Episode 9: The Art of Sticking to it with Michelle Schroff aka Waddell Running Lady

 This week, for Episode 9, Karey sits down with Michelle Schroff, aka Waddell Running Lady, to talk about redefining stereotypes, finding joy in the unexpected, and balancing life while pushing yourself.  Michelle Schroff is a plus-sized endurance runner who is active in her pursuits to share her stoke with others. They talk about ups and downs of self-love, trying to fit into a mold, and pushing beyond expectations of yourself and others. 

***Please note that there is reference to sensitive material regarding weight, yo-yo dieting, eating habits, etc, so please take care when listening to this episode.  ***

Topics Covered are:

• Ultra-Endurance Running
• Self-love
• Dieting and Fitness Culture
• What “healthy” means
• Social Media and Putting yourself out there
• Goal setting and upcoming races
• What it means to be successful
• Life/Training balance
• Race stories and more! 

Michelle’s IG: @Waddellrunninglady

Michelle’s Podcast: Fun of the Run on Apple Podcasts

Other IG Mentions:
The Running Dietician: Amy

Serena Marie RD

Jayson Hefner

Desert to Peak Coaching

Last but not least:
Become an official Type 2 Fun member of the Pod! https://www.buzzsprout.com/2288685/support

Transcript

Ep 9: The Art of Sticking with It with Michelle Schroff 

Karey:

​​Hey you and welcome to The Art of Type 2 Fun adventure podcast! Welcome back to those who are here for more and welcome to those who are joining for the first time. Make sure to subscribe and share with your other adventure buddies,  especially your adventure-curious friends who might need that extra little nudge to get out there. 

It's fun to share all these things, especially type two fun, with more friends, so spread the love!

I am so excited to introduce you to ultra-runner Michelle Schroff this week.  I came across Michelle on social media and noticed that she was doing an excellent job of putting herself out there, sharing her stoke with others and representing a demographic of folks that are underrepresented in the ultra-endurance world. Michelle doesn’t necessarily “look” like what most folks would expect a traditional runner to look like, as a plus-sized runner. Having  struggled with weight challenges and self-image throughout her life, she has come to embraced these challenges through her joy of running and continues to push the boundaries for herself and for what folks might expect as she successfully trains and competes in ultra- running events. She puts her time and energy into sharing her story and her life as an “non-typical” ultra endurance runner as well as training for her race (getting ready for a 50 miler in a week and a half) and spending quality time with her supportive family.  How she has time for all of that, I’ll never know, but I admire her for making it work.

This week we do get into some sensitive topics such as yo-yo dieting, weight gain, weight loss, self-esteem, and struggles along the way, Most of the details of those topics of conversations are towards the first part of the episode, so I’d recommend skipping ahead to about 15 minutes in if you’d still like to listen to the episode.  While self-image and weight-topics are present throughout the entire episode, we mostly spend the second half of the episode talking about Michelle’s running goals and the like, which are truly inspiring for everyone, so I hope you get to listen a bit!  If you’re not up for it, that’s okay too!  We’ll catch you on the next one!  

And with that, I’m excited to introduce Michelle Schroff aka Waddel Running Lady! 

**************************

Karey:

 We are going to be talking about  all things running tonight with Michelle Schroff  and I guess like anything, you know, training for running, and then just like living life trying to do all the things. We're going to talk a little bit about life and training balance and what Michelle has learned and that whole type of thing. So Michelle, with that, thank you for coming on the pod. I'm excited to have you. 

Michelle: 

Thank you so much. 

Karey:

Of course! And how about just giving a little intro about yourself, anything you want to say, just short and sweet. 

Michelle: 

Okay, so I'm Michelle Schroff. I'm 49 years old. I have one grandbaby, six kids. My oldest is 28. My youngest is 13. I love to run, especially trails, especially really far. And I'm getting ready to run my first 50 miler in six weeks. And I've been running for six years, almost six years. So I started in my mid forties. 

Karey: 

Oh, that's super awesome. I mean, just right off the bat. I love to hear that you're living your life and you've come into this thing that you really like to do and you're, what we consider maybe a late bloomer, you know, a later in life.

I'm just 41, and I hadn't ran at all before this year. I mean, you know, maybe a mile, a jog for a little aerobic exercise, but I hadn't run at all or trained to run until this year and it's so great to be trying something new at this age. I love seeing other people doing it. So, yay!

So, six kids, that's really great! And a great span - so  life must be really interesting for you!

