Momma Runs an Ultra – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Summary

Are we really runners if we don't talk about either barf or poo? Join me as I apply my ultimate nerd hack to the wonderfully weird world of ultra-marathon fueling. As I train for my very first 50K, I share my sticky history with sports nutrition.

What starts as casual trial and error quickly spirals into full nerd mode, complete with a meticulously organized spreadsheet ranking gels by flavor, texture, and how likely they are to make my stomach file a formal complaint. Spoiler: the winners were not what I expected, and some fan favorites did not make the cut.

Along the way, I share hard-earned lessons about why “I’ll figure it out later” is not a valid fueling strategy when you’re hours into a run. With a few cautionary tales and plenty of laughs, this episode is a friendly nudge to fellow newbies to experiment, plan ahead, and find the fuel that actually works for them. Because when it comes to ultras, your legs may carry you forward, but your nutrition decides whether you finish smiling…or swearing.

Chapters

1. 00:16 - Embarking on a New Challenge
2. 02:10 - Exploring Sports Nutrition
3. 03:13 - Finding the Right Fuel: My Experience with Energy Gels
4. 05:12 - Hydration Strategies for Racing
5. 07:46 - Getting Into the Thick of Ultra Training

How I Procrastinate

1. Sleep with Rock Stars, the Gen X Sleep Podcast
2. Country Fried Rock, Podcast Archives from 2009-2020
3. Music Playlists
4. Support This Podcast
5. Dive Bar Music Club, the Low Key, High Taste Happy Hour for Music Nerds

Recommended If You Like

ultra running, endurance training, sports nutrition, race day tips, hydration strategies, energy gels for runners, best running gels, fueling for endurance events, running in your 50s, half marathon training, marathon running tips, gels vs. liquid nutrition, training for a 50k, running gear advice, hydration packs for running, ultra marathon preparation, nutrition for long runs, running fuel preferences, best flavors of energy gels, common running mistakes, Gu, Maurten, Honeystinger, honey stinger, maple syrup, SIS, science in sport

Automated Transcript

Speaker A

00:00:02.640 - 00:07:53.190

Hey, y', all, this is Mama Runs an Ultra.

I'm a runner on the downhill side of my 50s who decided that I would run my first 50ish K. Now, I've run a whole bunch of half marathons over the last several years, but I've never run more than 16 miles. And as I dive into training, I spend a lot of time asking myself, what the hell am I thinking?

So, a few episodes ago, I was telling y' all about my first half marathon, the one that I don't even remember running other than I burst into tears at the finish line and I had the police escort court because I was the last person. Yeah. Okay.

So in the years since then, I have started doing a little bit more study of the craft and learning what you ought to be doing before you get out there for endurance events. And especially in those early days, a lot of it was that I just plain didn't even know that I didn't know.

So now that I have a little bit of information, I kind of have to laugh at the route that I decided to take now. Disclaimer. I am not a medical professional in any way, and I am absolutely not a registered dietitian.

And if you have needs surrounding fueling and your sport, see a professional. This is a comedy podcast. Anyway, the first time I tried to take a gel was in the middle of a race, and that is not a good idea.

First of all, I was hot and sweaty and I couldn't get the package open properly. And by the time I did, I was like, what is this horrible thing? It was like caramel something.

And that's when I realized that if I was going to be using any kind of sports nutrition during races, I was going to have to practice with it so that I did not gag or vomit in the middle of the race due to it. So I did what any logical person with an $80 credit at one of those sports nutrition websites would do. I ordered one of every single thing. Yes.

About 50 different gels, different flavors, different brands, and then I made a spreadsheet. Because that's what you do, right? Yeah. Well, that's what I did.

So I made a whole spreadsheet of them by brand, by flavor, and I ranked them based on consistency and sweetness and aftertaste and how they sat in my stomach and all kinds of things. And. And frankly, I was completely surprised by what I ended up liking. But hold on, let's back up. I'll tell you where I started.

I like, in real life, I like, like, fruity, citrusy, Flavors I like like grapefruit and mandarin orange. And I'm a massive fan of like coffee and things like that.

So I at first thought that what I was going to like was going to be all the fruity flavors of the different gels. And that could not be farther from the truth. I quickly discovered that cannot handle anything. Strawberry, raspberry, banana. Not at all. Not happening.

If it says fruit punch, forget it. So that was totally unexpected. And then there's the whole consistency factor.

All right, now I know that people like to hate on certain brands and it's definitely one of those your mileage may vary sort of situations. But I tried some of the newer runny, they call them gels, but it's more like a liquid.

I tried some of those, I tried some of the chunky ones if you know, you know. And I tried some of the old school ones and I actually ended up on old school goo. Now here's my special magic trick.

I store it in my deep freeze so that it actually changes the consistency so that it's actually a little even thicker when you put it when you take it. But for me, that actually works great. I just stick that blob in the side of my mouth and it just sort of works for me. And it's not as gooey.

But I thought I was going to be like hug a tree natural. And I tried all the different maple syrup and honey ones.

And I live, as I've said, I live in the hot swampy south and those are too runny and too sticky and they were hard nose for me. Absolutely do not work. Just ended up with like bee catcher stickiness down the sides of my arms. I was like, this is not gonna work for me at all.

Plus they were too sweet. I know that sounds weird for something that is sweet anyway, but huh. Like I love honey, but the honey ones. Oh, absolutely not.

Felt the same way about the maple syrup ones. No, no, no, not for me. So anyway, I ended up on like the, I think it's espresso flavor of goo. Maybe it's just coffee anyway.

And the vanilla one, which those both are my favorites. That's what I like.

I also like their mandarin orange one, which is kind of funny because every other orange flavor of any kind of gel was a hard no for me. But all the rest of them like lemonade. Noop. Can't do it. Limes. Nope. Can't do it. Watermelon. Nope. Can't do it.

Which is weird because I love all of those things in real life, but not as Far as gels go. But the one gel that absolutely got me was that super expensive one that's on the market that's kind of chunky.

If you know, you know, it is the only gel that when I took it, I immediately vomited all over the side of the road from the texture. That is the biggest, hardest no ever. I don't care if it's magic and will take five minutes off of my half marathon time.

That is not gonna happen for me.

So if for some reason you end up with the $80 credit from the online source that sells a lot of nutritional fuel, you too could be a complete running dork like me and go ahead and make a spreadsheet. Honestly, I'm kind of proud of myself for it because after a while I forgot which ones I'd tried.

Especially when it came down to like six different brands that all have, you know, watermelon, lime or something similar. Ultimately, I also discovered liquid nutrition and I absolutely have a favorite one of those.

And that has been the game changer for me of taking little sips of it throughout the race rather than a big old chug of it. And it works. So even on races where they supposedly have water indoor hydration mix available along the way, I take mine with me just in case.

But also I ran a race down in Charleston many years ago where they ran out of water on the course after the second mile and we still had many, many miles to go. So I'm never having that happen to me again.

I will always have...

Summary

In this episode of Momma Runs an Ultra, I'm tackling the wild world of ultra marathon training while also trying to keep my sanity intact. You know, just a jaunty jog through my 50s, right? Between holiday illness smacking my entire family (because why not?) and trying to breathe through my neighbors' smoke out, it's been a season.

