Lisa Kuliczkowski couldn’t believe her luck.
Bad, that is.
Less than two years after suffering a fractured left ankle while on a training run in Tyler State Park, Kuliczkowski was on the Delaware Canal towpath this past July getting ready for this month’s Chicago Marathon when misfortune struck again.
She skidded on a rough patch and her other ankle gave out.
The sprain left her sidelined for the Windy City race but she still has hopes of returning in time for Boston next April.
There is some cause for optimism.
When the 61-year-old Yardley resident came back from the 2024 incident, she ran the 2025 Philadelphia Marathon in a brisk 3:33.05, winning her age group by an amazing 21 minutes.
So she does have a blueprint for how to recover from an ankle injury.
“I’ve just been cut loose from physical therapy and I’m trying to build back up (mileage),” Kuliczkowski said in a telephone interview. “My therapist says I need to jog – he emphasized jog and not run – because he knows I like to get right back out there.
“So my next goal is Boston.”
Doctors told the Council Rock High School graduate that in many instances sprains can be worse than fractures. So she’s being more cautious this time around.
“I’m determined,” she said. “I feel like that’s not the way I want to end things. I’m going to try to get my mileage back up over the winter because I couldn’t do much at all over the summer.”
Kuliczkowski says she plans to compete in the Bucks County Roadrunners Club’s Winter Series but she isn’t sure exactly when she will start the competition.
“It’s always a great opportunity to go out there and run Tyler,” she explained. “I don’t want to go in there thinking of doing anything because I haven’t run hills. It does force you to get out in the middle of the winter when you really don’t want to. I love running in Tyler. Been doing it since the Council Rock days.”
She gives the impression she doesn’t want to compete all out in the Winter Series because “I don’t want my head to get ahead of my body.”
As for the unfortunate incident on the canal, Kuliczkowski recalls that it had recently rained and made things a bit slippery.
“Although the path drains quickly, there are spots that if you hit it, it becomes slippery because it’s clay,” she said. “My ankle slid and rolled over. I never fell like I did last time.”
Her son, Jack, had been following her on his bicycle and was able to pedal home and return with the family car to transport her home.
That aforementioned blueprint can come in handy as she deals with this latest adversity.
“I know I have to do more than just run,” she said. “I’ve been on the stationary bike. I do have time until April. It’s just a matter of getting out there, knowing my body, making sure that I’m not pushing myself.
“I learned a lot, I’m very competitive. I learned a lot when I broke my ankle about dialing it back in. Even my family was astonished. Because I am push, push, push. But at some point, I know I can push so far, then I have to monitor the next day.”
She’s almost her own medical advisor.
“There’s a difference between pain and soreness,” she said. “Pain I back off. Soreness, you can do something different. You expect an injury to be sore, you’re pushing it a little bit. I’m building up my mileage, my cardio, getting some strength training in. And looking at the next goal.”
Currently she’s up to walking a quarter-mile, then jogging three-quarters of a mile.
After running that exceptional 2025 Philadelphia Marathon, Runner’s World Magazine had her rated at 82.5 percent, which is regional class.
In an interview a while back, she said there’s a fine line when it comes to the parameters of training.
“I think that (long break after the ’24 incident) kind of helped me,” she said. “Not being run down or bad hips.
“I think you have to listen to your body. I definitely try to get more sleep, I am conscious of my diet. And I try not to overdo the mileage. Being aware that I’m not 20 anymore and some of the things that you used to do you just can’t do anymore. You have to be smart about it.”
She works as a human resources manager at Pennswood Village in Langhorne.
On the horizon, Boston gives her a target to shoot for in this latest recovery.
“I have no doubt I’ll be OK by then,” Kuliczkowski said. “As long as I don’t have any other injuries. My physical therapist says I have plenty of time.
“I just have to do this correctly. Be smart about it. As soon as I talk myself into it, I’ll do the work.”
Race calendar
Sunday
Meglio’s Run for the Pizza 5K, 8:30 a.m., Newtown. Contact www.runsignup.com.
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