, which took a lot out of me. By Saturday I was feeling mostly recovered, so I headed to Georgetown to run my last long run of this training cycle - 16 miles progressive.

I've done all of my long runs on flat terrain this cycle, but I shifted to the Capital Crescent trail for this last long run so that I could do the marathon effort miles on the downhill-to-flat section of the trail from Bethesda to Georgetown.  This was for two reasons - a) the downhill would be a bit less strain on my aerobic system (good for taper) and b) running at marathon effort or faster downhill places more eccentric stress on the quads.  Since I'm now two weeks out from the marathon, this was the right time to strengthen those quads to handle 26 miles.

Though not perfect, the weather was considerably better than last weekend, and the 16 miles went by very quickly.  The marathon effort miles felt almost conversational, and like I could have kept going for a long time at that pace.  All of which was a big confidence boost.

So now I just need to make it through the last two weeks of tapering.  

I really hate tapering.

***

Monday: 8 "miles" pool-running. Yoga and foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 6.5 miles very easy (10:26) plus upper body weights/core.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 8.5 miles very easy (10:23) and 300 yards swimming. PT appointment at midday. Foam rolling at night plus catching part of the Cabaret Voltaire show.

Thursday: 4 "miles" pool-running and 700 yards swimming. Yoga and foam rolling at night.

Friday: 9 miles, mostly very easy (10:06) but with 9x30m strides and PT exercises/drills.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 16 miles progressive, split as the first 5 miles averaging 9:57 pace, the next 5 miles averaging 9:15 pace, and the next 6 miles averaging 7:51 pace, plus a mile cooldown.  Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 9 "miles" pool-running and upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling at night 

Race Report: DC Half, September 20, 2026

I ran the DC Half last weekend, finishing in a time of 1:44:48, which was good enough to win my age group (women's 50-59).

It's been a few years since I've run the DC Half, and in that time it has grown into a major event with nearly 10,000 runners in the half-marathon, a multiday race expo, a live edition of the podcast "Nobody Asked Us," and a huge cheering presence on the course.  The organizers have put a lot of work into developing this race, and it shows.

The expo was in an "event space" (I guess that's short for a place to hold events that is smaller than a convention center but is not a restaurant) on Capitol Hill, conveniently Metro accessible. When I showed up on Saturday morning to grab my bib, the line extended for a full block outside the building but moved very quickly. I was pleasantly surprised to be leaving with my bib only 20 minutes after taking my place at the end of the line.

I scheduled this race as a tune-up for the Chicago Marathon (October 11) and also as a rustbuster. I hadn't raced since the Olomouc Women's Grand Prix in early July, and it had been even longer since I had raced on the roads (the Boston 10K back in mid-June). In that time, I feel like I've gotten significantly fitter, and so I hoped this race would give me a read on that fitness.

Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate. On race morning the temperature was in the low 70s, with very humid conditions. Supposedly the dewpoint was in the high 60s, but it felt worse than that. It was one of those mornings where it wants to rain but just hasn't gotten its act together.  At least it was overcast with a breeze, but those factors only helped a little.

So, this wasn't going to be the fitness check that I had hoped for.  At the same time, I was still getting to race, and I desperately needed the rustbuster/tune-up. Additionally, I've always found that half-marathons raced all out do great things for my fitness, independent of what "raced all out" translates to on the clock.

***

When I registered for this race, there had been a check box for "athletes with disabilities."  I don't consider myself disabled, but I guess classified para-athletes technically fall into that category, so I checked the box and noted that I didn't need any assistance or special accommodations.

I knew that they didn't have a para division for this race, so I assumed that they were just trying to track how many adaptive/para-athletes were participating, and that by checking the box I was adding to their count. I was thus surprised when I picked up my bib and realized that I had been placed in the front corral. I knew that I didn't want to start there if I didn't have to, so I decided that I'd try to find the 1:40 and 1:45 pace groups in the wave and start somewhere between them.

***

The race started at 7:00 am, which meant warming up in the dark, just as the sun was rising. I always struggle to run in poor visibility, and this morning was no different. I jogged around for about 3 miles but just couldn't get my legs moving in the dark. At least it was a long race - using the first mile to warm-up wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

With my not-quite-a-warm-up done, I tried to enter the corral near the 1:40 pacer. Only to realize that there were no gaps between the gates of the metal corral fencing. It appeared that the only way to enter the corral was at the very front or the very back, both of which were very far from where I wanted to be.

But... there was a small gap under the metal fencing, and I'm a small person. I decided to try shimmying under the fencing, and somehow managed to squeeze through. I scraped my race bib in the process, but the number was still visible and the chip was unscathed, and I hadn't pulled any muscles, so I called it good.

***

I was far enough back that it took about 2 minutes to walk/jog up to the start line after the gun went off. This was fine with me, as it was a chance to loosen up legs that had gone rigid from 10 minutes of standing in the corral. 

Even after crossing the start, I was still stuck at a jog - the race course was packed and my gait was really stiff.  This didn't concern me much - my race plan was to start carefully, then hold a conservative effort (think: slightly harder than marathon effort) until the turnaround point in Rock Creek Park, before hammering home. 

[Like always, I was pacing my race by feel and perceived effort.  I took manual splits on my watch at the mile markers but didn't look at them until after the race].

In my experience, going for a big negative split is always the best strategy when it's hot and humid - essentially stay cool (figuratively and literally) for the majority of the course, and then redline it for the last few miles. Going out at "goal pace" just means that you overheat well before the finish line. As we rounded the turn at the bottom of Hains Point, I noted that some people around me were already walking. This reinforced my commitment to staying conservative for the first 2/3rds of the course.

From the bottom of Hains Point, the DC Half course follows a winding path north all the way to the bottom of the Calvert Street hill in Rock Creek Park. I wasn't running the tangents very well, and neither was anyone else. This was partially because the course was too crowded to run the tangents. Additionally, I was doing a lot of weaving to avoid slowing runners and uneven pavement - I find it hard to run fast over metal plates or areas with broken up pavement, and so swinging wide was often the best path for me, even if it meant running a slightly longer distance. 

I felt in control all the way up to the Calvert Street turnaround - the humidity was heavy but I was handling it very well.  My plan was to pick it up after the turn (a bit after the 8 mile marker).  However, when I rounded the turn my instinct was to hold current effort for another mile or two and pick it up closer to the finish. I decided that my instinct was too conservative because I was not used to race effort after such a long break from racing. So, I gritted my teeth and picked up the pace anyway.

Around mile 11, I started to struggle. I held it together for another mile and then started to fade. I gutted it out with an ugly last mile, crossing the finish line right behind the 1:45 pacers. Not exactly how I wanted my race to go, but at least I had gotten my rustbuster out of the way.  And I had gotten a good reminder of the importance of trusting my instincts on pacing, rather than forcing something.

I took manual splits during the race, but when reviewing my Garmin later it became apparent that the mile markers were often not accurate, with different miles being short or long.  So, I'm going to post my Strava splits here instead:

Mile 1: 8:34
Mile 2: 8:06
Mile 3: 7:58
Mile 4: 8:00
Mile 5: 8:03
Mile 6: 7:56
Mile 7: 7:58
Mile 8: 7:58
Mile 9: 7:51
Mile 10: 7:39
Mile 11: 7:39
Mile 12: 7:39
Mile 13: 7:51
Last ".2" - 7:04 pace (and no, the course was not long - Garmin error plus me not running the tangents well).

My chip time was 1:44:48 - essentially, I raced a half-marathon at the same pace I hope to hold for the full marathon distance at Chicago in a few weeks. This would normally be very concerning. However, based on a review of times it seems like many were several minutes off of the times they would normally run for a half - running this half at the same pace they would normally hold for a full marathon in good weather.

