Berlin Marathon and Summer Training

When my blog has been quiet it usually means I am in full training mode.  I'm not sure how people keep up while training, but I sure can't!  Between work, massage and chiro appointments, and training I usually fall asleep when I would otherwise be blogging!  Most nights I wouldn't even get home until close to 8 from my second run/appointment/whatever work function I had, pass out and wake up for another run at 5 am.  The days I wasn't doubling, I savored my extra sleep until 6:15 before rushing to shower and get ready to be at work by 7:00.  I am a HUGE advocate of 8-9 hours of sleep/night during marathon training.

After a morning run and paddle boarding with Abby at Grand Lake (8300')

After wrapping up a relatively satisfying spring season I took a little break from the mid to end of June.  July started with some base miles for a couple weeks and then I started with the workouts.  Pretty much all my long runs from there on had a workout of some sort.  This was actually nice since it made the long run go by faster.  Most of them were alone, but I did meet up with some of the Willow Street ladies on occasion.  During an easy run one morning my hamstring cramped and it felt like a pull.  Naturally, I freaked out.  I got in for an appointment the next 2 days. The pain lingered for 2 weeks and then after a 20X400m workout it was completely gone, yay!  There was no problem for about 2 weeks until once again on easy run it tweaked.  Back to ART (active release therapy), exercises, massage, stim, ice, etc.  I spent a week in Colorado and worked with my good friend who is a PT out there.  Amazingly, it disappeared again.  I only briefly felt it during a 25 mile run at altitude closing out 102 miles for 7 days (90 for the week), so it was a win.

After coming back from Colorado, I went to Watertown to run an 18 mile race as part of my long run.  The plan was to warm up a few miles and then do 15 at MGP.  Of course I started at marathon goal pace and held that for 15 miles.  I then decided to shut it down a bit since I hit my 15, but the last mile I changed my mind and closed in 6:08 for the 18th.  After my warm up and cool down it was a successful 22 mile day.

Finishing the 18.12 Mile Challenge (1:53)

1st place and course record

Skechers Performance athletes representing!

I went into Berlin confident 6:15's would be doable through mile 20.  I knew I had done some really long runs this cycle with depletion so I thought 20-26 although hard, I would be strong.  Once again, I knew I was flirting with this 2:45 barrier, but I felt things were looking good.

A long story short the week leading up to the race I was super stressed.  AirBerlin (who I was flying with) declared bankruptcy.  200 pilots called in "sick" and hundreds of flights were being cancelled with no refund.  My return trip was changed, however my directed flight to Berlin was still scheduled.  My parent's flight completely changed.  People were claiming their flights were getting cancelled with as little as 30 minutes notice.  I spent countless hours trying to get through with them, booking and cancelling several flights with other airlines.  In the end, it all worked out, but it was still stressful at the time!

I got to Berlin without an issues and adjusted to the time change fairly quickly.  I felt pretty good, no major issues.  The weather was predicted to be much warmer than I wanted, 58 degrees at the start, 65 at the finish.  I was pretty bummed.  I ran 2:50:01 in 25-32 degree temps, 2:45 in 40's, 2:46 in 40's & 50's, and 2:48 in 50's, so I knew this would be by far the warmest marathon I would run.

Packet pickup

RACE DAY:

Getting a bagel was impossible.  Instead, I settled for 2 rolls with my normal peanut butter and banana.  I took the underground with Martha and Ralph to the park.  From there, we walked to the athlete entrance where I left Martha with Ralph.  I walked in the rain about another mile until I reached my baggage area.  Since it was raining I didn't want to check anything yet.  I sat down on a poncho, took my wet shoes and socks off and waited.  I worried I hadn't eaten enough and was searching for food which didn't exist.  My gels would have to keep me full.  Eventually I checked my bag, leaving my pants on that I had planned on checking in order to keep my legs warm in the rain.  I walked to my corral which we couldn't enter since the hand cyclists were in there.  There was nowhere to warm up, so that was a lost cause.  At 9:00 the hand cyclists went off and everyone started climbing over a good size fence to get into our start area.  I couldn't believe this is how we were entering!!!  I asked a tall guy to help me over, the last thing I needed was to fall!  As I stood there I felt something on the back of my leg.  I turned around and yes, there was a man peeing behind me and it splattered on my leg.  Definitely in Europe...