We also dive into the mysteries of pacing my upcoming half marathon. As I gear up for my first ultra marathon, I’d love to hear your best sleep tips. Basically, send me all the good advice so I can stop googling "how to stay asleep like a normal person" at 2 a.m.

Links

1. Sleep with Rock Stars
2. WTH does this episode's title reference?

Recommended If You Like

ultra marathon training, half marathon pacing strategy, asthma management for runners, recovery tips for endurance athletes, sleep challenges for runners, training for ultra marathons, benefits of sleep for athletes, overcoming sleep issues, running at 50, endurance athlete health, managing asthma while running, social media for runners, nutrition for endurance training, mental health in running, preparing for long races, tips for staying asleep, running and respiratory health, coaching for endurance athletes, benefits of meditation for sleep, living in the country as a runner

Automated Transcript

Speaker A

00:00:01.040 - 00:07:02.730

If I go to jail, I can't train for my ultra, right? Well, hey y', all, thanks for getting back here on Momma Runs an Ultra.

I'm a runner on the downhill side of my 50s who decided to sign up for my first ultra marathon. And this podcast is all about me figuring out what the hell am I thinking. The last time I chatted with y', all, I was losing my voice.

Or I had already lost my voice. It actually got worse from there. And then I started to feel bad.

It was weird because for the first couple of days it was just my voice wasn't working and I felt a hundred percent fine. But it got to the point where I finally had to go to the doctor, which honestly pissed me off. My family got super sick right before the holidays.

And even though we are fully vaccine and do our best to stay as healthy as possible, one of them got Covid, which turned into pneumonia. And real pneumonia is pretty darn scary. Well, I've had asthma my entire life and it's pretty well managed with some daily medication.

But as I've mentioned, I live out in the country.

One of those neighborhoods built like 60 years ago that was like speculative at the time and they were hoping that civilization would build up that direction. Well, they were wrong. There's nothing out here. But living out in the county means that there is not a lot of rules and regulations.

Which sounds great until you have things like my fucking neighbors across the street who burn every leaf that falls from the sky. And I'm really not kidding. I actually videoed my neighbor out one time catching leaves as they came off of her tree.

And I'm not making this up, but what really ticks me off about them and it's both the neighbors across the street right next door to each other, they wet down their leaves and then burn them. So it's just smoke everywhere and absolutely sets off my asthma.

So what happened was they burned for five days in a row of wet leaves and wet boxes and it set off my asthma to such an extent that I ended up with bronchitis and had to go on antibiotics like massive horse pills for days. It was terrible. Eat your yogurt, y'. All. You know what I'm talking about. And if you don't, you should.

Anyway, that's my rant about living in the country. It is noisier than when I lived in the city because people fire weapons constantly and shoot off fireworks every friggin day of the week.

And my neighbors open burn constantly. And there is not a thing I can do about it.

And had I known to ask about those things prior to moving out here, I think I would have stayed in the city where it was quieter and less smoky. Anyway, enough of that because I feel better now. I'm back to running. I had obviously when I finally got actual sick, I did not run through that.

I'm not one of those people mentioned that before, but I'm back to running and now I'm looking at taper before this half marathon that I already had planned before I signed up for the Ultra. So I don't really know how to plan for a pacing strategy for this half marathon.

I know what I can do like just show up and run, but I also know that given the right circumstances, I'm capable of running much harder. Am I? I think I've nailed down this coaching situation I hinted at before. Anyway, that doesn't start until after the half marathon.

So at this point I'm thinking of calling them up again and saying hey, let's start a week before so you can tell me what to do for this half marathon based on my training. But that person is an Ultra coach and I don't know if they have any experience with halves because that wasn't part of our conversation anyway.

I don't know. I don't know. I did build in an extra day for some travel on the way there because it's one of these places where I have to drive there.

It is not any faster to take a plane and it's prohibitively expensive because the race is also in the middle of nowhere and so if I were to fly I would have to drive two and a half hours, wait two hours at the airport, fly, catch a second flight and then still drive another hour and a half. So just not worth it. I'm just gonna get my car and drive 11 a zillion miles. Could be worse. I have the opportunity to do so.

I will double up on some work the day before I leave so I get that extra day to drive.

But now that I've kind of put it out there that I'm training for this first ultramarathon my social media, which I hate social media, but I do occasionally get sucked into it. Woo. Boy do I have some weird stuff coming through my feed now.

But one of the things that being sick got me thinking about was the role of sleep in recovery. And I'm one of those people who I can fall asleep anywhere but my quality of sleep is terrible. Notoriously terrible.

I have never been a good sleeper, like even as a little kid I wake up a million times in the middle of the night. I cannot stay asleep. And sometimes it's because my brain is going, if you haven't figured it out so far, ADHD right here.

And that stays when I'm asleep as well. But even when I'm exhausted, sometimes I can't fall asleep, or I do fall asleep, and then I wake up two hours later, like, wide awake.

Clearly, two hours is not enough sleep. So when I read all this research, that's like, yes, you should be getting nine hours of sleep.

As an endurance athlete, I'm like, I don't think I've gotten more than six hours of sleep ever in my whole life. I would love to. That would be amazing.

But a lot of the tips that are out there about it are things that just don't work for me, particularly the one that's like, make your room really cold. The worst thing for me is when a room is really cold, I can't sleep at all. And I have terrible nightmares if I do fall asleep.

So sleeping as a recovery tool is one that is a bit of an elusive mystery for me. I've done all the environmental stuff. Like, I don't do any screens for three hours before bed. I don't have any lights on in my room.

I have a whole night routine with some chamomile tea and the whole deal. But sleep is still just a huge challenge for me. I do have some meditation apps that I love. And so falling asleep isn't the problem.

It's staying asleep. In fact, I even host a sleep podcast called Sleep with Rockstars.

And I think it's hilarious because in, like, a really quiet, you know, very soft voice.

I read from Wikipedia about bands like the Clash, and I find that absolutely hysterical because the contrast of those things, I know most people don't have that sense of humor anyway, I find it hilarious. Sleep with Rock Stars. I love it. So, like, I can fall asleep, I can't stay asleep. So if you have the magic answer.

And I will not take pills or substances. Not my bag. You do you.

Anyway, I would like to have a better ability to sleep through the night, because I do think that that is going to help my training and recovery as I'm fixing to start this ultra training, y'. All. Yep, just a couple of days. And now I'm super nervous.

So hit me up in those comments with all of your recommendations and suggestions that are safe, healthy, and legal. If I go to jail, I can't train for my ultra right Priorities. Oh, man. Anyway, sure appreciate y' all being here.

I love the feedback that I've gotten, particularly through Instagram, which has been interesting because I hate Instagram. But thanks for commenting anyway.

If you would comment within YouTube or Spotify, or even in the main comments on Apple podcasts, that would be way better because one, it helps the whole algorithm game they make us play, but two, it would help me stay off social media. That would be...

