San Antonio Rock n Roll Half Marathon, San Antonio, TX, December 3, 2023

Race #91

San Antonio Rock n Roll Half Marathon

I apologize for my tardiness in writing and posting this blog, but I will admit that it was because of an injury that I sustained during my last half marathon in November. I tweaked my knee and have been struggling with training and some pain in the knee that has a previous injury and has plagued me for years. I was feeling pretty dejected and worried that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with my goal for reaching 100 half marathons by Mikie’s next birthday in September. The goal means that I basically have to run one half marathon a month. Running and training has been what has sustained me during the last 6-7 months since Mikie left me. It has kept me sane, it has kept me from staying in bed all day and keeping the covers pulled over my head, it has kept me from drowning in a sea of grief. So, I went into the race on December 3rd resolute that I would finish the race, even if I had to walk the entire 13.1 miles. It actually went better than I thought it would, although I still have knee pain and am seeing a sports ortho at the beginning of January. So, fingers crossed that I can get some answers and relief so that I can keep marching toward Mikie’s goal! But I knew this would be a tough race because of my injury, The weather couldn’t have been more perfect, it was cold at the beginning, but not so cold that it was miserable. And there was cloud cover for most of the race. My time wasn’t my fastest, but not too bad considering (2:31:48). I managed to run a lot of it and without too much pain, thanks to the BioFreeze stations along the way! I think that was my Mikie angel that sent those to me. And as always, Mikie was running beside me the entire way!

But after the race, as I was feeling sorry for myself, I remembered all of the injuries and obstacles that Mike dealt with in his half marathon journey—two back surgeries, open heart surgery, plus multiple injuries with his feet, quads, tearing his IT band, and the list goes on. So, I realized that although I need to be smart about not pushing it too much, if Mikie were here, he would be telling me, “Suck it up Nancy!” He would tell me to stop feeling sad about it and figure out how to make it work despite an aching knee. So, I decided to listen to my wise and persevering husband who never let an injury stop him! I have scaled back my training (since I am suspecting that part of the issue is overtraining), I bought a Peleton so that I can train without the impact on my knee and I am seeing a sports ortho to hopefully get some answers. So, we shall see. 

My next race is the Houston Chevron Half Marathon on January 14th. If you get a chance, send me some good mojo that day, I will probably need it! 

Stars and Stripes Half Marathon, Houston, TX, November 16, 2023

Race #90

On November 16, 2023 I completed a virtual half marathon at Memorial Park in Houston. It was in honor of the Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation, which provides college scholarships and educational counseling to military children who have lost a parent in the line of duty. What a wonderful cause that would have been very close to Mikie’s heart! 

I had decided that since it was a week before Thanksgiving, I would spend the race thinking about all of the things that I was thankful for related to Mikie and the 25 years we had together. So many wonderful thoughts and memories flooded my mind during the 2 hours, 25 minutes and 9 seconds that it took me to complete that race. And then after the race, I decided to write down some of the many beautiful memories and thought I would share some of them, so here goes…

Mile 1: Meeting in Arkansas in the computer lab and doing donuts in the parking lot, eating late night Cheetos and accidentally driving to Oklahoma and starting a 25 year relationship

Mile 2: Getting to work with Mikie for a year, opening the Core Knowledge office in Colorado and having a blast together

Mile 3: We started out early on getting to eat at some fabulous restaurants in different cities—and always ordering two desserts, that became a tradition for us—one of our favorites was the Penrose Room at the Broadmoor and their table side Ceasar salad

Mile 4: Many camping trips in Colorado—our favorite place to go was Chalk Creek near the Collegiate Peaks, and especially going with our sweet Bella

Mile 5: Geocaching all over Colorado and in other states when we would travel—it was always an adventure and took us to some places that we would have never ventured to otherwise (you will find geocaches that each one of us placed up near St. Mary’s Glacier)

Mile 6: Getting Bella and watching Mikie turn into a dog person and love our girlie little pup more than he loved most people (even though he would always laugh about her little pony tail), and then getting Bailey and Gracie, and he loved them fiercely

Mile 7: Getting to travel for work together and go to the Core Knowledge National Conference for many years and get to go places like Orlando, FL, Boston, MA, Washington, DC, Anaheim, CA, Nashville, TN (and getting to go to Disney World and Disneyland together)

Mile 8: Taking a two week road trip one summer and going to Colorado (3 National Parks), New Mexico, Arizona (Grand Canyon North Rim) and Utah (4 National Parks)—one of our favorite trips

Mile 9: Going to baseball games together—we got to go to quite a few different ballparks, but our favorite was always Coors Field to watch the Rockies

Mile 10: Working out and running together, especially at Washington Park in Denver and Memorial Park in Houston and getting to run several half marathons together

Mile 11: Many, many trips to the beach together in the last five years—even though it wasn’t Mikie’s beloved Pacific Ocean, he still enjoyed his salt water therapy and we loved going to the beach and enjoying it with our girls

Mile 12: So many amazing trips and vacations together, here are some of the highlights—Philadelphia, Minneapolis, London, Mount Rushmore, Sedona, Santa Fe (many times), many whitewater rafting trips, Yellowstone NP, Grand Tetons, Jackson Hole, New York City, Grand Canyon South Rim, Biloxi with the Shihloxi Squad, all over California (with several special trips to San Francisco), Hawaii, road trip from Houston to California, many trips to see the Joseph clan in California, Moab, Chicago, a cruise to Cozumel, Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Haiti, and many more

Mile 13: Getting married and becoming one in one of the most beautiful places in the world, Fiji—it was definitely a dream trip for us ♥️

We had so many plans for more memories and more trips, but these will have to sustain me for a lifetime…I loved making every memory with my sweet husband!