It took 18 seconds to get to the start line, which was exactly what I figured.  I found the blue tangent line immediately and stayed on that.  After the first mile (6:14) it was still crowded.  I started to notice I was slipping with every step.  I moved off the blue line thinking that was the issue.  Nope, the road itself was slick.  Damn it, was it the racers or was there oil on the road?  As the 8k approached I looked for my family and saw my mom and dad.  I was shocked I saw them because how many spectators were at that point and how many runners were near me.  Okay, 5 miles done.

The next 5 I thought I had it in the bag that day.  I felt great.  I kept trying to slow down and was still running under 6:15's extremely comfortably.  At the 10k my watch was only .04 off, which was perfect.  I knew I needed to account for ~26.4 miles as a final distance so I was right on for that so as long as I stayed around my pace I'd make it (there were no mile markers just kilometers, I felt more comfortable using the mile splits on my watch 26 times than looking down 42 times).  Then around mile 11 my right glute/proximal hamstring got tight.  Okay, it doesn't hurt I thought.  I kept trying to massage, punch it, which is a lot harder to do while running than I thought.  I still maintained my pace.  I saw my family again around mile 15.  Miles 11-14 were 6:14, 615, 6:13, 6:17 and then 6:21... that 6:21 I had felt my knee.  Okay, I can run through this.  The next 2 miles were slower, but not bad.  Then 17-19 hurt.  I already thought I would run to 20 and if I had to walk I would.  I was going to finish the marathon one way or another no matter how bad my knee hurt.

Best support crew!

It was the worst second half of a marathon in awhile.  I yelled a couple times in pain.  I was miserable.  Eventually I got to 38k and saw my family again.  The only thing that seemed to put a little fire under my butt was seeing another woman in front or one coming up along side of me.  The last 1k I was with another girl.  She started to pull away and I thought I at least was going to get one position higher and fight the last 1/2 mile-ish.  I hung on and then sprinted as hard as I could at the last second (the finish stretch seemed FOREVER).  I got her, probably not even by 1/2 a second, but I got her.  I finished 33rd overall female, not bad for a rough and disappointing race.

I got my medal, talked with a few other Americans and made my way over to my bag.  Once again, we had to walk around a good amount.  I was unmotivated to walk back to the changing tents and decided the middle of the grass field was good enough.  I found Ralph at the family meeting area and we waited for my parents and sister to get there.  We walked just far enough where we could get an uber and went back to the hotel so I could shower before grabbing a beer and food!

Dinner after the marathon

So what's next?

I'm still being very cautious with my knee.  It's not 100%, but its not as disabling as it's been in the past.  I took 5 days completely off from running and have started back up.  What's next is all dependent on my body.  I have ideas, but I'm not pushing it if my body doesn't want to listen.  Time will tell!

Training & website

My spring training cycle is ending soon and I'm so happy thing have turned around.  I'm feeling strong, fast and confident again and am looking forward to the workload this summer.  I actually have really missed marathon training and cannot wait to do real long runs again.  My garmin told me 4/9/17 I had a new long run record, 16.5 miles!  Crazy!  I'm looking forward to 20+ milers these next few months.

Thursday, May 18th- Workforce Challenge

Weeks prior to this 3.5 challenging race the goal was sub 20 minutes.  Given the shape I'm in and the difficult course this was going to be a big PR, but we knew very reachable.  As the days grew closer we were looking at a record setting high for the day, 94 degrees.  The starting area was hot with the heat radiating off the black pavement.  The gun went off and I went through the mile in about 5:40, slow.  The second mile, 5:43.  Okay, I thought at least I'm consistent.  Then it got brutal.  The uphill going to mile 3 and the heat started to hurt.  I came through mile 3 about 10 seconds slower than I wanted (heat adjusted) and was disappointed. I ran the final 1/2 mile in 2:45.  I won in 20:20, 2 seconds faster than my last W on this course 2 years prior on a nearly perfect day.  The top men ran anywhere between 30-40 seconds slower than the years prior.  I know had the weather been what it was the past 2 years I would have gotten that sub 20.  Next time.

 Times Union article

Saturday, May 20th- Westfield 5k

So a 5k 1 1/2 days later after racing in 94 degrees sounds silly, right? Well it is.  But it's a 5k and it wasn't going to ruin anything, plus it's some extra cash.  I ran 17:32, not great, but good enough for 4th place and $200.00.  Plus the homemade ice cream after was totally worth it.  The next couple days were all about recovery and super easy running!

