5 Things I Try to Avoid as an Ultra Chick

Why should you take advice from me? Crap. I don’t know, you probably shouldn’t. Regardless, I’m sitting home on my butt with no work to do, and Daniel is at the store. The result is a post about things I’m either learning to avoid or already learned to avoid being an ultra girl. I’m easily capable of offending pretty much anyone, so just close out this page if I piss you off! Easy enough, right? 😉

1.) Frump avoid this at all cost!!! Seriously. It’s really sexy to run and pull your hair back and sweat it out on the trails for a few hours. What’s NOT cute: staying dressed like that 24/7- at which point sexy becomes frumpy. Date with your man will be much steamier if you pull out your skinny jeans, slip on a low cut top, smooth on some shiny red lipstick, and rock what you work so hard on.. promise he will think it’s worth the time.

If you try and look super cute maybe your guy will make strange faces like Dan’s here when you’re taking pictures of yourself because you rarely get so dolled up. shame. (stashed in my while wearing make-upphoto archive.)

2.)”Too tired for sex.” now i dont mean the night after finishing a hundred.. Im talking like daily. That’s messed up. I’ve overheard so many conversations between runner husbands consisting of something along the lines of this, “How’s she gonna run for 2 hours, then get home and have absolutely nothin left in the tank for me?!” touché. Dude’s got a point there. Personally, I don’t understand this one. I’m all for endorphin release. But I have talked to several women that just dont feel it is a priority. Strange. I do recall having a super long conversation with Daniel about men being just as obsessed with sex as we runner chicks are with miles. Read the post on this blog “I crave running like he craves what?”. Kinda goofy but it will make sense.

I really love you but I just ran 40 something miles and I’m bout ta pass the — out. That excuse doesn’t fly in ManLand???

3.) Taking running too seriously. now here is one I can genuinely vouch that you do NOT want to deal with. Now given I was running and training 4+ hours a day when running took over my life, the obsession can happen with a lot less miles and training. And its not a cute, cool, or fun place to be in. Its a very dark scary realm. Everyone talks a lot of big game about “running through pain” yada yada yada.. And few of us will actually do things we claim. But those of us that do, know that this serious obsessive kind of training really destroys you. My body could only take less than a year of it before it shattered, and I am only 25 and VERY fit. The point is- running world isn’t the real world. Internet running friends aren’t your family. The trails will be there tmrw if you just don’t have time. And if it really hurts that freaking bad, then just STOP. It’s supposed to be a fun hobby. As my dear friend Prophet Jen once told me, “Running is supposed to be fun. If it stops being fun, do something else until it becomes fun again!” Trust me girls, Prophet Jen knows everything. So strike a good balance between pushing yourself, training hard, and keeping it real. Easier said than done, of course.

4.) Getting competitive with runner chick friends. Not nice. I mean, hello, we are all at least somewhat competitive. I am the farthest end of the very competitive spectrum a girl can get! Winning a race I train hard for is important to me, but never at the expense of a friendship. Even outside of racing, I think it’s easy for women to remain catty and vicious well after high school is over- gossip and rumor spreading happens just as much as when we were 12 years old and stuffing our bras. I think it’s important that we try and support each other as much as possible. In the end, we are all just out to have fun!

5.) Selfishness! now this one can show up in a number of ways- definitely has in my own life! It’s no secret that ultrarunning is a very selfish sport. We run for hours- sometimes days- and must depend on everyone around us to get us through it. First up, its a cheap sport, but it ain’t all cheap. We’ve got the ever increasing entry fees, $100 running shoes, gear.. Then the other aspect: relationships! Husband at home holding down the fort, kids waiting for their turn to hang out with mom, family & friends on hold, work piling up, Etc etc. It’s selfish. HOWEVER, running brings us inner harmony and peace, so it’s not likely we’re gonna nix the gig! I am finally learning to say no to running sometimes-just like I had to say no to drugs when I was a 16 year old addict. Meth… Running…. Pshh. Some things never change.. But with a family to take care of, it’s stupid to try to be wonder woman. When I say I trained hours and hours a day last year, Guess what time my alarm went off every am?? 3-4am! I didnt want my kids to know that their mom was a psycho runner, so I would be back from my daily long run before they woke up for school. Looking back, at least I got one thing right. I think it’s kinda messed up how some women will neglect their family to run during prime hang out time. If you notice that happening- stop it before it starts. Step out of the picture as much as you can to check yourself..& make sure your family always comes first!

Ehh, that’s all I got for today. I went up stone mountain with Brooklyn on my neck and now I’m brain dead! I’ll ramble some more tomorrow.