M. K. Monroe, MBA

I graduated!

At some point I realized I wasn't going to be able to maintain everything I was doing, so fitness and managing my house on a micro level went out the window. It is time to get that stuff back under control, then run a few ultra marathons in 2019.

In order to start things off on a fun note and remind myself that I can still do things, I finished the Walt Disney World Dopey Challenge back in January. I talk about that here. I had an amazing time and my memories are dreamlike. This was a great way to run out my annual pass. 😃

2018 Wish List

Hey there! I haven't written here in almost two years and that's creepy! But also normal. The people who planned ahead earned their master's degrees in their 20s. Smart move! I'm finishing mine up now and it has been kind of rough sitting at a desk.

Some wants for 2018 are starting to gel. I expect that this list will evolve over the next couple of months:

• Tobacco Road. A perennial addition to this list; March 2018 is going to be sketchy for me but this could be the year.
• Knoxville Marathon. I love hills. Again my timing might be too sketchy.
• Trail Marathon. Seeing if Michigan is ready for spring is just always a good time. 
• I may not do No Wimps this year, because I am considering the inaugural Glacial Esker race in Indiana. What am I waiting for?! I am almost definitely doing this.
• Grayson Highlands: I passed this year as the race is getting really high demand. But look at the PICTURES....
• Strolling Jim: if the family and budget support it, I'm in. 40 or marathon? Two forties in a row for age 44? I like it.
• Highland Loops: I haven't successfully registered yet. This could be the year.
• RUTS: definitely is a would be nice to do.
• Local summer ultras: haven't ruled them out, if life schedule allows.
• Woodstock: tradition. Could be the year to finish that 100k (attempting it is also a tradition). Or, maybe it's time to run the 50k faster. I've learned so much since 2013.
• Hell: if my relay team will have me again, I am in! If I can make the 50K cutoff, I am in!
• Hungerford: may be time to return for the marathon or 50 and wreck my knee again. It's a special day.
• Grand Rapids: I'm overdue to try the GR marathon.
• All of the little fall races: yes. I am running them all.
• Tunnel Hill: if registration doesn't get too crazy I would love for this to be a tradition.

2015

In 2015, a lot was accomplished. Probably I will look back on this as a very favorite year. The highlights are amazing. But it also has included some quiet frustrations.

In recent years, the in laws shared some photos of Zion National Park. This park was also mentioned positively and repeatedly by a coworker. So in January, we visited Las Vegas, Zion, Grand Canyon, and Phoenix. Any visit to the Grand Canyon is a life highlight. It might be one of my favorite places on earth. But Zion - oh my - we were awed by the beauty of this place. Mark my words, I will run a Zion race. This probably won't be in 2016, but it will happen. I also decided that a hike into the Grand Canyon needs to be a priority. No more waiting and putting it off until later - I need to do this. So I started the research.

In April, a famous Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever dad and a beautiful Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever mom had a big litter of puppies. In June, we drove to New York State to bring home our little toller dude. He is energetic as tollers are, exudes cuteness and athletic ability, and somehow fits in well.

In March, I ran the Black Swamp 25K in Ohio and was harassed by a loud sag wagon. I like it better when the focus is on having fun at these events. I got some good swag and the last mile of this event was very moving. Ironman Merle ran this race and can corroborate this account. Thanks for the miles and open water swim guidance, Merle!

Also in April, I finished the Running Fit No Wimps Challenge. Last place WOO! But who cares: these are tough technical uphill trail marathons. I loved every second (almost!). I ran the half marathon April 25, and just enjoyed the quiet beauty of the course. I ran the full on Sunday April 26 and was staggering by the end and would have accepted a ride and DNF from any passing crazy. But I finished, and (hold onto your seat) - EARNED AN AGE GROUP AWARD. My marathon wasn't good, but my high level of effort was rewarded, and I will cherish this.

