Race Report: Boston Half, November 8. 2026

I ran the Boston Half this past weekend, finishing in 1:46:18, which was good enough to win the women's T35-38 division (full disclosure - the other athletes in the women's divisions were no shows).

This is the third year I've done this race and I really look forward to it each fall. It starts and ends in Franklin Park, with the in-between miles featuring a tour of several local parks - aka "the emerald necklace." It is not an easy course. In fact, it's pretty challenging, which makes for what a friend calls "Type B fun" - I feel a real sense of accomplishment and satisfaction when I finish this one. And of course, the race is really well managed and very competitive at both the elite and age group level.

This was also the third year that I raced the B.A.A. Half as part of the professional field, and got to enjoy the excellent hospitality offered by the B.A.A. I'm a bit more used to the "invited pro" experience at this point, though I suspect the "OMG, I can't believe I actually get to experience this" feeling will never completely fade away (and truth be told, I hope it doesn't).

***

While I prefer to take the train to/from Boston, that wasn't an option this year due to track work between DC and Boston.  So, I booked a midday flight from Dulles on Friday.  Of course, Friday ended up being a rough travel day, with storms up and down the east coast plus an air traffic controller shortage delaying many flights. I got into Boston two hours later than planned and considered myself fortunate.

It was raining when I landed at Logan Friday evening, and that rain continued on through much of Saturday. On Saturday morning, I got to visit Franklin Park as part of a B.A.A. community event. I was impressed with the number of people who showed up in the rain to hang out for a bit and then go for a shakeout run plus some plogging. I also snagged one of the really nice pairs of B.A.A. logo running gloves that were given to all attendees.

Saturday afternoon was spent Chipotle-ing, stretching, mobilizing, and doing some PT exercises, followed by a technical meeting + dinner for everyone in the pro field (as always, my imposter syndrome was in overdrive for this part).

It continued to rain some overnight, but fortunately it had stopped by the time we arrived at Franklin Park on Sunday morning.  And the rain was replaced with a gorgeous, chilly morning - temperatures in the mid-40s but with a decently strong breeze (around 15-18 mph).

I oscillated on what to wear for the race - shorts or tights?  Singlet or longsleeve?  Back in January of this year the Al Lewis 10 Miler had near identical weather, and singlet + tights had worked well there. On the other hand, I had been training in cold weather for several weeks at the time of the 10 Miler; in contrast I'm currently still heat acclimated from a hot summer and unseasonably warm fall marathon.  And there was also the fact that getting cold sends my Parkinsons rigidity and dystonia into overdrive.

I warmed up in tights on the bottom and jacket over longsleeve over singlet on top. My warm-up for this race was limited because the side paths that I've used in the past for my warm-up (15 minutes jogging, 3 minutes at marathon to half marathon effort, 4x30 seconds at 10K to 5K effort) were clogged with wet leaves. Wet leaves and my balance/dystonia are a bad combination and so I didn't feel safe doing anything other than a slow jog. The rule is to get to the start line healthy, right?

At that low effort, I felt fine and even slightly cold in what I was wearing, which convinced me to go with the longsleeve. Returning to the para athlete tent to relocate my race bibs (front and back) from singlet to longsleeve cut into my warm up time some more. My total warm up ended up being 18 minutes of intermittent jogging - perhaps enough for some, but far short of what I need to be able to run fast from the gun. I would have to start this race cold and ease into it. Good thing it was a half.

***

We lined up in the para corral about 7:40 am for an 8:05 am start.  I was allowed to keep a jacket on until a few minutes before the start, which I really appreciated. It was cold in the corral, which increased my confidence that the long sleeve and tights had been the right choice.

At 8:05:30 sharp, 30 seconds after the pro women, the para division started.  This course starts with a fairly steep downhill (about 4.5%, according to my rough math). My downhill running has improved substantially in the past year with a lot of work, but I still really struggled here. I suspect most of this is because I didn't warm-up as thoroughly as I should have. It takes 3 miles of running, including a fair amount of faster running, to get my neuro pathways established (literally remembering how to run fast), my running gait working, and my hips extending. Until then, my gait is really limited and awkward, which makes running downhill a bit sketchy.  And when I feel off balance, my quads contract and my toes start curling and it's not fun.

The end result was that the first miles of this race, which were the fastest for most, were all about damage control for me. After then, things started to loosen up, just as we hit the gently rolling part of the course. Over the next few miles, my gait improved. However, the sun also came out, and I began to regret my longsleeve. I reminded myself that I had been doing tempos all summer in 70 degrees, and this was no different.

Mile 6 is when the course started to rise again, with what I later (very roughly) calculated as a 3% slope for about 500m.  Pretty similar to my Iwo Jima hill repeats, though it hits harder when you're already several miles into a race. This was also when I started to feel really good with my gait mostly under my control. The sun retreated behind the clouds and the wind picked up - both cooling me down - and the next few miles I was able to speed up considerably and have a lot of fun.

From there to the finish line the course was rolling hills with an upward trend, capped by the climb back to the start, which was also the finish. By the time I got to mile 11, my legs were heavy from fatigue.  Because of the hills, the final miles of this race often feel more like a marathon than a half - just keep shuffling forward. So, I shuffled and managed to speed up a little bit more just as I came around the final turn and saw the finish line about 50 meters ahead.  