Training week May 21st-27th: 70 miles

A couple solid workouts for my last "higher" week- 10x600's, all were a bit fast (given 5:20-30 pace, all around 5:20 exactly), so I did 9, and a final 78sec 400m all on 200m rest.  Friday I was given a 30 min tempo between 6:00-6:15 pace... actual 4 miles (5:52, 5:54, 5:49, 5:52), decided to do a mile float, then another mile at 5:49.

So moral of these workouts, if you can't pace yourself well like myself, you may need to adjust.  Sure, I could have done another 6+ minutes during my tempo to hit 30 minutes, but I was running way faster than instructed.  It's a workout, not a race and since I'm not good at pacing I figured I'd be smart and take a mile float instead of digging myself deeper.  Training to race well is about training smart.  Eating, sleeping and doing all the right things to promote recovery and when needed, adjusting plans.

The other thing I'm excited about is my new website!

Essentially I have seen way too many runners be overcharged (in my opinion) by online coaching programs. Not only do I feel the prices are ridiculous, but they are coming from people doing it for the wrong reasons.  I'm not out to make money, or flash my name around.  No, I don't want any of the athletes to create or use a hashtag or post excessively.  I have had success thanks to my coach and my medical background.  I went from being an average runner to doing what it takes to turn it up and reach new levels.  I follow medical research and hard data.  I'm not a sales person, I actually hate sales.  But what I am is a well educated, passionate runner with a success story that wants the same for others.  No, I will not encourage any female (or male) runner who is unhealthy to run.   Another issue that makes me shirk.  I've seen runners with obvious eating disorders be coached to do speed workouts and marathons when they are clearly at a high risk of something serious like cardiac arrest by doing so, or injured runners to push through ending with fractures.   I'm not going to allow or promote that.

So if you'd like to give it a try, you know the kickasso website!

🏃‍♀️ Happy Running!

The DL on PRP treatment

As an orthopedic PA and a competitive runner, I've been asked a lot of PRP as a treatment modality for tendon, muscle and ligament injuries.  Therefore, I thought I would give everyone my professional opinion.

Platelet Rich Plasma:

First, what are platelets?  Platelets are found in your blood and aide in the clotting cascade when there is injury to a vessel.  If someone has too many platelets they are at an increased risk of developing blood clots verses someone who has too little platelets.  If an individual's platelet level is low, he or she will have trouble clotting and may experience increased bruising, nose bleeds, etc.

PRP Therapy:


injection of one's platelets into an injured area has been around for a couple of decades now.  However, there is no great evidence that this is a quick fix or cure for sports related injuries.  Blood is drawn from the patient, centrifuged down and the platelets are then injected into the site of injury (usually under the guidance of ultrasound).  The thought is that the plasma contains growth factors and proteins that are needed in the repair of tendon, ligament, muscle and bone injuries.  There is however limited evidence to support PRP therapy in the treatment of soft tissue injury.  The other thing is this treatment is expensive!!!  About $600-$1,000 per injection and 2-3 injections are needed.  The other thing to think about is the injection itself is putting a needle into the site of injury, which alone will increase blood flow to that area.  This is the same concept behind dry needling, so if you haven't tried that how do you know that isn't what helped (if it does help).  

Common running injuries and PRP outcomes:

• Plantar fascitis: PRP injections have been studied against corticosteroid injections in patients with PF.  The results favored the corticosteroid injection...
• Achillies tendonitis/tear-  Like the PF, there is poor blood flow to this site.  There are some studies that suggest improvement after PRP with this injury, however once again its after months, so who knows.
• Osteoarthritis of the knee- There seems to be a lot of studies looking at OA and PRP.  One study looked at the MRI of patient's with mild OA, they then received PRP and had another MRI a year later.  The repeat MRI did not show any significant increase in the OA.  Similar studies also used pain, where patients reported less pain after PRP, however patients that received a placebo injection stated the same.  Thus, I am a fan of the imaging studies and not a patient's verbal response that could be mental, aka placebo effect. 
• Patellar tendonosis: Study in 2007 in the UK used 44 patients showed an improvement in the group that underwent PRP therapy in return to sport as well as improved tendon thickness and reduced tears.  Another study that used a single subject track athlete showed improvement after 6 months from the last injection in combination with other treatment modalities... really?!

