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Tuscazoar 50 race report: The struggle bus to confidence

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At the starting line of Tuscazoar 50 Mile.   I’ve never experienced pain that made me want to quit an ultramarathon until Tuscazoar 50.  Every ultrarunner will have the experience at some point. I was lucky enough to have evaded that terrible, soul-crushing feeling for more than two years.  Pain is expected in an ultramarathon. It’s not supposed to be comfortable or easy. It’s supposed to hurt. It will hurt. There’s no way to escape the pain.  But pain that pushes you to the point of “I can’t bear this anymore” shouldn’t be ignored. Knowing if you should succumb to the pain or to tell it to buzz off can be more unbearable than the pain itself.  I was at the point of “can I push or should I listen to my foot?” around mile 31 of Tuscazoar 50.  I’ve not run a race like Tuscazoar 50. Most of the ultras I’ve done have had lots of hills and elevation change. I enjoy the hills, and often loathe boring, flat runs. This race had both: hills and flats--and I was not prepared for the jarring chan
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Lake Martin 50: A buffet of food and friends

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Last week, I finally got to take back the race that COVID stole from me just two weeks from race day in 2020.  In March 2020, I was in the best shape of my life. I had trained diligently under the guidance of my friend and coach Olivia Affuso. I had done my cross training, lifted weights and done all my downhill repeats to get my quads ready for those climbs and descents on the trails around Lake Martin.  We were all forced into our homes in the second week of March. The race was canceled. At that point, I had already begun my taper. I was frustrated and disappointed. I felt like all my hard work of the past three months had gone to waste.  While the race was offering a virtual version, that wasn’t what I wanted. I decided to defer my registration to 2021. I wasn’t sure what would happen between March 2020 and March 2021. I was worried my chance to run another 50 miler was gone. The world was so uncertain, and it was hard to think that a world where ultrarunning thrived would exist in
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Mysogyny (this is not a typo)

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Let's talk about misogyny. Such a fun word. As I was writing this post, I accidentally misspelled misogyny as “mysogyny.” My own internalized misogyny (my-sogyny… get it?) has kept me in a constant state of self-criticism and self-denial. This is a post for 15-year-old Anna, in all her angsty glory. Over the past few months, the fog has cleared and I'm starting to see how negative comments about womanhood have seeped into my soul. I cannot unsee it, and it makes me feel physically ill.  I, like most women in America, have been constantly reminded through media, religion and social expectations, that being a woman means being second.  We see it everywhere. The jokes about momma having not eaten a hot meal in three years, about women doing the majority of the housework and childcare while working full-time and the ballooning rates of depression, anxiety and alcoholism among women.  Maybe mom drinks because she hasn’t had a hot meal in three years, or because she’s exhausted from
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Gear review: Salomon Adv Skin Set 8

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  If you’re a woman who runs ultramarathons, you’re probably already fighting the battle to find the *perfect* hydration vest.  All of our bodies are all different shapes and sizes. Unfortunately, women are not simply small men (although the major clothing companies seem to think we are--we aren’t).  I’m a petite woman (5’2” with shoes) and I have a short waist, so basically everything in the regular section fits… strange. I’ve often resorted to the girls’ clothing section to find leggings and tops that fit properly. Even small and extra small women's clothes often don’t fit quite right. It’s frustrating.  As you guessed, I’ve had similar frustrations with finding a pack that fits just right. Everything is either too long, too big or tight in strange places.  After a rat (or a small animal) conveniently chewed through the pockets of my faithful Nathan VaporAiress vest, I was sent back to the terrible wasteland that is hydration packs made to fit petite women.  I liked the Nathan Va
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Honest thoughts on ultramarathon training

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Ultrarunning is a stupid sport.  It requires a lot of time, most of which you’ll spend on training (read: suffering), driving to training locations, buying expensive gear so you can train (suffer) for longer amounts of time in more difficult conditions (read: climbing massive hills).  When you’re not running, you’ll spend your time eating, napping, or crying in a tub of epsom salt.  Ok, I’m exaggerating here. Kinda…  When you choose your first 50K, you’ll be excited. All your ultrarunning friends will be overly excited.  You’ll panic a little as you look at the elevation profile of your first race, which will inevitably be one of the most difficult, yet most popular races in your community.  In ultraworld, difficult races are popular simply because they are difficult. You would think the inverse would be true. Nothing reasonable exists in ultraworld.  You’ll get your shiny new training plan. As you thumb through it, your eyes will widen when you see those last 4-6 weeks. Those weeks wi
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