50 miles

A good friend of mine sent this to me the night before the most recent 50-miler I tackled.  Isn't it awesome?!  Why wouldn't you want to put yourself in a situation where you have the chance to live like a cave woman again?  LOL!  Ultra-running is humbling, challenging, and liberating.  I suppose that is why I do it.

Rewind 16 years and you'd find me sitting in a college sports philosophy class feeling inadequate, amazed, and intrigued as I read about a woman that finished a triathlon called an Ironman.  She swam 2.4 miles, rode her bicycle 112, and then ran 26.2 miles.  Unsure of what exactly ignited my curiosity and interest in experiencing that particular event, I am certain today that my curiosity has not waned and I continue to go after adventures that are physically challenging.  Which brings me to the 2015 Nashville Ultramarathon.

The event itself was straightforward--well organized, moderately supported, and quite small.  I ran 37 of 50 miles completely alone.  It was glorious!  Just me and my thoughts for 6 hours.  A quote from The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is perhaps the best way to describe how I felt: "I felt very still and empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo."  

I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to run and at the same time for my family to have been there to celebrate a truly simple act: running.  

I think I have mentioned it before but I'll go ahead and admit it again, I hope to teach my children, through running, to love what they do and to not be afraid to work hard.  To accept success and failure and find lessons learned from each experience.  To be humble, transparent, and compassionate.  To be joyful, passionate, and intense.  And that life should never be without humor.

Running has taught me to accept humility, to rise above it, and to never stop moving.  

Find what makes you move!  

Take on a challenge!

And be well on your journey,
MLC