In July, I started work toward an MBA, and from that point on, my schedule got crazy and my already nonexistent training slowed to nothing. Running a 5K became a rare treat. I also moved to a new working space in July with a standing desk. I now stand most of the time. The jury is out on how this will impact sports, but I appreciate it a lot. If given the choice, I am not one who loves being in the sitting position for most of the day. I noticed that many of the runners stand at their standing desk. Those runners convinced me to register for the Detroit Marathon (you have to register way ahead for this one).

In August, I had the pleasure of running The Legend (again) and the North Country Marathon. Since I dislike running in the rain, the weather for these was perfect and they were just two perfect days. My daughter joined at the Legend and enjoyed the trails as well. Small Steps Serious Chafing Jess, who is always a BAMR inspiration, provided help and food and great company for the North Country Run. Thanks Jess! For both August trail races I took it easy and finished injury free. For me, this is a huge accomplishment. I also got to meet some new runners (Ashleigh and Erinn), members of a local running club. Both did amazing and it was awesome racing with them.

On August 30, the dogs accompanied us on a picnic in a park and must have eaten something funky, because the puppy was up all night with a tummyache every hour on the hour. One of these hours, I was sleepwalking and taking care of the sick puppy and I twisted and badly sprained my ankle. I returned to sleep trying hard not to focus on a possibly ruined race season.

That day, my ankle swelled to double or triple size. I gave it some time and eventually got an x-ray, which didn't indicate a break. But the healing was slow.

Starting off September full of angst, I frantically flipped through all the Run Woodstock race distances in my mind. Obviously to anyone, attempting the 100 miler would not have been a good choice. On September 11 I finally decided to run the half marathon. Everything was perfect for the day and the half was beautiful and pleasurable. I got to run with Fritz's pack for a while...good people (that description covers almost everyone at Woodstock). When I was once again running solo, I mentally reviewed plans for future days..."I will run this, this, and this." But post-race, my ankle swelled up and became angry and achy again. I took more entire weeks off to rest it, per doctor's instruction. For a distance runner in September, this was not the most happy situation.

Next, the whole house had something pretty close to the flu in late September. The flu superseded any questions about my ankle, and I missed the Hungerford races. This was disappointing.

Soon October was here, and it flew by. I participated in a project management cohort through school. The 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th ticked by on the calendar. What to do about the Detroit Marathon? At best, my training could be called non-traditional. I decided to go for it, and was rewarded with a perfect day. The Detroit Marathon was a total blast and I recommend it to anyone considering. Lots of old and new friends were there and there are many positives to this race including wonderful crowd support. I completed a long run without any ankle problems during or after (huge sigh of relief!).

There's one other quick note about October. When I started school, I noticed myself making a few terrible food choices (for example, cheese and tortilla chips for dinner). I've spent way too much time talking with plant-based ultrarunners and nutrition advocates to ignore the potential and possiblities of plant-based diets, and it turns out that I like plant-based food. So in early October I made just a few adjustments and decided to try an almost all plant-based diet. This was so much easier than I expected it to be, and I'm sticking with it for a while, at least until bloodwork is done in early 2016.

November had me scrambling to meet end of year deadlines for family and school stuff. I participated in a training run at Chain O Lakes State Park. The event was awesome but the weather was not. Running in the rain makes me cranky! This may have been the first time in 2016 I ran with my superhero runner friend Jen S.

November also brought a surprise treat in getting to run the Tunnel Hill 100 in southern Illinois. Yes - I was and am crazy enough to attempt a 100 on a whim. I made it around 40 miles and dropped due to technical errors related to the weather, but I learned that this event and organization are some of the greats. I plan to come back and run a lot more. What a privilege and a pleasure. This event deserves its own blog entry which hopefully will be forthcoming.

In December, a household member had pneumonia. This was my first experience dealing with this in my own house and I didn't feel prepared. Thankfully it was dealt with quickly and family member seems good as new. 

