Category Archives: North Face Endurance Challenge 50-Miler

North Face 50-Miler – Freedom Run

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“She was born to be free, let her run wild in her own way and you will never lose her.” ― Nikki Rowe

On Saturday, April 9th, I ran my 4th 50-miler in DC. This was my 3rd time running the DC North Face Endurance Challenge. And for the first time in a very long time, I went into a race without a goal. As I started running ultras, I became more and more focused on goals (if that’s even possible for my obsessive brain) and the pressure of meeting these self-imposed goals started to get to me. Race after race, I would put myself through moments of despair and self loathing that I would come out wondering, why am I so mean to myself? I was afraid that I was heading towards being burnt out so I re-evaluated my goals for the year and frankly, they are pretty aggressive. After taking a look at the big picture, I realized that I needed a freedom run. I needed to toss out the goal of setting a PR and let my spirit and my heart run free. And so I did. Continue reading →

When Your Best Isn’t Good Enough

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On Saturday, when I realized as I was driving to meet my friends to carpool to our 22 mile run that I still had my slippers on, I knew it was going to be one of those days. I made a quick call and sent a messages to my crew that I had to turn around. We had planned on meeting at 6:45 am, but they were kind enough to wait for me and I’m glad they did.

I woke up feeling great. I got enough sleep…although wearing my slippers out the door has me questioning that…and my mental game was on. As we started running, I quickly settled in the middle. Once again, I tried my best to keep up with the fast kids, but I just couldn’t keep up. Continue reading →

2015 – What a Year!

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I usually have no problems with writing my end of year post. It typically flows right through me. But this year, I’ve seem to be plagued with writers block. Do you know when you have so much to say that you just can’t say anything? Well, that’s me. All. Year. Long.

I had a pretty big year in the world of racing. Actually, while I ran less races this year, the races I did run were pretty epic. Continue reading →

North Face Endurance Challenge DC 2015 50-Miler Recap – Stupid is as Stupid Does

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Saturday, April 18, 2015 marked my third 50-miler race. I died a thousand deaths on that course on that hot humid day. Okay, so I don’t have to be so dramatic about it, but this was a tough one for me. I did everything wrong, and I knew I was doing it wrong, but I did it anyway. Stupid is as stupid does. I don’t understand why I couldn’t get my head in the game, perhaps it was because that I had such great runs after less than stellar training that I thought I could get away without proper nutrition, hydration, and pacing during the race. It’s a 50-miler for Christ sake…you HAVE to be diligent about all of those things. I wasn’t, I got lazy, perhaps cocky, and I suffered. Continue reading →

Back to Training – And it Feels Oh So Good!

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It’s been exactly two weeks since I completed the JFK50 miler. Going into the race, I swore that I would take off of running and start back again in January. I was burnt out physically and mentally of non-stop training over the past…well geez…I guess it’s three years now. I was content with giving it a break and was looking forward to it. Continue reading →

The North Face Endurance Challenge #ECSDC 50-Mile Race Recap – Part 1: The Highlights

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Writing this blog seems to be harder than running 50-miles. There’s so much to tell you, but I really don’t want to bore you with the details, but I want to tell you everything! I’d actually be better off writing this:

Dear Diary,

I ran 50 miles.

It was awesome.

Will miss my toenails.

Love, me

I have a draft written that’s already well over 1400 words and I’m only at mile 15. I could turn this into a novel if I wanted to, so I think for now, I’ll break this up in parts and start with just the highlights and then follow up with details later. Continue reading →

North Face Endurance Challenge 50-Miler Training Weeks 4 – 6 Part 1 (The Marathon)

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Can the title of this blog post get any longer? I really have to find a better way of doing this. Better yet, I really need to find the time to write more often. Apparently training for an ultra marathon takes up a lot of time, and this is only a 50-miler. I can’t imagine the time I would need to put in to train for a 100-miler. I’m going to try and capture everything in a 3 part series for weeks 4 – 6: The Marathon, The Half Marathon, and the Last Long Run. Continue reading →

874 Days Since Day 1 – Who Knew?

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It’s been 874 days since I first “unofficially” walked/jogged my first race, the Celtic Solstice 5 miler. I never thought there would come a day in those 874 days where I would ‘forget’ that I had a race  and that race was a full marathon. All week I’ve had that “oh yeah…I’m running the Delaware Marathon on Sunday” moment when trying to make plans for the weekend. And who would’ve thought that it would take me 826 days, to go from 0 miles to an ultramarathon. And I never thought that in 28 days, I would run my first 50 miler. If my calculations are correct, that would mean that it took 902 days to go from running 0 to running 50 miles. Continue reading →

50 Miler Training – Week 2 con’t: Sole of the City 10k & Run on the Race Course

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I’ve got 54 days until race day. It took a little bit of time, but I’m finally getting a little bit more comfortable with being on my own with training. I guess it’s because so far, I’ve been fortunate enough to have training runs with my friends. I originally had 13 miles scheduled for this past Saturday and 6 miles Scheduled on Sunday. Since I had previously registered for the Sole of the City 10k, I had to work a couple of miles in before hand. Kendra had planned on getting in 16 miles that day for her Delaware Marathon training, so we figured we’d get in 10 before the 10k. Unfortunately, we only got in 6. We spent too much time having fun and taking pictures like this one… Continue reading →

Week 2 – North Face/Gortex 50 Miler Training (You’re on Your Own Kid)

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So far week 2 is going well. I have gotten in every training run and personal training session so far. My legs are still very tired from this past weekend and these short 6 mile morning runs are challenging. I hope it gets better soon, it has to, right?

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I love running with my group of friends. When I first started out it was just us the three of us. They talked while I grunted and gasped for air. They got me to mile one and eventually to mile 13.1. Continue reading →