(thank you, Barney Stinson / HIMYM!)
The summer of 2025 has been filled with new adventures and challenges! And while I wouldn’t say these are totally out of character for us, they aren’t exactly ordinary either. Regardless, each of them has had its own set of challenges within it, and it’s been really fun to navigate them in the last few months.
Vermont 100: Alex’s first attempt at an official ultra-marathon!
Last summer, my husband Alex wasn’t able to run at all. He was dealing with a really stubborn injury plus the effects of multiple tick-borne illnesses. Seems like a great time to register for a big endurance event, right? Exactly. But that’s what he did. VT 100 is a race he’s had on his radar for a while and he just decided to go for it. He started with run/walk intervals that felt really hard, progressed to straight runs, then kept adding on distance until he felt comfortable getting back on the trails he loves so much. Through the winter his volume was still pretty low, but he was determined. Fast forward to July, race weekend. Alex had a plan set out for me & Emma – his official crew – and part of that was Emma would run with him the last 4-5 miles as his official pacer. She was SO excited for this that she kept her pack on all day, counting down the aid stations until it was her turn to jump in. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it that far, and he decided to drop out of the race around 46 miles.
Challenges accepted: go from zero to ultra-marathon status in less than a year; learn how to tolerate a lot of dried pineapple to fuel your long runs; and have a family willing to spend all day on the roads taking care of you at various aid stations. (to be honest, we all agree that Emma & I had more fun crewing for Alex at VT100 than he did running it – but I’m pretty sure he will go back for redemption!)
LEFT: Alex & Emma ~31 miles at Camp Ten Bear || RIGHT: Meg, Alex & Emma before the start of VT100!
Empire State Trail: Meg takes on New York State!
Earlier this year, one of our good friends was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer. Stemming from Alex & our friend Colin’s cross-country bike trip in 2010, to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in honor of a high school teammate who had died of leukemia, I decided I’d bike across New York to raise money and awareness for our friend, his family & their current situation. What began as a plan to ride bikes, hang out with college friends, and raise some money morphed into a huge fundraising attempt – complete with sponsors, a community field day, a website, social media … the works. There were days on the trip that flew by thanks to good conversations, and there were a couple that felt like an eternity when I was solo (and on those days, I glanced at my “Nickstrong” bracelet quite often to remind myself that he’s not quitting & I won’t either). Some days were hot – one day the temperature and mileage were both over 100! – and only one day was rainy. All in all, it was absolutely amazing, and we estimate that we pulled in an additional $15,000 or more for our friends. I have to give MAJOR props to our friend Nicole who was responsible for bringing all of that to life!!!
Challenges accepted: spend more time on the bike than I ever have; be comfortable asking people for donations to support our cause; do hard things because Nick is doing something much harder.
LEFT: on the shores of Lake Erie, ready to start!! || RIGHT: at the end of a hot & lonely [read: hard] day
LEFT: Colin & Meg around Canajoharie || RIGHT: Meg crossing the Walkway over the Hudson
LEFT: Ethan (Meg’s cousin), Emma, Meg & Joanne (Meg’s mom) at The Battery in NYC – we made it!!! Ethan joined Meg on the bike for the last day, while Emma & Joanne were the support crew for the last 2 days! From Buffalo to NYC (with some detours for construction & social events included): 590 miles in 10 days – most days were in the 60-70s, and I ranged from 13 to 101.3!
ADKRazy: just another fun running idea!
Back in the fall of 2020, I ran in the Old Forge Marathon – one of very few races happening around that time; while the race didn’t go quite as planned, the experience was good enough to want to go back. In 2023, Alex & I both ran the Old Forge Half – again, not quite as planned, but overall awesome. Sooo why not combine those two races, and add some more??? Back in December 2024, I signed up for the ADKrazy challenge: 4 races (5K, 10K, half, full marathon) in 3 days during Old Forge Marathon weekend. When I signed up, I had the faint idea that I could eclipse the men’s event record if all went well, and I felt pretty confident about taking down the women’s record. With the summer as it was, training wasn’t quite exactly what I had envisioned for this race series weekend – as you can imagine, I didn’t have much time for running while I was on the bike for several hours a day! And in typical Megan-fashion, something hurt [aka “my foot is broken”] in the few days leading up to the race. I was very close to not evengoing to Old Forge to start the dang thing … and then I ended up with some serious bling!
- 5K (Thursday evening): 1st place overall (& thereby, also 1st place female & 1st place ADKrazy), 22:33 (7:16/mile). Rainnnny day, a little slip-slidey on the dirt roads.
- Half marathon (Friday morning): 4th place overall, 1st place female, 2nd place ADKrazy, 1:44:44 (8:00/mile). Found a great rhythm around mile 5 and just ran with it (literally). Absolutely gorgeous weather – 50s and sunny at the start, and the trees shaded us from direct sunlight except the first and last miles.
- 10K (Friday evening): 2nd place overall, 1st place female, 1st place ADKrazy, 45:39 (7:22/mile). Somehow my legs are still going strong – serious carb loading seriously pays off.
- Marathon (Saturday morning): 11th place overall, 2nd place female, 1st place F30-39, 1st place ADKrazy, 3:55:46 (9:00/mile). At no point did I reach the low point of “this sucks, I want to be done” – I knew I was running pretty slow, and I was seriously just happy to be out there and enjoying the roads and woods.
For signing up and showing up to packet pick-up, I got a backpack, two shirts, and a pint glass. For each race I finished, I got a sparkly medal. For F1/AG1 wins, I got an OF Marathon Weekend coaster. And NOW I get to wear & use all of this stuff proudly. From almost not showing up to the start line, to winning the whole dang event (and capturing the women’s event record, bringing it down to only 5:01 slower than the men’s record) – it was really freaking awesome … just call me Des, a la 2018 Boston???
Challenges accepted: run a lot of miles in not a lot of time; eat all the carbs possible before, during & after everything; acknowledge my personal manifestation of race anxiety with a psychosomatic injury in the 2 days before race start.
LEFT: self-explanatory! || CENTER: coming into the finish of 26.2! || RIGHT: the bib, the bling & the prizes
WHAT’S NEXT???
Our summer has been jam-packed with adventures, memories, challenges, victories, and everything in between. We are ready to be at home for a while, and can now settle into our routine of school and cross country (Alex & I both coach XC at Burnt Hills). We are definitely ready to sleep in our own bed for more than a few nights here and there, cook dinner together, and catch up on a lot of home-things that got pushed to the back burner in the last several months.
I think there are probably some pearls of wisdom here, or lessons learned, if you care to extrapolate … ultimately, I think the biggest nugget here is that you can do hard things if you have the passion, desire & support system. But really I just wanted to share about our adventures, because that probably explains why I’ve been a little quiet on the business front over the summer. Fear not, I am back at it this week and ready to bring you some new offerings, an updated newsletter, some injury / running / PT-related tips, and more!
Here’s to another summer, to another school year, to another adventure. See ya on the roads!
Dr. Coach Megan