Next race is December 3rd, the San Antonio Rock n Roll Half Marathon, until then I will keep Marathoning for Mikie!

Houston Half Marathon, Houston, TX, October 29, 2023

Race #89

On October 29, 2023, I ran the Houston Half Marathon on a balmy and humid Texas morning. I ran my best time ever, 2:28:23, and I definitely give credit to my sweet guardian angel. I also wore the shirt designed in Mikie’s honor and I will wear it during every half marathon I run for him (I think it turned out really well). You can see the front in my picture and on the back, I have included what it looks like. I used the logo that Mikie created when he ran his first 50 half marathons and I modified it. A few days after the race marked 5 months since I lost my sweet husband and on that day, I wrote a letter to Mikie and told him some about the race, so I decided to share that letter as my blog post for this race (I did take out a few parts that I did not want to share). I miss Mikie so much and in some ways, it seems like it was just yesterday and in some ways, it seems like it was more than 5 months ago, but I guess that is normal. My next half marathon will be some time during mid-November and it will be a virtual half marathon. My next in person half marathon is December 3rd, 2023, the San Antonio Rock n Roll Half Marathon, which Mikie and I got to do together.

My dear sweet Mikie,

It is November 2nd and that means it has been 5 months since you left me. I can’t put into words how much I miss you, every second of every hour of every day. I do think I am getting a little better each day at living with the grief I feel, but I know that I will always carry that grief with me, for the rest of my life. I am trying to figure out how to carry that grief and not feel sad all the time. You used to say that to grieve deeply is to have loved deeply. Well, I sure know how deeply we loved each other so I guess this is the price that I have to pay for that love. And I know that I wouldn’t take back any of the love that we shared. I do know that my running and training for your half marathons has been one of the main things that has kept me sane. I sure hope you can hear me when I talk to you while I’m running. This last Sunday, I ran my first real half marathon in your honor and it would have been #89 for you. It went down streets that we used to drive along all the time and it went just a few blocks away from our house. I felt you with me the entire race. But something was a little different this time. Normally, when I am training, I picture you along my route, standing at the side of the trail or along the golf course. When it is a particularly tough spot, I picture you encouraging me to get to you and it always helps motivate me. But during this race, I saw you running beside me. You stayed with me through all 13.1 miles. Thanks for being with me, I could feel your presence and your spirit and most of all, your love. Please continue to be with me, especially when I am running. I will keep running in your honor and I will keep loving you just as much. I love, adore and cherish you and I will forever. 

All my love always,

Holly

Heart to Heart International Half Marathon, Houston, TX, September 19, 2023

Race #88

On September 19, 2023, Mikie’s 74th birthday, I ran 13.1 miles in fairly steamy conditions in Houston at Memorial Park to complete a virtual half marathon. This would have been #88 for Mikie (it is #14 for me). This race was run to benefit Heart to Heart International, which helps to improve access to health care all over the world. I have really only been training for about 2 months, but I have had some heavenly inspiration in my training. And the goal of finishing Mikie’s half marathons has definitely helped me survive the last 4.5 months. In previous blog posts, Mikie had been sharing “13.1 Reasons Why I Run Half Marathons” and he only got through #11. And although he won’t be able to finish his reasons, I thought I would share the 13.1 Reasons Why I Run Half Marathons. 

But mine are pretty simple… 

Reason #1: Mikie 

Reason #2: Mikie 

Reason #3: Mikie 

Reason #4: Mikie 

Reason #5: Mikie 

Reason #6: Mikie 

Reason #7: Mikie 

Reason #8: Mikie 

Reason #9: Mikie 

Reason #10: Mikie 

Reason #11: Mikie 

Reason #12: Mikie 

Reason #13: Mikie 

Reason #.1: Mikie 

The suddenness of Mikie’s passing and trying to deal with the shock and grief has been something that I wasn’t sure how I would deal with, but training and working to complete 13 half marathons in Mikie’s honor and to help him reach his goal of 100 Half Marathons by his 75th birthday has been something that has truly helped me survive. My training and running has been my therapy…I picture Mikie there with me, he cheers me on wherever I am running and I have lots of good conversations with him. And by training in the morning, I get to watch the sun come up, which helps remind me that Mikie would want me to keep going, that the sun will keep coming up every day, and that when I feel the sun shining down on me, I can feel Mikie smiling and still loving me. I am still trying to figure out how to live without him, and I am not sure I ever will completely, but the best I can do right now is to try and wake up each day and honor Mikie in everything I do. I hope I always make him proud. 

Next half marathon (#89) is October 29th, the Houston Half Marathon. It will go just a few blocks past our house in Houston. I definitely know Mikie will be with me every step of the way!