Yesterday morning I ran my first big race since the marathon . It's a special race for me, because this particular race was my first half marathon, in 2009. Originally called the " Women's Running Magazine Women's Half Marathon" (yes, a redundant mouthful), and then the "Lady Speed Stick Women's Half Marathon" (can you guess the sponsor they gained?), and now simply the " Women's Running Series Half Marathon," the race has changed quite a bit over the years. It began as a local race, which initiated from what was then a local publication, Women's Running Magazine   (now owned by Competitor Group --the same company that owns the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series, Muddy Buddy Series, and Competitor Magazine , to name a few). Perhaps you can already see where I'm going with this. The race series has branched out to Nashville, San Diego, and Scottsdale, in addition to St. Pete. It's becoming another big-name race series, d...

Clearly I've gone through a decent range of physical/emotional feelings the past few weeks. Oct. 30 : I went to Crossboot, as I usually do on a Wednesday night, and, like usual, I pushed myself through a tough workout. When I woke up the next morning, I could barely bend my arms because it was too painful. Washing my hair, brushing my teeth--everyday things I never think about caused tear-inducing pain. (I didn't notice any particular moment of pain during the previous night's workout, but I did push hard to get through some plyo-push-ups and did about a ton of dips.) I went to work but then scheduled an "emergency" massage to have the upper backs of my arms worked on--my triceps, but also down to my elbow. That helped a little bit, but when I woke up the next morning still in significant pain, I began to get a little worried. This was beyond sore-muscle pain. When Saturday came and I woke up for my first long run since my marathon, I got about a mile in and could...