Summary

In this episode of Momma Runs an Ultra, I open up about the unexpected challenge of losing my voice while training for an ultra, a reminder of how unpredictable life and training can be. Despite feeling physically fine, this setback sparks a deeper reflection on the vulnerability to illness and the privilege of good health. I also dive into the complexities of balancing personal goals, friendships, and aging, with the importance of staying active and resilient. I invite listeners, especially those navigating similar life transitions, to share their thoughts as we explore these meaningful themes together.

Chapters

1. 00:05 - Losing My Voice
2. 00:49 - Managing Health in Ultra Training
3. 01:52 - The Impact of Smoking on Childhood Health
4. 03:14 - Embracing Health and Mortality in Running
5. 04:26 - Navigating Adult Friendships and Health Privilege

Recommended If You Like

ultra marathon training, running after 50, health and running, losing your voice, hydration for runners, nutrition for endurance athletes, training plan for ultra marathon, running podcast, adult friendships and fitness, privilege of health, preparing for an ultra, overcoming training setbacks, mental health and running, benefits of running, challenges of aging and fitness, maintaining fitness over 50, staying active later in life, running community, personal growth through running, experiences of older runners

Transcript

00:00:02.320 - 00:05:22.900

So after I went to make my cup of coffee, I went to go talk to the dog. And that's when I realized I had lost my voice. What the heck? Hey, y'. All. Welcome to Momma Runs an Ultra.

I'm a runner on the downhill side of my 50s who decided to run my first 50ish K. And this podcast is where I totally overshare about the process while I train leading up to it this summer. So I almost didn't record this episode. Cause as you can hear, I've lost my voice. I have no idea what happened. I feel totally fine.

I didn't even know I'd lost my voice till I was making coffee this morning and I turned to talk to the dog, as you do when you work from home. And I was like, what is coming out of my mouth? So this will either be your favorite episode I ever do or the one you want to skip. Totally cool.

But it reminded me that there are so many factors about training for an Ultra over which I have no control. And one of them is, is getting sick. Now, I don't think I'm sick right now. I feel totally fine. No headache, no sore throat, no fever.

Like, everything feels totally normal. But sometimes we do get sick. And that is definitely something that can cause a wrench in a training plan.

So for me, I'm not a person who's going to go run if I'm actually sick. And today is one of those kind of head scratchers.

Like, I don't feel sick, but clearly my body is telling me that something is wrong because I can't talk. So I think what I'm going to do is just make sure I'm really good about my hydration and nutrition today and see how I feel in the afternoon.

I'm not really an afternoon runner. I prefer to just sort of run about 7 o' clock in the morning. When you work from home and you have a flexible schedule, it's something you can do.

Not everybody has that privilege. But I'm not a person who's been sick a whole lot as an adult.

I was one of those really, really sickly kids, like constantly strep throat, ear infection, some sort of problem. And in retrospect, it's probably because one of my parents was a chain smoker in the house.

And we now know not just the impacts on children's breathing, but it's so directly impacted to other children's health and illnesses as well. So, yeah, people who are always talking about how the 70s were great clearly have forgotten about things like that.

Or did not grow up in a house or chain smoking Lucky Strikes was totally normal. But anyway, I was a teacher for many years and I used to always joke that that's why I'm immune to everything. So I don't get sick very often.

And it kind of makes me mad when I do because it just messes up the schedule. You all know how that is. And one of the things that I like about training for this ultra is that there is a schedule.

Like, I need to do these things, not because I have to do them, but because they are part of the building blocks of helping me show up to that starting line healthy. And being unhealthy is a blip in the road to making it to that starting line. So hopefully this is the only time that this happens to me.

And again, I hope I continue to feel fine.

I really don't know since this is the first symptom, but health is such a privilege, and it's a stark reminder of how much running is a privilege and not something that everyone has the time, the health or the support system in place to be able to do it. And I'm very aware of that. This is an ego project and I know it.

And I'm grateful for all the people in my life who support me in being able to do these things. And I'm also fully aware that this late 50s 50 ishk race is very much that looking down death's door sort of challenge to myself.

Right after I turned 50, a number of my guy friends from college had heart attacks and passed away. They lived hard, had a good time, but it still seemed so unexpected and so young.

And it's probably part of what started this idea of do the things you want to do because tomorrow is never promised. And on some level I've always known that.

But when your buddies that you used to go to concerts with aren't there when you text them anymore, it's a little too real. So that's definitely a factor in the back of my mind. Every so often.

We went hiking a few weekends ago and there were folks my age for whom it was a real physical problem and they'd clearly bitten off more than they could chew.

And I think the thing that really stuck out, especially for a couple of the men that were on the trip, because they kept saying, well, I used to be able to do this, I used to be able to do this.

But if we don't keep doing the things that help us be prepared for these sort of endeavors, it is just that, it's just something we used to be able to do. And training for this ultra is definitely me seeing what are the new things I can do that I've never done.

And I don't have anybody around me, my age or older who's doing these things or who talks about these things. And maybe y' all are out there, but my IRL friends are not.

So I don't know, maybe this whole, like losing my voice and thinking it's about the privilege of health, which it is, is also about the challenges of adult friendships, especially as you head towards retirement ages and people of different backgrounds move on to other places, move back to wherever they came from, move to the place that was always their dream, or don't get that choice. I'm just figuring this out as I talk to y'. All.

So if you're one of those folks also on the other side of 50 who's figuring this out, I'd love to hear from you. The easiest way to do that is in the comment section on YouTube or on Spotify. You can also leave it in the general podcast app comments or on Apple.

They don't really let you reply to a specific episode, at least not that I can figure out. And as always, I sure appreciate you sharing these episodes with your friends. It goes a long way to helping other people.

As I figure out why Momma Runs an Ultra.

Mentioned in this episode:

Dive Bar Music Club, the Low Key, High Taste Music Podcast

A rotating cast of The Regulars gather to chat about the music they're currently listening to.

Summary

Dive into the surprisingly emotional side of endurance events, including those finish-line tears you swear you didn’t see coming. I share my own journey as a runner, from picking up the sport late in life during the pandemic to reflecting on my very first half marathon back in 2013, when I had absolutely no clue what proper nutrition or hydration meant for long-distance running. Spoiler: I still finished with a police escort…and then promptly burst into tears.

As it turns out, that post-race emotional roller coaster is more common than you’d think. Throughout the episode, I talk about what those big feelings can teach us, especially as I train for an ultra marathon and face all the physical and emotional challenges that come with pushing past your limits. Join me as we explore why endurance running can hit us right in the heart, and maybe think about your own “Wait, why am I crying?” moments along the way.

Links

• Music Playlists
• Sleep with Rock Stars, the Gen X Sleep Podcast
• Dive Bar Music Club, the Low Key, High Taste Happy Hour for Music Nerds
• Country Fried Rock, Podcast Archives from 2009-2020
• Support this Podcast

Chapters

• 00:05 - The Journey to Running an Ultra Marathon
• 01:15 - Reflection on Past Races and Nutrition Insights
• 02:17 - Preparing for the Half Marathon
• 03:28 - The Emotional Finish: Understanding Runner's Highs and Lows
• 03:59 - Navigating Emotions in Training
• 05:13 - Understanding the Unexpected in Ultras

Recommended If You Like

ultra marathon training, running after 50, beginner running tips, hydration for runners, nutrition for endurance athletes, emotional reactions in running, running races experiences, running logs and progress, preparing for a half marathon, runner's mental health, running and tears, running fasted, fueling for long runs, unexpected race moments, running advice for seniors, overcoming running challenges, running playlists, running community support, sharing running stories, ultra marathon preparation

Transcript

Speaker A

00:00:00.720 - 00:05:37.190

And then I completely burst into tears. Hey, y', all, thanks for finding Mama Runs an ultra. I'm a runner on the downhill side of my 50s, training for my very first ultra marathon.