I guess there's only one way to find out what I can expect to run for a marathon, and that will happen on October 11.

I also felt better once I checked the results and realized that I had won the women's 50-59 age group. Honestly, it's always nice to win my age group - it feels really good to still be competitive in non-para-athletic competition. It also added to the impression that this was just a tough day all around, and my time wasn't necessarily reflective of my fitness.

Other notes:

• The race started at 7 am, and so I parked just north of the National Mall at around 5:45 am.  This was just barely enough time to warm-up and get everything else done (bag check, portajohn) without feeling rushed. I think next year I'll try to get there slightly earlier.
  
  
• I timed my morning as: Rytary dose at 2:00 am (and back to sleep), wake up at 4 am to eat breakfast, mobilize, etc, and then another Rytary dose at 6:00 am right before I started warming up. This worked well.
  
  
• I carried a handheld water bottle during this race and really appreciated it.  An added benefit is that when I carry the handheld in my left hand, it reminds me to swing my left shoulder (I tend to forget to swing both shoulders, but the left is the worse of the two).
  
  
• In this race, I wore a new pair of the same shoes I hope to wear for the marathon - the Hoka Rocket X3. This new pair is a half size larger than what I've previously worn, and so I wore medium thick socks with this pair, instead of the thin socks I wear with the smaller size.
  
  While the shoes felt OK when walking or jogging before the race, I did feel slightly unsteady on my feet during the half - a tell that the shoes were ever so slightly too loose. (I am very perfectionist about the fit of my running shoes these days - mostly because I've found that a shoe that is either slightly too loose or too tight can really exacerbate my Parkinsons gait issues). So, I need to test wearing a slightly thicker pair of socks in these shoes to see how that feels.
  
  
• Another bit of useful feedback from this race was that I over-tapered slightly. The last few days before the race, I had insomnia and (TMI) a lot of constipation/digestive issues. Both of these are things that crop up when I'm not sufficiently physically active (yes, this is a Parkinsons thing).
  
  I really felt the lack of sleep on race morning, and I'm fairly sure I would have run better with better quality sleep this week. So...I need to taper a little less for Chicago - good quality sleep in the last few nights before the race will outweigh any cost from running a few more miles that week. 

Training log - Week ending 9/20/2026

This week was 47 miles of running, 10 "miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards of swimming.

This is a place holder for DC Half-Marathon week.  Race report is in the works.

***

Monday: 7 miles very easy (9:45) with 4 strides in the morning.  Upperbody weights/core and foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 8 miles, including a track workout of 5x800, 2x200 in 3:30, 3:30, 3:27, 3:26, 3:26, 49, and 49.  Recoveries of 2:5x-3:1x after the 800s and full recovery for the 200s.  Followed with light leg strengthwork. Sports massage at night.

Wednesday: 8 "miles" pool-running and 1000 yards swimming. Foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 6 miles very easy on trails (10:57) plus PT exercises. Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 6 miles on the track, including a 1600 at tempo effort in 7:26 and 2x100m in 24 and 23.  Followed with PT exercises/drills.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 4 miles very easy (9:55) on the towpath and stretching. Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 3 mile warm-up and then a half-marathon in 1:44:48 (8:00 pace).  Followed with 2 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling at night 

Training log - Week ending 9/13/2026

This week was 51 miles of running, 18 "miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards of swimming.

I kicked off the week by getting my Covid shot on Monday.  My original plan had been to get both the Covid and flu shots the week after Chicago - I always try to schedule vaccinations for before or after marathon training cycles so that my training isn't disrupted. 

However, at least 5 of my friends have had Covid in the past month, so it's definitely around now.  If I were to get Covid in the next few weeks, it would force me to skip Chicago, so I decided to get the Covid shot now. (Flu can wait until mid-October).

Unsurprisingly, I felt crappy and needed extra sleep for the next few days.  By Friday, I was feeling close to normal, so I showed up at the track for the team tempo workout.  

I had been hoping for a decent weather day (finally) so that I could get a sense of my fitness, but no such luck on Friday.  Instead, I got steady rain, poor visibility, and standing water on the track. 

The poor visibility was an opportunity to see if my running has improved at all in low visibility conditions (neuro issues mean that I don't have a good sense of where the ground is, so I depend on my vision a lot).  The answer was yes, my running in poor visibility has improved.  But it's still not great.  I was stuck at marathon effort until the sun rose a bit more, and then I was able to shift into tempo effort.  I decided on the fly that the first mile of the tempo didn't really count and stretched my planned 4 miles to 5.  The end result was an 8K tempo that was essentially 2K at marathon effort and 6K at tempo effort.

I finished up the week with a shorter long run on Saturday - mostly easy (around 10:00 pace) but with ten 60 second strides in the second hour, each with 8 minutes of jogging recovery.  I've done the tempo-day one/long run with strides day two a few times before and gotten a good response from it.  Structuring my week this way also meant that I could have two easy days before doing some 800s on Tuesday in prep for the DC half marathon next weekend.

Speaking of the DC half - unfortunately it's looking like we aren't going to get a break in the weather for that one.  But seven days is still far enough that things can change.  At least I'm heat/humidity acclimated at this point.

***

Monday: 8 "miles" pool-running and PT exercises in the morning.  Covid shot and foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 7.5 miles, mostly very easy (9:37), but with drills, PT exercises, and 12x100m strides (27 down to 24) in the morning. Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 9.5 miles very easy (9:53) and 300 yards swimming. Sports massage at night.

Thursday: 5 miles very easy (12:40) and then another 1.5 miles (10:16) with 2 strides (testing a new pair of shoes), Followed with upperbody weights/core and PT exercises. Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 11.5 miles, including an 8K tempo in 38:29 (7:57/7:50/7:40/7:35/7:26), followed by six 30 second hill repeats (cycling twice through easy, moderate, and hard efforts). Foam rolling at night.

Saturday:16 miles, mostly easy but with 10x1:00 on/8:00 jog starting in second hour.  Followed with 4 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 6 "miles" pool-running, 700 yards swimming, and core+PT exercises. Foam rolling at night 

Training log - Week ending 9/6/2026

This week was 65 miles of running, 12 "miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards of swimming.

And that's the last of six weeks of focused marathon training.  Just like most of the other weeks, I went with two workouts - this time tempo intervals on the treadmill on Thursday, and then a progressive 20 miler on Sunday.

The tempo intervals felt a bit easy, but I decided not to push them. When marathon training it's almost always better to err on the side of a slightly slower pace and more volume - staying conservative ensured that I completed all 5 intervals for a total of 37:30 of tempo-ish work (45 minutes, if you count the short recoveries).  I kept the recoveries at 90 seconds to match the Jack Daniels recommended ratio of 1 minute recovery for every 5 minutes of tempo work.

About the tempo intervals - I generally prefer straight tempos on the track but tempo intervals on the treadmill.  On the track, it can be hard to keep the recovery durations exact, since I may need to wait for a gap in traffic before jumping back into lane one. And there's also something to be said for the focus and solid pacing required by a continuous tempo on the track.

However, on the treadmill I find continuous tempos to be hard on the body - I think it's because every step is the same. My theory is that inserting very short breaks where I am running at a different pace (and so my footstrike is slightly different) helps mitigate injury risk from the repetitive stress of running on the treadmill.

I was excited for Sunday's workout because I thought the hot weather was going to finally break.  And it sort of did, but not as much as predicted.  The weather for my progressive 20 miler ended up being almost identical to two weeks ago, and so I ended up running pretty much the exact same splits as two weeks ago.  

I would have really loved to have had a good weather day so that I could get a sense of where my fitness is, but I guess I'll just have to be patient.

