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It felt like an admission of defeat or a confession of failure at first, but it's important sometimes for us to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Instead, we squeeze runs in-between sleep and work, work and kids, kids and car troubles, car troubles and family celebrations. I'm thankful that CIM has a deferral program because I really did enjoy the race last year and look forward to running it again, but with the changes in the Boston Qualification Standards and without sufficient training, my chances of BQing at this race were slim to none while my probability for injuring myself on the journey were increasing with every day that I slacked. The course has changed this year to become the first road race to ever run across The San Francisco Bay Bridge.

It took me three years to achieve the goal, but eventually, on the very last day of my collegiate track & field career, I did it and my head was shaved at a party that night. Due to the current black to grey ratio going on with my hair color, growing my head hair out again didn't seem ideal. I'm three weeks into my training cycle for the 2018 CIM and so far, it's going pretty good. My life outside of running is still tumultuous, but whose isn't.

Like most things that are worth it in life, the journey started way before race day. My training leading up to the race was moving along well at first, but it wasn't long until similar patterns of missed weeks began to surface. Dropping out of the race, although this race does offer deferrals for the next year, wasn't an option for me. I missed my opportunity in San Francisco and watched thousands of runners pass by; I couldn't bare to watch another chance do the same.

I'm no expert on distance running, nor am I blessed with a wealth of experience in the field, what I am is someone who knows my own body well enough to know it's language. My body doesn't hesitate to tell me when it's rest day or to cut the workout a mile short. They're still pretty sure that I'm crazy, but I haven't given up hope. For Your Daily Run", my forehead gets scrunched up because I'm sure you're all crazy, but in all honesty, people looked at me strange last week when I was doing hill repeats in the pouring rain, so I guess I have minimal room to talk.