Finding My Stride Again at the Norfolk Harbor Half

After a year of rebuilding, I’m toeing the line not for speed — but for joy, community, and gratitude.

Nov 22, 2025

Set the Stage

To start, I can’t believe it is already November.

I also cannot believe that I have remained “mostly” healthy all year so far (knocks on wood).

Not only have I managed to stay healthy, but as I have reworked my aerobic endurance—I have also been able to put work into my strength as I have been working with a physical therapist, Dr. Marc Adams (featured in the below Run Build Grow episode) who specializes in PT for active individuals.

This journey has culminated with a seeming reinvigoration with the sport that I had felt had been causing me a lot of needless pain. This time has given me greater respect for the gamut of stuff we may go through as runners throughout various training cycles.

The Struggles and Community

Why?

Because unless you are among that select few—you know who you are—every training cycle can come with its fair share of hiccups, scares, or straight-up crappy injuries.

For myself—this all culminated in what ended up being a rough final four months of 2024. I remained positive in my outlook and I enjoyed the finer points of reorienting my mindset to 100% focus towards community. I remember writing these words last October:

“Injuries will likely always be part of the runner’s journey, but they don’t have to isolate us. Instead, they offer an opportunity to deepen our sense of belonging, to share vulnerability, and to remind one another that running is about so much more than movement. As I look forward to healing and returning, I carry with me a renewed understanding of what it means to be a part of this community—not just in the moments of high-fives at the finish line, but in the shared resilience and support during times of rest and recovery.”1

I have wanted this year to just be a regular year. A year of running, a year of community, a year of actually being able to RUN with COMMUNITY.

What Have I Done

Well, I sit here, less than a week to what has literally been my goal race since January 1. In fact, this will only be my fourth race this year. I ran the Shamrock 8k back in March—testing my fitness and remembering what race day felt like. April brought about a fun time hanging out and running with the J&A folks again at the Big Blue 5k. Lastly, I really wanted to have a fitness test, so I did the CHAS Foundation 5k in September—realizing that while I could still run, my body moved differently than it did before and I needed to respect that fact.

I have celebrated with so much joy over the past few months as I began to really ramp up my mileage, running miles I hadn’t done since the lead-up to the 2024 Shamrock Half Marathon (the race where the Achilles pain began). I feel like my more natural running self—that is, I feel as though I have gotten back into my running groove again.

Am I as fast as I was before? No…

Will I get back to that pace again? I don’t know…

Do I care? Not really…

I am having fun, enjoying running, and enjoying the running community all again. It has become a chance for me to explore new things. I have dabbled in race directing—more to come here. I continue to offer my services to coach folks to help them achieve their dreams on the move (check out more info here). And now, I have a chance to get back into the “racing”2 scene and really immerse myself in this side of the running community.

Goals for this Weekend

I have had friends, colleagues, family, and even my therapist asking what my goals are for this weekend. Honestly, I am keeping my goal-setting humble—and I am 100% okay with that mentality. This will be my 10th Half Marathon race (holy cow—honestly I figured this out when thinking back while working on this article). There is over an hour difference between my fastest and “slowest” (ugh I hate that word) half marathons—1:33 PR at Shamrock 2023 and 2:35 in Richmond 2016.

Where will this one fall? I am not sure…

As always, I have my “A” Goal3

I feel like on my best day—presently—I could run under 2 hours.

However, this goal is something I put out to give myself a feeling of what an absolutely AMAZING day would be for me. While it would be amazing, I more-so have a sense of contentment for this race. A contentment that is leading me to really wanting to have fun, being my primary goal. I have run a half marathon every year since 2019, and this is my chance to extend what I am calling my “Race A Half A Year Streak.”4

Therefore, all I really care about for this race is my “B” Goal:5

FINISHING!!!

That’s it.

I plan to go out and run 13.1 miles.

For some it seems simple. For others it seems unimaginable, but for me I know it is enough right now, that achieving it will make it all worth it. The injury struggles at the end of 2024, the slow and seemingly steady recovery through the early months of the year, struggling to find any of the fitness I had lost, and feeling like an outsider in my own community (which to be clear, I NEVER actually was). All of it will be worth it knowing that I have completed my favorite race distance for the 10th time in my life!

Support and Encouragement

It will be my first time actually running 13.1 miles since Shamrock 2024 (my training only topped out at 12.5ish), and I know one way or another, I am going to make it to the finish line. The community that has formed and gathered around me is going to be there, and I know the cheers will be loud as I come down the Riverwalk along the water-side in Norfolk.

For those around, know that it is community that has done this, support, encouragement, and that never-give-up attitude. Remember, that when you surround yourself with awesome community, they will not abandon you at the slightest inconvenience, but that will lift you up when you are struggling and help you remember that the ultimate goal never has been speed—but distance. We are on this journey, not to run as fast as we can, but to see how far it can take us. Stacking runs and distances on top of one another, and getting to places we never thought imaginable.

Where is running taking you?