Risks: in general the risks are minimal.  As long as you don't have any crazy hematologic issues and have exhausted everything else, it can't hurt.  I'm not saying it will help though!

Conclusion:


I feel this is a benign option for someone that has exhausted all other treatment options.  This includes time off or activity reduction, FULL therapeutic dose of NSAIDs, dry needling, physical therapy, ice, etc.  I understand what it is like to want to return to your sport and being sidelined, but just know it really is a last resort and nothing is really proven.

Spring is Blooming

Yes.  Spring is blooming.  The tulips are out.  The grass is growing (well not mine, my yard is full of weeds).  And training is doing the same.

Runcation

4/22/17-4/30/17

4/24-30: 80 miles

The morning before flying out to Arizona I had a 16 mile long run workout.  3 mile warmup, 3 miles around 6-6:05 pace, 6 miles moderate, 3 miles back at 6:05, 1 cool-down.  It went mostly well, first hard 3 were 6:06, 5:59, 5:58, moderate miles around 6:50-55, the next 3 hard ended up being 2.5- 6:02, 5:58, with 1.5 down.  Wasn't feeling that last half mile as I made a 180 turn to head back home, something about finishing hard up Western Avenue wasn't happening.  

The Brutal Sun:

On Tuesday of vacation I had a bulky 8 x mile with 60 second rest.  I thought starting at 7:15 am was early, but not in Arizona... It was already 70 degrees and the sun felt brutal.  I was on a bike path with no shade.  Ironically all these paths follow a "river or canal" but there was nothing but dried up dirt as my scenery without an ounce of water.  I made it through the first 5 repeats all faster than the given pace.  Stopped for longer than my 60 seconds and got gatorade and water at my car after the 5th.  Next thing I knew I puked during number 6.  I called it a day.  No sense of getting dehydrated or ruining my recovery.

That afternoon I escaped the heat a bit and ran up in Sabino Canyon for a shakeout.  

Heading up Sabino Canyon

Almost everyday consisted of running doubles, taking a hike or exploring.  My brother and I went all over--Sedona, Scottsdale, Tuscon, Mt. Lemmon.  Thursday morning I met Amy, who I crossed paths with while trying to qualify for the OT in the fall of 2015.  Thankfully she got me up and moving early for a nice 10.5 miles before it got too warm.  I attended my conference Thursday and Friday (the resort was amazing!), then Saturday night I took a redeye back to NY.  

Hiking near Scottsdale

On the property of the resort where my conference was

The Down Week and Mastodon Challenge 15k

I was told to take a day off the following week and run closer to 60-64 miles.  Wednesday I had another bulky workout-- 3 warmup, 2 miles, 3x1 mile, 2 miles, 2 cool down.  It went amazing and I hit everything faster than instructed.  I was suppose to run Broad Street 10 mile on Sunday, but given the travel and heavy mileage the week prior, I thought staying home and running a local race would be better.  I signed up for the USATF ADK 15k GP without any goals.  The course as I knew was hilly and technical.  The race started off with the first mile going downhill, however I knew this meant we would be climbing soon.  Then we went off road onto a grass stretch that led to a trail with some stone to run on.  Well it had rained earlier so it was slick.  I was forced to run along the stone in the grass and mud.  Eventually we got off and hit an uphill to get onto the bike path.  Once we got off the bike path, another uphill.  The race continued on this way with another trail section and a lot of turns.  I won and finished in 56:37, which I was extremely happy with given the course.  Maybe I would have been ready for a solid Broad Street run... oh well, there is always next year.  I still won some money and had fun with my teammates.  

Willow Street taking 1st place USATF team

Coming in for the finish

  

Later that day, Emily and me went up to a 5k in Clifton Park to support one of our local runners.  Since I already raced that day, I figured Mia would run.  She had been doing some miles with me, she ran 5 with Emily and me several weeks ago sub 8 minute pace, I thought she was ready... or not.  She bolted out the first mile in 6:40, then dropped to a 12:20 since she decided to lay down a few times.  She was done, but eventually we finished!

         Mia smiling before the race

Mia exhausted

I'm feeling good that my training and results have finally started to turn around.  Running has its ups and downs, you just have to remember that and the fact neither will last forever.

“Let it rain on some days,

Let yourself shiver on some cold nights, 

So when it's Spring you'll know why it was all worth going through.” 

Looking Up.

