Summary

In this episode of Momma Runs an Ultra, we splash straight into the sweet spot where weather and running collide. I share why a rainy run makes me happy as I gear up for my very first ultra marathon. From prepping for the training to navigating whatever the sky decides to throw at me, I talk through the mindset it takes to train outdoors when the forecast loves surprises. I also chat about the idea of bringing a coach on board and why clear, honest communication might be just as important as logging miles. Join me for a joyful, slightly soggy riff on embracing the messy magic of running toward a big, brave goal. Really, I'm just procrastinating.

Links

• Music Playlists
• Sleep with Rock Stars, the Gen X Sleep Podcast
• Dive Bar Music Club, the Low Key, High Taste Happy Hour for Music Nerds
• Country Fried Rock, Podcast Archives from 2009-2020
• Support this Podcast

Chapters

• 00:00 - Running in the Rain
• 01:38 - Understanding the Weather's Impact on Running
• 03:22 - Running in Different Weather Conditions
• 05:28 - Preparing for the Ultra Marathon
• 07:09 - Navigating Coaching Relationships
• 09:40 - Preparing for the Ultra Challenge

Recommended If You Like

running in the rain, ultra running preparation, training for ultra marathons, running in cold weather, benefits of running in rain, how to train for an ultra, ultra marathon coaching, half marathon training, running gear for rain, communication with running coaches, strength training for runners, merino wool running gear, running in different weather conditions, preparing for race day, mental preparation for running, outdoor running tips, running safety during storms, enjoying running as a hobby, overcoming running challenges, fitness tips for older runners

Transcript

00:00:00.240 - 00:10:17.570

I kind of like running in the rain. I mean, not really when it's like 36 and pouring rain all winter. Like when I lived in the Midwest. No shade to y'. All.

Seriously, I'm just not that tough. But like 50 to 90 degrees, pouring rain, no thunder and lightning. I am all about a wet run like that.

And as y' all can probably hear it, it's pouring rain right now. Which made me think about this. Hey, welcome to Mama Runs in Ultra.

I'm a runner in my late 50s who decided it would be a really great idea to run my first ultra. And this podcast is helping me figure out what the hell am I thinking.

So when I decided that I wanted to run an ultra, I spent a couple years listening to podcasts and watching some videos on YouTube about ultra running. And mostly I found these amazing videos about mountain running.

I love a beautiful vacation hike to somewhere with mountains, but I live in flatland in the middle of the swamp in South Carolina. I am completely unprepared to run on a mountain in any capacity. And honestly, it doesn't appeal to me as something to do for myself.

I love watching it. It's beautiful, but I don't want to do that. So I didn't even know that ultras on rail trails or paths even existed.

In fact, I didn't even really figure that out until a couple months ago when I signed up for my actual race. But the pouring rain made me think about it because the conditions are definitely part of the training.

And I'm one of those, I only run outdoors kind of people. I can do that. I live in South Carolina. Our weather is pretty good most of the time. I've gotten in six miles in my driveway in middle of a hurricane.

You do what you got to do. But I've also come to really respect the weather and know that toughing it out sometimes just doesn't make any sense.

I think back to, I don't know, what year was it with the Boston Marathon when Des Linden won and it was pouring rain and she's the only person running in a jacket in the attrition of those poor runners with hypothermia you were just watching on the video? So I'm just not one of those, like, David Goggins style, stay hard, be tough kind of people.

I think that's absurd because ultimately we're just doing this for fun. Nike is not coming to reduce my contract if I don't get out there.

I get out there because I enjoy it, and I really, genuinely enjoy running in the rain, it's weird. But also, I wear super thick glasses and can't see anything without them, so I do have to wear a hat.

So if you ever see some ridiculous drowned, rat looking person running through a neighborhood in the middle of nowhere in the pouring rain, it's probably me. I never, ever run in thunder and lightning, though.

When my child was younger, he was playing soccer, and there was a terrible tragedy of a parent that got struck by lightning in the middle of a soccer field on a day that really wasn't even that bad of a storm.

