Earlier this year, I ran my first ultramarathon, a 50k (31 miles), with my friend Christy. It took us a minute or so past exactly 6 hours on a nice, windy spring day. In case you missed it, you can read about it here or listen to my podcast interview about it here (link in the post). Looking back now on what I wrote, it’s interesting to me to see that I referred to the accomplishment as my “first” ultramarathon, not knowing at the time if I would ever run another one. Perhaps it was foreshadowing, or maybe just my subconscious speaking… but either way, I’m terrified, nervous, and seriously so, so excited to say that today I committed to the hugest physical challenge of my life by signing up for a 50 mile race! I’m so blessed to be joined again by the incredible Christy Curtis for our next ultra adventure! My goals for the race are as follows: 1) to finish, 2) to be injury-free, and 3) to hit 100,000 steps on my Fitbit that day!
I’ve been running a fair amount lately, but I really need to nail down my training plan for the next 6 months. Also on the agenda are choosing a sturdy but comfortable hydration pack and testing out different nutrition on long runs (I’m starting with Tailwind which I recently just purchased for the first time). If you are an ultra runner or coach, I happily welcome any and all advice on everything I mentioned above and/or anything else you think I need to know. I’m very ignorant about runs longer than 31 miles, haha! While training, I plan to do at least one more marathon and another 50k race so I will definitely keep you posted along the way! Wish us luck!
family, fitness, & fun 
You can do it girl! I ran my 1st 50 miler in May and can’t wait to do it again!! Happy training!
https://thedancingrunner.wordpress.com/2016/05/10/50-thoughts-during-a-50-mile-race/
Awesome!!! Many congrats! Any advice?
Thanks! I’ve got a blog post for that too! HA!!
Ahhh!!! You’re the best!!! Can’t wait to read!! Thank you!!
Absolutely! It’s almost the same type of training as the 50k except you’re out there a few more hours longer 😉 Just know that you’re going to be out there a while but you’ll be out there all day doing what you LOVE to do. Remember this and be patient with yourself when you have some rough patches, which you will. But if you go in with the determination to FINISH… you will!
Ahhh!!! This gives me goosebumps!
Good luck! I’m thinking about taking the plunge into the ultra world as well. Looking forward to hearing how your training and race go!!
Thank you so much!! 🙂
Wow! So great to see you going for this! I purchased a Teton Sports Trailrunner 2.0 Hydration Backpack off a well known online retail website and it started to leak at the hose connection site. I had only been running with it for a month, and I thought I was just sweating a lot (LOL!) but, the water bladder just didn’t hold up.
Thank you! And thanks for the info – I will steer clear of that one – let me know if you get a replacement and what you think of it!