[at-l] The lure of the ultra, Boise State style....

[Sloetoe]

What makes you strive to run distances beyond the
marathon distance?
### More/better scenery, or to see what others usually
don't/won't.

What do you eat during the run?
### everything/anything, but if I'm really pressing
(rare), liquids: CLIP, Perpetuum, etc.

What shoes do you wear?
### Montrail Melee/Masai, New Balance 80_...

What do you think about while you run?
### my body's response to the run, shoe fit, feel of
the trail, stomach contents, tricky trail junctures,
salt supply, uphills/rehydration, shirt on/off
(thermal regulation, hats, jackets, zips, etc.),
available sunlight, coming daylight, rain wetting
through, that next Naproxin, getting back to the car,
all you can eat Chinese, and a session with The Stick
(google that'un).

How many miles do you run per week?
### Oh crap. None for 4 months. Now running 2-3 miles,
total of 10/week. "Usually" 15-20 per week, in 5 mile
increments.

What impact does your running have on your family?
### Training: zero -- I ran during lunch. Events: it
means some travel, mini-vacations, chances to return
to great scenery, camp out maybe.

What compelled you to do your first ultra?
### Vague feelings of inadequacy at the close of my
40th year on the planet.

What made you do another after the first?
### Fear of baking the $120+ spent in advance on entry
fees for the third ultra made me run the second. (Oh,
but the third was really my second time choosing to
run that far. What made me pick it after running the
first was the seeming impossibility of "running" 40
miles up and down some high mountain in the dead of
winter. Gnarly, cool, scary.)

What motivates and inspires you?
### Running in great places, using my body's abilities
while I'm able, seeing what's there, because it's
there, and to finish the run maybe a better human than
when I started.

Do you worry about time or just finishing?
### Am I in shape? If yes, then time; if not, then
"just finishing" without major tissue damage is a
great/worthy goal.

Is being addicted to running essential to being an
ultrarunner? or is it sheer dedication?
### Neither. Were I addicted to running, I would train
a boatload better than I do (which is almost
not-at-all -- interestingly on this last note, I used
to think I was relatively alone in "not really
training", but in the last 6 months on the ultra list,
I have come to read of many others. Pretty cool).

What actions do you take to make time for running?
### Run at lunch -- nobody's time but mine. (Unless
work interrupted again, and again and again...)

What do you sacrifice?
### Sitting on my arse. Or eating overpriced,
overfatted, underflavored food with people who can't
fathom running/hiking "distance" anyway...

Do you run with a pacer or alone?
### Alone. To execute The Undertrained Art Of Ultradom
well, one must be on their introspective game 100%.
Pacers are for the bored or the trained.

Do you enjoy the solitude?
### Yessum. INTP me.

Why do you run?
### Because I don't have the time to get there by
walking. ("Anywhere is 'walking distance' if you have
the time.")

Thanks!
Emily Berriochoa
### You're welcome, Emily.

Wish I was reading more answers to these questions...
sloetoe

Spatior! Nitor! Nitor! Tempero!
   Pro Pondera Et Meliora.