So I was telling y' all that I didn't really start running until the pandemic. And that's true, but not true, because I didn't start running regularly until then.

But I ran off and on for the decade before that, starting back with that three miles, three days a week that I used to do that I mentioned in an episode a while back. Well, I was trying to see what my progression has been over the half marathons that I've done over the years.

And apparently I did a race back in 2013 that I completely forgot about. I have no memory whatsoever of running this race, but there's photos, so clearly I did it. It's absolutely, definitely me.

And I still have the outfit, so it didn't even go that badly. I went back through my running logs and there it was, all my notes, everything that happened, that.

And to this day, I have no memory whatsoever of running this particular race. But after reading my notes to myself, I remembered the one thing that happened that day.

The second I crossed the finish line, I absolutely burst into tears. So we'll come back to that. Because back in 2013, I had no idea about either hydration or nutrition on a run. I had never had a gel ever in my life.

At that point, I did not understand why people took gels. I have weird texture issues. I wasn't about to take a gel. And I was still in the world that thought you should quote, run fasted.

Okay, I'm not a nutritionist. I am not a registered dietitian, but if you are running fasted, this is not the podcast for you. We have nothing in common. Do your research.

Eyeball roll. Anyway, I didn't know. I had no idea. I did not know you were supposed to fuel a run.

I don't know if anybody really knew you were supposed to be fielding long runs at that point, but my method of preparing for that race was I did 16 mile long run. And evidently in my notes. And again, I have no memory of any this, but I have excellent notes.

Apparently I did this one six mile long run, which was a double path on a local rail trail, and that was it. That's all I did to prepare for this half marathon. I don't think I knew how long a half marathon was until I was in the middle of the race. So.

Because I had no idea. And not only did I have no idea what I was doing. I didn't know that. I had no idea.

I thought you would just go out there and do that and it would all be fine and everything would go well. So I had one small bottle of zero calorie electrolytes before the race, and that was it. Nothing during the race. No carb loading, no gels, nothing.

And according to my pace notes, I went out at my 5k pace for the time and then I walked the rest of the way, which totally valid, but I genuinely didn't know any better. Somehow I finished the race. And the reason there's so many pictures of me is because the police escort was right behind me. Yes.

I was the absolute last person to finish. I wasn't even mad about it. I was so lost, literally lost.

I didn't know where I was that I had no idea how far I'd gone, how much I had left when I was gonna get there. Nothing. No clue. So I wasn't even mad. It was kind of hilarious.

And so when I crossed the finish line and then unexpectedly burst into tears, I was mad because I wasn't sad. I wasn't angry. But then I'm, like, crying and can't make myself stop, and I don't even know why.

Well, in the years since then, I have learned that bursting into tears at a finish line is actually very, very. Has nothing to do with how well prepared you are. Although it can sometimes have to do with how much you have depleted yourself through the effort.

Happens to all runners and athletes of endurance events and other rigorous exercise. It can happen even in practice. I had no idea.

I thought I was, like, the only person that had ever experienced this of, like, tears of a clown, Just ridiculousness. Nope. Evidently, it happens.

So if you have never experienced bursting into tears for no reason, when you're not even mad or sad, it can happen to you, too. At a finish line. It is hard to be this cool, y'. All. So at this point in preparing for this upcoming ultra, I'm kind of. Of the.

Let's train for what we can and just roll with it for the things we can't train for. I've got a couple weeks left until my half marathon. That was part of the training plan before I ever decided to do this ultra.

So that's all rolling really well, feeling good about it, and then we got a little transition week, and then it is full on, and you can probably hear it. I'm a little nervous and a lot excited at this point, so I hope y' all enjoy my little music playlist. Obviously this one is Tears of a Clown.

I like a lot of different versions of that song, but I am partial to the one from the English beat or the beat depending on where you're from. And that's the one that's on my playlist. I link all that stuff in the show notes to these episodes for y'. All.

But I guess I'm wondering what are those things that I had no idea I should have expected that can happen, especially in regards to an ultra? Like, are there physical responses good or bad that you just you didn't expect and that you kind of couldn't control?

Like the bursting into tears for no reason. At this point I'm like, if I'm just running and crying, it's totally fine.

And I'm fully aware of like bathroom issues for whatever reason that just rolls with it doesn't bother me. I mean, I don't want it, but that's not something that mentally is going to disrupt me. Possibly physically, but not mentally.

What are crazy things that have happened to you on your ultras?

It's definitely looking like the easiest place to leave comments is there on YouTube or even just in the regular podcast rating and review section on Apple. That works really easily as well. You can be specific about it. I'll know what you're talking about.

I sure appreciate all those five star ratings and reviews and the follows in your podcast app. They make us play this game and your support really makes a difference. I sure appreciate it as I figure out why Momma runs an ultra.

Mentioned in this episode:

Sleep with Rock Stars

Sleep with Rock Stars, the Gen X sleep podcast. You deserve a good night's sleep...or whatever.

Summary

Join me on my journey prepping for my very first ultra marathon! It’s been a mix of excitement and nerves as I dive into the challenge, which originally started as a wild idea to do a unique looping run from my home. Turns out, my idea was not novel at all, and there’s a whole community around this kind of thing, like the Backyard Ultra! I talk about why I’m really doing this. It’s all about pushing myself, not seeking validation from others. I also share the behind-the-scenes planning, from preparing for the terrain to figuring out nutrition and building the mental toughness needed for the race. Join me as I walk through this prep, share insights, and connect with other runners along the way.

Chapters

• 00:10 - Embarking on a New Challenge
• 01:44 - Personal Insights on Running Events
• 02:22 - Preparing for the 50k Ultra Marathon
• 04:19 - Preparing for a New Challenge
• 05:47 - Preparing for the Ultra: Footwear and Comfort Tips

How I Procrastinate

• Sleep with Rock Stars
• Making Playlists
• Dive Bar Music Club
• Country Fried Rock, Podcast Archives from 2009-2020
• Support this Podcast

Recommended If You Like

ultra marathon training, backyard ultra events, first ultra marathon experience, running tips for beginners, how to train for an ultra, ultra marathon diet, pacing strategies for ultra marathons, elevation gain in running, mental training for long races, comfortable running shoes for ultras, ultra marathon nutrition, solo running motivation, running loops training, trail running tips, running events for older adults, managing race day pressure, planning for ultra marathons, ultra marathon race profiles, running community support, personal goals in running

Transcript

00:00:01.680 - 00:06:59.380

To be honest, it kind of ticked me off that somebody already came up with the idea. Hey y', all, thanks for stumbling into Mama runs an Ultra. I'm a runner on the downhill side of my 50s who decided I'm gonna run my first Ultra.

