What I'm running towards in 2025

I’m training for a marathon.

I was inspired by a client who recently came back from vacation and when I asked how he was feeling, he said, “Oh, still a bit sore from the marathon.” I was like, “What marathon?!”

His nonchalant attitude about it kind of lit a lightbulb in my head. We create such big events sometimes about things that really don’t need a lot of fanfare. Sometimes, we can just do the thing because, well, we’re alive, and it might feel good lol.

The last time I did any long distance running was 11 years ago. I had finished a 35km run and felt super ready for the full marathon I was running in two months.

Then, I fell. Well, actually Lady had dragged me down a hill going after another dog. I’d landed hard on my hip and injured my piriformis. I didn’t recover in time. It took months before I could really put weight into my right hip. That’s the thing with our bodies, we have no idea how much we put it through and how much it does for us, and how much everything is connected, until movement hurts.

I was heartbroken. And bitter. And to make myself feel better, I signed up for two half marathons later that year back to back to “make up” for the full marathon I’d missed.

I injured one knee in the first one but placed in the top 5% so all I could think about was beating my time in the second one. Placed top 3% in the second one but blew out my other knee.

I completely stopped running and went back to drinking a lot and used my injuries as an excuse to do so.

When Noah finally convinced me to try weightlifting, I completely got into that and thought my running days were behind me. In the last 8 years my longest run has been 5km, and I only did that for short spurts when I needed some extra cardio to cut weight, so it’d kind of felt like punishment for gaining unwanted weight.

I only rediscovered my love for running recently here in Mexico.

I’d noticed a dip in my energy and mood and I wasn’t sure why. I woke up one morning and my body just wanted to move. I went for a run and immediately noticed how my thoughts shifted, how much lighter they were, particularly in the morning when I tend to be the most depressed. So, like with anything that feels good, I continued to do it, until I overdid it. My body started to feel run down after my 20th day of running 5km first thing in the morning, without making any changes to my weightlifting routine (which included two heavy legs days per week). I burnt myself out, again.

I’m still a firm believer in that the people we meet and talk to are all messengers. Whether they inspire us or trigger us, everyone is a mirror. The conversation with my client had me saying out loud, “I’ve actually been getting back into running lately and loving it. Hmm, maybe I’ll run a marathon too!” Which then had me researching how to train for a marathon, which then got me thinking if I were to do this again, I want to do it properly.

I want to follow a plan. I want to be kinder, much kinder to my body this time. I want to learn how to incorporate weightlifting with endurance training. I want to learn how to incorporate proper nutrition and recovery into my routine. Because I’m not just focused on the results this time. I want to learn, through this process, who I’ll become on the other side.

I’m so excited to share this journey with you!