Photo from Mount Royal, Frisco, Colorado.

"That is happiness; to be disolved into something complete and great. When it comes to one, it comes as naturally as sleep." - Willa Cather

Friday 30 March 2012

Q&A with famous ultra runner

Hi Sea Legs Girl! Thanks for agreeing to doing this interview. How are you?
Well, I had really bad diarrhea this morning, but otherwise I'm lovely and looking forward to spending the weekend in Madision with my family. Plus I like the fact that my own blog is interviewing me.

In Madison? So you are running the Mad City 50k just 3 weeks after 3 Days of Syllamo?
Yeah, well, a week ago I actually couldn't walk due to bleeding into my lateral quadriceps muscle on my left leg which caused my knee to lock up anytime I went a little downhill and then I would either wobble or fall over. But it doesn't hurt anymore. We'll see how far I can run tomorrow before the pain comes back. I'm treating this as a training race even though it is the Wisconsin championship in the 50k. I would after all like a plaque in the shape of Wisconsin, but that is probably not going to happen tomorrow unless I buy one. To tell you the truth, I would most like a plaque in the shape of Hawaii because it would have to be attached by so many strings.

Do you have any goal races for the year?

Well, last night I found out I got into The Ice Age 50 Miler, so that is my new goal. Cassie Scallon also got in off the wait list, though, so my chances of placing in the top two and getting into Western States are pretty slim. My other two big goals are Voyageur 50 miler and by default Challenge Copenhagen Ironman. I say by default because you can't do an Ironman "just for training", can you?

I don't know SLG, if you don't define the rules of endurace athletics, who does?
Good point.

Speaking of which, what is the coolest endurance sport?
Biathlon. I say this never having tried it. Our plan as a couple was to really get into it this past winter, but there was no snow.

What is the geekiest endurace sport?
Triathlon.

Don't even ask...

You wrote about losing a lot of weight and being anorexic and dealing with mania and anxiety. How is that going?

First of all, I am a lot happier now that we have settled into life in La Crosse. And after we got back from Syllamo, life just got a lot calmer. But if I could get a neurosurgeon to ablate that part of my brain that causes anxiety and ocd, I think that would be a good option for me and my family (it's probably like that little spot right next to the amygdala! - go for it!). Otherwise, I've noticed that just forcing myself to do highly distracting things like reading, working on my PhD and playing music are very effective. But the biggest thing that has changed is I tell myself to see every day as a gift so I don't waste it. As far as the weight is concerned, I have lost more weight and think I look ugly (in fact it is to the point where I am embarrassed to go out into public, but I feel good and I don't have the desire to eat more). Are you going to ask me any more anxiety-inducing questions?

No, um, what is your biggest fear?
Ha! That Alicia Hudelson will beat me at The Chippewa 50k.

What world record would you like to set?
I would like to hold a plank for the longest. The current world record is 33 min and 40 seconds.

What would you do if you weren't a professional ultramarathon runner?
But I'm not a...

Oh yeah, that's right. The reason I read your blog is because you have like the cutest kids in the blogosphere. Do you have any pictures of them?

Geez. I can't find my camera. Wasn't there any other reason you read my blog? ... Ok, I'll go look for the camera.

Oh, good:



4 comments:

mmmonyka said...

I agree with the interviewer, those kids are the cutest! :)

I am glad you are getting into groom in La Crosse and feel good.

So, how can you do biathlon recreationally? I have never ever though about it but now I am curious. Do they sell biathlon rifles to anyone in Denmark or WI and they have shooting areas set up for people who are interested in trying it?

I do not agree that triathlon is the geekest endurance sport, it is only that a lot of triathletes are plain idiots who take themselves too seriously and think that if they have all the coolest gadgets they are cool. They do not even want to be fast!
Ok, I am not going to go into that because I can go on and on and I will probably offend 99% of triathlon community.

cherelli said...

Yup, those kids are cute, that is for sure! Maybe it's just me but I was thinking you were looking really thin in your pics recently too; I guess if you feel healthy and happy it's ok, as long as it's not a form of denial in dealing with something? It seems like you have great ways for dealing with some of your anxiety issues though - music, PhD etc. And your running is going awesomely - good luck in getting through to your goal races and doing well!!

Alicia Hudelson said...

Bryon Powell is going to be sad that you got in there for the interview before he did:)

I'm confused--are you still doing the 100k in Denmark? Or is Ice Age replacing that? I remember seeing a ton of fast people (both men and women) on the Ice Age signup list so you should be in for a good race there.

Ha, you have absolutely nothing to worry about from me at Chippewa. My only goal is to be less than 27 minutes behind you! Personally I think you should have to wear 5-pound weights on each leg to make the race more fair...

If you're not going to Denmark, any interest in coming to Zumbro and volunteering with me? Divesh and I were going to go for a nice long run after the race is over.

Anonymous said...

Sealegs, I feel that the point of this post is to express that you are actually NOT happy and healthy and that you are deep into a serious eating disorder/exercise-life-imbalance. I wish I could appeal to your common sense (and concerning other areas than diet and exercise you have a lot of it!) and tell you that you are not going to loose any more body fat, that you are wasting away precious muscle (you know, which make your body look athletic and tight) and that you need to recompose your body (re-build muscle mass and possibly some fat along with it), you need it for bone health, hormonal balance and to look athletic and fit I think you do not wish to end up a skeleton with some mush hanging around! But I am sure you know the arguments. You will focus more and more on ultras, have a lot of followers here on the blog that might express mild concern but in the end, encourage you to follow that path further that eventually make you sick and unhappy. I seriously wish I could help you in any way but you won´t want to here me, so I shut up :-(