What the hell am I thinking? As I shared, I've been spinning around this idea of doing an Ultra in some capacity for the last two or three years. And.

And my first plan was that I would have everybody out to my house to tailgate in my yard for my birthday while I went and ran this about three and a half mile loop from my house every hour on the hour.

And I talked about this for quite a while, thinking that I had come up with the greatest idea ever, only to discover that apparently this is a thing not only every hour on the hour races or time races of time, typically 6, 12, even more hours. But also there's something called a backyard Ultra. Okay, this is an official thing. And I had no idea. I had never heard of this. No clue.

And That's a almost 4.1-ish-mile loop every hour on the hour. And you're out when you can no longer complete the loop in the hour. They could go on for days.

But I was super disappointed to discover that apparently there's thousands of people out there who do this all the time. All right, so call me Scoop.

But the main reason that I decided not to do this every hour on the hour 3 ish mile loop near my house was I mentioned it at the gym one day and one of my friends who is an attorney said, hey, maybe not, because if your friends decide to run with you, you could potentially have liability if something happened to them. And I was like, oh no, this isn't about them. This is about me. And I don't do a whole lot of things that are like, this is just for me.

And so that actually solidified this concept how I wanted to approach my Ultra a pretty long time ago, before I ever really decided I was really doing one, I was like, I'm not doing this for other people. I'm doing this for me. Just like this podcast. The whole reason of sharing all this stuff is so I can think it through out loud.

I'm one of those people who can't process my thoughts really unless they come out of my mouth. Hence every single report card in my entire childhood saying, very chatty, talks too much, always has something to say. I know, I know.

It hasn't changed. So I still might go do one of these six hour events or every hour on the hour events type someday. But for now I am officially signed up for a 50k.

I think it's a point to point it might be a loop. I probably should know that as we get closer to it.

I have made the mistake many years ago of showing up to a half marathon, having just run the distance, but not training specifically for the course. That was a huge mistake and I learned that in a much easier environment. So yeah, I will absolutely know my elevation gain in the next week or so.

Nice thing about ultras is most of them have pretty good profiles about that and I went through the platform to sign up for this race. There's even some sort of app that'll help you break down pacing, etc. And you can add in your aid stations and all that kind of stuff.

I actually don't have enough information yet to know how to plan appropriately for that, but I will. I already know that I'm not a person who can do sugar only carbs throughout a race. I have to eat something savory salty.

So practicing what I'm gonna eat will be a whole nother deal. I have a whole. I have a plan. I have a plan, y'. All. I'll talk more about that in another one.

But yeah, I'm sort of sad that I'm not gonna be doing this big loop from my house every hour on the hour for a while. Except that it seems like a whole lot of pressure to be the one person that people come and are cheering for.

That's as much as I love to be, you know, up on a stage, not in that environment, especially when things go sideways. Because I'm one of those people who burst into tears when I'm mad. I know it's super effective sarcasm font for those of y' all who don't know.

And then it makes me more mad because I'm crying because I'm mad. Yeah, I know some of y' all can relate to that.

The other thing is doing the same loop over and over and over all by yourself has got to be pretty boring. So I ran my first like five years of running only running this one same loop back when I was doing the three miles three days a week.

So I'm not really sure I can actually mentally make myself do it. That might be good mental training to force myself to do that sometime, but not this time. That's not what this one's about.

So real soon I'll be checking out exactly what the elevation profile is for this race that I'm signed up for, but also I need to know the terrain. They've said it's mostly flat and it's mostly groomed, so I have an idea of what that means.

But, you know, groomed packed sand, which is what we have near where I live, is very different than groomed packed. Like crushed stone versus pea gravel versus big gravel. And I already know that just from, like, hiking adventures and how that footing feels.

So I'm just grateful that it's not, like, technical trail, because I'm not. I'm not prepared for that. I don't have the ability to train for that appropriately.

And as much as that sounds appealing to observe, it's not a challenge. That sounds interesting to me at this time. See how I'm already, like, scope creep.

Those of y' all have worked in nonprofits like I have will be like, oh, yeah, I can see where this is heading. All right. But we're reining it in. We're only doing one thing this time around.

This 50 ish k. The more I talk about it, the more I'm talking myself into it. Right. Right. That's what we're here for.

So if you didn't catch it from the last episode, I am loosely titling some of these episodes from the songs that are on my playlist. So this one, of course, is you spin like a record, baby. But of course, when they sing it, they say, you spin me right round, baby, right round.

I will spare y' all by singing, but not on the trail. I guarantee you will hear me singing.

I cannot carry a tune to save my life, but I have former DJ disease of knowing every word to every song I've ever heard. It's a problem. So one thing that has me a little concerned here is some advice from y' all on what shoes to wear on different types of terrain.

From what I know, this is like sort of that asphalt y paving that they do on, like, old rail trails. And there might be some sections where it's either crumbled or the they've put in some gravel to deal with where it's washed away in storms.

So generally decent footing, but not super fabulous. What have y' all worn to deal with both traction on those, but also comfort over that many hours?

I'm way more interested in being comfortable during the uncomfortable experience because fast is not going to be a thing for this event. Not for me, anyway. If y' all would leave a comment with your suggestions, I would super appreciate it.

It's looking like YouTube has been the best place to do that. You can do it on Spotify too. I wish Apple had a better method for doing that.

Apple lets you like leave an overall podcast comment, so if you want to be specific in that, go ahead. That's super helpful too.

And as always, I super appreciate those of y' all who have popped by in your podcast apps and left those five star ratings and reviews kind comments, all the good stuff. And if my way TMI sharing about...

Summary

In this episode, we get real about the messy mix of running, life stress, and whatever’s going on in our heads, especially when training for something as daunting as an ultra. After a rough half marathon that felt like one long mental battle, our host talks about how emotional overload can totally derail a race. There’s also an unexpected cameo from Boz Scaggs’ “Lido Shuffle,” which ended up looping through the run and becoming this weird little window into their mood and mindset. We chat about what our go-to running songs say about us, how playlists evolve with our training, and why music can be such a lifeline on the hard days. And of course, we want to hear from you: what tracks keep you moving on those long runs?

Chapters

• 00:09 - Introduction to My Running Journey
• 00:45 - Navigating Life's Challenges: The Sandwich Generation
• 03:28 - The Challenge of the Process
• 06:15 - The Intersection of Music and Running
• 07:56 - Exploring Music and Podcasts

Links

• My Apple Music running mix
• countryfriedrock.com podcast from 2009-2020 with archives slowly returning
• divebarmusicclub.com new podcast launching 2026 where I chat with some of my music friends about what we're listening to right now
• Sleep with Rock Stars, the Gen X Sleep Podcast
• Support this Podcast

Recommended If You Like

running playlist, ultra running, half marathon experience, running challenges, training for ultra marathons, running motivation, music for running, running headspace, overcoming race challenges, running in your 50s, running gear, running podcasts, coping with running stress, race day preparation, running tips for older athletes, music and running performance, mental aspect of running, running community, running reflections, personal running journey

Transcript

So now I'm kind of wondering if my running playlist is my subconscious. Why else would I have Boz Skaggs Lido Shuffle on there? Hey, y', all, thanks for finding Mama Runs an Ultra.