Michelle: 

It's constantly changing and our kids are 15 years apart. So from the oldest to the youngest. I had a teenager at the same time I had a newborn. So you can imagine it was just kind of crazy and it's, it's kind of slowed down over the years, but it changes.

Like I have a daughter that is actually getting engaged this weekend. I don't know if, hopefully she's not listening to this because she's not supposed to know, but you know, that just brings up a whole bunch of other stuff going on and then with the grand baby and it's all wonderful. But yeah, it's pretty busy.

Karey:

Oh my goodness. I can't imagine. So with that, you mentioned you've been running for about six years and you really love it. I'll just kind of start out with how I came across you. So, I've been absent from the socials for quite a while, like my personal socials, ‘cause I just stepped away from it for a while and coming back to it in the realm of the podcast.

And I've been really looking out for folks who have social media platforms, big and small, doesn't matter to me, who are actively putting themselves out there and being real and talking about challenges and their joys and all of this. And the pod is obviously focused on adventuring and outdoor enthusiasm and really pushing yourself.

And so that's what I loved when I saw your Instagram is that you are very…seemingly transparent with a lot of stuff about your feels about what's going on one day or, you know, what's happening in life. And I'm like, “this chick is real!” you know, which is really refreshing to see.

So let's talk about when you first started running and then we'll kind of get to the race stuff, , especially with kids and work and whatever. I'm sure you work really hard at raising children as well. But what obstacles have you had to overcome, whether they be  time, or life balance, or even, you know, mentally challenging, like what have you run into in your running career so far?

Michelle:

Can I start at how I kind of came into running? 

Karey:

Yes, I would love that. 

Michelle:

Okay, because I think that kind of fits with what you're asking. Okay, from the time I was about 21 until my mid 40s, so In fact, after I started running, I went through this yo-yo dieting stuff. It was absolutely horrible and it got really bad. I would say the last four or five years before I found running…and it was an obsession, day and night. It was all I thought about …what I could eat, what I couldn't eat.

And it got to be where it was running my whole life. I don't know how else to explain it. I'd gone through a lot of things, a loss of my mother. She died of ovarian cancer, really young, and all kinds of things. And one day, it was like I woke up, January of 2017, and I said, “Michelle, you have to do something for yourself, or you're gonna…you're going to basically die.”

 I was very overweight. I was very inactive. I had never done any kind of exercise unless in the process of yo-yo dieting if one of those diets said to go and exercise for 30 minutes a day. I would walk for 30 minutes. That was it. That was the extent of what I knew exercise was. So January of 2017, I hired…I thought she was a nutritionist because I was like, I need to quit this yo-yo stuff. I need somebody that can just specifically help me. She ended up not being a nutritionist. She was more of  a personal trainer and she came over and the thing she did for me was she taught me, hey, besides walking, why don't we lift some weights? Why don't we ride a bike? Why don't we? And she kind of instilled in me like, Hey, there's more to life than just going for a walk. So I feel like that really set me up for a really good foundation. 

So anyways, fast forward a little bit, I lost some weight, like 50 pounds. I decided I didn't need that lady anymore, started hiking with a friend and I got down to the last 10 pounds.And I told my friend, I said, “I'm so frustrated. I need to lose these last 10 pounds.” And she said, “Michelle, why don't you try running?” And I said, “Running? I can't run. I've never run a day in my life, except like in PE.” And she goes, “No, Michelle. You've climbed the Grand Canyon with me a couple of times. You started paddle boarding.You're starting to do all these things in your forties that you've never done before you could run.” And I said, “No, I can't.”

Well, so then behind her back, kind of. In secret, I started YouTubing stuff, and I found the Couch to 5K app. And I was like,  huh. And so I just started training for a 5K. And, then eight weeks later, I ran a 5K. And I was like, oh my goodness, when I got that medal, I was hooked. And it was like, I don't know if this is all making sense, but essentially the journey from being all that yo-yo dieting and then there, there was never any exercise before that, hardly. And then coming to this place where somebody said, Hey, why don't you try this to lose the last 10 pounds?

That's why I started. was to lose the last 10 pounds. That did not last very long. And once you start running farther, like I said, I got hooked and addicted and started training for a 10k, then half, then full, then ultras. You can't, you know, starve yourself if you're going to run an ultra marathon. And it's  so much longer of a story than that, but that's essentially how I came to running. 

Karey:

I love that story! I'm sure at some point I can even hear more. Actually, I want to dive into that a little bit because I feel like that journey in itself…sometimes…we talk about, “Oh, I ran this race and around mile…whatever… I was in this horrible dark place…”And, and then you come out of it and you're like, “Oh, that's amazing.” Hopefully you come out of it. And even if you don't, you still learn something. 

