In 2013, I ran my first ultra, the Leona Divide 50 miler. 

Gone were the days of trying to cover the race distance in my training but I did feel like there was a need to set a new high watermark for running.  Prior to that block, the most I’d covered on foot while running was 26.2 miles.  When I started my preparation, I had some general ideas of what I wanted to accomplish and I felt like I need to peak with a long run of 35-ish miles.  I can’t remember exactly what I ran but I believe, 38 miles -- it wasn’t pretty.  I started out too fast, ended too slowly and I recall a lot of walking in those last 8 miles.  I finished my preparation, Leona Divide came and went, I had a successful first 50 miler under my belt and I was hooked on ultras.

I’ve been a runner for almost 20 years.  When I started out, I ran one mile a day for five days a week and not long after, I moved up to five miles a day.  This routine stuck for a while until one day I went all Forrest Gump and I kept going.  When my run ended that day, I had covered thirteen miles.  I was in a tremendous amount of pain but I was equally filled with excitement. 

Shortly thereafter, I ran a half marathon and a few years later, I ran my first marathon.