And so now, with six weeks of marathon training done, I'm going into a five week taper. This wasn't the original plan, but then I started my marathon training a week early so that I could avoid awful weather for the first marathon effort workout.  At the time I thought that I'd just take a down week at some point and jump into a 5K, but my coach suggested instead that I just do a longer taper.  His reasoning was that if I didn't run a 20 miler the week before my tune-up half in two weeks, that would set me up for a really good race there.  And I like that theory.  

Additionally, one of my big issues with tapering is that it can be really hard on me. Aerobic exercise is effectively medication for Parkinsons, and so tapering is withdrawal.  It can be challenging to strike the balance between a) resting enough to freshen up but b) not resting so much that I'm too stiff and awkward to run well.  A longer taper means that I can very gradually ease off of the mileage, which will ideally make for a better balance between the two concerns.

We'll find out in about five weeks, I guess.  In the meantime, I'm feeling pretty good - this definitely feels like the best marathon cycle I've had in several years, and the fittest I've been in the past 2-3 years.

***

Monday: 9 "miles" pool-running in the morning.  Yoga and foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 8.5 miles, mostly very easy (9:45), but with drills, PT exercises, and 12x100m strides (27 down to 24) in the morning. Upperbody weights/core in afternoon, foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 10 miles very easy (10:11) and 500 yards swimming. Foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 11 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 5x7:30/1:30 plus 4x0:30/1:30.  The long intervals were at 8.1-8.2 mph (7:19-7:24 pace) and the short intervals were at 9.4 mph (6:23 pace).  All recoveries at 6.2 mph (9:41 pace). Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 5 miles very easy (10:47) on a muddy towpath plus PT exercises/drills. Upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 10 miles very easy (9:53) on a still muddy towpath and 500 yards of swimming. Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 20 miles progressive, split as the first 7 miles averaging 9:53 pace, the next 6 miles averaging 8:48 pace, and the next 7 miles averaging 7:57 pace.  Followed with a half-mile jog back to car and 3 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling at night 

Training log - Week ending 8/30/2026

This week was 66 miles of running, 12 "miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards of swimming.

This was another week with a mix of great running weather days and not-so-great days, and I scheduled my long run for the latter.  It's just how it works out sometimes.  

Tuesday was beautiful, but it was also two days after my 20 miler, so a workout was not a good idea. The truth is that I didn't care about the midweek weather too much anyway, since I had planned to do intervals on the treadmill anyway. 

The treadmill workout went very well, other than a hiccup when my headphones conked out partway through the 3:00 intervals, and I had to raw-dog a few reps until I managed to get things re-established. Annoying, but I couldn't justify pausing a treadmill workout due to lack of music - especially when I don't run with music at any other time.

Saturday would have been a great day to do my marathon effort workout - 70 degrees but with a low dew point.  But...a) it was too close to Thursday and b) I wanted to attend a running event our team sponsor - Road Runner Sports - was hosting that morning, so Sunday it was.

Sunday wasn't super hot, but it was very humid. Stupid humid. 

Running by feel, my marathon effort workout on Sunday ended up about 15-30 seconds slower per mile than I hope to hold on race day. I'm thinking something between 7:45 and 8:00 pace is likely if Chicago has good weather, and I averaged about 8:15 pace on Sunday. 

About that choice to run by feel: when training, I prefer running marathon "pace" workouts by effort over targeting a specific pace - here's my reasoning:

a) when training, one's body responds to effort and stress, not the pace shown on a watch - running a workout at the wrong effort can mean that you don't get your desired adaptation;

b) I think it's really important to learn how to lock into a certain effort/feel and adjust pace for the conditions, since you may not get perfect weather on race day;

c) when doing lots of mileage, forcing a pace that's too hard can result in injury or overtraining (and I have very little room for error at this point); and

d) there's negligible difference in gait mechanics between paces that are separated by 20-30 seconds. If your marathon pace is 7:00 in perfect weather, it's entirely possible to train at a marathon pace of 7:30 and then run 7:00 pace on race day - I've seen it done many times before.  So, training at a somewhat slower pace than you hope to hold on race day isn't going to hold you back.  (The converse is not true - I don't think I've ever seen someone consistently run faster than their current fitness during marathon workouts and have a good marathon.)

Given the above whole way-too-long justification, I felt like Sunday was a solid workout. I finished the workout at the appropriate pace and didn't feel like I strained or fried myself, so I can check that box off.

My one hiccup during the run related to the timing of my Parkinsons medication.  Essentially, when I run a long run or a marathon, I need to time my Rytary (4 hour window) so that I can finish the run/race within that window.  That generally means taking the Rytary about 20-30 minutes before the start (and hoping for minimal delays). 

But I also need to function before the run/race starts, so I can get dressed, transport myself, etc.  So that means I need to take medication earlier in the morning to tide me over until I can take the pre-race/run dose.  

I often just take another Rytary 4 hours ahead, which means that I wake up, take it, then try to go back to sleep for another 1-2 hours.  But this disrupts my sleep.

So this time I tried to take a small dose of fast-acting levodopa (Sinemet) about 3 hours before the run started - my hope was that this dose would fade out just as the Rytary was kicking in.  Unfortunately, the Sinemet lasted longer than I planned, meaning that I was overmedicated for the first hour or so of my long run.  Which meant that my quads locked up and it was hard to run smoothly until things settled down. Not the worse thing in the world - it just meant that my earlier miles during this run were a bit slower (though the effort was still correct). But mental note - that medication timing strategy will NOT work for race day.

***

Monday: 7 "miles" pool-running in the morning, upperbody weights/core in afternoon, foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 9 miles, mostly very easy (9:58) but with a break for drills/PT exercises and 4x100m in spikes (27, 26, 25, 25).  Yoga and foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 10.5 miles very easy (9:54) in the morning; 500 yards swimming in the afternoon. Foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 10.5 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 8x3:00 with 2:00 recovery and 6x0:30 with 2:00 recovery. The 3:00 intervals were at 8.5-8.6 mph (6:58-7:04 pace); the 30 second intervals were at 9.1-9.3 mph (6:26-6:36 pace). All recoveries at 6.2 mph (9:41 pace).  Leg strengthwork in the afternoon. Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 7 miles very easy on trails (11:13) plus upperbody weights/core and PT exercises. Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 11.5 miles very easy (10:08) and 500 yards of swimming. Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 17.5 miles, including a workout of 2x5 miles at marathon effort (averaged 8:18 pace for the first 5 miles and 8:09 pace for the second 5 miles, with a 1 mile float in 9:22 between). Followed with 5 "miles" pool-running (with a belt - active recovery). Foam rolling at night.

Training log: Week ending 8/23/2026

This week was 64 miles of running, 12 "miles" of pool-running, and 1500 yards of swimming.

We had a big break in the humidity and heat on Wednesday morning. With remarkably good timing, I had a tempo workout on tap for that morning.

And then I woke up on Wednesday feeling a bit beaten up and sore from the combination of a 90 minute run in high humidity and a PT appointment. One of my big rules now for training is that if I think I might need to push a workout back a day or skip it in favor of recovery, I do so.

And so, very reluctantly, I went to the pool instead of the track Wednesday morning.  I hoped that the good weather might linger into Thursday morning, but no such luck - the air was best described as soupy (75 degrees Fahrenheit with a dew point of 74).  The good news was that tempos are really about holding the correct level of aerobic effort, so I could still get a good workout in, I just wouldn't get a solid read on my fitness.

So, I did the tempo, once again ignoring my watch completely until I finished so that I kept it at proper tempo effort instead of trying to beat a recent time.  When I checked my time after, I had run a bit faster than two weeks ago, which was unexpected but nice.

Doing the tempo on Thursday meant that I had to push my progressive long run to Sunday (I need at least 2 days between a workout and a long run if the long run is going to have any marathon effort work in it).  As it turned out, it rained on Saturday morning, so perhaps Sunday was the right call anyway.