I crossed the finish and stopped my watch, looking at the face for the first time (I never look at my watch or check paces when I run). 1:46 low, which was a few minutes slower than I had hoped to run.  But I wasn't too upset - I felt like I had run a good race and given my best effort, and that's all you can do.

I also noted that my legs were in far worse shape than they had been at the end of Chicago four weeks ago. I'm not sure how much of this is cumulative fatigue from the marathon followed by the half, and how much is just that hills are very hard for me.  Either way, I made a mental note to take some extra recovery after this one.

And of course, after freezing at the start line and then overheating during the middle miles of the race, I got chilled again in the finish area and had to take a really long hot shower when I got back to the hotel. For some reason, I found this really amusing.

***

Splits ended up being:

Mile 1: 9:15 
Mile 2: 8:44
Mile 3: 8:24
Mile 4: 8:08
Mile 5-6: 16:10 (8:05)
Mile 7: 8:15
Mile 8: 7:58
Mile 9: 7:46
Mile 10: 7:38
Mile 11: 7:34
Mile 12: 7:51
Mile 13: 7:46
last bit: 49 seconds for .11 miles.

So...a pretty big negative split on a course that nearly everyone positive splits (see my Garmin's elevation chart below). And no, I don't think that negative splitting this race was ideal. But...I simply couldn't coordinate my gait well enough to run any faster at the start, and you do the best with what you have to work with on race day.

For anyone who is interested: comparison of the Iwo Jima hill workout to the Boston Half course.
(I did play with the two images so that they are on the same scale for X and Y axis)

Other notes:

• Being in the professional field at this race gave me a chance to see some of what goes on behind the scenes. And one thing that I really think needs to be called out to anyone who ran the Boston Half this year: the roads that we ran on didn't just randomly happen to be clear of leaves and mud. My understanding is that the B.A.A. was out there most of Saturday night clearing debris from the course so that we could have a safe course to run.  The curse of doing really good work is that it's easy for others to assume that things just naturally worked out.  Not at all - it takes a lot of effort for things to look so seamless and easy to us runners.
• I do a fair amount of mobilization and other prep work in my hotel room before I head to the start on race morning (at some point I'll do a different post on this).  It's generally a combination of active isolated stretching, some balance exercises, some trigger point work with a tennis ball, and some short Feldenkrais exercises from the Balanced Runner.
  For this race, I think I spent too much time doing the Feldenkrais stuff, and not enough time on stretching, and that was also part of why I didn't feel ready to run when we started.  Mental note for the next race to move all Feldenkrais stuff and most of the balance stuff to the day before and keep the morning focused on active isolated stretching and some running drills.
• When I do these para division races, I unofficially race both the men and women in my division. Obviously, this doesn't affect the official results for the race, but like most racers, more competition helps me to produce my best effort. Having that competition really helped me stay aggressive in the second part of the race, when it was tempting to back off a bit and cruise in. It took a lot of work, but I managed to reel in the top male T35-38 close to the end of the race. I was kinda proud of that.

Training log - week ending 11/8/2026

 This week was 46 miles of running, 6 "miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards of swimming.

This was Boston Half race week.  Race report forthcoming.

***

Monday: 8 miles very easy (9:32) with two strides; upper body weights/core in afternoon; foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 8.5 miles on the track, including a workout of 2x1200, 2x800, 2x400, 2x200, 2x100 in 5:20, 5:16, 3:28, 3:28, 1:43, 1:41, 50, 50, 23, and ? (missed the last interval).  All recoveries except the 100s were 400m in 2:x-2:4x.   Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 6 "miles" pool-running and 1000 yards swimming. Foam rolling in the evening.

Thursday: 6 miles very easy (11:31) on the towpath followed by PT exercises in the morning; foam rolling at night.

Friday: 5.5 miles on the track, including a 1600m up tempo in 7:12, followed by 4x200 and 2x100 in 51, 50, 50, 49, 24, and 23.  Then flew up to Boston.

Saturday: 3 miles very easy (11:00) and then foam rolling.

Sunday: A bit less than 2 miles of light jogging, and then the Boston Half Marathon in 1:46:18.  Flew back to DC in the evening.

Training log - week ending 11/1/2026

This week was 37 miles of running, 12 "miles" of pool-running, 1 hour hiking, and 1000 yards of swimming.

Things started off with a whimper when I woke up exhausted on Monday morning.  This was after discovering that the friend that Brian and I hung out with on Friday night for a few hours tested positive for the flu on Sunday.  

I was really concerned that I was coming down with the flu also, so I called in sick at work, threw down a bunch of fluids, and went back to bed.  A few hours later I felt better, so I went for a short hike (really just a walk in the woods) plus some living room yoga to keep me loosened up.  

I felt fine when I woke up on Tuesday and continued to feel fine for the rest of the week. So, I'm not sure whether I was just overthinking things or if I managed to nip getting sick in the bud by resting at just the right time. 

Either way, I'm very happy to have not gotten the flu.

