Medina trains for Chicago Marathon

While most of us are getting those extra winks, Barbara Medina is out running in preparation for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon for the American Diabetes Association, Oct. 8. Both her grandmother, Theva Palacios, and her father, Samuel Medina, are diabetic.

Medina is no stranger to running a marathon. She caught the marathon bug after running a 5K in Dallas three years ago. She ran the Boston Marathon this past April and ranked 1100 of the 35,000 who participated. She is planning to run either the New York Marathon in January or the Berlin Marathon next September.

Medina has worked out a training regime that includes running a fast pace for tempo on Monday, runs sprints on Wednesdays, long distances on Friday and then has a long run on Saturday.

Medina is a 2003 graduate of Breckenridge High School, a graduate of Texas A&M University in 2008 and then a 2011 graduate from Texas Tech University with a degree as a Physician’s Assistant.

When asked about her goal for the future, Medina said, “I may go back to medical school.”