About this time a year ago, I learned that I had made it into the Berlin Marathon through the lottery system. A few days later, I found out that I had also gotten into the Chicago Marathon. I was a bit alarmed at first – the two races were only three weeks apart and the thought of running both seemed a little crazy. But I do crazy things really well.

Fairly quickly, a thought started to form in my head. Why not just add a third marathon and earn my membership in Marathon Maniacs? Heck, why not go all out, throw in a few half-marathons and aim for Double Agent status? My coach ensured me it was feasible, albeit not easy. I was up for the challenge and put together my race schedule.

Of course, things don’t always go as planned. My original plan had two half marathons before Berlin, with the third half-marathon one week after Chicago and wrapping up with the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) two weeks after that. Unfortunately, I started brewing an injury in Berlin that resulted in a sprained knee in Chicago. At my doctor’s – and my husband’s – strongly-worded recommendations, I ended up cancelling MCM. Instead, I signed up for the Seattle Marathon and picked up another half-marathon, since Seattle would have been just outside of the 90-day time frame requirement for Marathon Maniacs/Double Agent.

When I woke up yesterday morning, I had a moment where I couldn’t remember which race I was running. I literally went through each of my races one by one until I figured out it was Seattle Marathon day. And it was a beautiful day to run – mostly cloudy, cool and dry. While it was not quite the race I wanted to run, I crossed that finish line.

I achieved my goal. Three marathons. Three half-marathons. 84 days. I am now officially a Half Fanatic, a Marathon Maniac, and a Double Agent.

And now, I rest…for a day or two…