But that old rule that I grew up with of, you know, you listen for the thunder and you count the seconds for the lightning and all that kind of stuff, or you see the lightning and you count the seconds till thunder, and that's how far away it is or whatever. Well, you can get struck by lightning without that being two or three seconds apart. So if no one's told you that, Mythbusters. Right here, y'. All.

I'm kind of hyping myself up right now to go run in the rain. It's cold for us. You know, cold is relative. I'm not gonna knock it. I have friends who live in Saskatchewan who are runners. You know who you are.

You're an ultra runner. You're one of the people who's inspired me here.

And, you know, y' all run in cold weather that I can't even comprehend, but I can run in hot temperatures that y' all can't handle. You know, 95 degrees is not a reason for me to stay inside. I'm gonna go out there and run. I'm not gonna be stupid about it.

I'm gonna dress appropriately and take cooling drinks and all that sort of stuff. And my pace will be slower, but I'm going to run when it's 95. No big deal. But it's like 45 degrees right now, and that's extremely cold for us.

And I'm sorry, I can't do metric conversion, y'. All. That's like the lower end of my wet and cold.

I used to try to run it with, like, a super waterproof jacket, and I found that, at least for me, if I'm going to go get in some miles in the rain like this, the waterproof jacket just makes it worse because I sweat underneath it. And then you're just frigid, and it's just terrible. I'd rather just wear, you know, the greatest thing I've ever discovered. Merino wool.

I grew up thinking I was allergic to wool because wool Made me itchy. Well, merino is amazing. I'm all about a bargain online. Looking for, you know, past season sales and crazy colors. I don't care what it looks like.

I'm here for function. Life motto right there. I'm kind of sharing this with y' all to psych myself up to get out there and do the miles. So I've been thinking about it. I'm.

I'm actually wrapping up the end of training for a half marathon right now. It's December 5, 2025, as I'm recording this, and I have a half marathon in January that was on my calendar for quite a while. And I enjoy the plan.

I enjoy the process. I like the training.

I like having, like, different runs on my schedule and knowing that I'm gonna get out there and do them, because on my own, I will always do the miles. I'm one of those people who does not need motivation to get out the door. I like it. I enjoy it.

But if I was just gonna do it myself, I would run same distance at the same pace every day, and I wouldn't change anything up. But having a plan has really helped me, one, become a much faster runner, much to my surprise.

And, you know, fast is relative, and it's not always the goal. But it's made running way more fun for me because when I get to a race environment, I'm way more prepared for what's coming my way.

And that's kind of what has me just really pondering with the whole ultra thing, is the whole preparation thing.

I like to be prepared, but I like to be prepared for the things I can be prepared for so that when the unknown things come my way, I can handle it, or I can problem solve it, or I can just be laughing about it. I think I heard someone else say, you know, control the controllables, and it's kind of that sort of thing. But I'm not a control freak.

I'm kind of both. I'm, like, super organized and on top of the preparation for some things, and then the rest of it, I'm just like, whatever, let it happen.

And so when it comes to this ultra, I want to be as prepared as possible. So I think I'm hiring a coach. I've talked to a couple of folks.

I reached out to a number of my friends who have run ultras of different kinds who gave great advice on who to reach out to, what to look for appropriate plans if I just wanted to follow a written plan. And I think. I think I'm going To go with a coach.

There's one person in particular I've talked with that I'm feeling like maybe gets my vibe, but I don't know, like, it seems kind of silly because, like, there's no time goal here. I want to finish this. I mean, honestly, I want to show up to the start line healthy. That's really the goal.

It's not really any time for finishing it, but I want to be as prepared as I possibly can to show up healthy on the day. And it's such an unknown for me that I think a coach is going to be the way to go. So I don't know. I've worked with a couple of coaches in the past.

When I first decided to switch up my training for half marathons, when I went from just me doing the same set of miles every single day, I was fortunate enough to get picked for like a professional coaching thing.

They were testing, essentially they were testing some software with the watch brand that I use and they had four actual human coaches who were guiding us. It was really great.

Like, I massively, massively PR'd my half marathon by following her plan and she checked in with us every week and it was incredibly helpful. I found the plan to be exactly what I needed. It was challenging, but I was prepared. It was, it was really cool.