So during that time, you said you were really struggling at about that 10 more pounds and you found a buddy system and kind of a mentor with a person who was coaching you as far as strength training and things like that. Do you recall any other ways that you found that helped you  navigate that, whether it was darker space or those times when it got really frustrating?

Michelle:

So I will say when I very first started running, so I'm talking about, like, let's say the first year.

So, you know, May of 2018 is when I really started training for that first 5k, through until probably mid-2019. I still hung out with that lady that asked me, why don't you try jogging? But she really didn't run. So she would maybe do two miles with me or something. She was more of a hiker, but I could pick her brain. And so I would explain to her like, look, I'm running and I'm doing this and I would kind of explain what I was going through, but she's completely opposite and didn't have any weight issues or anything. So it was kind of  just spilling in my guts to her all the time. And that helps. That does help. Sometimes you need to just talk about it. So essentially what happened at that point, we both started going to orange theory together yeah, I know, kind of weird, but we both started going to Orange Theory and started lifting weight, started doing all this stuff together.

We met a coach there who said, “Michelle, you need to lose weight? I'll help you.” Well, I got  back into that cycle again. And he made up these very restrictive meal plans. I dropped all the weight and then…I wasn't happy. I still wanted to drop more and he finally had to tell me, “Michelle, you're not a tiny lady. You can't, you can't just keep dropping weight. It's not healthy.” 

And, at the same time, I was trying to train for my first half marathon, you have to eat if you're going to run longer distances. And I was struggling with that balance: How do I eat for these long runs but I'm trying to lose weight too? And it got to be more than I could handle and I stopped. I just stopped dieting and just said, I'm done with this. I can't do it anymore. I love running and I'm going to do what it takes to be able to run. 

Karey:

BUT! You're running!  

Michelle: 

Yeah. Yeah. 

Karey:

And Loving it! 

Michelle:

And guess what? If I had a choice, give up running and be skinny (the weight…its all….

It's all back…every single pound is back now today) Or stay how I am and keep doing what I'm doing, then I choose where I'm at today…100%... because I'm so much happier. I'm so much happier and there's no obsession anymore. 

Karey:

Right, so finding the joy and tapping into that. I applaud you for being able to discover that and to stick with it because that's a really hard thing to figure out. And, you know, it sounded like somebody kind of helping you become aware of it, but then also just making that decision that you're going to do whatever it takes to bring you to your happy place or to find that joy, even if it means giving up some other goal that you might've thought was the best for you. We can't always tell what's best for us.

Michelle:

I will say, it didn't happen as quickly as I said. It's only, I would say it's been the last…really the last year that I felt that I felt secure in who I am and I still struggle a little bit sometimes. But I ended up connecting with somebody on Instagram called The Running Dietician. Her name is Amy. And in all of 2021, I worked with her. It was supposed to be for help with my running nutrition. We never got around to that because I had so much baggage to unpack and she helped me like, Michelle, you're enough. You know what I mean? You're enough. You don't need it. Working with her for all of 2021 really set me up and following other people on social media too, Serena Marie RD, Healthy Fit, different people have helped me realize that I'm good enough how I am. I don't know how, if I'm really explaining this well…

But somebody can say something and my mind goes back to all those days of,” Oh, I do have a triple chin or…” You know what I'm saying? Sometimes I see myself and I'm not happy, but overall working with Amy and, and chatting with my friend, but mostly working with Amy. 

And honestly, another huge thing has been seeing what my body can do especially over this past year, running the three ultra marathons. I did that in this body that I have today, and , I don't know that I could have done that in the body that I had before. You know what I'm saying? So I'm absolutely happy and yeah, it helps.  

Karey:

That's wonderful having that support system in whatever form it comes in. Let's talk social media a little bit. It can be a horrible place to put yourself out there, but I think surrounding yourself, and there's definitely networks of people out there that if you try to surround yourself and find those people, they're out there. And that's one of the things that really drew me to you. Also seeing the people that you would shout out to, or seeing people who are giving you props and supporting you makes me happy too. And then I'm like, “ Okay, I gotta be in these people, because these are the people that are like doing the good things,” you know? I just love it.

I'm curious from your side of things on your journey, how has your social media platform transpired and did you expect it to become what it is now? ‘Cause you have quite a nice little fan base, and following. What has that been like for you? 

