the (mis)adventures of an ultrarunner
I am a Christian woman.
Born and raised deep in the South, I may not be exactly who you are picturing. I own no pearl necklaces or pastel pant suits. I have never attended a potluck dinner. I haven’t set foot in a Sunday School room since I was 12, and the word “revival” still makes me nervous. Continue reading “God, Me, and Dirt”
For the past week, I have been in bed battling a nasty bout of Pneumonia. This morning, I finally felt a slight spark of energy to go for a short run. I laced up, dropped my kids at my Mom’s, and headed to the nearest trailhead.
By the time I got to the park, I was feeling deathly ill again. It was 90 degrees with full humidity out… I should just go home and sleep…. but being the runner I am, I couldn’t resist at least tackling a mile. So I jumped out of the car, grabbed my phone and keys, and ventured into the woods waterless for a short jaunt. Continue reading “Transitional Grit”
I was driving home from a trail run the other day, windows down, feeling amazing, listening to my favorite radio morning show on KLove.
Ahh… endorphins flowing, sun shining… everything is just… right.
The host began a discussion that instantly grabbed my attention: “What if you could somehow write a letter to your 15-year-old self?” he said, “What would you say?”
Ha… I thought, everything wasn’t always “just right”, was it?
I started to reflect upon 15-year-old me. The rebellious, bratty, out-of-control, drug addicted failure daughter of a Baptist preacher… oh, I’d have a lot to say. So, why not actually say it? Where to begin… Continue reading “To The 15-Year-Old Me”
The last time I ran over 10 miles was at Grindstone 100. The race was back in October, over 5 months ago. My 6th hundred wasn’t a normal one for me …if there is such a thing as a normal 100. Most hundreds hurt in more ways than one. But this one– it was pure mental, emotional, and physical hell for reasons I could not have foreseen… Continue reading “Grindstone 100: Hanging On To Hope”
A few months ago, the editor of a major running magazine spent a long time interviewing me for an article about addiction in running. I poured my heart out, but never saw it published.
So I battled back and forth for awhile, torn between letting the story go, if I wanted to go there, yada yada, until I finally just said …ya know what? Screw it…. nobody can tell my thoughts better than me…. So here we go. Prepare yourselves.
ASHRUNS100s 