Like, I Kinda Want Your Support, But Like, It's Super Awkward to Like Ask For It
Clearly a bounce back to my wannabe Valley Girl days in this episode. Let's transfer those "likes" to the podcast reviews, or something. Sheesh. I’m really just sharing where I’m at with training for an ultramarathon. Watching the Boston and London Marathons recently gave me a big boost of motivation and a fresh way to think about my own training, especially on the tougher days. I also think out loud about how important mindset is when you’re out there for hours at a time, and how much a few encouraging words of support can change everything. I’d love to hear from listeners about what actually helps them push through hard moments in endurance events, because that sense of community has been surprisingly needed.
How I Procrastinate
- Sleep with Rock Stars, the Gen X Sleep Podcast
- Country Fried Rock, Podcast Archives from 2009-2020
- Music Playlists
- Support This Podcast
- Dive Bar Music Club, the Low Key, High Taste Happy Hour for Music Nerds
Chapters
- 00:14 - Inspiration from Major Marathons
- 00:46 - Training Insights from Recent Marathons
- 02:15 - Preparing for the Race: Weather Challenges and Training Adjustments
- 03:38 - Support and Encouragement in Running
- 04:15 - Navigating Emotional Support in Ultra Running
Totally Tagging Them
- South Carolina
- ESPN Spanish broadcast channel
- Italian food
- Aid stations
- Boston Marathon
- London Marathon
- Upcoming ultra marathon
- Back-to-back long run training days
- Cutback training week
- Family birthdays
- Friends visiting town
Recommended If You Like
ultra marathon training, running tips for older adults, Boston Marathon highlights, London Marathon insights, long run strategies, overcoming training fears, humidity and running, summer running tips, emotional support for runners, aid station encouragement, running in extreme weather, preparing for ultra marathons, running motivation for beginners, ultra marathon mental strategies, training for long distances, community support in running, marathon race experiences, hydration strategies for runners, balancing training and life, running for fitness over 50, training for a first ultramarathon, midlife athletic journey, running in your 50s, self-doubt and mental dialogue, inspiration from elite marathon events, mental toughness and mindset during endurance training, long run structure and training adaptation, heat, humidity, and weather unpredictability in training, race preparation uncertainty (especially race duration expectations), community support and encouragement during endurance events, emotional support preferences during races, communication challenges with non-running friends/family, sharing running goals with others (coming out about the race), music/commentary/media consumption during major races (watching coverage, Marathon Handbook commentary), balance between training and personal life (social plans, family events), humor and self-awareness in endurance training journey
Transcript
Well hey y'.
Speaker A:All, welcome to Mama Runs in Ultra.
Speaker A:I'm a runner on the downhill side of my 50s training for my very first Ultra marathon and this podcast is me saying all the quiet parts out loud of what the hell am I thinking?
Speaker A:Took some inspiration these last few weeks from some of the major marathons of Boston and London.
Speaker A:Give you all a quick little rundown of my thoughts about that in just a sec.
Speaker A:So I've been enjoying my last week of training, feeling inspired by these big races.
Speaker A:Yes, totally watch the Boston Marathon.
Speaker A:Told y' all I would.
Speaker A:Beginning to end coverage on the ESPN Spanish channel that at least gave me a better visual feed.
Speaker A:Turn the volume all the way down and then listen to the commentary from Marathon Handbook.
Speaker A:Shout out to them.
Speaker A:They do a great job not associated with any of these places of just sharing the info of where I find this stuff.
Speaker A:And then less than a week later, London Marathon.
Speaker A:Heck yeah.
Speaker A:Woke up just in time to watch the last five minutes of the women's race.
Speaker A:Heck yeah.
Speaker A:I took us to SEFA and then just the absolutely unbelievable men's finish.
Speaker A:Really inspired by all of it and kind of taking some inspiration to myself of not freaking out when the training gets hard.
Speaker A:As I said, I'm thoroughly enmeshed in these back to back long runs and those were the thing I was so afraid of ahead of time that have turned out to be totally okay.
Speaker A:Like yes, they're hard.