Michelle:

That sounds so funny. Anytime anybody says that to me, I'm like, I'm just me. I'm just Michelle. I'm just a normal, regular person, you know? So I started my Instagram that's mainly what I'm on.

When I started that up, honestly, it was back in 2018 again, and it was simply as an accountability tool. I posted my very first run on there, which was like 10 minutes or something.  I started doing it every day. I would post, 10 minutes today or 2 miles or whatever, and that's really what it was for in the beginning. Of course, I liked it when somebody would say, hey, you know, good job or something, but it was more for my own accountability. Well, what started happening as I became more involved in running and wanting to do more races and wanting to increase my distance, I started looking around on social media and finding other people that I looked up to or that were doing maybe what I wanted to do and…. I couldn't find anybody that looked like I looked…nobody that ran my pace. Everybody was faster and I still haven't found anybody that runs my pace. I'm just gonna say that I'm very very much the back of the pack like the back of the back of the pack. Which that's okay, but I couldn't find anybody and so of course sometimes that was frustrating.

I finally just started saying, Hey, you know, this is how I'm really feeling. I'm frustrated today, or this running is really hard. It's not easy coming from this. And I just started kind of sharing, and people started responding. I would say, especially once reels came out, for some reason, they want to see me running in the desert. I don't know. I don't know what that's about, but I mean, I think it's beautiful. But I had a very hard time at first showing my face. Like I could take a selfie, but I was very nervous about talking on camera. And once I started talking on camera, I noticed definitely more people started following along, which, getting followers was never my goal, honestly.

I mean, even today, I have no idea why. I think today it's like 11.6 thousand people or something?  I'm like, who? I don't even know where these people are like, you know, no idea. But, but now what it's morphed into is me sharing the highs, me sharing the lows, even when the lows are very low, I share it. The best way I know how to describe it, Karey, is I want to be a light. I want to show the joy, and I want people to see all of those things that I guess I was looking for when I first started running.

I want people to see that in me and I want them to know that this is very hard for me and I'm still going and that they can do it too. Like, they see me struggling and they see what I'm doing. They can absolutely do it. I'm not anybody special and I'm not a talented runner.

I'm super stubborn. I've been through some tough stuff in my life and so far, no race that I've done has been as hard as the hard things I've been through. So it's just real nitty gritty life and I love it. And I love chatting with people and I love interacting with them so much that I've had to kind of, take a little bit of a step back and purposely make myself not respond immediately when somebody says, Oh, you're awesome. I have to kind of take a step back and okay, let me make dinner. Okay, let me help my son with his homework. Okay, they'll still be there. I can respond later. So that's the long answer to your question.

Karey: 

No, it is so great hearing you talk about going at it without having any intent, but then it becomes something that even you didn't really plan on. I think it adds to the magic of what you're doing. I feel, like you said, you know, my intent wasn't to bring followers, but also your energy towards sharing and being vulnerable is something that not everybody can do, but that really, the human beings that we are, can identify with no matter what we're being vulnerable with. And when we see that in you, it is kind of like a breath of fresh air. And it's like, even if somebody is not trying to do an ultra, maybe they are just trying to do their first 5k and they see you talking about either your journey or just having fun on a run, whatever message you're sharing and they see that, and it is inspiring. 

Michelle: 

Well, Thank you so much. Thank you. I will say that it still is, it thrills me so much whenever there are people that follow me that live local and it's so much fun to go to, like, especially an Aravaipa race - A trail race or something and they're like, ‘it's Waddell Running Lady!” and I feel like such a celebrity. But I'm not, you know what I mean? But it's so much fun to like, hey, can I get a selfie like it's like the paparazzi around. It's so hilarious because I'm like, do you guys see how I am? I'm just  a normal person. It just cracks me up and I just love it. It tickles me every single time. 

Karey:

Oh, good! That's great to hear!  As long as you're getting the joy out of it too, you know what I mean? So, let's transition to how you got into racing. Can you tell me more about that part of your running journey?

Michelle:

Buckle up!  No, just kidding. So when I first started running, I did all road races.And so that was all the way through until the end of 2022. So what happened is, I know this sounds kind of weird, but I felt like I really wanted to run trails. Like, for the last few years, but it seemed like I didn't know how and something would always come up.

So I was like 2022 is the year I'm going to run trails. Well, I got selected for the Chicago marathon and I had an ankle injury. And I was in PT for months and so it ended up being 2022 was not the year of trail running. It was the year of getting my body ready to run the Chicago marathon.

