Last summer, my daughter Bethany had a 10-week internship with PCL Construction in Denver, Colorado. So when a local pacing group was looking for volunteers for the 2022 Revel Rockies half marathon, I bought a $40 airplane ticket and signed up to help out; with the added bonus of spending a fun weekend with her.

Lucky for me, the course was beautiful and fast, so for 2023- I opted to comeback and race the marathon course instead of pace.

Being a wife and mother to 3-teenagers and 2 college students, working full time, volunteering with the children at my local church, and marathon training at times has honestly felt like a lot. Early mornings and bedtimes, doesn’t leave much time for fun and fluff. I love how running makes me feel mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually so the sacrifices are worth it.

I arrived early enough Friday to volunteer at packet pickup, where I saw a few friends but unfortunately continued to deal with some diarrhea that began earlier in the week.

By mid-day Friday I was very worried about running a marathon tomorrow because in addition to the diarrhea, my gut began aching and cramping when walking; feeling similar to a bout of diverticulitis that I dealt with in 2019. How was I going to run 26.2 miles when walking hurts?

At the end of my shift at the expo, I considered my options. A quick prayer for guidance left me with the feeling to look for a local acupuncturist.

A google search and phone call landed me with Eve Koceurk DOM LAc LCH LANET of Golden, Colorado- a very experienced and astute professional who thankfully had a late afternoon opening and graciously agreed to see me sight unseen as a brand new patient. I’ve had a lot of acupuncture in the past for everything from muscle injuries, training recovery, hormones and mental health support. After an hour with Eve and some herbal remedies, my pain and cramping had stopped and my diarrhea did too. In full disclosure, I had no idea what I was taking. I don’t know how to read Chinese, but I’ve had no gut problems since her work and taking the Chinese herbs she recommended. Clearly Eve was exactly right, what additional evidence do I need?

Saturday morning- race day was beautiful; rainy and surprisingly not a cold as I thought it would be at 4:00 in the morning after a decent rainstorm the night before.

This course is stunning and reminds me of my Alpine home in Utah. (minus the bear crossing signs) As runners, we were also blessed with cool temps in the 50’s and cloud cover- perfect racing conditions. I knew I wasn’t 100% physically but I felt decently strong as I focused on running according to how I felt, instead of focusing on pace, which is my usual focus as I race. I accepted the reality that a new PR was not likely with all my continuous gastrointestinal issues this week, despite my training.

The rollers in the middle felt decently hard and by mile 23, I needed a bathroom stop but thankfully I didn’t have any diarrhea. I finished pretty tired but that’s normal when you run a marathon. A little rest and some caffeine free NanoHydr8 always does the trick to help me recover enough to get my bag, find the bus and head back home.

While my time wasn’t what I wanted, and trained for- the silver lining of even being able to run on race day- pain and diarrhea free outweighs anything else. When I consider I was also led and guided to a medical professional that helped me, that’s a major tender mercy.

Marathon #14 is in the books- I’m thankful for the village of talented, trained and educated professionals who continue to work with me so I can keep doing what I love. I’m grateful for a guiding Savior who’s hand I see regularly in my life. God is good!