Summary

In this episode of Momma Runs an Ultra, I open up about the unexpected challenge of losing my voice while training for an ultra, a reminder of how unpredictable life and training can be. Despite feeling physically fine, this setback sparks a deeper reflection on the vulnerability to illness and the privilege of good health. I also dive into the complexities of balancing personal goals, friendships, and aging, with the importance of staying active and resilient. I invite listeners, especially those navigating similar life transitions, to share their thoughts as we explore these meaningful themes together.

Chapters

1. 00:05 - Losing My Voice
2. 00:49 - Managing Health in Ultra Training
3. 01:52 - The Impact of Smoking on Childhood Health
4. 03:14 - Embracing Health and Mortality in Running
5. 04:26 - Navigating Adult Friendships and Health Privilege

Recommended If You Like

ultra marathon training, running after 50, health and running, losing your voice, hydration for runners, nutrition for endurance athletes, training plan for ultra marathon, running podcast, adult friendships and fitness, privilege of health, preparing for an ultra, overcoming training setbacks, mental health and running, benefits of running, challenges of aging and fitness, maintaining fitness over 50, staying active later in life, running community, personal growth through running, experiences of older runners

Transcript

00:00:02.320 - 00:05:22.900

So after I went to make my cup of coffee, I went to go talk to the dog. And that's when I realized I had lost my voice. What the heck? Hey, y'. All. Welcome to Momma Runs an Ultra.

I'm a runner on the downhill side of my 50s who decided to run my first 50ish K. And this podcast is where I totally overshare about the process while I train leading up to it this summer. So I almost didn't record this episode. Cause as you can hear, I've lost my voice. I have no idea what happened. I feel totally fine.

I didn't even know I'd lost my voice till I was making coffee this morning and I turned to talk to the dog, as you do when you work from home. And I was like, what is coming out of my mouth? So this will either be your favorite episode I ever do or the one you want to skip. Totally cool.

But it reminded me that there are so many factors about training for an Ultra over which I have no control. And one of them is, is getting sick. Now, I don't think I'm sick right now. I feel totally fine. No headache, no sore throat, no fever.

Like, everything feels totally normal. But sometimes we do get sick. And that is definitely something that can cause a wrench in a training plan.

So for me, I'm not a person who's going to go run if I'm actually sick. And today is one of those kind of head scratchers.

Like, I don't feel sick, but clearly my body is telling me that something is wrong because I can't talk. So I think what I'm going to do is just make sure I'm really good about my hydration and nutrition today and see how I feel in the afternoon.

I'm not really an afternoon runner. I prefer to just sort of run about 7 o' clock in the morning. When you work from home and you have a flexible schedule, it's something you can do.

Not everybody has that privilege. But I'm not a person who's been sick a whole lot as an adult.

I was one of those really, really sickly kids, like constantly strep throat, ear infection, some sort of problem. And in retrospect, it's probably because one of my parents was a chain smoker in the house.

And we now know not just the impacts on children's breathing, but it's so directly impacted to other children's health and illnesses as well. So, yeah, people who are always talking about how the 70s were great clearly have forgotten about things like that.

Or did not grow up in a house or chain smoking Lucky Strikes was totally normal. But anyway, I was a teacher for many years and I used to always joke that that's why I'm immune to everything. So I don't get sick very often.

And it kind of makes me mad when I do because it just messes up the schedule. You all know how that is. And one of the things that I like about training for this ultra is that there is a schedule.

Like, I need to do these things, not because I have to do them, but because they are part of the building blocks of helping me show up to that starting line healthy. And being unhealthy is a blip in the road to making it to that starting line. So hopefully this is the only time that this happens to me.

And again, I hope I continue to feel fine.

I really don't know since this is the first symptom, but health is such a privilege, and it's a stark reminder of how much running is a privilege and not something that everyone has the time, the health or the support system in place to be able to do it. And I'm very aware of that. This is an ego project and I know it.

And I'm grateful for all the people in my life who support me in being able to do these things. And I'm also fully aware that this late 50s 50 ishk race is very much that looking down death's door sort of challenge to myself.

Right after I turned 50, a number of my guy friends from college had heart attacks and passed away. They lived hard, had a good time, but it still seemed so unexpected and so young.

And it's probably part of what started this idea of do the things you want to do because tomorrow is never promised. And on some level I've always known that.

But when your buddies that you used to go to concerts with aren't there when you text them anymore, it's a little too real. So that's definitely a factor in the back of my mind. Every so often.

We went hiking a few weekends ago and there were folks my age for whom it was a real physical problem and they'd clearly bitten off more than they could chew.

And I think the thing that really stuck out, especially for a couple of the men that were on the trip, because they kept saying, well, I used to be able to do this, I used to be able to do this.

But if we don't keep doing the things that help us be prepared for these sort of endeavors, it is just that, it's just something we used to be able to do. And training for this ultra is definitely me seeing what are the new things I can do that I've never done.

And I don't have anybody around me, my age or older who's doing these things or who talks about these things. And maybe y' all are out there, but my IRL friends are not.

So I don't know, maybe this whole, like losing my voice and thinking it's about the privilege of health, which it is, is also about the challenges of adult friendships, especially as you head towards retirement ages and people of different backgrounds move on to other places, move back to wherever they came from, move to the place that was always their dream, or don't get that choice. I'm just figuring this out as I talk to y'. All.

