Three races in two days – it can be done, even with diabetes & cancer

Thanks for reading my Race Plan for the Loony Challenge that I did as part of the TCM Marathon Weekend on Saturday and Sunday, October 4 and 5. 

Writing a Race Plan is something I go into detail about in my book Extreme Healing: Reclaim Your Life + Learn To Love Your Body. Having a detailed Race Plan calms my whole being down, as having the itty bitty details in writing, printed out, on my table for easy reference, is reassurance that I don’t have to stress about remembering things. Just follow the Race Plan. 

In case you’ve never heard of the Loony Challenge, it’s where athletes race in three, yes you read that correctly, THREE running races in two days. We run the 10K race first. Then we immediately run the 5K race. Both on Saturday. Then on Sunday, we race 10 miles from downtown Minneapolis to downtown St. Paul. The Ultra Loony is where athletes race the 10K and 5K on Saturday, and then on Sunday they run the full Twin Cities Marathon. Yes, that is very ULTRA!

I learned a few things doing the Loony. It was the first time I’ve ever done two (or three!) races two days in a row. Managing diabetes and my energy levels were a big deal for this event. I was incredibly grateful I had the written down race plan, and that my good friend Jenny and I had run 10-miles two days in a row three weeks before race weekend. The race plan in combo with the practice runs reassured me that physically and mentally, I could do it. 

Here are the top five things I learned as a result of racing in the Loony Challenge. I hope you find them helpful should you ever decide to run 2 or 3 races in one weekend. 

Learning #1: Take days off from work

I took off Thursday and Friday from my job at the University of Minnesota and that was a very smart decision. I was able to relax, pay close attention to my nutrition, hydration, diabetes management, do extra meditation and visualization sessions, and organize all my gear. I went into race weekend feeling ready. That alone was and is incredibly valuable. Plus it helped me get two really good nights of sleep. Turns out getting good sleep is super important for me in terms of race performance.  

Learning #2: Have a good mantra and use it

My run coach Danny Docherty who is the Head Coach and Program Director for the run club I am part of, Run Minnesota, gave us these three words back in June for the Grandma’s Marathon and Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon. These three words speak to me. They helped me at Garry Bjorklund, so I decided to use them again.

I put three B’s on my arm in a Sharpie marker both mornings, and I said each word to myself as I was running. I divided each race into three parts and each part got its own B.

Breathe

Take deep breaths and at the start of the race, resist the pull to go too fast. Settle into my race plan and all that I visualized. This B kept me focused on what I knew was a good way to do each race for me. Plus I love the word breathe because of my lengthy daily meditation practice. Breathe calms my nervous system and keeps me relaxed. An excellent way to start a race.  

Believe

I trained for these three races. I ran for weeks and weeks four times a week. I did strength training three times a week for months and months. My strength training was geared specifically for my body with the aches and pains I navigate daily as a result of taking the cancer reducing drug letrozole. For those new to me and my story, I am living with my third round of estrogen receptor positive breast cancer. Plus I’ve had type 1 diabetes for almost 45 years.

Believe in all that preparation. Believe in my body. Believe in my skill in managing diabetes while racing. Believe in my nutrition and hydration plans. Believe in all that I had done to get to the start line. 

As a survivor of extensive trauma, believing in myself isn’t easy. This was the perfect word for the middle of each of the races. Settle into all that I had done and allow what got me here to express through my feet tapping the race pavement. At regular intervals I soaked in the beauty of the autumn trees and their majestic colors and felt the belief in my body and soul. 

At one point during this middle phase of the 10-mile race, I had the profound realization that I could believe that my body no longer has cancer growing. I don’t know yet if this is true, but I do know there is a strong connection between what one believes and one’s health. For the last 4 miles, I added the mantra, “This body runs on health and well-being. This body is cancer-free.”

Beyond

This one is the biggest challenge for me. The idea for this word is to dig deep and for the last one or two miles of the race to go beyond what I think I can do. For this B, I did a LOT of pre-race visualization. I tend not to run negative splits (where you run faster at the end of the race) instead I tend to be more of a slow fade sort of runner. For the 10-mile race specifically, I wanted to leave it on the table, as they say. I had a time goal and I wanted to push myself. 

I wanted to test myself and push beyond what I thought I could do. 

I did it! 

At the Sunday 10-mile race, I had negative splits the last two miles. I turned off my GymBoss interval timer and I dug deep and I ran my heart out! It was exhilarating and beautiful. At the end, the mantra I said over and over to myself as I pushed myself was BEYOND, BEYOND, BEYOND.  

Learning #3: Scale back on scheduling things outside of racing on race weekend

I learned that should I ever do the Loony again, which I plan to do in 2026, I must not expect so much of myself outside of the races on Saturday and Sunday. I spent most of Saturday going to the farmers market, cleaning my apartment and cooking. This was TOO MUCH. It caused me to not take a nap, which was in my race plan, and it resulted in a terrible night of sleep on Saturday. 

Additionally, after the 10-mile race, it’s super fun to then quickly clean up and go back to the race course to watch the runners in my 12+ pace group who were doing the full marathon, hit mile 23. It’s pure joy to high 5 them and hug them and be a reminder of their training and strength to finish the full marathon. 

My mistake this year was thinking I would have enough energy and time to get on my bike to go to the Run Minnesota cheer zone at mile 16 AND get to mile 23 by bike in time to see our runners. TOO MUCH. I was tired. I didn’t have it in me to rush around and then get on my bike. Thankfully it had started to rain and neither Jenny nor I like biking in the rain, so we opted to drive in the car together. We skipped going to the cheer zone. 

Learning #4: Set time goals AND be willing to adjust

I set time goals for each race and I am happy to report that I was within a few minutes of meeting all my goals. My goal-oriented inner part was very pleased. 

Here is the chart of my goal and my accomplishment for each race

	Goal	Actual
10K	1:15:00 time	1:13:47 time
5K	40 mins	41:54 mins
10-mile	under 2 hours	2:01:54 time

One big learning I had for the 10K and 5K is that I had not paid any attention to the routes. As a result I did not realize that the first nearly ½ mile of both routes was essentially uphill. That was a bit of a surprise!

I was incredibly happy that my time for the 10k was essentially a whole minute faster than my goal time! That was SO affirming and exciting. It set me up well for the 5K, which I needed as the heat and humidity cranked up and I don’t do well with heat and humidity. I didn’t meet my time goal for the 5K, but happily, I knew that I had pushed myself in both races and I learned quite a bit about the route. Another incentive to do the Loony again.

As for the 10-mile, I was 2 minutes slower than my goal time. At about mile 8, when I was about to dig deep to get those negative splits, I simultaneously let go of my overall time goal. 

Goals are good to have AND it’s okay to let them go and enjoy what is happening in the given moment. I count this as evolutionary growth on my part. I didn’t and I’m still not getting down on myself for not meeting my time goal for the 10-mile race. That too is growth for me. 

Learning #5: Really feel the accomplishment and celebrate

After the races both days, a group of my run friends sat around at the Minnesota State Capital lawn and shared race stories and the joy of being fit, healthy and accomplishing our intention to race. These moments are priceless. They remind me that I belong and that I am a part of a community that cares about being active and supportive. 

Then we went and cheered on our marathoners. More joy!

Finally, we went to a local bar and celebrated the weekend and our accomplishments with our run club. 

I went home and happily got in bed for a long night of restful, healing sleep. 

You know it, I will be back in 2026, doing the Loony once again! 

Thanks for reading. Please let me know about an accomplishment you’re feeling good about.