Once that episode was over, we all ran the Holiday Hustle together (perfect, but 60 degree weather in December in Michigan was weird) and I had the privilege of running a third HUFF 50K (again perfect and packed with Marathon Maniac friends - it's always wonderful to see every one of you). These were completely pleasurable days. 

This year I focused on what I really wanted to do with great results:

• My family is healthy and had a successful year at the things they do. There were no major snags.

• I worked hard and juggled a crazy schedule to finish a semester of business school and was rewarded with nine credits.

• I ran a lot more beautiful trails and was very selective about road races. I tried to be more careful with form and pacing and seemed to be rewarded with no running injuries.

Now it's New Year's Eve. I'm so happy about and grateful for the running organizations, the hard work they do to make a great events that they make, the beautiful spaces we get to run, and runner friends!

2015: The Busy Year

I figured an update is due:

• Running is in a holding pattern at best; I'm not increasing mileage right now. All of the wonderful things life brings are encroaching on training time. I started some business classes and we adopted this sweet toller puppy who is going to make a great running partner if he can stick to running in a straight line!

• This means I'm going to have an interesting September. I'm not willing to adjust my plans; I will gut it out and see how far I go. I don't know how many opportunities for 100M or 100K I will have, and it's arguable whether a person is ever really ready.
• On the unprepared topic, I signed up for the Serious Series without having a real plan for or commitment to training for it. The Trail Marathon tends to have a small field; I could only speculate as to several reasons why. I had signed up for the No Wimps Challenge (a half and a full, back to back), run the events (badly, while praying that a sag wagon would pick me up at mile 19 of the full), and won an age group award (my fourth, and two were in high school) for finishing the full. There are no words for my surprise, but this would be a lifelong highlight. Whether or not these circumstances repeat, I absolutely plan to run the No Wimps Challenge again, and if our winter consists of three months of below zero weather, I will not be prepared. I don't know if this sets a good or bad example; possibly it's both.
• I ran several halfs in the spring and most were wonderful. The Dexter-Ann Arbor Run was not a high point because it poured rain the entire time. I'm not a tough runner in the rain. Running in soggy shoes causes really bad things to happen to my feet, and I'm allergic to some of the preventive treatments for this. It's an ongoing question. I finished the race (good) unhappily (bad).
• I also ran the Running Fit Dirty Duo, where I met some new friends (great people always attend these events), tripped a lot, and went down hard during the 5k. My leg was tender for the remainder of June.
• I see that one of my running heroes is running the Javelina Jundred this year and another is running the Woodstock 50 Miler. I always like getting to say hello to friends and competitors at Woodstock.
• There's an ongoing battle to take an impulse trip to hike into the Grand Canyon. This is a burning bucket list want.
• Other wants but probably won't-do's: North Country Half; Marquette 100K. Marquette is on the long term must-do list.
• Michigan is apparently experiencing a record number of mosquitoes this year, and this is adversely affecting the amount of trail running I'm able to do, which is sad. They bite right through the deet. I'm going to peruse Amazon for eucalyptus and lemon oils.

Any run is a good run - Happy Summer 2015!

Housekeeping and News

Items to add to my longer-term wish list:

• 104 miler at Yankee Springs Trail Challenge
• Pacer at IT100
• 2016 Dopey Challenge
• St. Jude Memphis Marathon
• Javelina Jundred

And the news is: I registered for my first hundred miler.

Post-Milestone and What's Next?

I spent some time pondering what I wanted to accomplish for the fall 2014 racing season. I'd finished my first marathon; I completed a bunch of marathons; I completed a bunch of ultra marathons. With my tendency toward pesky minor injuries and with Dr. James O'Keefe's advice always echoing in my head (to paraphrase: do not run a lot of marathons), there's some anxiety about running long repeatedly. I also wasn't sure I wanted to travel out of state for races this fall. I thought and pondered and reviewed the runmichigan.com calendar and decided that my challenge for October would be to run some back-to-back half marathons.