So if you're one of those folks also on the other side of 50 who's figuring this out, I'd love to hear from you. The easiest way to do that is in the comment section on YouTube or on Spotify. You can also leave it in the general podcast app comments or on Apple.

They don't really let you reply to a specific episode, at least not that I can figure out. And as always, I sure appreciate you sharing these episodes with your friends. It goes a long way to helping other people.

As I figure out why Momma Runs an Ultra.

Mentioned in this episode:

Dive Bar Music Club, the Low Key, High Taste Music Podcast

A rotating cast of The Regulars gather to chat about the music they're currently listening to.

So after I went to make my cup of coffee, I went to go talk to the dog.

And that's when I realized I had lost my voice.

What the heck?

Hey, y'.

All.

Welcome to Mama Runs an Ultra.

I'm a runner on the downhill side of my 50s who decided to run my first 50ish K. And this podcast is where I totally overshare about the process while I train leading up to it this summer.

So I almost didn't record this episode.

Cause as you can hear, I've lost my voice.

I have no idea what happened.

I feel totally fine.

I didn't even know I'd lost my voice till I was making coffee this morning and I turned to talk to the dog, as you do when you work from home.

And I was like, what is coming out of my mouth?

So this will either be your favorite episode I ever do or the one you want to skip.

Totally cool.

But it reminded me that there are so many factors about training for an Ultra over which I have no control.

And one of them is, is getting sick.

Now, I don't think I'm sick right now.

I feel totally fine.

No headache, no sore throat, no fever.

Like, everything feels totally normal.

But sometimes we do get sick.

And that is definitely something that can cause a wrench in a training plan.

So for me, I'm not a person who's going to go run if I'm actually sick.

And today is one of those kind of head scratchers.

Like, I don't feel sick, but clearly my body is telling me that something is wrong because I can't talk.

So I think what I'm going to do is just make sure I'm really good about my hydration and nutrition today and see how I feel in the afternoon.

I'm not really an afternoon runner.

I prefer to just sort of run about 7 o' clock in the morning.

When you work from home and you have a flexible schedule, it's something you can do.

Not everybody has that privilege.

But I'm not a person who's been sick a whole lot as an adult.

I was one of those really, really sickly kids, like constantly strep throat, ear infection, some sort of problem.

And in retrospect, it's probably because one of my parents was a chain smoker in the house.

And we now know not just the impacts on children's breathing, but it's so directly impacted to other children's health and illnesses as well.

So, yeah, people who are always talking about how the 70s were great clearly have forgotten about things like that.

Or did not grow up in a house or chain smoking Lucky Strikes was totally normal.

But anyway, I was a teacher for many years and I used to always joke that that's why I'm immune to everything.

So I don't get sick very often.

And it kind of makes me mad when I do because it just messes up the schedule.

You all know how that is.

And one of the things that I like about training for this ultra is that there is a schedule.

Like, I need to do these things, not because I have to do them, but because they are part of the building blocks of helping me show up to that starting line healthy.

And being unhealthy is a blip in the road to making it to that starting line.

So hopefully this is the only time that this happens to me.

And again, I hope I continue to feel fine.

I really don't know since this is the first symptom, but health is such a privilege, and it's a stark reminder of how much running is a privilege and not something that everyone has the time, the health or the support system in place to be able to do it.

And I'm very aware of that.

This is an ego project and I know it.

And I'm grateful for all the people in my life who support me in being able to do these things.

And I'm also fully aware that this late 50s 50 ishk race is very much that looking down death's door sort of challenge to myself.

Right after I turned 50, a number of my guy friends from college had heart attacks and passed away.

They lived hard, had a good time, but it still seemed so unexpected and so young.

And it's probably part of what started this idea of do the things you want to do because tomorrow is never promised.

And on some level I've always known that.

But when your buddies that you used to go to concerts with aren't there when you text them anymore, it's a little too real.

So that's definitely a factor in the back of my mind.

Every so often.

We went hiking a few weekends ago and there were folks my age for whom it was a real physical problem and they'd clearly bitten off more than they could chew.

And I think the thing that really stuck out, especially for a couple of the men that were on the trip, because they kept saying, well, I used to be able to do this, I used to be able to do this.

But if we don't keep doing the things that help us be prepared for these sort of endeavors, it is just that, it's just something we used to be able to do.

And training for this ultra is definitely me seeing what are the new things I can do that I've never done.

And I don't have anybody around me, my age or older who's doing these things or who talks about these things.

And maybe y' all are out there, but my IRL friends are not.

So I don't know, maybe this whole, like losing my voice and thinking it's about the privilege of health, which it is, is also about the challenges of adult friendships, especially as you head towards retirement ages and people of different backgrounds move on to other places, move back to wherever they came from, move to the place that was always their dream, or don't get that choice.

I'm just figuring this out as I talk to y'.

All.

So if you're one of those folks also on the other side of 50 who's figuring this out, I'd love to hear from you.

The easiest way to do that is in the comment section on YouTube or on Spotify.

You can also leave it in the general podcast app comments or on Apple.

They don't really let you reply to a specific episode, at least not that I can figure out.

And as always, I sure appreciate you sharing these episodes with your friends.

It goes a long way to helping other people.

As I figure out why Mama runs an Ultra.