I'm a runner on the downhill side of my 50s who decided to run my very first ultra. And this podcast is helping me think out loud. How did I get here?

So I just got some horrendous official photos back from a late fall half marathon that I did. I'm not going to name it. It was a fantastic half marathon. I just had one horrific days every so often. Well, let me take that back.

I'm not sure I've ever actually had a race that went as badly as this did for no identifiable reason other than my training block was full of a lot of life stress. I don't know if any of y' all are in this whole sandwich generation situation of you still have kids and you're taking care of parents and it sucks.

Nobody told nobody. Nobody prepared me for this. My parents did not deal with this with their parents.

And I don't want to get into the drama of it all, but just to say I was not emotionally prepared for this. Never mind all the other details. I hate it. And that's me being nice about all of this.

Anyway, I think that's really what impacted this particular training cycle on this half marathon that I did. Because the race itself was fantastic. Drivable distance, well located race hotel, good logistics for the event itself, perfect weather for running.

It just didn't go well. I felt terrible and I couldn't salvage the day. I finished, nothing was broken, gave myself two hours to be mopey about it, and then I moved on.

You can tell I totally moved on, right? I got these pictures in the my email the other day and I was like, oh, those pictures reflect exactly how terrible I felt that day.

It was kind of hilarious. They are. If you were going to make like an Instagram of terrible race photos, it would just be filled with these photos.

Every single thing about it just looked awful. And the funniest part was I'm not sure I picked my feet up off the ground the entire time. I'm not sure how I ran at all. It looked ridiculous.

Just like not even running. It was just shuffle, horrendous, terrible shuffle. And everything felt terrible. Can I say terrible one more time? Why not?

So I ended up somehow like with my phone sweaty in my pocket or something and it got stuck on repeat on the Boz Scaggs song Lido Shuffle, which is on my running playlist, but not over and over and over again. And I was in such a bad headspace that day. It never occurred to me to say, hey, Siri, skip this song. And I like that song.

But it's funny, while my legs were, like, barely doing their job and just shuffling along, literally, like, every single step was a down step, you know, those photos. Oh, my gosh. Couldn't. Could not possibly be less inspiring. Anyway, the lyrics of that song are actually.

They sort of helped me get through it all for some reason, until it finally dawned on me to pull my phone out of my pocket and fast forward with my finger. Like I said, I was just not in it that day. So it's sort of a song about. I mean, this is my interpretation.

Every song has meaning to whoever the listener is, but it's really about, like, rolling your last gamble at a life choice repeatedly. And like, every next time is gonna be the last time. And it never quite panning out.

Even when the third time around, the people in your life are like, yeah, this is it. And you're like, one more, just one more, just one more.

And with the whole preparing for and getting ready to train for this very first ultra, I'm a little bit being clear to myself that I'm not in the headspace of just one more, because that's not where this is coming from. It's more the challenge of the process. I don't do a ton of races every year, so it's not.

I have a friend who does like a marathon every month and, you know, knock yourself out, but that's not something that I would be able to physically do or recover from appropriately. And, you know, as I joke, and I've said this one on this podcast before, but this is one of my favorite lines. I say it all the time in real life.

Nike is not coming to reduce my contract if I do not perform on this day. But, you know, if you want to talk about funding this venture, by all means, hit me up.

Because, you know, late 50s women who've never run an ultra are surely the top market for them. Although, have you all seen. I hate to even go down this road. Did y' all see the holey hole filled? What would you call it? Like, mesh?

I don't even know what it was. Some sort of open Swiss cheese mesh something or other shirt that Kipchoge was wearing in that last big marathon. It was pretty cool.

I kind of thought they were going to have it in orange for some reason, but turns out it's white. Anyway, I think it's a cooling shirt with some sort of cooling technology.

I think that is the coolest thing I've ever seen, and I am all about trying something ridiculous like that tangent. Not even sure where I was going with this. No surprise, but I do have a running playlist. It's out there on Apple Music if you want to see it.

Super simple to find. It's called Running Mix. Yeah, I know.

Real, real, real original under the name of one of my early podcasts from 2009, Country Fried Rock, which has some resurrected archives out there. Y' all can find it. Anyway, that's the name I use on Apple Music.

And that mix generally skews heavily to disco because when I am not in a good headspace, you know, turn the beat around, it'll really get you going.

So it's kind of funny that for whatever reason, on that one horrible day, it was just Lido shuffle over and over and over again until I finally fast forwarded to my, like, comfort music, which is the Clash album London Calling. So, yeah, I know I generally don't train with music, but I do like to have one earbud in during a race for those rough moments.

And I've only had one other race where I had any sort of rough moment, and that's because I was really pushing on that particular day. And it helped me stop obsessing about the fact that I was pushing harder than I thought I was capable of doing.

And I was really glad to have it on this day where everything was not coming together the way I hoped for, because it was a pretty good distraction, even the hilarity of being stuck on a Boss Gag song. But I definitely on that day realized there were some oldies in my playlist that I just couldn't bear when things were not going well.

They were not helping me get to the next good headspace. And I'm sorry, Morrissey and the Smiths, y', all are absolutely 86'd out of this running playlist.

I was in that headspace where I was like, yeah, cancel your concert one more time. Anyway, typically I'm listening to Ultra Running Trail podcasts when I'm on my long runs. One of your in one of your off.

And that's what I was saying in one of the earlier episodes, that that's kind of where I've been in this contemplative phase about running an Ultra for a really long time.

So, I mean, if you could know what to do by listening to 11d zillion podcasts about a subject I am definitely your armchair expert, but I'm not egotistical enough to think that that actually prepares me to do anything. But I am curious, for those of you who do run Ultras, do you listen to anything on them? Do you? Is it podcasts? If so, like, what...

Summary

In this episode of Momma Runs an Ultra, we splash straight into the sweet spot where weather and running collide. I share why a rainy run makes me happy as I gear up for my very first ultra marathon. From prepping for the training to navigating whatever the sky decides to throw at me, I talk through the mindset it takes to train outdoors when the forecast loves surprises. I also chat about the idea of bringing a coach on board and why clear, honest communication might be just as important as logging miles. Join me for a joyful, slightly soggy riff on embracing the messy magic of running toward a big, brave goal. Really, I'm just procrastinating.

Links

• Music Playlists
• Sleep with Rock Stars, the Gen X Sleep Podcast
• Dive Bar Music Club, the Low Key, High Taste Happy Hour for Music Nerds
• Country Fried Rock, Podcast Archives from 2009-2020
• Support this Podcast

Chapters

• 00:00 - Running in the Rain
• 01:38 - Understanding the Weather's Impact on Running
• 03:22 - Running in Different Weather Conditions
• 05:28 - Preparing for the Ultra Marathon
• 07:09 - Navigating Coaching Relationships
• 09:40 - Preparing for the Ultra Challenge

Recommended If You Like

running in the rain, ultra running preparation, training for ultra marathons, running in cold weather, benefits of running in rain, how to train for an ultra, ultra marathon coaching, half marathon training, running gear for rain, communication with running coaches, strength training for runners, merino wool running gear, running in different weather conditions, preparing for race day, mental preparation for running, outdoor running tips, running safety during storms, enjoying running as a hobby, overcoming running challenges, fitness tips for older runners

Transcript

00:00:00.240 - 00:10:17.570

I kind of like running in the rain. I mean, not really when it's like 36 and pouring rain all winter. Like when I lived in the Midwest. No shade to y'. All.

