Five Things Ultrarunning Taught Me

I am constantly amazed at the similarities between raising two small children and being an ultrarunner. 

As a runner and endurance athlete here are five things, I learned from the trails that I apply to my daily life as a working mom:

1. Knowing how you feel now will change

Once you find your groove on a run, it can start to feel magical. Sometimes getting to that point is the hardest though. Heading out the door in all the right layers, saying goodbye and not feeling guilty taking time away from children, warming up, and getting comfortable. But once you can dig in past that initial wake up point, how you felt at the beginning of your run will change. As you move along and settle in, running can feel good. It can flow. The challenges of your day can melt away and you can find that space you need to excel as a parent and as an individual. Know that how you feel at the beginning of something will change as you progress, just like on a long run. I find this principle to be true as a mom, too. The hard parts of the day, or run, won’t last. You will move past it. Just keep going and keep trying.

2. Showing up is important

Not every run or workout is going to be perfect. There are days that will feel on and strong. I love these days. I can tell my body is ready to rock the intervals and pump the hills. Other days, you will have to work harder for that speed. Embrace it. Showing up day after day, no matter how you feel is important. It builds consistency and confidence. By having a set routine for each training week, I can show up for my workouts no matter if I have a trail run, packraft paddle or long swim planned. The main thing is that I show up, give it my best, and reap the benefits. Those benefits will change with your season and where you are in your training cycle, but the habit of sticking with it won’t.

3. Building mental toughness

I learned how to be calm and to be patient as an ultrarunner. I now use those skills in every aspect of my life. From long work projects, to starting a garden, to planning multiple day multisport expeditions, digging into the calm I harnessed as an ultrarunner allows me to go the distance. I also learned how to relax, and to live in the moment; how to focus my energy on only the things I can control and the task at hand to make it through the back-miles, on the water or on the trail. While these tools help me complete tasks and make big goals, I do have to say I am still learning how to relax and live in the moment as a mom. By continually to run and train, I continue to work on my mental toughness, and hopefully demonstrate that tenacity with my children.

4. Solving problems on the fly

The more we are exposed to different situations and demands, the more adept at problem solving we become. By going out each week and pushing ourselves with our running, we learn how to overcome challenges and solve problems. We tackle the weather of the day, planning the right route, working around the family schedule to get our long workouts in. This sharpens our mental acuity through weekly problem solving. The more we do this through our training, the better we get at it. As a year-round outdoor athlete and runner, I have learned to welcome the extreme weather challenges that come with this, tailoring workouts around the rain, wind, ice, and heat with new routes, new sport iterations to keep training fresh, and family integrations with children.

5. Seeing the world around you in a new light

When you travel by your own propulsion, you see the world in a new light. Things look different when you walk, run, or bike by them versus seeing them from a moving car. I like how ultrarunning has helped me take in the big and small things around me in a more detailed way. I often turn my training outings into mini ways to explore wherever I am, making them not about the run itself, but what I can discover along the way, going new directions, checking out neighborhoods, running to new locations, and delving into the backcountry. By exploring the world around me by human-power, I am creating a deeper relationship with my environment.

My years as a ultrarunner taught me that how I feel now will change, showing up is an essential part of short-term and long-term success, running builds mental toughness and helps me solve problems, and offers an amazing way to explore the world around me out my own door with a fresh perspective.

Today I practice these tenants with my children and enjoy creating even more ways to explore with multiple human-powered endurance sports and ultra-distances in everything from swimming to paddling variations. Ultrarunning taught me I can go a long way, and I want to keep going in as many ways as I can as a multisport athlete!