“It doesn’t show the effort. It doesn’t show the miles. It doesn’t show the early wake-up times. It doesn’t show the tears. It doesn’t show handfuls of medication that I have to take every day.”
For years, Rosa Perez measured her progress as a runner by getting faster.
Her first Houston Half took her just over three hours. By 2020, she had worked her way down to 2:25, eventually reaching the 2:17 range. She ran marathons, chased faster times, and learned to see herself as a runner.
Then, in 2024, Rosa was diagnosed with mixed connective tissue disease, an autoimmune condition that changed what running — and progress — looked like for her.
In this conversation, Rosa talks about learning to train in a body that no longer responds the way it once did, the heartbreak of dropping out of the 2025 Houston Half, and what it meant to return a year later and cross that finish line with two friends beside her.
We also talk about her role in helping build Latinas Run Houston, why representation and community matter, her 3:25 finish at SeaWheeze that means far more to her than the number suggests, and the marathon goal she isn’t ready to give up.
Rosa isn’t chasing the clock anymore. She’s chasing the feeling of knowing: I did that. I earned that.
IN THIS EPISODE:
- How Rosa went from casually running to chasing faster times (3:10)
- How life changes after 2020 helped Rosa rediscover the joy of running (11:54)
- Rosa’s mixed connective tissue disease diagnosis and how it changed her running (13:36)
- Learning to train, recover and race with an autoimmune condition (18:39)
- The 2025 Houston Half DNF that made Rosa wonder if she’d ever race again (22:11)
- Why Houston Race Weekend means so much to her (26:01)
- Returning to the Houston Half in 2026 and making it to the finish line (32:44)
- Helping build Latinas Run Houston and creating a place where runners feel represented (36:08)
- Destination racing, SeaWheeze and Rosa’s husband’s surprise first half marathon (40:48)
- Why Rosa’s 3:25 SeaWheeze finish tells almost none of the story (43:27)
- How her relationship with running has changed at 40 (50:21)
- Why she’s returning to the marathon — and what she’s chasing now (52:26)
- What running has taught Rosa about her body, gratitude and community (56:54)
- The biggest thing running has given her that has nothing to do with pace (1:00:53)
- Rosa’s advice for new runners: Don’t fall into the comparison game (1:05:01)
ABOUT ROSA:
Rosa Perez is a Houston runner, marketer and one of the women who helped establish the Houston chapter of Latinas Run. She has been running for more than a decade and has completed three marathons and 25 half marathons. After being diagnosed with mixed connective tissue disease in 2024, she has had to redefine what training, racing and progress look like — but she isn’t finished. Rosa is currently preparing to return to the marathon distance at Every Woman’s Marathon in New Orleans in February 2027.
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