Seriously, I'm just not that tough. But like 50 to 90 degrees, pouring rain, no thunder and lightning. I am all about a wet run like that.

And as y' all can probably hear it, it's pouring rain right now. Which made me think about this. Hey, welcome to Mama Runs in Ultra.

I'm a runner in my late 50s who decided it would be a really great idea to run my first ultra. And this podcast is helping me figure out what the hell am I thinking.

So when I decided that I wanted to run an ultra, I spent a couple years listening to podcasts and watching some videos on YouTube about ultra running. And mostly I found these amazing videos about mountain running.

I love a beautiful vacation hike to somewhere with mountains, but I live in flatland in the middle of the swamp in South Carolina. I am completely unprepared to run on a mountain in any capacity. And honestly, it doesn't appeal to me as something to do for myself.

I love watching it. It's beautiful, but I don't want to do that. So I didn't even know that ultras on rail trails or paths even existed.

In fact, I didn't even really figure that out until a couple months ago when I signed up for my actual race. But the pouring rain made me think about it because the conditions are definitely part of the training.

And I'm one of those, I only run outdoors kind of people. I can do that. I live in South Carolina. Our weather is pretty good most of the time. I've gotten in six miles in my driveway in middle of a hurricane.

You do what you got to do. But I've also come to really respect the weather and know that toughing it out sometimes just doesn't make any sense.

I think back to, I don't know, what year was it with the Boston Marathon when Des Linden won and it was pouring rain and she's the only person running in a jacket in the attrition of those poor runners with hypothermia you were just watching on the video? So I'm just not one of those, like, David Goggins style, stay hard, be tough kind of people.

I think that's absurd because ultimately we're just doing this for fun. Nike is not coming to reduce my contract if I don't get out there.

I get out there because I enjoy it, and I really, genuinely enjoy running in the rain, it's weird. But also, I wear super thick glasses and can't see anything without them, so I do have to wear a hat.

So if you ever see some ridiculous drowned, rat looking person running through a neighborhood in the middle of nowhere in the pouring rain, it's probably me. I never, ever run in thunder and lightning, though.

When my child was younger, he was playing soccer, and there was a terrible tragedy of a parent that got struck by lightning in the middle of a soccer field on a day that really wasn't even that bad of a storm.

But that old rule that I grew up with of, you know, you listen for the thunder and you count the seconds for the lightning and all that kind of stuff, or you see the lightning and you count the seconds till thunder, and that's how far away it is or whatever. Well, you can get struck by lightning without that being two or three seconds apart. So if no one's told you that, Mythbusters. Right here, y'. All.

I'm kind of hyping myself up right now to go run in the rain. It's cold for us. You know, cold is relative. I'm not gonna knock it. I have friends who live in Saskatchewan who are runners. You know who you are.

You're an ultra runner. You're one of the people who's inspired me here.

And, you know, y' all run in cold weather that I can't even comprehend, but I can run in hot temperatures that y' all can't handle. You know, 95 degrees is not a reason for me to stay inside. I'm gonna go out there and run. I'm not gonna be stupid about it.

I'm gonna dress appropriately and take cooling drinks and all that sort of stuff. And my pace will be slower, but I'm going to run when it's 95. No big deal. But it's like 45 degrees right now, and that's extremely cold for us.

And I'm sorry, I can't do metric conversion, y'. All. That's like the lower end of my wet and cold.

I used to try to run it with, like, a super waterproof jacket, and I found that, at least for me, if I'm going to go get in some miles in the rain like this, the waterproof jacket just makes it worse because I sweat underneath it. And then you're just frigid, and it's just terrible. I'd rather just wear, you know, the greatest thing I've ever discovered. Merino wool.

I grew up thinking I was allergic to wool because wool Made me itchy. Well, merino is amazing. I'm all about a bargain online. Looking for, you know, past season sales and crazy colors. I don't care what it looks like.

I'm here for function. Life motto right there. I'm kind of sharing this with y' all to psych myself up to get out there and do the miles. So I've been thinking about it. I'm.

I'm actually wrapping up the end of training for a half marathon right now. It's December 5, 2025, as I'm recording this, and I have a half marathon in January that was on my calendar for quite a while. And I enjoy the plan.

I enjoy the process. I like the training.

I like having, like, different runs on my schedule and knowing that I'm gonna get out there and do them, because on my own, I will always do the miles. I'm one of those people who does not need motivation to get out the door. I like it. I enjoy it.

But if I was just gonna do it myself, I would run same distance at the same pace every day, and I wouldn't change anything up. But having a plan has really helped me, one, become a much faster runner, much to my surprise.

And, you know, fast is relative, and it's not always the goal. But it's made running way more fun for me because when I get to a race environment, I'm way more prepared for what's coming my way.

And that's kind of what has me just really pondering with the whole ultra thing, is the whole preparation thing.

I like to be prepared, but I like to be prepared for the things I can be prepared for so that when the unknown things come my way, I can handle it, or I can problem solve it, or I can just be laughing about it. I think I heard someone else say, you know, control the controllables, and it's kind of that sort of thing. But I'm not a control freak.

I'm kind of both. I'm, like, super organized and on top of the preparation for some things, and then the rest of it, I'm just like, whatever, let it happen.

And so when it comes to this ultra, I want to be as prepared as possible. So I think I'm hiring a coach. I've talked to a couple of folks.

I reached out to a number of my friends who have run ultras of different kinds who gave great advice on who to reach out to, what to look for appropriate plans if I just wanted to follow a written plan. And I think. I think I'm going To go with a coach.

There's one person in particular I've talked with that I'm feeling like maybe gets my vibe, but I don't know, like, it seems kind of silly because, like, there's no time goal here. I want to finish this. I mean, honestly, I want to show up to the start line healthy. That's really the goal.

It's not really any time for finishing it, but I want to be as prepared as I possibly can to show up healthy on the day. And it's such an unknown for me that I think a coach is going to be the way to go. So I don't know. I've worked with a couple of coaches in the past.

When I...

Summary

Plot twist: my uterus did NOT fall out.

In this episode, I wander back through the strangely misguided athletics messages of my youth, namely, that girls absolutely should not run because, according to my parents, my uterus might fall out. (Yes, really.) Fast-forward a few decades, and here I am in my mid-50s, having gone from enthusiastic fitness walker to full-blown runner, now staring down the start line of my very first ultra-marathon.

I share how I got from “running is forbidden” to “sure, let’s run absurd distances for fun,” and how shedding those old myths opened the door to a passion I never saw coming. It’s a story about hilariously outdated advice and discovering that it’s never too late to choose your own adventure, especially one with a lot of miles.