Finally some good training and a decent race!!!

Training April 9th-April 22nd

4/9/17- Sunday long run.  16.5 miles, normal run with the last 3 hard, closed in 6:03.  Longest run in months, to finish off a 75 mile week, my highest week in a VERY long time.  I felt awesome and we got brunch after of course.

#bRUNchrunning #bRUNtribe 

4/12/17- Workout Wednesday!  Mike prescribed 12x400m with 200m recovery jog between 76-80.  I averaged somewhere between 77-78, boom!  

4/15/17- Saturday B.A.A. 5k-  okay so 5ks are NOT my speciality so I was a little in disbelief when Mike said I should be able to run close to 17:30, that's about my PR and I'm not in that kind of shape I thought!  My personal best on the course here was 17:45 a few years ago when I was having a stellar season, right before I ran 1:18 for a 3 minute half marathon PR.  I had my traditional pasta and shrimp dinner in Newton Friday night and stayed at the Park Plaza Hotel right next to the start.

Deciding on an outfit is hard with so many @skechersperformance options!

 I warmed up with Mollie and Lopez while Lopez's husband was our bag man.  Unlike the last time I ran this race, we couldn't just jump in our corral at the start like I thought.  We were directed to the other side of the park where we had to fight our way through thousands of people 10 minutes before the gun went off... stressful!!!!   My first mile was fast, but I felt relaxed and smooth- 5:31.  The second mile I lost Mollie during the "uphill" of the underpass.  We made the turn around, came back down the underpass and back up again.  Mile 2 was right before turning on Boylston.  It was so packed as we came back towards the park, I never saw the mile 3 sign.  We turned the corner and the finish line was already there.  I was slightly bummed because I had a lot left and should had known to kick earlier.  My final mile was 5:43, but the final .12 was sub 5 minute pace.  I ran 17:35, and felt good finishing, which I can't complain about.  We met up with Joe Benny for our cool-down, showered, got drinks and an amazing brunch!

Brunch with Lopez and Dave (Ame for it coaching), never a dull moment!!!  Thanks for picking Brownstone, so yummy!!!

4/18/17- Track Tuesday-   The workout- 10x800 at 5:50-55 pace with 200m recovery jog, followed by 10x200 at 3k-1 mile pace.  

Actual-10x800m with 200 recovery all between 2:47-2:49 (5:36-5:39) 200m were all sub 5 minute pace, except the first.  Warm up and cool-down--> 14 mile day!  That was a long one!

4/22/17- Saturday long run before jumping on a plane!  16 miles with some hard miles in there at 6:00 pace, mile 14- 5:58 before a 2 mile cool down!

In addition, I've added a more structured strength training program.  Doing it in my basement solo wasn't really cutting it, so twice a week I've been meeting up with some other runners at Powerhouse Athletics to do some fun, crazy strength stuff!  

This week I'll be in vacation in Arizona (Phoenix, Sedona and Tucson).  If you have any suggestions where I should run, hit me up! 

Happy Running! 😎

Life in a nutshell.

It's been a long time since I've updated my blog.  And there's good reason for that.  My running has sucked.  My grandmother who I lived with all my life passed, work has been crazy and I'm just trying to make it from one place to the next without being too late in life.  I told them to stop during my massage last week because I was late for a work dinner, then quickly changed into 1 of 3 outfits I brought to my appointment and did my makeup while driving (unsafe, I know).

Last November, I completely changed my training to try something different.  I started doing less mileage, higher intensity and more workouts.  I thought I would be in great shape for the Houston half in January... then on Wednesday before the race I got a call at work.  My grandmother had a heart attack.  She was stable but not looking great.  I got out of work late and rushed to the hospital.  As soon as I got there, my grandmother perked up.  She had been out of it all day, but I got to see her up and alert.  We knew that night wasn't certain.  I arrived at the hospital the next morning to wait for the doctors as I'm the medical one of the family and need to be present for these things.

This was the first day of running I missed in months...

My grandmother hadn't  eaten and was refusing to until AFTER the doctors got there because "the last thing I want to do is eat, get sick and be unable to talk to them."  Sure enough rounds took forever and I was able to get nan to eat some toast.  The doctor walked in, and as she called it, she puked.  We went outside to talk where we ultimately made the decision of hospice, we were going to withdraw the drip she was currently on, along with other medications.  Nan was upset.  "I don't want hospice, those people take care of you, just let me go home by myself."  As crystal clear as she was, she didn't get it.  No one said anything, so I had to tell her, you aren't going home, this hospice is here in the hospital...