I. Heroes on Hines

The first half marathon was Heroes on Hines in Plymouth, MI. This was a Running Fit road race along Hines Drive and had all of the usual amenities that Running Fit races have, like portapotties and numerous aid stations with water and fuel. Pre-race, it was pouring rain, which made navigation and packet pickup interesting. A local choir performed the national anthem beautifully, and the runners were off. My strategy for all of these half marathons would be "just keep going." Again, as with most if not all Running Fit races, there were a lot of runners like me (the competitors weren't all elites), so this made the day enjoyable. I didn't push tremendously hard and finished alongside some new friends at around 2:45. I was very pleased. This is what "Run Happy" means.

I needed the jacket in the beginning, didn't want to throw it away, but didn't want it to interfere with race photos, so....

II. Bloody Border Dash

I woke up the next morning and headed to Ohio for the first Bloody Border Dash to benefit the Hemophilia Foundation of Michigan. This was a race put together by runners, and they hit the figurative ball out of the park. Packet pickup was well organized and easy to navigate, race start and finish were in an awesome facility with food, restrooms, and plenty of space for lots of participants, fun music was playing at the start line, the course was incredibly well marked and nicely varied (farms and cities), lots of aid with water and fuel was available. I finished second to last (in my age group? total? I'm not sure) in 3:0-something and got a high five from the Detroit Tigers mascot Paws the day before the Tigers' last game of the season. I was so pleased with this race and had such a fantastic time. This is a race I hope to return to again and again. Note: the closed-eye photo on the race twitter site says I finished in 2:51.

III. Hallowed Half

Next, I put together a bumblebee costume and headed to the Hallowed Half in rural central Michigan. This again was an inaugural race, and packet pickup and start were not super well organized but I think the organizers learned from the experience. Some signage, helping people locate packet pickup, portapotties, and race start would be beneficial I think. A free stretching exercise prior to race start was a lot of fun, and off we went. I really liked the variety offered by this course - it was sort of a loop and a half and had city and rural components and went through a cemetery. The sunset occurred shortly after race start, so this race was spooky! The field was smallish but there were several runners near my race group and/or experience level, which is helpful. This race really shined when full darkness hit - there were numerous well lit aid stations and enthusiastic volunteers cheering. The cornfields on this night were stunningly beautiful, and I passed some small unidentified animals which added to the spooky factor. I was feeling great around 9-10 miles, which is sometimes a tough time for me. I finished in 3-something (scared of the dark!) and - shocker - earned an award for third in my age group. Despite the lack of organization at pickup, the rest of the time I spent at this race was awesome and I really appreciated the work the organization did and the celebratory atmosphere at the finish, so I will very likely return.

IV. Screaming Banshee

Ouch - everything ached when I got up to go to this race the morning after the Hallowed Half. Also, temperatures were below freezing. Brrr. Packet pickup was in a pleasant location in Potterville, Michigan, near Lansing. There was an outdoor covered shelter decorated for the day, a pro photographer, post race beer, and real restrooms. This field would probably be the smallest out of all of my October races, so this was looking to be a tough day and it did not disappoint. The race course went through several pleasant changes of scenery, but I struggled all day and never felt comfortable running. Everything hurt and felt fatigued. I finished dead fantastically last, with escorts. The organization(s) in charge did a good job keeping everything in order. I am curious whether they are interested in growing the field at all or if they'd prefer to stay a small race. Most of the racers ran a 5k or 10k, I believe.

So, to celebrate the passing of another year, I finished four half marathons (kind of) back to back and am pleased with this accomplishment. No PRs were achieved, but I had a lot of fun. I took a restful and satisfying break after I finished these, and now my long term focus is back on the long runs - 100K to 100M. I'd like to complete my 100 miler before I hit my mid-40s - is it at all possible to have this much fun while I'm racing a very long ultra marathon?

Run While You Can

The Wannabe Athlete makes a good case why we should run while we can.