Walt Disney wrote,
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”
Walt’s projection became my reality two weeks ago when I
accomplished one of the most challenging goals I’ve ever set for myself—I ran
and finished my first ultra marathon—Oriflamme 50k! As you read my story you will see how
getting to the finish line began a long time before I even stepped my first
foot across the start line of the race.
Going Way Back…..The Formative
Years
If you follow my blog you’ve probably already heard pieces
of this part of my story in this crazy world we call life. I’ll keep it brief,
but it’s worth mentioning again because it helps illustrate how far I’ve come in
regards to my athletic abilities.
I never really intended or dreamt that I would be a runner,
let alone an ultra marathoner. I was far
from being athletic as a child. If I
wasn’t playing school, baby dolls or Barbie dolls with my best friends Shannon
and April, I was tucked away in my room reading a romance novel or outside rescuing
the neighborhood stray dogs in my small rural farming hometown in
Missouri.
I guess you can say I
was somewhat of an awkward kid. At
school I was always the last one picked in gym class to have as a teammate. As
embarrassing as it was, I don’t blame the team captains because inevitably I was
always the first one out when we played kickball, softball, dodge ball, or
pretty much any kind of game. Last one
picked, first one out, was my reality.
I didn’t have much more success when it came to running. I actually
despised running as a child. In fact, to this day, I still have deep traumatic
memories of running being a punishment.
It was something we had to do when our teacher was dissatisfied with our
performance. I dreaded those words “run
a lap around the track” or “run a mile.”
Sometimes it felt like the teachers gained a deep sense of pleasure in
the possibility that we would run until we hurled.
In junior high I joined track, but that was mostly because
of a crush that I had on a cute boy. I
don’t really remember much from that experience, except running a short
distance and feeling tortured and conflicted every minute of it. As soon as I found my happy pace, mental
negative talk always set in. This is something I still struggle with to this
day.
In high school, when
I had the choice I opted for dance (although I wasn’t very good at that either),
but it satisfied the requirement. In
college I chose to transfer without an associate degree because I did not want
to be bothered with a physical education course. If my younger self could see me now, not only
the distance I run would amaze her, but also by the fact I pay to do it.
So you’re probably wondering how did I ever start running
marathons and what made me decide to run an ultra marathon.
Well, I actually started marathon training as a walker. I wasn’t really interested in running, but I
loved the mileage, the long walks and conversations with friends. I walked my first marathon in 2006. Then somehow in 2008 I became an accidental
crossfitter (another story for a different time). Running was incorporated into many of our
workouts. Before I knew it I wasn’t just
walking marathons, I was running them. Of course, I was running at a slow place
considered by most standards, but a tremendous triumph and improvement for
me.
Turning the Corner—My
Decision to Train for An Ultra
I’m sure many ultra
marathoners start out with that goal in mind. It wasn’t something that was on
my bucket list. If anything I’m pretty sure it was on my f….et list.
My thoughts changed early last fall. In late September I started nervously
thinking about the Long Beach marathon. It was the last race in my 4th
year of the Beach Cities Challenge. Not
running was not an option for me. Not
only was I determined to finish the series, I was also determined to maintain
my Beach Cities Legacy status.
Unfortunately, a few weeks before the race I had three huge strikes
against me. I had gone from a PR at Surf City 2015 (thanks to Yen and Jean for
pacing me) to one of my worst marathon times in years at the OC marathon in May. Work obligations completely threw off all of
my training. I wasn’t putting in the miles and my CrossFit workouts were
sporadic. When I was closing down the district office, I was missing the
evening CrossFit classes and my weekend run, walk, crawl sessions. I just didn’t have the energy or motivation
to go to the 5:15 am class before work and by Saturday I was beat.
Lack of exercise and training took its toll on my body. I was
feeling my age as injuries started creeping up.
A nagging knee injury had been lingering for about 9 months. If that
wasn’t enough, I ended up with a rotator cuff injury. The entire left side of my body was a mess—I
woke up several times during the night in excruciating pain. (I
should mention in February tendonitis in my right hip was added to my list of
injuries).
There I was completely unprepared and the third blow
came—the weather forecasters were predicting a record-breaking heat wave topped
off with humidity, like a cherry on top.
Under trained, injured, and extreme heat created the perfect
storm for a race disaster. I needed
nothing short of a miracle to get me through the miles. In my desperation for inspiration
I started browsing Amazon for a running book to read. I happened to come across
‘Ultra Marathon Man’ by Dean
Karnazes. I read his book cover to cover (or whatever they call it on a
Kindle). His story resonated with me and
touched me in so many ways. I smiled, I laughed and I cried as I read about his
experience. When I finished reading the book I was refreshed, rejuvenated and
hopeful.
I had heard about ultra marathons before reading Dean’s
book. In fact, I vividly remembered the conversation Jean and Darcy had about
ultra marathons during the 2015 Surf City marathon. I admired them, but thought to myself “that
is lovely ladies, have fun with that….I just hope I can make it to mile 26.2
with you.” I finished the race about
30 seconds after Yen and completely forgot about ultra marathons.
I suppose reading Dean’s book was just another nudge from
the universe calling me to take on the challenge to go beyond 26.2 miles. I
decided as soon as I finished Long Beach I would get serious and start training
for my first ultra. Baby-steps! I would start with a 50k in 2016 and then work
my way up to a 50 miler in 2017.
I ran, walked, and mostly crawled the Long Beach marathon.
It was 99 degrees when I finished the race.
I was even slower than I was during the OC marathon, but I didn’t
care. I didn’t have any intention of
pushing myself and getting heatstroke during that race. I just had fun during
the miles and took advantage of the opportunity to spread my smiles. I met a
lot of first-time marathoners and gave them inspiration, I walked a few miles
with some of the true legacy runners who gave me 30+ years of running wisdom,
and I got to be an angel on the course when I gave the last bit of my
Kool-n-Fit to a fire fighter who needed some pain relief. I was also blessed got to run across the
finish line with another legacy runner, Phil. It was one of the best and most
memorable races ever!
Choosing the Race
After I finished Long Beach I started searching the ultra
websites for a 50k. I immediately fell
in love with the Old West 50k. It was perfect and it was relatively close to my
house. I was really disappointed when I
realized I had a conflict, I was going to be in Chicago for a conference that
weekend. My heart was set on an ultra in
Julian, CA. As I was searching for
another race, I came across the Oriflamme 50k.
The course looked a lot more intense and intimidating, but I decided it
was the race for me.
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