Join me as I puzzle, laugh, and jog my way into this unexpected chapter as Momma Runs an Ultra.

Links

• Music Playlists
• Sleep with Rock Stars, the Gen X Sleep Podcast
• Dive Bar Music Club, the Low Key, High Taste Happy Hour for Music Nerds
• Country Fried Rock, Podcast Archives from 2009-2020
• Support this Podcast

Chapters

• 00:05 - Starting the Ultra Journey
• 00:16 - The Journey to Running
• 01:31 - The Journey to Running: Breaking Barriers
• 02:08 - A New Approach to Fitness: From Walking to Running
• 03:04 - The Journey to Ultra Running
• 03:18 - The Journey to Ultra Running

Recommended If You Like

ultra running, running after 50, female runners, couch to 5K, overcoming running myths, distance running for beginners, fitness journey, late start running, ultra marathon training, running motivation, women in sports, age and fitness, running tips for women, running stories, first ultra marathon, transitioning to running, fitness after 50, training plans for beginners, mental health and running, personal running experiences, medical myths, 1984 olympics, Joan Benoit Samuelson

Transcript

00:00:00.480 - 00:03:22.800

I mean, plot twist. My uterus did not even fall out. Hey, y', all, this is Mama Runs an Ultra.

I'm a runner on the downhill side of my 50s who kind of said, hey, y', all, watch this. And signed up to run my very first ultra. As of today, December 5, 2025, I have never run further than 16 miles.

And the race I'm signed up for is like 30 something. And I'm still in that stage of going. What the hell was I thinking? I did not grow up as a runner.

In fact, I was not allowed to run when I was in high school. I wanted to do cross country because they seemed kind of like a cool group of folks.

And I really liked the fact that you could be part of the team and never, ever have to run the races because only the top seven got to run. And my school was one of those pretty competitive schools, so there was no way that was ever going to happen for me.

Well, the summer before the season that I wanted to run, the coach sent a summer training plan on a piece of paper to our house for new runners. And the first step was run a mile. Well, I couldn't run a mile. And then my parents read the list and they said, you're not allowed to do that.

Your uterus will fall out. Looking back on this from my 50s, I can tell you if your uterus would fall out from distance running. So many women would be running voluntarily.

But plot twist, my uterus did not fall out, but I also did not run the mile ever. I wasn't allowed to because it was too far for girls. And at the time, women were not even allowed to run in the Olympics marathon.

Yep, some of y' all remember that between the stereotype of bad for your knees, possible medical emergencies of uteri falling out, and my parents favorite quote, you'll use up your lifetime heartbeats, they really believed all this stuff. I. I was not a runner. And that did not change until my mid-40s. From my 30s through my mid-40s, I was a dedicated fitness walker.

Three miles a day, three days a week. That's it. And I was convinced that that was too much. At some point, walking was just taking too long. And I found couch to 5K. Now this is old school.

Couch to 5K on a piece of paper. Before the apps, I don't think I even had a smartphone yet. I don't even know if they existed. I didn't have a GPS watch or any way of measuring it.

So I found this loop.

It was a little over a mile around in a neighborhood down the street from me and I would run one mailbox, walk one mailbox, run one mailbox, walk one mailbox. And it was supposed to be an eight week training plan, but by the end of the eight weeks, I was running about a mile and a half, not a 5K.

So it took me another six months to build all the way up to being able to run a 5k without stopping. And at that point, for many, many years, I ran three miles a day, three days a week. Somewhere along the lines, it became fun.

Honestly, you could have never convinced me of that so objectively, here I am in my late 50s, definitely more physically fit than I was 25 years ago. What does that have to do with running an Ultra? I don't know.

But somehow we all end up either buying into the myths we grew up with or waking up one day and going, that was total bullshit. So that's where I am. How did this lead to running an Ultra? Well, that's a long story. And that's why we're here as Momma runs an ultra.

Mentioned in this episode:

Sleep with Rock Stars

Sleep with Rock Stars, the Gen X sleep podcast. You deserve a good night's sleep...or whatever.

Summary

Ever decide to celebrate a birthday with something epic…and then immediately wonder what on earth you just signed up for? That’s basically how I tumbled into the world of ultra-running. Back in 2020, I had grand plans for a 50K to mark turning 50, but the pandemic had other ideas. Cue a lot of reflection, some mild existential spiraling, and the growing realization that my 50s weren’t going to wait around for me to face Big, Scary Goals.

So in Momma Runs an Ultra, I talk about finally taking the plunge and registering for my very first ultra, even though I’m still not entirely sure how may miles these kilometers are, how many snacks I can handle while running, or whether my I can even do it. It’s a mix of excitement, confusion, and the kind of “Why am I doing this?” energy that pairs perfectly with a long run.

Join me as I jog into this wild new chapter. Let’s see how far we can go.

Links

• Music Playlists
• Sleep with Rock Stars, the Gen X Sleep Podcast
• Dive Bar Music Club, the Low Key, High Taste Happy Hour for Music Nerds
• Country Fried Rock, Podcast Archives from 2009-2020
• Support this Podcast

Chapters

• 00:13 - The Impact of the Pandemic on Personal Goals
• 00:18 - A New Beginning in Running
• 00:43 - Understanding Ultra Marathons
• 00:57 - Reflections on Choices

Recommended If You Like

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Transcript

00:00:00.720 - 00:01:08.930

So back in 2020, I had big plans for my running. I was going to celebrate my 50th birthday with a 50K. I was already 50.

And that's where it kind of kicked in of like, ooh, I've done nothing with my life. And then the pandemic. So the race got canceled. I never did it, but I did start running consistently.

Fast forward to 2025, and I was like, well, I am running out of years in my 50s. I better start making this happen.

And one thing led to another, and I saw this race that kind of reminded me of all of my theater friends grow up, as if they all decided to go run really, really long distances. Next thing I knew, I was waking up bright and early to sign up for my first ultra.

I mean, I'm the kind of person that when I run a 5k, I'm mad if it's not exactly 3.11 miles in ultras. It's a whole different deal. Like a 50k might be 48k, it might be 56k. You don't really know. It could change when you show up.

What the hell am I thinking? Well, I'm going to share it all with you as Mama runs an ultra.

Subscribe to the podcast now and help me figure out why I didn't just go buy my high school car.

My running friend from where I used to live described this podcast as "delightfully self-aware." She also said I was adorkable, so not sure I should quote her here. I had told her that I avoided my recent habit of "show up and blow up," so that might have something to do with it. It's hot here, my dog kept me up all night, and I have solved the fashion dilemma. Priorities.

How I Procrastinate

• Sleep with Rock Stars, the Gen X Sleep Podcast
• Country Fried Rock, Podcast Archives from 2009-2020
• Music Playlists
• Support This Podcast
• Dive Bar Music Club, the Low Key, High Taste Happy Hour for Music Nerds

Chapters

• 00:14 - Planning for a New Challenge
• 01:38 - Race Reflections and Training Insights
• 03:30 - A Night of Disrupted Sleep
• 04:43 - Core Stability and Race Preparation
• 06:40 - Discovering Treasures: A Nostalgic Find
• 07:58 - Preparing for New Challenges

Recommended If You Like

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