Breaking Through 50 Miles

I used the words breaking through in the title because my ultra journey has been filled with many walls I faced that kept me from my fifty-mile goal, but every failure to reach that mileage came with at least one more important lesson. Along the way, I became stronger as I learned more about myself. If I had accomplished the goal quickly, breaking through 50 miles would not have meant as much to me, or taught me as much.

A friend who knew I loved to run asked me if I would ever do an ultra-marathon which is anything more than 26.2. At the time, I laughed and said no because I couldn’t imagine doing more than a marathon. I had no idea the ultra-distance would become my favorite.

A colleague had a husband who ran 100 milers as if it was nothing, so one day she said, “Jen, there is an ultra-race series called ‘Miles for Maria’ It’s a one-mile loop and you stop whenever you want to. It’s very chill. I decided to give it a try.

When I showed up on race day I felt like an imposter. The people around me were talking about races that had names like snake bite canyon and skull rock blood fest. I knew they would discover I wasn’t actually an ultra-runner. As the miles added up, I discovered how welcoming and interesting the ultra-community is. After one race I knew I would be back for more.