Sunday was my first 20 miler of the cycle. Since Chicago is flat, I did the entire long run on Hains Point (flat), oscillating four times between the two gates (it's 2.5 miles between gates). Mentally, this wasn't too bad, though I'm sure it would be harder if I did all of my long runs there.

The long run went fairly well - I felt in control until the last mile and half, when I started to overheat (it was in the high 70s by then, with no cloud cover).  I finished the run without having to dig too deep, so I'll still call it good.

***

Monday: 6.5 miles very easy (9:59) in the morning, upperbody weights/core in afternoon, foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 9.5 miles very easy (9:52) and 300 yards swimming in the morning, followed by a PT appointment. Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 9 "miles" pool-running and 700 yards swimming. Yoga and foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 10 miles, including a 6400m tempo in 30:15 (7:42/7:36/7:34/7:23) plus 2x100m in 24 and 23, followed by leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 5 miles very easy on trails (11:47) and 2.5 miles very easy (10:18 - testing a new pair of shoes) plus upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 10 miles very easy (9:55) with 2 strides and 500 yards of swimming. Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 20 miles progressive, split as the first 7 miles averaging 9:49 pace, the next 6 miles averaging 8:43 pace, and the next 7 miles averaging 7:58 pace.  Followed with a half-mile jog back to car and 3 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling at night

Training log - Week ending 8/16/2026

This week was 62 miles of running, 15"miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards of swimming.

Somewhat random musing:

I've been running marathons for 19 years now - from age 33 to age 52.  And in that nearly two decades my training has evolved as I've aged.  

When I was in my 30s, I'd do two track workouts a week, plus a long run, and seemed to handle that OK. In my early 40s, I shifted to five workouts over two weeks.  Then, as I approached and passed 50, I transitioned to two hard days a week - either two track workouts and no long run (if not marathon training) or a big mid-week track workout and a weekend long run if marathon training.

Now, as I'm getting into my mid-50s, my schedule is shifting again. Even with the benefit of supershoes, I don't seem to be able to recover fully if I do both a big mid-week workout (something like 14 miles with 3x2 miles at 10 mile effort) and a quality long run in the same week.  So, I'm now doing a "normal" workout during the week (either intervals or tempo), then taking two easy days before the quality long run, and then several easy days after the long run.

(the one exception, of course, is when I intentionally do a track workout and then an easy long run the day after, followed by at least three easy days).

This evolution hasn't been planned (no "at 52 I will train like this"), instead it's just an ongoing reflection of how my body recovers as I age (and I'm sure Parkinsons plays a role also). Good training is all about optimizing the balance of stress and recovery, and if my body isn't recovering as well as it used to, then my training needs to change to match that.  At least that's been my experience.

So far, I seem to be responding well to this change in structure, as I feel like I'm seeing more progress this training cycle than in previous ones.  My interval workouts continue to get faster and this Saturday's 2x5 miles at marathon effort felt solid. Unlike two weeks ago, where I ran the final marathon effort miles way too hard, I kept them under control this week. Of course, it's much less tempting to overcook things when the marathon effort intervals are 5 miles long, not 1-2 miles.

***

Monday: 8 miles very easy (9:52) in the morning, upperbody weights/core plus foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 10.5 miles very easy (9:58) including some untimed strides in the morning and 500 yards swimming; PT in the afternoon; foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 10.5 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 2x4:30/3:00, 2x3:00/2:00, 2x1:30/1:00, and 4x0:30/1:30.  4:30 intervals at 8.4-8.5 mph (7:04-7:09 pace), 3:00 intervals at 8.5-8.6 mph (6:58-7:04 pace), 1:30 intervals at 8.6-8.7 mph (6:52-6:58 pace), and 30 second intervals at 9.1-9.2 mph (6:26-6:31 mph).  Jogging recoveries at 6.2 mph (9:41 pace).   Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 6 miles very easy on trails (12:46) plus upperbody weights/core and PT exercises in the morning; foam rolling at night.

Friday: 9.5 miles very easy (10:08) plus two strides. Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 17.5 miles, including a marathon effort workout of 2x5 miles at marathon effort with a mile float between the two.  Splits were 40:07 (8:05/8:11/7:59/7:54/7:58), mile float in 8:53, and 39:31 (7:54/7:59/7:54/7:52/7:52). Followed with 3 "miles" pool-running and 500 yards recovery swimming.

Sunday: PT exercises and foam rolling, followed by 12 "miles" pool-running.

Training log - Week ending 8/9/2026

This week was 55 miles of running, 22 "miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards of swimming.

I pushed last weekend's marathon effort workout a bit harder than I should have, so I skipped a "real" workout in the first half of the week, instead doing some strides and 30 second hill repeats (for the latter, cycling between easy, moderate, and hard effort).

The purpose of the hill repeats is to build/retain power - due to both age and Parkinsons, I tend to lose power quickly and have to work to retain it. The obvious question is "why not do each repeat hard?"  

In response, I'll first note that I can't take credit for the "cycling-through-different-efforts" structure - it's something I saw in a friend's training and borrowed. I've kept it because I've found that cycling through the three efforts facilitates a truly all out effort on the hard efforts.  

Essentially, the (first) easy and (second) moderate repeats prime me (mentally and physically) for a really hard effort on the third rep.  And knowing that the next rep (the fourth) after the hard rep will be just a jog reduces the tendency to "save a little for the next one."  The result is that the third and sixth hill sprints are all out, which is what I want.  Two truly hard efforts with full recovery are better than six fairly hard reps when one is trying to develop/retain power.  

DC was at its swampiest over the weekend (dew points in the mid-70s), and so I abandoned any ambitions of marathon effort work.  Instead, I ran a careful tempo on Friday, followed by 18 miles at easy effort on Saturday.  Doing the two workouts on consecutive days meant that I already had some fatigue on my legs going onto Saturday's run, so that the 18 miles felt more like 20-22 miles at easy pace - a solid endurance stimulus.  

I'm not generally a fan of back to back hard days, but in marathon training I have found that following a tempo on day 1 with a long easy run on day 2 is a solid alternative when a progressive long run with quality (marathon effort work) is not a good choice due to weather. It's just important to make sure I recover well after.

***

Monday: 7 miles very easy (10:07) with two strides in the morning, yoga and foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 10 miles very easy on trails (10:47) and upperbody weights/core in the morning. Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 9 miles including 6x30 second hill repeats (cycling twice through easy, moderate, hard) and 11x100m in spikes 26 down to 23, followed by 500 yards of swimming and then a PT appointment. Sports massage at night.

Thursday: 10 "miles" pool-running and upperbody weights/core in morning; foam rolling at night.

Friday: 11 miles, including a 6400m tempo in 30:38 (7:47/7:46/7:37/7:29) plus 2x200m in 50 and 49, and 6x30 second hill repeats (cycling twice through easy, moderate, hard). Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 18 miles easy (10:04) and 3 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 9 "miles pool-running and 500 yards swimming, plus PT exercises and foam rolling.

Training log - Week ending 8/2/2026

This week was 50 miles of running, 24 "miles" of pool-running, and 1500 yards of swimming.

I had initially planned to start "serious" marathon training next week but decided to bump it up a week after looking at the long term weather forecast - though the weather wasn't great this week, it is expected to be more humid next week.

Marathon training meant two big workouts.  Wednesday was supposed to be 2x(2000, 1200, 1600) at 10 mile effort, with 1 lap jog between reps and 2 laps jog between sets.  I made it to the second 2000 and then pulled the plug because I was starting to strain (never ideal when marathon training).  I finished up with a few short reps to preserve some speed and called it good.  I still got over 4 miles of work, so it was a productive morning.