I have the Boston Half next week, which is a hilly course, so I went to Iwo Jima (the Marine Corps Memorial) on Wednesday to do some hill repeats.  I felt very awkward on the first, but smooth by the end.  Hill running (like anything relating to my gait) is something that I forget how to do when I haven't done it in a while. Fortunately, I seem to have relearned it pretty quickly. We'll find out next Sunday.

My other workout was on Saturday - treadmill tempo intervals. I felt slightly silly running on the treadmill on a day with (possibly) the best running weather of 2026. But I really seem to benefit more when I do some of my workouts - especially those with fairly short recoveries - on the treadmill, so I stuck with that plan.

I was pretty happy with the workout itself. The tempo intervals were slightly slower than they were before my marathon, but that's part of the deal when you taper, race a marathon, and recover.  I felt like it was a good starting point for this fall.

***

Monday: 1 hour hiking midday; yoga in afternoon; foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 6.5 miles on the track, mostly very easy (9:52), but with some 30m strides and PT exercises, followed by 500 yards of swimming in the morning.  Foam rolling at night.

Wednesday: 8.5 miles with 8 Iwo Jima hills (500m up a 2-3% incline, 90-100 second jog, 200m downhill stride, 40-50 seconds jog to bottom) plus leg strengthwork in the morning. Foam rolling in the evening.

Thursday: 6 miles very easy (9:50) with 2 strides in the morning; upperbody weights/core in the afternoon; foam rolling at night.

Friday: 6 miles very easy on trails (11:10) followed by PT exercises in the morning. Yoga and foam rolling in the evening.

Saturday: 10 miles on the treadmill, including a workout of 7x5:00/1:00 + 6x0:30/1:30.  The 5:00 intervals were at 8.1 mph (7:24 pace) and the 30 second intervals were at 9.2 mph (6:31 pace),  All jogs were at 6.2 mph (9:41 pace).  Followed with leg strengthwork. foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 9 "miles" of pool-running (with one friend at one pool), a stretch break, and then 3 "miles" of pool-running (with another friend at a different pool) plus 500 yards swimming.

Training log - Week ending 10/25/2026

This week was 38 miles of running, 15 "miles" of pool-running, and 1500 yards of swimming.

After a few more easy days, I eased back into faster running with a small workout on Friday and a mild progression run on Sunday.  Nothing huge, just getting my feet wet (figuratively).  I've definitely lost a slight bit of fitness from my two easy weeks (not surprising) but not too much.

Of course, it is also considerably cooler (and faster) weather than I was training in just a few weeks ago, so that could also be why the end of the week went so well.

***

Monday: 9 "miles" pool-running in the morning; yoga in afternoon; foam rolling at night.

Tuesday: 7 miles very easy on towpath (10:15) plus PT exercises in the morning

Wednesday: 5 miles on the track plus running drills and 450 yards swimming in the morning; upperbody weights/core and foam rolling in the evening.

Thursday: 4 miles very easy on trails (12:06) and PT exercises in the morning; yoga and foam rolling in the afternoon.

Friday: In the morning, 8 miles on the track, including a workout of 3200, 1600, 2x200, 2x100 in 14:41 (7:25/7:16), 7:09, 51, 51, 23, and 23; recoveries of 5:1x-5:3x after the 3200 and 1600 and full recovery for everything else. Lower body strengthwork and foam rolling later.

Saturday: 6 "miles" pool-running in the morning; 1050 yards of swimming in the afternoon; foam rolling at night.

Sunday: 14 miles progressive, split as the first 5 miles averaging 10:02 pace, the next 5 miles averaging 9:09 pace, and the last 4 miles averaging 8:38 pace. Followed with leg strengthwork. Foam rolling at night.

Training log - week ending 10/18/2026

This week was 28 miles of running and 15 "miles" of pool-running.

Week one of marathon recovery. Since I have Parkinsons and exercise is effectively my medication, I have to return to running a bit more aggressively than I might otherwise. So, I eased back into things with some pool-running into land running.

Saturday was a 5K race that benefited a charity that is important to a teammate of mine. There was no way I was racing it a week after Chicago, so I decided to use it the same way I use ParkRuns - as an opportunity to practice running in a crowd. Because apparently I didn't get enough of that in Chicago.

The 5K was on the same course that I set my PR on about a decade ago. It was amusing, but also not surprising, how quickly the race went by while jogging.  When I ran my PR (almost 10 minutes faster) the last mile felt like an eternity.  Funny how that works.

***

Monday: Off except for flying home from Chicago

Tuesday: Flu shot and TDAP vaccination in the morning; 7 "miles" pool-running midday; sports massage at night.

Wednesday: 8 "miles" pool-running midday; foam rolling in the afternoon.

Thursday: 4 miles very easy (10:19) in the morning; yoga and foam rolling in the afternoon.

Friday: 5 miles very easy on trails (11:14) in the morning.  Foam rolling at night.

Saturday: 7 miles easy (9:50) in the morning, including jogging a 5K race in 28:24; foam rolling in the afternoon.

Sunday: 12 miles easy (9:44) and upperbody weights/core in the morning; foam rolling in the evening.

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.