What excites me most about chasing a personal best is the journey to get there and the people who help me along the way.

As a marathon runner, I’m happy if I have one good race a year. This year, I was fortunate to set a PB at Boston, running a 2:42.

As I begin my next build for Chicago, I’m coming into it with greater intentionality and a deeper understanding of what it takes to make the next big jump in my training. I just hired a coach to help put my training together, and I’m also training with many distance runners from diverse backgrounds.

Chicago will be my fourth marathon, and throughout each build, I’ve been fortunate to meet so many amazing people. The running community has brought me some of the most fulfilling relationships I’ve ever had. One guy I met was in the middle of our Boston qualifier out in Erie, Pennsylvania. I had no idea who he was going into that race, but when a bunch of people decided to push ahead early, we stayed back and raced as a unit. We ended up qualifying for Boston together, catching many people in the second half of that race. We are best buds now, and we’re both gearing up for Chicago, both looking to break 2:40 there.

I’ve got to be honest: as happy as I was to run a 2:42 in Boston, I felt I left a lot on the table. About six weeks before the marathon, I ran a 1:12 half-marathon in New Bedford, Massachusetts, which was a 5-minute PR for me. I ran in the PUMA Deviate NITRO Elite 4s for my first race in that shoe. I came out of that race hopeful I could put together a 2:3x marathon in Boston six weeks later.

The weather in Boston was as perfect as it could be: a solid tailwind on the A-to-B course, and temperatures around 40 degrees Fahrenheit. It felt like it was going to be a big day for a massive personal best. I went through the first half in about 1:18, still on pace for a 2:36. But I knew by mile 15 that I wasn’t feeling great, and it took everything in me just to survive the Newton hills.

It ended up being the fight of my life just to hang on to a one-minute PR. I couldn’t have done it without the relentless support of the Boston fans, especially at the top of heartbreak. I posted about it on Instagram afterward: “I may not have gotten the race I imagined, but I got a new personal best on one of the biggest stages in running, and memories I’ll never forget.”

Shortly after that race, I found gratitude in everything that had transpired that weekend. From all the people I connected with, to my family and friends who came out, to the honor and privilege of running the most prestigious marathon in the world.

While I was in Boston for the weekend, I stopped by the PUMA Nitro Lab pop-up on Boylston and tried on the Fast R3 for the first time. I really loved how it felt; it reminded me of the Deviate Elite, but with a more aggressive profile. I also loved the Poison Pink colorway, so much so that I took a photo of the shoe against my black sweatpants, just to see the contrast. I immediately knew this shoe would be a top contender for me to race in at Chicago, not just because it looked sharp, but because it had the profile of a shoe that could help me run my next personal best.