So I worked with that coach for one, two, three half marathon cycles. And that was fun. I really enjoyed it. And then I used a different coach who came well recommended for my most recent half marathon.

And that was not a good fit. And I'm not really sure what questions I should have asked beforehand to have made that a better relationship.

I haven't been able to problem solve that of what I did wrong in my communication to figure out why it wasn't working. But basically the first half of the plan was way too easy and, and the second half of the plan was way, way, way too hard.

I couldn't achieve any of the targets. It was just entirely too difficult. And despite my putting in daily feedback from my runs about what was not working for me and why.

So everything from life stress to sleep to, I mean, those are the main things that were impacting it.

But just I was trying to be as descriptive and honest as possible with the coach about what was impacting me and how to adapt the training so that I could continue to be successful. And her approach was more, yay, you're doing great, everything's fabulous. And I was like, no, it's actually not fabulous.

I'm not reaching any of these targets. And I can't possibly do it. I need something that is different. And we just, we weren't. We weren't vibing. I'm not really.

I'm frustrated that I wasn't able to communicate with her that I needed something different. Despite saying I need something different. Clearly my language was not speaking her language. And so it wasn't a great fit.

And that race was not my best. I was not in a great headspace and I was feeling awful physically. I just. I didn't feel prepared despite doing all the miles.

And I had slacked off a bit on my weightlifting, which I love to weightlift. And I honestly, I think that was a lot of it, but just the running prep was not there.

So the coach that I'm considering using for this ultra training, the reason why I felt like we were possibly a good fit was that she said, you know, how do you feel about strength training? And I was like, oh, I love strength training. I said, but I really like a barbell.

I'm not real good about doing, like single leg stuff and that sort of thing. And she's all about the strength and mobility. And I was like, okay, we are probably going to be a very good fit right here.

So still in that, like, contemplative phase. Those of you took psychology classes, but I'm thinking that's how I'm heading. I don't know.

All of this is the kind of thing that I think about when I go out on a cold, rainy run as I'm fixing to do out my door. I don't know, I'd like to know how to communicate that more effectively.

If you've worked with coaches on big, scary goals like this, what have you done to keep that communication line really clear when maybe you're not getting your point across to them? I would love your suggestions.

If you're listening to this on, like, Spotify or YouTube, you can actually, like, write comments and then it'll help me because I genuinely would like to do this better. And I feel.

It's not like I feel like this ultra is like a one and done kind of thing, but I do feel like I want to lay the groundwork for this to be as positive of an experience as possible. So brain dump right here for y'. All and I appreciate your advice and recommendations and all that kind of stuff.

And if you are a person who is offended by me saying that it's really, really cold at 45 degrees, that's fine. Enough procrastination right here. I gotta get out the door because mama 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.

I kind of like running in the rain.

I mean, not really when it's like 36 and pouring rain all winter.

Like when I lived in the Midwest.

No shade to y'.

All.

Seriously, I'm just not that tough.

But like 50 to 90 degrees, pouring rain, no thunder and lightning.

I am all about a wet run like that.

And as y' all can probably hear it, it's pouring rain right now.

Which made me think about this.

Hey, welcome to Mama Runs in Ultra.

I'm a runner in my late 50s who decided it would be a really great idea to run my first ultra.

And this podcast is helping me figure out what the hell am I thinking.

So when I decided that I wanted to run an ultra, I spent a couple years listening to podcasts and watching some videos on YouTube about ultra running.

And mostly I found these amazing videos about mountain running.

I love a beautiful vacation hike to somewhere with mountains, but I live in flatland in the middle of the swamp in South Carolina.

I am completely unprepared to run on a mountain in any capacity.

And honestly, it doesn't appeal to me as something to do for myself.

I love watching it.

It's beautiful, but I don't want to do that.

So I didn't even know that ultras on rail trails or paths even existed.

In fact, I didn't even really figure that out until a couple months ago when I signed up for my actual race.

But the pouring rain made me think about it because the conditions are definitely part of the training.

And I'm one of those, I only run outdoors kind of people.

I can do that.

I live in South Carolina.