So I was afraid to step foot on a trail because I didn't want to hurt my ankle again. Once I finished Chicago marathon in October, 2022, I was like, okay, yeah, hit the trails. I started hitting the trails right away. And it's like, I'm just going to figure this out. I don't know how to do it.

I started looking at YouTube videos, looking at people on Instagram trying to find people that ran trails and I just  kind of made it up. It's like, well, pick my feet up more and, you know, slow down and I just went out there. I knew how to hike. I loved hiking. So I'm like, well, it seems like a perfect marriage because you're on the trails to hike, but you're running and I love running and I love hiking. So to me, it just made sense to kind of meld the two things that I loved a lot into one sport. So, I ran Ragnar Trail, Arizona in November of 2022 and I had been on the trails just barely, like maybe a couple miles and when I ran that Ragnar race, that was pretty much my first race experience on trail. 

So it got time for the nighttime loop and I went out, put my headlamp on and it was like, okay, I am never going back to the roads again. I put my headlamp on, I looked up and I saw this whole trail of runners running up the mountain with their headlights bobbing.The moon was out. I was listening to ghost stories on my headphones and I was in heaven. I was just like, what???  This is going to be my life. I have to keep doing this. And I signed up for an Aravaipa race. I originally signed up for a Mesquite Canyon 50K, but ended up switching it to Coldwater Rumble, January of 2023, my first Aravaipa race.

And it was absolutely amazing. That's kind of how I got into trail running, but I had already run four marathons. And so to me, the logical next step was 50K. It’s not that much farther than a marathon. So, if I can run 26.2, surely I can run 31. So, when I went to that Cold Water Rumble 2023, I say this a lot, but I was immediately hooked again because there were people out there running a hundred miles and I would say 99 percent of the people that passed me because I got passed constantly, would say, “good job. You're awesome.”  99 percent of them had a kind word for me.There was no criticism. There was nobody saying, “why are you walking?” They were walking too. You know what I mean?  You know, and I felt so at home and I felt so comfortable. 

I've told this story multiple times, but, there was a man that stopped. He was running the hundred mile race. He stopped and he said, wait, you're, you're Waddell Running Lady! And I said, I am. And he said,  I can't believe that you're here. And I said, what do you mean? He said,  I follow you on Instagram and I coach kids, for running. He said, I show them your posts and I tell them, Okay, If this lady can go out and do what she's doing, then you guys shouldn't give up either. And I had just fallen on the trail. You know, think about my first ultra marathon. I had just fallen. I had just wiped the tears away when this man pretty much approached me.

And when he said that to me, I thought, well, there's no hope of giving up now. Like, his kids need to see that I finished this thing. And so of course I've got to keep going. And so that ultramarathon really set the stage for the ones I've run since because I had such a wonderful, amazing time. And I felt like such an amazing  warrior across the finish line that I'm like, I have to keep doing this. So yeah, that's, that's kind of the short version.  

Karey:

That's great. He must have been your little trail angel or something. You need that little pick up.

Michelle: 

Yes. 

Karey:

The community. especially here…I mean, I've only ever ran here, one of the races being the San Tan Scramble that Aravaipa puts on, but, the community vibe that I get especially when everybody's out there, just suffering and pushing themselves to their hardest, it doesn't matter.

At least in my experience, it doesn't matter in this community, what brings you out there or even how you're doing as far as what place you are or anything. Like, the gal who won and I forget her name, (I'm terrible at names), but the gal who won the San Tan, she was finishing when I was almost ready to start my last lap. So she was that far ahead, you know what I mean?  But you know, she passed me going the other way twice and both times, both of the women that were in the front, both times were just like gassing themselves, but still were spreading the stoke. And I was just like, this is amazing, you know? And so then I tried to do that as well. Cause you never know when that's going to go a long way. 

I was talking to a friend and they were like, well, yeah, but sometimes you feel like when people are like passing you and they're like, nice job, it's like kind  antagonizing, like trying to make you feel better that they're passing you, but not to feel bad or something like that. And I was like, you know,, every time I say good job to a person, I mean it. 

Michelle:

Yes. Yeah, the only time I've ever felt like what your friend is describing is never ever during a trail race ever. I never during an ultra I've never felt like that when someone was passing.

Karey:

 Yeah, I've been very impressed so far with that, with the ultra community, especially around here. I really think it also comes from, you know, we've talked about Aravaipa a little bit…They.