Saturday was my first marathon effort workout of the cycle.  I haven't run at marathon effort in a while, and it showed in this workout. Instead of locking into the right effort, I sped up considerably for the shorter reps.  This is always a risk for me and is one reason I prefer doing 2x5 miles - having to hold a pace for 5 miles removes the temptation to run faster than marathon effort.

Of course, running faster than marathon effort doesn't give the same stimulus as running at marathon effort - it's the aerobic equivalent of cheating and using muscles other than those you intended to strengthen.  And it also meant that this workout will need a bit more recovery than it otherwise would have.

Mental note to not make that mistake again.  Fortunately, I have at least two months of training ahead of me to get it right.

***

Monday: 9 "miles" pool-running in the morning, upperbody weights/core plus foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 7 miles including 4x100m strides in spikes in 27 down to 25 seconds followed by 500 yards swimming. Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 10 miles including a track workout of 2000, 1200, 1600, 2000, 400, 2x200, 2x100 in 9:16, 5:31, 7:21, 9:07, 1:41, 48, 49, 24, and 23 (2:4x-2:5x recovery after the 2000s and 1200; ~5 minute recovery after the 1600, full recovery for the short stuff. Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 6 miles very easy on trails (12:26) plus 1000 yards swimming in the morning; foam rolling at night.

Friday: 10 miles very easy (10:00) plus upperbody weights/core. Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 17 miles, including a marathon effort workout of 4, 3, 2, 1 mile(s) at marathon effort with 1 mile easy after each.  Splits were 32:54 (8:27/8:15/8:07/8:05), 24:06 (8:03/8:04/7:59), 15:47 (7:57/7:54) and 7:43.  One mile easy between each in 9:1x-9:3x.  Followed with PT exercises and 3 "miles" pool-running. Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: PT exercises and foam rolling, followed by 12 "miles" pool-running.

Training log - Week ending 7/26/2026

This week was 54 miles of running, 15 "miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards of swimming.

I bumped up my mileage again this week, to 69 miles (counting both running miles and pool-running "miles") - this is the third week in a steady build back from 57 to 65 to 69.  The jump from 65 to 69 seems minor, but that's deceptive, since my land mileage jumped from 44 last week to 54 this week.

Since I have a long history of high mileage, and was running similar mileage in early June, I'm not too worried about being this aggressive in ramping stuff back up.  At the same time, I'm not getting any younger, so I am monitoring myself for any signs that I need to back off a bit.  But so far, so good.

I mixed stuff up a bit this week.  My running coach is at a vacation/team training camp, so I'm covering the fort here, including timing track workouts for my teammates that didn't go to Maine. So my own workouts have shifted to Wednesdays and the weekends (aka any day except Tuesday or Friday).

One of my PTs suggested doing some strides in spikes regularly, to force me to use my calves some when I run. So, on Tuesday's run I did just that, swapping between spikes and flats for the 100s and then doing two slower 200s in spikes.  No calf soreness yet, but perhaps that will come.  I planned to do strides with spikes after Saturday's tempo as well, but a sign on the track saying that metal spikes were prohibited changed that plan.

The weather was really nice this weekend in advance of another round of heat this upcoming week, so I took advantage of it with back-to-back workouts - a tempo on Saturday and then a long run with surges in the second hour on Sunday.  While I normally like to take at least two easy days between hard efforts, I make an exception for this combination, as I've found that doing a long run at mostly easy pace but with some short surges on tired legs works well for developing marathon strength, but also seems to be low risk injury wise if I make sure to recover well after.

I was happy with both runs, as well as the treadmill workout on Tuesday.  My paces on the treadmill are getting incrementally faster for the same effort, and Saturday's tempo felt solid. 

Since I haven't run a tempo on the track in about 7 weeks, I ran this tempo completely blind to make sure I held the correct effort. I don't look at my watch much when I tempo, but I do sometimes look at the split for each 1600.  Blind means that I take the split but don't check it, so that I have no idea what paces I'm running until the tempo's done and I stop my watch.

Running blind, I ran the same time for 4 miles as I did 7 weeks ago, but in weather that was a bit warmer/stickier/slower, and followed it up with some 200s and 100s that were significantly faster than I could have run earlier this spring. So I'll call that a win.

Ever since I since I changed my Parkinsons meds in January, lowering the levodopa dose to the bottom of the "ideal" range (the actual change was switching from Rytary 195 to Rytary 145 when running), my running has been trending steadily upwards.  This of course is contrary to the prevailing wisdom that more levodopa is better when exercising, and that one will need more levodopa the longer one has Parkinsons.

I can't speak for others, of course, but in my case, I think that the high dose of levodopa makes me less stiff and more energetic/stronger but comes at the cost of more uncontrollable random muscle contractions, which limit my ability to train hard and run at top speed. The end result is a steady loss of fitness due to detraining.

Lowering the dose meant taking a step backwards and having to always run with a very tight back, tight quads, ankles that like to stay stuck in one position, and toes that like to curl. I still have involuntary muscle contractions on the lower dose, but they are more predictable and manageable, which makes it easier to train through them. And while I have less energy and power on the lower dose, I'm also able to push myself to the limit of what I do have, which means I can build fitness again. And that building of fitness also does amazing things in terms of halting the progression of my Parkinsons. So far at least.  Let's hope that continues.

[Side note for anybody wondering how I structured my meds when I was going through my para-athlete classification - I made a point of disclosing in both my national and international classifications this spring/summer that I had shifted to the lower dose of Rytary because I ran better on it.  I also was on the lower dose for both my classification examinations and all my competitions. During classification, you are supposed to present yourself honestly, and show them how you perform at your best, so that they can assess how your impairment affects you when you are at your best. Taking the higher dose so that I had less control of my body would have been inconsistent with that.]

***

Monday: 6.5 miles very easy on trails in the morning, upperbody weights/core plus foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 5.5 miles including 12x100m strides in 27 down to 24 seconds, and 2x200m at 5K effort in spikes (54 and 52) followed by 500 yards swimming. Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 10 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 6x4:00/1:13 plus 6x0:30/2:00. Four minute intervals at 8.3 mph (7:14 pace); 30 second intervals at 9.0-9.2 mph (6:31-6:40 pace); jogs at 6.2 mph (9:41 pace). Followed with leg strengthwork. Sports massage at night.

Thursday: 12 "miles" pool-running in the morning; PT session in the afternoon. Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 8 miles very easy (9:57), including 2x100 in 27 and 24. Followed by 500 yards swimming. Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 9 miles, including a 6400m tempo on the track in 29:35 (7:37/7:31/7:19/7:08), plus 2x200m in 50 and 49, 2x100m in 23 and 23. Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 15 miles (9:25) with 10x1 minute up tempo/5 minutes jog starting in the second hour, followed by PT exercises and 3 "miles" of pool-running.  Foam rolling at night.

Week ending 7/18/2026

This week was 44 miles of running, 21 "miles" of pool-running, and 1500 yards of swimming.

Bad air quality during the latter part of the week meant that more of this week was on the treadmill or in the pool than normal. By Sunday the air had cleaned up enough that I could run outside, though it wasn't terribly pleasant due to high humidity.

On the bright side, I did get some decent volume in (~65 miles total between land/treadmill/pool) and had two solid workouts.  I'm doing my tempo intervals at a faster pace than my VO2Max intervals were a few months back, so progress continues.