Our weather is pretty good most of the time.

I've gotten in six miles in my driveway in middle of a hurricane.

You do what you got to do.

But I've also come to really respect the weather and know that toughing it out sometimes just doesn't make any sense.

I think back to, I don't know, what year was it with the Boston Marathon when Des Linden won and it was pouring rain and she's the only person running in a jacket in the attrition of those poor runners with hypothermia you were just watching on the video?

So I'm just not one of those, like, David Goggins style, stay hard, be tough kind of people.

I think that's absurd because ultimately we're just doing this for fun.

Nike is not coming to reduce my contract if I don't get out there.

I get out there because I enjoy it, and I really, genuinely enjoy running in the rain, it's weird.

But also, I wear super thick glasses and can't see anything without them, so I do have to wear a hat.

So if you ever see some ridiculous drowned, rat looking person running through a neighborhood in the middle of nowhere in the pouring rain, it's probably me.

I never, ever run in thunder and lightning, though.

When my child was younger, he was playing soccer, and there was a terrible tragedy of a parent that got struck by lightning in the middle of a soccer field on a day that really wasn't even that bad of a storm.

But that old rule that I grew up with of, you know, you listen for the thunder and you count the seconds for the lightning and all that kind of stuff, or you see the lightning and you count the seconds till thunder, and that's how far away it is or whatever.

Well, you can get struck by lightning without that being two or three seconds apart.

So if no one's told you that, Mythbusters.

Right here, y'.

All.

I'm kind of hyping myself up right now to go run in the rain.

It's cold for us.

You know, cold is relative.

I'm not gonna knock it.

I have friends who live in Saskatchewan who are runners.

You know who you are.

You're an ultra runner.

You're one of the people who's inspired me here.

And, you know, y' all run in cold weather that I can't even comprehend, but I can run in hot temperatures that y' all can't handle.

You know, 95 degrees is not a reason for me to stay inside.

I'm gonna go out there and run.

I'm not gonna be stupid about it.

I'm gonna dress appropriately and take cooling drinks and all that sort of stuff.

And my pace will be slower, but I'm going to run when it's 95.

No big deal.

But it's like 45 degrees right now, and that's extremely cold for us.

And I'm sorry, I can't do metric conversion, y'.

All.

That's like the lower end of my wet and cold.

I used to try to run it with, like, a super waterproof jacket, and I found that, at least for me, if I'm going to go get in some miles in the rain like this, the waterproof jacket just makes it worse because I sweat underneath it.

And then you're just frigid, and it's just terrible.

I'd rather just wear, you know, the greatest thing I've ever discovered.

Merino wool.

I grew up thinking I was allergic to wool because wool Made me itchy.

Well, merino is amazing.

I'm all about a bargain online.

Looking for, you know, past season sales and crazy colors.

I don't care what it looks like.

I'm here for function.

Life motto right there.

I'm kind of sharing this with y' all to psych myself up to get out there and do the miles.

So I've been thinking about it.

I'm.

I'm actually wrapping up the end of training for a half marathon right now.

And I enjoy the plan.

I enjoy the process.

I like the training.

I like having, like, different runs on my schedule and knowing that I'm gonna get out there and do them, because on my own, I will always do the miles.

I'm one of those people who does not need motivation to get out the door.

I like it.

I enjoy it.

But if I was just gonna do it myself, I would run same distance at the same pace every day, and I wouldn't change anything up.

But having a plan has really helped me, one, become a much faster runner, much to my surprise.

And, you know, fast is relative, and it's not always the goal.

But it's made running way more fun for me because when I get to a race environment, I'm way more prepared for what's coming my way.

And that's kind of what has me just really pondering with the whole ultra thing, is the whole preparation thing.

I like to be prepared, but I like to be prepared for the things I can be prepared for so that when the unknown things come my way, I can handle it, or I can problem solve it, or I can just be laughing about it.

I think I heard someone else say, you know, control the controllables, and it's kind of that sort of thing.

But I'm not a control freak.

I'm kind of both.

I'm, like, super organized and on top of the preparation for some things, and then the rest of it, I'm just like, whatever, let it happen.