The look on her face as I told her I will never forget.  To know your body has totally failed you, despite being healthy-- riding her bike, doing her abs everyday still and lifting her soup cans as weights, and that this was it.  I told her we weren't going to be sad and instead do something fun.  I went and got nail polish to paint her nails, and we reminisced and I laid in bed with her.

I left to go take care of myself, I still had a flight to Houston the next day.   I came back that night and everything changed.  Nan was no longer coherent.  We played Frank  Sinatra for hours, then I finally left, knowing this would be the final goodbye.

The next morning on my way to the airport my grandmother shockingly called me.  I couldn't believe it.  She called my brother in Arizona as well who was desperately trying to get on a flight.  Mentally she was hanging on to say goodbyes.  Saturday morning I walked into the expo to pick up my bib and got the phone call, she had passed.

You may wonder why I still went to Houston knowing what was going to happen.  I had the best last memories with her and wanted those to be it.  She got bad.  I know what happens. I see people die in the hospital a lot.  I wanted me painting her nails, laying in bed, talking about the old days with her to be my last memories.

The next week was hard.  I  read her eulogy at the funeral.  I heard from friends I was shocked to hear from and didn't from others I would have thought I would have.  I learned a lot about family and true friendships during this period.

So anyway, this is about running, right?

My running still hasn't been great... in March I went to Gate River.   I ran the worst race of my life.  I did all the work (the abs, but not soup cans), yet my body failed me.  My plane had an emergency landing on the way in, delayed my arrival into JAX and altered my ride picking me up from the airport.  Thankfully for this disaster, I was able to stay an extra night and partake in the after parties.  So I still had a good time and met new people, one of who suggested to get my cortisol tested.  Several days later I did and it was through the roof.  Who knows if that was it or mentally I just wasn't there (racing is 90% mental), but I  recently decided to go back to what worked.

Anytime I meet a non-runner and tell them how much I run, they always say "wow, you must really love running".   Well this is first time I'm admitting this out loud....  No.  I feel like I am missing out on parts of life because I have a long run the next day or I am tired from running 75 miles that week, but I am stubborn and I have a plan.  I always have a plan, I am a planner.  And that plan is Berlin.

The Back Story

Running came into my life at a very important time.  Sure, I ran through HS and college and was decent, I was a soccer player, but the competitive aspect kind of saved me.  After undergrad, I did a masters program at BU medical, which essentially was first year medical school.  I hated it and was beyond stressed and depressed about what I was going to do with my life.  As I had in the past, I used food (rather the lack of) to have control.  Unfortunately this led to rock bottom where I collapsed on the green line in Boston.  The paramedics came down to the lowest level of the train station and took me out on a stretcher to the hospital.  The facility where I had been receiving outpatient treatment was contacted.  The next day I was admitted.

After several weeks, I signed out AMA (against medical advice) and moved home.  I then ran my first marathon the next month (without medical permission or knowledge of course).  I lived, in more way than just not having a heart attack.  I joined a running group and started to see real runners normalizing running and food.  Fast forward 4-5 years and I was now 100% normal in regards to food.  Some people say you can't be cured of an eating disorder, but screw that.   I'm living proof.  Zero negative thoughts enter my mind when I eat chocolate cake.

So I got healthy because I loved running and wanted to run fast.  And guess what, I ran so much faster!!!!   My marathons went from 3:57, 3:27, 3:19, 3:13, 3:12, 3:08, 3:07, 2:59, 2:50, 2:45.

I love competing and I love winning.  But at the end of the day, there is so much more to life than just running.  Sure, I have my best friends I get to run with and travel to races with, but it's nearly impossible to date outside of this world.  No normal person will understand that I NEED to get up early to run, and yes, then run again after work because I'm too stubborn to give up when there are 45 seconds between me and making the OTQ.  That taste in my mouth after missing the trials, of failing. After all that's happened I will be there in 2020.

So full circle here.  My plan is to make the OTQ this September in Berlin.  Then I'm done for a bit.  Life is too short to not live it to the fullest in all aspects of life.  I haven't had a period in 5, maybe 6 years?  To get my body rested and recovered and live a life that more normal people my age are doing!

I'm pretty excited!