Dailies:

Monday: 6 "miles" pool-running in the morning, upperbody weights/core + foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 9.5 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 8x3:00/2:00 plus 6x0:30/2:00. Three minute intervals at 8.4-8.5 mph (7:04-7:09 pace); 30 second intervals at 9.0-9.1 mph (6:36-6:40 pace); jogs at 6.2 mph (9:41 pace). Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 9.5 miles very easy (9:58) including 2x100m strides in 24-25 seconds, followed by 500 yards swimming. PT appointment in afternoon. Yoga and foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 5 miles very easy on trails (10:45). PT appointment in afternoon. Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 9 "miles" pool-running and 1000 yards swimming in the morning. Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 10 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 7x5:00/1:00 plus 6x0:30/1:30. Five minute intervals at 8.1-8.2 mph (7:19-7:24 pace), 30 second intervals at 9.0-9.2 mph (6:31-6:40 pace); jogs at 6.2 mph (9:41 pace). Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 10 miles aerobic (9:20) followed PT exercises and 6 "miles" of pool-running.  Yoga and foam rolling at night.

Training log - Week ending 7/12/2026

This week was 42 miles of running, 15 "miles" of pool-running, and 1500 yards of swimming.

I needed a few days to recover from last week's trip to Olomouc.  After that, I started building up mileage again with a mix of pool-running and land running.

After so many races in the past few weeks (10 races ranging in distance between 800m and 10K over the past 8 weeks) I needed a break from the clock.  So, I headed back to Iwo Jima for some hills.  The Iwo Jima hill workout is always a great way to get my heart rate up some while working on my running gait, but without the tyranny of splits and paces.

My plan for the next few weeks is to ease into workouts while building back up in mileage.  After racing so much, I'm going to take a break from racing for a few weeks.  Right now, my next race on the schedule is the DC Half in September. However, if I find something interesting in between now and then, I may race it. Either way, it's nice to be able to train without worrying about schedules and tapering.

Dailies:

Monday: 4 "miles" of pool-running in the morning; upperbody weights/core in afternoon, foam rolling in evening.

Tuesday: 5 miles very easy on trails (11:09). PT in afternoon. Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 9.5 miles very easy (9:58) and 500 yards of swimming. Foam rolling at night.

Thursday: 8 "miles" pool-running and upper body weights/core. Foam rolling at night.

Friday: 8 miles, including 6 Iwo Jima hills (500m up a 2-3% incline, 90 second jog, ~200m downhill stride, 45 second jog to bottom), followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 7.5 miles easy (9:30), including a Park Run in 27:55, and 1000 yards swimming. Foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 12 miles easy (9:12), followed by leg strengthwork and PT exercises. 3 "miles" pool-running in afternoon. Foam rolling at night.

Race Report: Olomouc Women's Grand Prix, July 2-4, 2026

I competed at the Olomouc Women's Grand Prix in Olomouc, Czech Republic last week, running the 800m in 3:22.33, the 1500m in 6:59.84, and the 5000m in 23:03.87.

I also received my international para athlete classification in Olomouc, which was my primary reason for going there. I'll start this exceedingly lengthy report with an explanation of that process.

***

The word classification has two meanings in para athletics - it’s both an action and a status. The action of classification is the evaluation of an athlete by a panel of trained experts, to determine whether the athlete has an eligible impairment, and if so, what the nature of the impairment is, so that the athlete can be grouped with and compete against others with similar impairments. Classification as a status is the category that a para athlete is placed in. For example, an athlete with a T20 classification is intellectually impaired; an athlete with a T47 classification is missing part of their arm.

There is a distinction between a national classification and an international classification. As of the beginning of this summer, I had a national classification (obtained in Boston 2024 and renewed earlier this year at Boston).  This meant that I could compete as a para athlete within the US and could set para athlete national records. An international classification would mean that I was considered a paraathlete globally, could set continental and world records, and could represent the US internationally (if named to a team).

International classification is much more rigorous than national classification. An international classification also overrides any national classification. If you were nationally classified as a para athlete, but the international classifiers don’t think you’re sufficiently impaired, then you are no longer a para athlete either internationally or in your own country.

International classification opportunities are limited to about a dozen worldwide each year, and each country has a limited number of slots available for its athletes at each classification opportunity. When choosing who gets a slot, USATF understandably prioritizes athletes with the potential to medal at the Paralympics or the World Para-Athletic Championships. 

For my classification of women’s T36, currently the only medal events are the 100m and 200m. And I’m not a sprinter. I’m not globally competitive as a para athlete until at least 800m. Thus, even though I have recent distance performances that would have been continental or world records if I was internationally classified, I was not a priority for a classification slot.

However, USATF offered to keep me on a waiting list for international classification this year.  Then, in May, they contacted me to explain that if I went to the Olomouc Women’s Grand Prix in the Czech Republic this summer, they might be able to get me a classification slot. No promises, of course. But if I could get there and be available for the three days of classification, it might happen. Additionally, since USATF wanted to send a full contingent of para-athletes to this meet (which was held to promote women in para athletics), they would cover my entry fee and housing.

You miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take, and I’d never been to Europe. I booked my flights and started packing.

***

I’m not an experienced international traveler.  My previous trips outside of the US had been to Canada or Bermuda, with the last of those more than a decade ago.  So, traveling to a relatively small town in the Czech Republic for a track meet was ripping the band-aid off.  

My itinerary was Dulles to Frankfurt (5 hour layover) to Prague, and then I’d be picked up by a bus provided by the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for the ~300K/180 mile drive to Olomouc. I left DC on Saturday night, and the trip was mostly smooth, save for a moment of panic at IAD when I learned that you can’t board a flight to Germany unless your passport has been signed. Fortunately, several people near me in the boarding area had pens.

*** 

view from the bus

Some 16 hours later (with about 9 of those in basic economy) I was out in the bright sun of a historic Czech heat wave, boarding a bus for the 3+ hour drive to Olomouc.

Three hours is a long time on a bus, especially when you’ve already been traveling for 16+ hours.  I took a few videos of rural Czech Republic and then tried to nap.

About 90 minutes into the trip, the bus stopped at the Czech equivalent of a Sheetz for an optional bathroom break.  I was well hydrated so this seemed like a good idea. Plus, as I've always said, you haven't truly lived until you’ve shared a gas station bathroom in rural eastern Europe with 8 teenagers from Uzbekistan.

I was last in line for the bathroom when I had a horrific thought. I was one of three Americans on the bus, and the other two were napping. To the best of my knowledge, nobody had counted how many were on the bus. It was entirely plausible that the Uzbek team would return as a group to the bus and the bus would leave while I was finishing up.

I don’t speak Uzbek (or Czech, for that matter) and the Uzbek team didn’t speak English, so there was no way to ask them to ensure the bus waited for me. So, reluctantly, and with the knowledge that I was furthering all sorts of awful stereotypes about Americans, I jumped ahead in line, took care of business as fast as I could, and sped back to the bus.

***

I had arrived on Sunday, as international classification was scheduled for three days - Monday-Wednesday, with the meet starting on Thursday. I was on hold but did not know when or if I would get a slot. My instructions on Monday morning were to “train as usual” so I jogged 6 miles with a few strides. Then, at lunch, we got word that I could be seen by the classifiers at 4:45 pm Monday afternoon.

Para athlete classification in general is stressful. I think that part of this is that people who compete in para athletics are NOT focused on their impairments.  We acknowledge our impairments, maybe joke about them, and move on. The focus is on doing what you can do the best you can, not “educating” the world on what you can’t do and why you can’t do it. It’s very different from non-para running culture, where it sometimes seems like everybody wants to discuss their own personal obstacles and how inspiring they are for overcoming them.

This makes classification emotionally difficult, because you have to shift mentally and discuss your impairments, and explain what you can’t do and why you can’t do it.  It’s hard.  

Then, of course, there’s the fact that classification will determine whether you can compete, and what division you will compete in. International classification bumps this stress up a notch, both because of the considerable time and financial investment in getting to a classification opportunity and because international classification overrides national classification. 

As I noted before, a domestic para athlete career can end if an international classification panel decides that your national classification panel was wrong, and you’re not impaired enough.  Of course, that severe a change is unlikely to happen, just because most countries would not give a slot to an athlete likely to be classified as not eligible. And there are also all sorts of appeal rights if that does happen. But it’s possible.

