Putting in the training
Reflections on training and running a 50mile ultra.
The farthest I had ever run prior to April 18th was thrity plus miles. The farthest I have ever ran solo in a race is a half marathon (13.1miles). The distance is not really important but the time spent prior to the events.
Training for this race taught me a lot about myself, my family, my community, my boundaries, and my grit. There is a lot of time training, and usually it is hard to find anyone silly enough to join you and so you go it alone because as an adult schedules become hard to align.
So the time training solo, built and built, and built. At first I had started with music or podcasts to get me through the hour to two hour runs, but they fell into the background and I really started to enjoy the silence.
Running became a meditation. When internal and external noise can be silenced and a peaceful state is achieved, those moments can be blissful. There is talk about a "runners high" but I think it is really allowing yourself to observe, silence external and internal stimuli, and simply be present.
In the studio while training I have noticed a shift in my practice. It becomes easier to work without music, podcasts, or even conversations on the phone. I almost prefer it. The silence allows me to slow down and have more patience with the medium as well as myseslf. I am more in tune with mark making, color descisions, and relational marks on the canvas.
A "runner's high" seems a lot like a "flow state" in the art world. That moment when things continually come together in a melodic symphony of visual treats. That happened as well on the course of this Southern Grit challenge. The pace, the refuel, the energy, the training...everything delivered and went as well as could be expected.
Well almost everything.
On the fourth lap, my husband and brother in law decided to get in our heads a little. They told us we continually leap frog these other two gals for first and second place for our division of the race. I enjoy a little competition and I think my husband knows that.....so I pushed our pace just a little more.
Everything seemed the same as we continued on the path we thought we knew so well...then a slight ankle roll on a previous injury my sister had recovered from changed her cadance. A little overcompensation can travel through the body rapidly and change everything.
We started lap five. And now with the voice of my husband in my head of how close we were to first and second.....I had to keep pushing us. My sister does not get as competitive as me, and I respect that, but I wanted more from what I trained for. Encourging her up the rigourous hills and trying to keep an aggressive pace started to weigh between us. She could tell I had the glimmer in my eye to go harder.
As we came around to our aid tent, my sister and I were in agreeance to take the next laps at our own paces and finish to the best of our ability without destroying our legs. Honestly I was happy to achieve six laps of a five and a half mile loop (on repeat). Secretly I wanted to complete eight, and I ended up getting nine laps.
Just shy of fifty miles (per race tracking), I am more than positive I got an even fifty with restroom detours and aid tent check ins, not to mention shenanigans. There's always time for shenanigans.
What a feeling! Fifty miles in twelve hours.
If I didn't dedicate, guard, and put in the time I would not have been able to surpass and complete the full time of this challenge. I should also add that this course was definatley a challenge, may of the runners and ruckers in the twelve and twentey-four hour devisions dropped out before time was up. They were still incredibly successful in their challenge accomplishments, but finished early.
What I have learned... set aside and guard time that intentionally builds your practice. This fall I am starting my Masters of Fine Art and I am going to start now in carving out the time for class as well as the time I will need in the studio. During that time things will be different but I am determined to make it work.
A great taste of this practice was my 31 in 31 challenge in the month of January 2026. Each day was devoted to being creative, and to push myself I wanted to push myself and also allow myself time to play and experiment. The results were incredibly rewarding and I am looking forward to the upcoming 2027 as well as implimenting the practices mentioned above.
Thank you for sticking around to the end of this lengthy entry. I really enjoy blending my creative life with my fitness hobbies.
-Kellene Turner