It’s interesting what you can do when you finally get out of your head and just go for it. For several years, I have been toying around with the idea of running my first 50K. Each time I thought about doing it, I had some kind of excuse why it wouldn’t happen. The first time, I wasn’t ready enough. The second time, I moved states. The third…elevation was too high which was greatly impacting my asthma and between that and my weight gain, my speed was too slow. You see, with this move from an elevation of 300 feet to 6000 feet, I gained about 3 minutes a mile. Now keep in mind, I am not a fast runner and running has never been easy for me. So in my head, I couldn’t do it. However, the race we found which caught my attention is in Moab called Dead Horse, and the pictures of the area is gorgeous. So, even though I was thinking negatively about my skills, the race was still calling my name.
Then one day, I was listening to a podcast of a woman talking about her running history and she made a great comment. She said something to the tune of “you just need to get out of your head, go for it and you can wait till race day to freak out over it”. There was just something about what she said that ranged with me, so that night I did it, I signed up for my very first ultra. Since then, I take a deep breath when I feel like I’m starting to freak out and just focus on today and my training just for this week. I also started focusing on my strengths and being more positive about the skills I do possess.
As with most things I start, I started researching info on trail running in blogs, articles from running magazines and videos on YouTube. There is so much variation when it comes to running, so I like to gain information from various sources. As I have been researching, I have noticed a lack of info from people like me with my skill level and size. (Now, I am not a large woman but am one who has been battling her weight her whole life. If I am not paying attention, the weight just flies on.) I have also noticed a few articles of “This is how it is done and it’s the only way”. Well, like I said, there’s variation in running and what works for one person, doesn’t necessarily work for another. So, I have decided to be another source out there for those who are like me and consider themselves one of the “back-of-the-packers”.
As of today, I am currently 30 weeks out from the race in Moab and 19 weeks out from my second marathon (which I am using as part of my training plan). So for the next 30 weeks, I will be blogging and vlogging my journey and the trial and errors of figuring out how to make it thru 31 miles. I already have 3 videos out on YouTube (link below), which I have gone over various topics, check em out! Since summer is approaching, next week, I will be tackling the subject of hydration and electrolytes so stay tuned.
In the meantime, do at least one thing today that will get you at least one step closer to one of your goals! Stay body & mind strong!
On YouTube, you can find me at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOvp_90hkLL5l8oNV5m7a4w
Comments