Both times that I’ve been nationally classified, it’s just been me and the classifiers. But for international classification, the director of the USATF Para program, Sherrice Fox, joined me.  She could not and would not answer questions on my behalf, but she would object to any procedural error during classification.

When I got classified at Boston for the first time, I noted that it felt like a combination of a job interview and a doctor’s appointment. This had the added flavor of a deposition, except that I was the client.

*** 

My classification lasted a bit over 2 hours, as opposed to the hour required for national classification in Boston. It followed a similar path to Boston - an interview, then a medical examination, and then an NFL-combine-esque series of drills (jump as far forward as you can!  Hop on one foot!  Shuffle to the side!) However, each of these segments was longer and more involved than Boston.

The next step was new. I was given 30 minutes to warm up on the track as if I was racing (they would be watching intermittently) and then don my spikes, do some strides, and run a hard 400m (ideally at 800m race pace, if not faster) while they scrutinized my gait and took notes.

I did all that and then waited for a very long 15 minutes while the panel discussed. Then they called me back.

The verdict - I was provisionally a T36 (the same as my national classification), with the classification finalized after they observed me in competition this week (that observation during competition is always the final step in classification). 

They had to discuss my case at length, mostly because the neurological para athlete classifications, though intended to cover athletes with cerebral palsy, Parkinsons, MS-related spasticity, and traumatic brain injuries, are written in a cerebral palsy specific way. They had never seen someone with Parkinsons go for an international track para athlete classification before. (There is at least one other person with PD who is an internationally classified para athlete, but he rows, and the international classification criteria is different for each sport). But after watching me, they thought that T36 was where I belonged.

[Note: for running, the ambulatory classifications for people with neurological impairments are T35, T36, T37, and T38. T38 means minimally impaired, T37 means that you are impaired on one side, T36 means involuntary movements and not full control (my difficulties turning, changing pace, and running downhill, as well as my wobbly inconsistent gait are all consistent with this classification).  As for T35, I don’t fully understand that one except that I am not in it.]

***

The next two days were easy mileage and hanging out with the USA contingent (all of whom were awesome) while waiting for the meet to start. I haven’t really interacted with sprinters or field athletes before, so it was great to learn more about those sports, and also to broaden my knowledge of wheelchair racing (which really is a very cool sport and deserves much more attention than it gets). I also enjoyed shocking them by describing the traditional Capital Area Runners marathon workout of 25x400m on the track.  I didn’t mention that my personal favorite marathon workout is 17 miles with 2x5 miles at marathon effort - I’ll save that for next time.

***

Finally, it was Wednesday, and the meet started, with my first race, the 800m, at 10:37 am.  

This meet ran like clockwork, with events starting at exactly the scheduled time.  There was a call room where athletes had to check in and enter during a scheduled window - 20-25 minutes before the race (so 10:12-10:17 am for my 800).  Anyone who was not in the call room 20 minutes before the race was DQed from the race and the rest of the meet.

There were limitations on what could be brought into the call room - nothing except clothing, shoes, and spikes.  Any type of communications tech (GPS watch, cell phone, etc) was cause for elimination. I also couldn’t bring any nutrition in and had to leave my asthma inhaler and Parkinson's medication outside.

Each athlete had been issued a credential, and we had to provide that when entering the call room as our identification.  A race official collected the credentials, to be returned after the race.

I entered the call room at 10:12 (I really didn’t want to be DQed) and then waited for a long time.  At about 10:32, the athletes in the 800m (myself, a visually impaired T12 from Tunisia, and an intellectually impaired T20 from the Czech Republic) were walked to the start.  

I had no idea what I was doing, so I mirrored the others. Which meant that I grabbed my bag carrying my extra spikes and carried it onto the track.  We were walked to our starting positions, each marked with a large plastic number thing and a small plastic basket just behind.  

The other two placed their bags in the basket, so I did too. Then they started doing strides, so I did as well. When they stopped and walked over to the starting line, I followed. As we lined up, race officials removed the baskets.  And then the video cameras approached.

***

I’ve watched enough Diamond League races to know what happens next.  Each athlete is introduced in turn, while the camera focuses in on their face, and they wave or make a heart shape with their hands or point to something on their singlet.

Me, trying to be bubbly

I’ve always wondered what people are thinking when the video camera gets in their face before the start of a track race.  Speaking for myself, I frantically tried to remember if there were any gestures that were acceptable in the US but insulting in Europe.

After we had been introduced, we took our marks and the gun went off.  I am always dropped at the start of short track races (or any race) but this felt like a pedestrian versus a pair of race horses.  The other two women zoomed away, while I did my best in what was essentially an 800m time trial.  I did a good job with my form the first 400m but then lost my focus and tried a bit too hard in the second 400m, meaning that I slowed up while working harder.

As I crossed the finish, the other two were already walking away - they had each run in the 2:20s, while I had been in the 3:20s.  Welcome to international para athletics.

We were directed into a mix zone tent to wait until the race results were finalized and our credentials returned to us.  I noted the Czech woman being interviewed by local TV in one corner - she had won.  I was not surprised that nobody wanted to speak to me.

***

After about 5 minutes, my credential was returned and I was free to go.  An official confirmed that I had run 3:22. The existing “Americas” (meaning North and South American continents) record for the T36 800m was 3:26.  So, pending ratification, I had set that record, since this was a World Para Athletics sanctioned meet and I had an international classification.

[It’s worth noting here that my American 800m record of 3:18 is faster than my Americas (North and South America continent) record of 3:22. This is because I only needed a national classification and a USATF meet to set the American Record.  Sometimes a national record can be faster than the regional or world record because of the stricter requirements for regional and world records, and this is an example of that.]

I wasn’t sure if my regional record would require drug testing, and so I flagged down Simon - the USA team leader.  Per his instruction, I stayed in the mix zone while he asked if anyone wanted to drug test me.  The response was no (a regional record can be ratified without testing, as long as testers are present) and so I was free to go.  I was honestly bummed that nobody wanted to test me - wasn’t I good enough?  But, on the other hand, it meant I was done for the day and could relax.

***

Thursday was the second day of the meet, and I had two races on tap - the 5000m at 11:10 am (enter call room at 10:45-10:50 am) and the 1500m at 3:55 pm (call room at 3:30-3:35 pm).

Having two races in one day meant that I had to give special thought as to how to schedule my Rytary.  I take the Rytary every 4 hours on an empty stomach, meaning at least 60 minutes after a meal or 30 minutes before.  And I also couldn’t take it while I was in the call room or racing. 

After some calculations, I mapped out the following schedule:

6:00 am - Rytary

6:30-7:00 am - breakfast

10:00 am - Rytary then warm up for 5000m

10:45- 11:30 am - call room and 5000m

12:00-1:00 pm - lunch

2:00 pm - Rytary

2:45 - warm up for 1500m

3:30-4:00 - call room and 1500m

***

I was the only person in the 5000m, which made for a comical walk to the starting line. The starter joked with me about the distance, and I explained that I was a marathoner, so this was short. Then I dumped my stuff in the basket, lined up, and started (no cameras this time).

Weatherwise, it was far cooler than previous days (75 F, with low humidity).  Unfortunately, a strong wind (17-20 mph sustained) had picked up. The back stretch felt like running into a wall each time and the crosswinds on the turns threw my gait off. But I cranked down the laps as best I could, while the audience politely clapped each home stretch and the announcer said something in Czech (probably along the lines of "the crazy US woman only has 4 laps left!").

