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XUDEJOY

Unlike most of the weekend warriors and outdoor enthusiasts who pack it in from dawn to dark and sometimes beyond, my adventuring seems to come to a screeching halt come summertime. My schedule tends to fill up with play dates and doctors appointments, trips to the library, and overseeing every sibling argument known to man. As someone who values solitude and silence, it can be challenging. Sometimes I find myself in a less than flattering frame of mind. Yesterday, when I parked my car at the grocery store (for the third time and I'm not exaggerating), I certainly rolled my eyes and might have groaned audibly when I pulled into a spot adjacent to a car bearing the license plate "XUDEJOY."  I was not feeling joy, much less exuding it.   My third grocery stop of the day was part of my 45 minutes alone. I bought bug spray. I walked in the woods for 35 minutes of that 45 minutes and the bug spray turned out to be more of a perfume. Summer adventuring has gotten hard fo...
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Kettle 100 Race Report: From the sidelines

I've already shared my own introduction to ultrarunning.  It was a crash course in something I would come to love even though, admittedly, I thought the whole thing was crazy.  And it is.  But it's the best crazy. This weekend found us once again trail bound for the Kettle 100, with my husband, Kevin, ready.  The Kettle series, affectionately known as " the Kettles ," hosts five races, but we were there for the big dance, the 100 miler.  It's run through the Kettle Moraine State Forest with lots of time spent on the Ice Age Trail .  One of us (the collective "we" that makes up our very special group of friends who run) has run Kettle for at least the last 5 years, so all of us go every year.  It's literally one of the best weekends of the year, though we established that #kettlemas doesn't quite have the ring we had hoped for. This year, Kevin was chasing.  He was chasing fast splits, a big finish, and a personal record.  He accomplished ...
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Training for an Ultra (in Real Life)

So, guys, there are some incredible runners out there on the ultra scene, both local to me and in all the places where mountains live.  I am not one of those runners.  I don't even really try to be one of those runners.  My husband is one of those runners.  He runs every day, rain or shine, and never complains.  In fact, the only time he might complain is if he missed getting a few miles in for the day and that never happens because dude will go downstairs and crank out treadmill miles at 9:30 at night if he really has to....  But this is not me. I run long distances because I love the outdoors, because it is a challenge, and because then I can eat all the food and drink all the beer.  I do not run for the exercise, for the PRs, or for race day.  But I do, now and then, sign up for races.  In fact, I've got one coming up in a few weeks that I'm grossly unprepared for because this is what it's like to train for an ultra in real life (and whe...
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Confessions of a Casual Ultrarunner

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How can someone who runs 30+ miles at a time be a casual anything , you ask?  Well, there is a little bit of context involved.  My longest run EVER was 38 miles.  Sounds awesome, right?  Problem is, that 38 mile run was during a 50 mile race, so ultimately, it wasn't objectively successful.  To add to that context, I live with a guy who is contemplating three 100 mile races this year.  38 miles is a pretty casual run for a guy like that.  #context But that's not all it is.  It's attitude.  To be honest, I'm a little lazy.  Probably a lot lazy.  Yes, I run really long distances once or twice a year and yes, I do a fair amount of running before those come up compared to non-runners.  On the other hand, I'm always in a state of undertrained and I kind of suck at commitment, so if something better comes up, I probably won't run.  (Something better is rarely that much better, but it's not running, so....). And when you suck a...
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Favorite Spaces - Baraboo Edition

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I have a lot of favorite places, too many to be called "favorites," really.  So I mentally categorize and justify them.  My favorite European city is Sevilla because I spent a lovely, though brief, part of my childhood there.  My favorite national park is Glacier...the last best place (and it's true!).  My favorite state is Colorado because it has unbeatable adventuring.  My favorite place to crew an ultra is Superior, because it was my first and it's amazing.  My favorite place to train for my own ultras is Scuppernong and my favorite local hike is the Ice Age Trail.  So when I say "my favorite," understand that it has a place in my heart, but I've got a big heart. So, today, when I went to one of my favorite Wisconsin places, I might be inclined to quantify it.  But I won't because Parfrey's Glen and Pewit's Nest are pretty incredible and even more amazing because they are in my home state.  Located in Baraboo, not far from the uber popul...
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In Real Life

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I've been hiking my local trails as long I've lived in this area as an adult.  So, when I came across a new-to-me trail, or segment rather, on my run today, I was giddy.  I kept stopping mid-trail to spin in a circle to see the terrain from all angles.  Every time I made it to the top of a rolling hill, I climbed up on a boulder, a bench, or a tree stump to see as far as I could see.  It was amazing.  It's why I run trails.  It's why I don't care about my running stats. It's also why I still feel a sense of adventure though I've been logging the same trail miles for years.  There's always something new to discover.  Today's hike was an especially appropriate avenue for today's blog topic "in real life."  By now you've noticed the title of the blog, I suspect.  Clearly, one of the themes is adventure.  But why "in real life?"  It's a pretty simple answer. I'm pretty normal.  I'm a woman in my mid-thirties (l...
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Ultrarunning - My Introduction

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In the wake of the release of the 2018 Western States Endurance Run lottery numbers , ultras are on my mind.  With that said, I am a yogi.  I have been practicing yoga in a physical or spiritual form since the late '90s.  Really!!  I started in 1999 and yoga has been some part of my life since then, often a small part, sometimes everything.  So what does that have to do with ultrarunning?  Some context.... A year or so after I completed my yoga teacher training and became a certified instructor, I was approached by the Endurance House in Delafield to provide yoga instruction for their  running teams and clubs .  As I introduced myself at the beginning of their first class, I introduced myself as an avid non-runner, though by this time ultras were already decidedly a part of my life.  At a lululemon event I attended, I was asked "how I like to sweat," and I laughed and said, "I don't!  That's why I do yoga!!"  I didn't run. So, h...
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