Why I’ll Run An Ultramarathon

Many of the women in my book club are runners, and several are marathoners. They gave me great advice and encouragement as I started distance running. The only thing surprising about the fact that we just read Born to Run together is that we didn’t do it sooner.

I loved that even the non-runners enjoyed the book and abstracted principles for their own lives. Like them, I found that the book inspired me beyond just running…I’ve actually made some lifestyle changes as a result, especially in eating, which deserves its own post.

If you’d asked me two and a half years ago if I thought I’d ever run a marathon (26.2 miles), I would have said, “No way. I hate running.” Then I started training for a half marathon in 2009. After my first, I trained for a second. THEN I knew I wanted to run a full marathon. Somewhere in the middle of my marathon training last summer, I began to fancy the idea of someday running an ultramarathon. Finishing the Newport Marathon last October cemented my desire to someday run an ultra.

(I thought it would have to be later in life when my children are older, and I can devote proper time to training, but reading about Emily Baer, who finished Hardrock 8th overall WHILE NURSING HER SON AT THE AID STATIONS, has caused me to challenge that notion.)

Anyway, the idea of running an ultra is out of the ordinary and more than a little daunting. But a paragraph in Born to Run convinced me that I have what it takes to finish an ultra:

(Takes place at mile 60 of the Leadville 100) …as Ken watched Juan and Martimano exit the firehouse, he was struck by something else: when they hit the dirt ramp, they hit it laughing. “Everybody else walks that hill,” Chlouber thought, as Juan and Martimano churned up the slope like kids playing… page 90

And a spark of joy and excitement ignited in my chest as I remembered my Newport race pictures, because I’m smiling in almost every single one.

I heard one of the race photographers, well after the halfway point, remark to her coworker, “There’s one of those smilers again.” And I grinned and gave the camera a thumbs up.

That’s how I know I’ll run an ultramarathon. Because it will be fun.

What “hard” thing do you do, just for the love of it?

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Posted by becky on Sep 15th, 2011 and is filed under Running.

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  • KarlaMCurry

    Before you made mention of the fact that you're smiling in all those pictures, I thought – SHE'S SMILING IN ALL OF THOSE PICTURES! It's funny, I don't remember which run it was, but I seem to recall you feeling near-death towards the end and suffering from hypothermia. Wasn't this the worst feeling just below giving birth to your babies? I don't want to diminish your excitement and enthusiasm, but I thought the juxta-position humorous. :)

  • KarlaMCurry

    It can be contagious, getting excited about things like that. I changed my eating habits after reading some books… then watching some documentaries… but of course you never stop learning. It's interesting how we each have our own journey, different things to which we are attracted based on our own interests, personalities, situations.

  • KarlaMCurry

    I MOTHER – it's hard, and I do it for the love of it. :) Just today, I was feeling what I hear is commonplace among mothers, the sense that I'd lost myself now that I have a family. I live for my family, for my kids, and even when they're not with me I'm thinking about them, planning for them, shopping for them. Today is my 10th anniversary – Phil is working his 24 hour shift, the kiddos are with their meme, and I thought, what should I do? I don't know what interests me anymore! My past pursuits seem senseless, frivolous; some of the things I'd like to work on (knitting, sewing) would just frustrate me.

    PS – sorry for the multiple comments – it was too long the first time I tried to post.

    • becky

      I just deactivated the IntenseDebate plugin. I think the WordPress native comments function can handle longer comments. Let me know what you think!