Gosh, I feel like my old self again.

To start things off we have to go back to where we left off post-meniscus tear surgery in early February of 2024. The rest of that year was spent recovering from surgery and starting from zero with regards to my fitness.

My recovery was smooth and I’m very thankful for my wonderful PT techs who put me on the right track to get to 100% again. I ran my first five-mile run post-surgery in May of that year.

I was relieved.

My first race back.

My first official race back was the Chicago Turkey Trot 5K on November 28, 2024. I felt anxious, but I was pretty confident in getting through the race without much of an issue.

I was able to hold a steady pace and finished with a huge smile on my face. It was so nice to be back.

My running progressed from there through March of 2025. I spent lots of time getting the knee strong enough to be able to get back to where I was before my injury.

I was still really hesitant about getting back on some trails, so I worked pretty hard to get in shape for what was to come.

Ozark Foothills 25K

My first trail race back was the 25K (roughly 15 miles) at the Ozark Foothills trail races in Wildwood, MO on April 6, 2025. I had run the 50K on this course in the past, so I knew what to expect.

Rain leading up to the race made the course really muddy. I’ll tell you, it didn’t instill much confidence in me that I’d get out of it in one piece. To say I was nervous would be an understatement.

The end result? I loved every minute of it–the shoe sucking mud, the friendly aid stations, and the views over some of the ridges were spectacular.

You couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face if you tried to. I love running trails so much. I finished in just under four and a half hours.

While 2024 was mostly about recovery, last year was about building back up and getting my confidence back. This trail race was a great start to my year.

Cry Me a River Trail Half Marathon

Fast forward to July 2025. The Cry Me A River trail races in Chillicothe, IL, just outside of Peoria, are something special. I have a love/hate relationship with this race. The trail system in this area has some ridiculous climbing for where it’s located.

The 50K alone has nearly 6,500 feet of elevation gain. That’s like climbing the stairs from the floor of the Willis (Sears) Tower in Chicago to the roof 4.5 times!

I drove in the night before and set up to car camp. Heavy storms rolled in overnight, making a mess of the trails and all while the 100-mile runners were still on the course. I watched it all from the comfort of my car, wishing I was out there suffering with them.

I came in slightly undertrained for this race not being able to train for the kind of climbing that was ahead of me. Most of the second half I spent hiking on sheer exhaustion alone. I still ended up with a decent finish of four hours and twenty-three minutes. I could live with that.

A spark has been lit: The Superior Trail 50 Mile

I had hopes and dreams to do my first ultra last year, but it was not meant to be. I ran my last ultramarathon back in 2019. Can you believe that? It was so long ago.

Once COVID hit in early 2020 and all of my races for the year were cancelled, it was really, really hard to get my groove back. The closest I ever got to running some crazy distances was running Grandma’s Marathon and the Chicago Marathon in the same year in 2022.

This year I signed up for the lottery to run the Superior Trail 50 Mile in Lutsen, MN. I first ran this particular race in the fall of 2016, but I missed the cutoff near mile 21 after miscalculating my arrival time at the aid station.

I’m excited to say I was selected to run it this year! This is just the spark I needed to get back into running these incredible distances that I love so much.

Yes, I’m older (by a lot), and I’m way slower, but I’m determined to give it a good run.