Speaker A:Especially like the first long run is the long run and then the second one is really just like a loosen up your legs, get out some distance sort of thing.
Speaker A:Still not in any sort of scary overall weekly mileage totals.
Speaker A:It's just that it's all crammed up together in those two days for the most part.
Speaker A:And as a runner, I've always been attentive to the weather.
Speaker A:I live in the South.
Speaker A:It's hot, it's humid, but our weather has been so all over the place.
Speaker A:I've been trying to run in the afternoons when it's warmer, but it's been really erratic.
Speaker A:So I have not yet built my normal like summertime acclimation to the heat and humidity at all because it'll be like a day of hot and humid and then we'll have some crazy storm or bizarre weather change.
Speaker A:So I don't feel as comfortable with the heat and humidity as I normally would by this time of year.
Speaker A:And I'm sure a couple weeks from now I may be complaining about it, but I would prefer to be much more prepared for that part of it, especially for a race where I'm probably going to be out there for, I don't know, 8 hours, 9 hours, really?
Speaker A:I have no idea how long this 50 +k is going to take me.
Speaker A:No clue.
Speaker A:But.
Speaker A:So let's say it's going to be eight hours.
Speaker A:Maybe I would like to be prepared to be running for several hours in the heat and humidity and right now that's just not something I can train for.
Speaker A:So we'll see.
Speaker A:Got a little bit of a cutback week this week, which is kind of nice.
Speaker A:Got friends coming in town.
Speaker A:They'll be going out for a big old delicious true Italian supper with a couple of family birthdays this week as well.
Speaker A:So I'm sure quite a bit of birthday cake will be involved.
Speaker A:And then I finally told some of my non running friends and family that I'm doing this race.
Speaker A:I haven't told them, boy, will they be surprised when they find this podcast if they ever do.
Speaker A:But I finally told them and I was using this little like software that lets your friends and family leave little words of encouragement or a funny joke or some sort of brief, chaotic story for you to hear as you're running along the route.
Speaker A:I don't think they get it.
Speaker A:I don't think they realize I'm actually doing this and I'm not just like showing up for the day out of the blue.
Speaker A:So I'm just trying not to like overwhelm my non running friends with info about this.
Speaker A:But at the same time, I really like their little like words of encouragement, but I don't think they really get it to understand why that would be thoughtful and helpful.
Speaker A:So I don't know.
Speaker A:I don't.
Speaker A:I'm not a person who is really good at saying hi, I would really like your rah rah rah.
Speaker A:Especially because I didn't grow up as an athlete.
Speaker A:Like that's not something you.
Speaker A:I was a theater kid.
Speaker A:Like that's not something you do for theater.
Speaker A:It's just not how it works.
Speaker A:So I don't know, it would be nice to know what y' all have found.
Speaker A:Frayed phrases or comments that have been emotionally supportive to you in the middle of an ultra.
Speaker A:Because that's one of the things like my husband said to me this weekend.
Speaker A:He goes, what am I supposed to say to you when you come in the aid stations?
Speaker A:And I'm like, I don't know.
Speaker A:So what sort of things do y' all like?
Speaker A:What is helpful?
Speaker A:I am not a person who likes to be yelled at.
Speaker A:So any sort of like mean old school coaching methodology and commentary would not work for me at all.
Speaker A:It's the whole reason I didn't do sports growing up.
Speaker A:I mean that and the fact that I was really bad at all of them, wore big thick glasses and had asthma and wasn't allowed to do most of them.
Speaker A:So other than that everything else led to the fact that I was totally going to be an athlete right?
Speaker A:Anyway if you do have like things that have been emotionally supportive to you either leading up to an ultra or in the middle of an ultra I would love to know what those are because I don't even know how to anticipate what would be beneficial.
Speaker A:You can leave those in the comment sections on any of your favorite podcast apps.
Speaker A:I would super appreciate that.
Speaker A:While you're there tap, follow or subscribe and thank you.
Speaker A:Thank you for all those five star ratings and reviews fixing to head right out the door because Mama runs an ultra.