After 12+ laps, I came down the homestretch a final time, noting the clock cross over to 23 minutes as I finished.  I had hoped to run faster, but I think the wind slowed me. In any event, I had finished. And since I now had my international classification and there was no world record on the books for the 5000m, I hoped I had just established that record. Somebody has to go first.

I was surprised when three (three!) video cameras surrounded me at the finish line.  I wasn’t quite sure what to do (collapse dramatically?), so I waved. They were between me and the track exit, so I hesitated for a moment before realizing that they would move if I walked towards them. 

 

I entered the mix zone and was immediately approached by a race official.  I had been selected for drug testing (YAY). and needed to report to doping control. Until I was tested, she needed to stay with me as my chaperone.  Simon (USA team leader) explained to me that I was allowed to cooldown or whatever first, as long as I was within sight of my chaperone. But…I had another race this afternoon, so I headed right over so that I could pee in a cup and be on my way.

Doping control, toilets, and other things

I was naive in thinking I would be done so quickly.  For one thing, I was not the only person who had been selected.  When I arrived at doping control, there were at least 5 women ahead of me. 

I waited my turn and then Simon and I were called into a room where the doping control officer (DCO) explained the process. It wasn’t just peeing in a cup. I also had to enter all of my medications and pretty much everything I had consumed in the past week (along with dates and times) on an iPad.  I had been selected to provide both a urine sample and a blood sample and would need to be watched by a chaperone at all times until both were taken. There would also be a wait for the blood sample, as it couldn’t be taken until an hour after I completed my race.

When I was ready to pee (I had been chugging water to get things going), I selected my pee cup from a selection of identical cups in sealed packages and walked with her to the bathroom.  She would be watching me as I peed.

Unfortunately, my first try wasn’t enough (I needed 90 ml and peed about 35).  So that cup was saved and sealed while I returned to guzzling water.

As time passed, I grew concerned that I wouldn’t have enough time to get everything done before the 1500m.  We mentioned this to the DCO, who was horrified and instantly apologetic. I was supposed to be pulled for testing after my last race of the day, and they had missed the fact that I was racing twice.

The problem was: I didn’t have enough time to get both blood and urine done between the two races.  Heck, I had already missed lunch, since my medication schedule dictated lunch between 12-1 pm.  So, I’d have to get the blood drawn after the 1500m. Which meant that I would have to be watched at all times until that blood draw, including while warming up for the 1500m on the winding bike path behind the track.

The initial proposal was to have my assigned chaperone (a young woman who didn’t run) stand in the park while I jogged back and forth. I didn’t like this idea. I get absent minded when I’ve got a race on tap, and I was worried that I would forget I was being watched and run around a corner, resulting in a doping evasion charge.

Fortunately, there was another chaperone who ran, and was significantly faster than me. So (after I completed peeing the full 90 ml) he ran my warm-up with me before handing me back off to my original chaperone, who went everywhere with me (including into the portajohn when I had to pee again and again after completing the urine sample).

***

I was mentally and physically tired when I entered the call room for the 1500m. It had been a long day and a long week, and I hadn’t gotten the rest and mental decompression time I needed after the 5000m. (I had also missed lunch.) It was also hard to be too positive when I knew that I was going to be lapped by the rest of the 1500m field - they were all T20 athletes (so intellectually impaired rather than physically impaired) who had seed times around 5 minutes.

But I was here and had had a great week and it was my final race, so there was no reason not to give it a shot. I grinned awkwardly at the video camera one final time and took my mark.

Still not cool

Once again, I was dropped instantly.  I watched the other five women pull ahead as a single pack while I lumbered behind.  All I could do was my best, but I could tell my gait was stiff and I was tired. Fortunately, 3 and ¾ laps wasn’t that far, and I was also pleasantly surprised to only be lapped by one woman, though I still finished last in 6:59 - running a slower pace for 1500m than I had in the 5000m.

I walked off to the mix zone to meet up with my chaperone. And then was shocked when my credential was returned to me with a card instructing me to appear for the medal ceremony in 40 minutes.  Apparently, though I had finished dead last in the 1500m by over a minute, I had also finished second.  

To explain - each race was ultimately scored by a graded finish time that indexed your time by what was expected of your classification.  Since I was a T36, even though I was much slower than all of the T20s, my time of 6:59 was graded faster (85.77) than the second placed T20 time of 5:13 (82.69).  Wow. Cool.

The timing of the medal ceremony worked out well, since I had an hour to kill before I could get my blood drawn. I got my medal and my goodie bag, then headed back over to doping control for more paperwork and a blood sample, sadly saying farewell to my chaperone. 

My chaperone and I 

During that time, I also learned that my T36 classification was final with a review date of 2028 (meaning I have to redo it at my first international track meet in 2028). 

Around 5:30 pm I was finally done for the day and for the week. I ate a huge dinner and then crawled into bed - the next 48 hours would be spent cheering for my teammates and then traveling home.

Epilogue (i.e., things that I want to mention that didn't fit into the flow of the above):

• I went to this meet not knowing what to expect and left with a great experience and many new friends that I hope I will see again and again. I haven't mentioned the performances of the other USA athletes, because those are not my stories to tell. But I can say that we had a great meet and a great time in Olomouc when not competing. I also had a roommate (other than Brian) for the first time in about 30 years and....best roommate ever. I may be completely spoiled now.

  

  The USA team on July 4

  
  
• As it turned out, my 5000m performance, the first ever in international competition by a female T36, was not a world record. The rules are that the first performance at a distance sets a "record mark." Then, if there is another performance faster than that record mark, that performance establishes a new world record. So...I need to find another WPA sanctioned 5000m. The good news is that the "record mark" that I just set was the slower of the two 5000m track races that I've run this year (stupid wind). So, I should be able to run faster than the record mark of 23:03 - I just need to find a place to do it. (would anybody in the Mid Atlantic US be interested in hosting a WPA sanctioned track meet with drug testing?)
• Olomouc did a fantastic job with this meet - it was a wonderful experience in so many ways. If I have the chance to return next year, I definitely will.
• Our hotel stay included free all you can eat cafeteria style meals in the hotel dining room. And the food was amazing and labeled for all allergens. I barely missed Chipotle.
• The goodie bag that athletes received with their medals included a bunch of cool stuff. And some CBD lotion....Of course, since we're all subject to drug testing, and CBD oil might contain THC, and THC is a banned substance in athletics, none of us took it home.

  

  CBD oil on right

  
  
• One of the post meet highlights was a shopping trip (because we're Americans). In Czech there is a store called Decathlon that is essentially a combination of a Dick's Sporting Goods and an REI. A group made a pilgrimage to Decathlon to purchase all sorts of high quality stuff at remarkably low prices. I didn't need another pair of shorts and three more pairs of tights. But I got them anyway. I also took pictures of the KFC and the Popeyes there, just because.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• My biggest bit of culture shock in the Czech Republic was not the power outlets or the lack of a top sheet. It was the near impossibility of finding plain (non sparkling) water. There were no water fountains anywhere. Most coffee shops did not offer bottled water. The local supermarket was mostly stocked with sparkling water. And the hotel restaurant offered a wide selection of juices, coffee, and tea at each meal, but finding plain water took some investigation.
• Unfortunately, my trip back to the US was not as seamless as the trip to Olomouc. My original flight that connected through Munich was cancelled. I scrambled and rebooked several times before managing to get on a flight to Dulles, connecting through Frankfurt with a short layover time. A delayed flight to Frankfurt cut into that time even more, resulting in me being one of "those people" - doing a panicked shuffle jog with luggage in tow between gates. Fortunately, I made it to the gate in enough time to be assigned a seat (41K - a middle seat in basic economy). Delays on the ground and in the air transformed an 8 hour flight into an 11 hour one, and further delays at Dulles meant that it was another two hours before I got home. It was a rough end to a great week, but still better than the experience of several others from the US, who were delayed by a day+.