And so when it comes to this ultra, I want to be as prepared as possible.

So I think I'm hiring a coach.

I've talked to a couple of folks.

I reached out to a number of my friends who have run ultras of different kinds who gave great advice on who to reach out to, what to look for appropriate plans if I just wanted to follow a written plan.

And I think.

I think I'm going To go with a coach.

There's one person in particular I've talked with that I'm feeling like maybe gets my vibe, but I don't know, like, it seems kind of silly because, like, there's no time goal here.

I want to finish this.

I mean, honestly, I want to show up to the start line healthy.

That's really the goal.

It's not really any time for finishing it, but I want to be as prepared as I possibly can to show up healthy on the day.

And it's such an unknown for me that I think a coach is going to be the way to go.

So I don't know.

I've worked with a couple of coaches in the past.

When I first decided to switch up my training for half marathons, when I went from just me doing the same set of miles every single day, I was fortunate enough to get picked for like a professional coaching thing.

They were testing, essentially they were testing some software with the watch brand that I use and they had four actual human coaches who were guiding us.

It was really great.

Like, I massively, massively PR'd my half marathon by following her plan and she checked in with us every week and it was incredibly helpful.

I found the plan to be exactly what I needed.

It was challenging, but I was prepared.

It was, it was really cool.

So I worked with that coach for one, two, three half marathon cycles.

And that was fun.

I really enjoyed it.

And then I used a different coach who came well recommended for my most recent half marathon.

And that was not a good fit.

And I'm not really sure what questions I should have asked beforehand to have made that a better relationship.

I haven't been able to problem solve that of what I did wrong in my communication to figure out why it wasn't working.

But basically the first half of the plan was way too easy and, and the second half of the plan was way, way, way too hard.

I couldn't achieve any of the targets.

It was just entirely too difficult.

And despite my putting in daily feedback from my runs about what was not working for me and why.

So everything from life stress to sleep to, I mean, those are the main things that were impacting it.

But just I was trying to be as descriptive and honest as possible with the coach about what was impacting me and how to adapt the training so that I could continue to be successful.

And her approach was more, yay, you're doing great, everything's fabulous.

And I was like, no, it's actually not fabulous.

I'm not reaching any of these targets.

And I can't possibly do it.

I need something that is different.

And we just, we weren't.

We weren't vibing.

I'm not really.

I'm frustrated that I wasn't able to communicate with her that I needed something different.

Despite saying I need something different.

Clearly my language was not speaking her language.

And so it wasn't a great fit.

And that race was not my best.

I was not in a great headspace and I was feeling awful physically.

I just.

I didn't feel prepared despite doing all the miles.

And I had slacked off a bit on my weightlifting, which I love to weightlift.

And I honestly, I think that was a lot of it, but just the running prep was not there.

So the coach that I'm considering using for this ultra training, the reason why I felt like we were possibly a good fit was that she said, you know, how do you feel about strength training?

And I was like, oh, I love strength training.

I said, but I really like a barbell.

I'm not real good about doing, like single leg stuff and that sort of thing.

And she's all about the strength and mobility.

And I was like, okay, we are probably going to be a very good fit right here.

So still in that, like, contemplative phase.

Those of you took psychology classes, but I'm thinking that's how I'm heading.

I don't know.

All of this is the kind of thing that I think about when I go out on a cold, rainy run as I'm fixing to do out my door.

I don't know, I'd like to know how to communicate that more effectively.

If you've worked with coaches on big, scary goals like this, what have you done to keep that communication line really clear when maybe you're not getting your point across to them?

I would love your suggestions.

If you're listening to this on, like, Spotify or YouTube, you can actually, like, write comments and then it'll help me because I genuinely would like to do this better.

And I feel.

It's not like I feel like this ultra is like a one and done kind of thing, but I do feel like I want to lay the groundwork for this to be as positive of an experience as possible.

So brain dump right here for y'.

All and I appreciate your advice and recommendations and all that kind of stuff.

And if you are a person who is offended by me saying that it's really, really cold at 45 degrees, that's fine.

Enough procrastination right here.

I gotta get out the door because mama runs an ultra.