Prairie to Peak Running

Training for an ultra takes a lot of time; often time that I don’t seem to have when I first look at my schedule. Most of my runs are pushing a child, or two, in the stroller, and often I get little say in the time of day that I run because I am working it around meals, naps, and childcare. Why do we run ultras, or participate in long endurance events? Is it our driven and/or energetic personality that pushes us to choose a time and effort-intensive hobby? Or, has the participation of the hobby instilled an inner drive and motivation, and skillset of perseverance and hardwork, inside of us to continue to train and compete? 

For me, I am a competitive person at the core, and learned at a young age what hard work in a sport could do for my internal motivation and self-esteem. Participating in speed swimming and water-polo taught me time management, discipline, teamwork, commitment, and consistency. I then brought these skills with me, along with my competitive spirit, to ultra running and just kept going. Now, as an ultra runner, I can contribute many of the skills and traits I show in my everyday life to what I have learnt in training and during races. For instance, my mental strength has improved and continues to improve; I am able to push myself through tough bouts of pain and discomfort, such as during childbirth. As well, my ability to stay chill and calm in stressful times is improving. While I may not be the ‘chill mom’ that I envision myself to be, I am better able to let things slide off my back. Finally, I am better able to set goals, plan out short term targets, and decide what needs to be done to reach the objectives. I can juggle my time and set my priorities to achieve life goals, as small as they may be. There may be times when a day could be less planned and more flexible, but I am still working on that area of balance in my life. 

These are skills that I will continue to hone. While ultra running is not fully responsible, I know that the time invested into training and racing a very long race is time that is wisely spent on a pretty powerful hobby. 

What big goals do you have? What is your powerful hobby?