Tag: ultra

100 miles to feel alive – Tunnel Hill 100

On November 10th, 2018 I spent much of the day with a smile on my face.  The weather was cold, much colder than a normal early November weekend, even for Illinois.  As a Wisconsin girl, the cold didn’t scare me. The number of miles didn’t scare me and the amount of time I’d be running didn’t scare me. In fact,…

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Ultra Runing

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and ultra running: How I used CBT to run 100 miles.   I bet you’d never think that therapy for my depression would help me travel 100 miles on foot, but it did, in the most amazing way.  If you’ve run any sort of running race you know that a HUGE chunk of it is mental.  If…

Lessons Learned

This year I’ve faced quite a bit of failure in my running life which is something I’ve never been used to.  I feel like running has always come relatively easy to me, however the past few years have been quite turbulent.  Maybe I should reword this, running is not easy, it never has been, but for whatever reason it has…

DNF

DNF – Those pesky letters in that order that runners hate.  They stand for Did Not Finish and that is a runner’s worst nightmare. So how come my first DNF didn’t hurt.  It didn’t fill me with anger, hate and frustration.  Instead it was… easy.   I sat with Andrew and Will in the sun on a picnic table watching…

Ice Age Trail 50 – 2015

“Two more up and downs and we’re there!” I said to Dean, but mostly I was telling myself. I picked Dean up around mile 32 after a tough climb out to Emma Carlin. I couldn’t run downhills anymore.   “It doesn’t even matter anymore,” he replied.   But it did. After the roller coaster day I had and the pain…

Ice Age Trail 50 -2014

I can still feel the energy buzzing around from last weekend’s race.  Looking back I have to admit this was my strongest run to date. In the days leading up to the race I was anxious but still confident. I knew I could complete the 50 miles but I didn’t know what to expect when it came to time.  The…