On my way to 60, a crazy little thing happened. I kinda, sorta, accidentally, but on purpose registered for an ultra-marathon. … It’s a long story.
Hi, I’m Terry—short for Theresa, but really, I’m Terry. I’m a middle aged woman, single, recently retired. For the majority of my adult life, I’ve been overweight and, often, morbidly obese. In my early 50s, I was finally able to find my way to an active and healthy lifestyle. Turns out, however, anxiety and depression don’t care how hard you work or how successful you are. They’ll creep right back in and rain on your parade, piss in your Wheaties, poop on your party, spoil your sport– Yeah, you get the idea. And so, I find myself, again, morbidly obese and being treated for depression. Bonus! I’m looking down the barrel of senior citizenship, a.k.a old age. (Insert ominous music here: Dun-dunt-duh…)
Well, I’m happy to say the metal health treatment is paying dividends now. In April, I started feeling a marked improvement in my mood and energy. By the time May came around, I was no longer sleeping 12 to 14 hours a day. Instead, I was up and working on projects that had been sitting undone for years. That’s when I started thinking I needed something big to kick off the start of my sixth decade on planet Earth. The only requirement, it had to be a physical challenge. No trip of a lifetime to Alaska was going to do it. The idea being, the “big something” would provide the motivation to get back on track with an active lifestyle.
Originally, I settled on a rim-to-rim (to rim?) thru-hike of the Grand Canyon. Logistics? A nightmare. It’s still on my bucket list, but enter an ultra-marathoner friend who was training and racing again. It wasn’t hard for her to convince me to return to trail running, which had been such a huge part (and passion) of my previously active life. It was an easy point from which to begin–again. Just put on my trail shoes and get out there.
Over the following week, I spent days reviewing events and distances, putting together a training plan to fit, and building spreadsheets to keep track of it all. There was some “worry” around my aged body returning to the level of fitness required for this endurance sport. Could I shed all the bad eating and bad habits I’d taken up again? Could I even still run? At 238 pounds and age 59?! Could I? Really?
Hell yes! Watch me.
Then followed a flurry of race registrations. Among those, I HAD to include a personal favorite: the Palo Duro Trail Run. I’d registered for it twice before. Completed it the first time, albeit under-trained and in pain due to a foot injury. The second time, I didn’t even start—DNS (or DNeS, using my particular phrasing). Both were during my late 50s when injuries and depression were plaguing me again.
Do over in 2022? Yes! With one potential monkey wrench. The 25K distance is so popular, it has a short registration period and it sells out fast. I didn’t want risk it. Registration for the 50K was already open. Almost certainly a DNF (Did Not Finish) for me. However, registering did ensure I’d have a spot on the starting line to run as much of it as I could. I’m thinking 25K at least. 😉
Yes. I purposefully registered for a 50K I planned to DNF. The Palo Duro Trail Run was now on my race schedule! (Not too hard to see how the crazy was bound to happen, is it?)
Big event for 6-0? Something physically challenging? I’m registered for an ultra-marathon? Why not my very first ultra-marathon?!!!
20 weeks to train—0 to 31 miles. (The Run with Hal app thought it was a dubious endeavor. For it to get on board, I had to tell it I was already running regularly. :-p I wish.) A generous cut-off time meant I could use run-walk intervals to maintain a realistic (for me) average pace. Not ideal, no. Doable? Totally. Well, kinda sorta. I just have to stick to the training plan! I could do that, right? Too, how could I NOT do it when members of my tribe responded: “That sounds crazy! … Can I come with?”
It’s what we do.