I have such a huge presence in the Southwest and especially in the Phoenix area. And so the vibe and the stuff that they do, it just trickles down and everybody feeds off of it. And I think it builds a really good community. So I feel very lucky that we have that. 

Michelle:

Trust me. I know. 

Karey:

Speaking of that then…So you did the Cold Water Rumble in 2023. And then what after that? 

Michelle:

Yes. So the Cold Water Rumble… My first ultra was Cold Water Rumble 52 K. and then I waited all year for Pass Mountain 50 K registration to open up. So with my situation, I have to be very choosy with which races that I run. Most of the Aravaipa events are back of the pack friendly, but there's some races that are just more competitive and so and that's fine. So I knew from emailing Aravaipa, but there are some that are and some that are not and they're meant to not be, you know what I'm saying? They're more like black Canyon. But talking to the different people there, that Pass Mountain would be a really good one for me. It had a 15-16 hour cut off.  And so I waited all year for that. So I did that in November of 2023. So I kind of waited the whole year for my 2nd Ultra.

 The plan with was 2023 kind of being the year of the 50k, 2024 being the year of the 50 mile, and then 2025 my first 100 mile race. So that's changed a little bit to where I'm actually going for that 100 miler in December at an Aravaipa event called Across the Years.  So it's moved up a little bit, and that's now 2024 is about my first 50 miler because I turned 50 this year and then working on my first 100 in December. 

Karey:

That's awesome!  Yay!  I know about the race now ‘cause I pay attention to the race schedule, but, my friend is a super runner and she has been running for quite a long time. We call her “fast donkey” ‘cause she's kind of like one of those that like, she's fast. She’s been running for a long time, but she's one of those that can really just go forever. She's like, I'm not like fast, but I'm stubborn and I'll go forever. And I'm like, yeah, that's basically how we do it. But, um, she did it a couple of years ago, the Across the Years Race. And I thought she was just crazy, 

Michelle:

It's very well supported. I figure it's a good place to try since it's so, I'm not thrilled about doing a one and a half mile loop a million times but it'll show me whether or not I've got what it takes to cover the miles.

Karey:

Right, exactly. I think it's a different ballgame mentally, having that...obstacle, I guess, to hurdle.  Vs. when you're changing scenery all the time. So you just did Cold Water, no, that was the one you just did. No. When did you do that?

Michelle:

So, I just did Cold Water Rumble 60k….again.  It's a different course this year. So the 52K is no longer. So, it was a 60K, which was my longest distance I've ever run. It's almost 38 miles. And  Cold Water was actually training for my first 50 miler, which is coming up in six weeks out in Alabama called, Lake Martin. 

Karey:

What made you choose that 50 miler? Do you have a tie with Alabama? 

Michelle:

Nope, no tie. Well, I actually do… I interviewed somebody on my podcast, Marie Warren, a few months ago. And so what happened is I wanted to run a 50 miler for my 50th birthday and, like I told you, I have to be super choosy. My birthday's in July and, you know, I'm not running a 50 miler in July here. Okay. I'm not dying of heat stroke. I'm not about to do that. So, I  put out a call on my social and said, “You guys, I need help! I need a 50 miler that can accommodate my pace. It's going to take me 18 to 20 hours, that's what I'm thinking it will, and send me your recommendations.

So, this lady that had been on my podcast, Marie, said,” girl, I told you, you need to get out here and run this race with me.” And I said, “I can't Marie, the cutoff is 16 hours. I can't do 50 miles in 16 hours.”

So she sends me the Ultra Signup link for the finishers for last year. And some of them were 21 hours. And she's like, Michelle, I think he'll let you finish. So I'm like, okay. I emailed him. His name is David. And I said, “David, I'm emailing you because somebody told me to,” you know,  and I said, “it's going to take me probably, let's say 20 hours to run 50 miles. Should I bother?” He goes, “You are so welcome. You will love it.” He said, you can have 32 hours. The 100 mile people get 32 hours. You can have 32 hours too. He's like, come on out, get your ticket. If you need more time, you can have till sunset. As long as we're out of the state park by sunset, you're golden. And I signed up right away!

And me and Marie are running our first 50 mile race together. 

Karey:

You see, it never hurts to ask! 

Michelle:

It's a pretty cool story. 

Karey: 

Oh my gosh. I'm so excited for you. 

Michelle:

I am too. I'm kind of terrified, but I'm excited.

Karey:

Do you know what the terrain is going to be like or like what the course is at all? 

Michelle:

Yeah, so…The way that the race director explained it to me is if you live in Alabama, or at least in this part of Alabama, it's considered rolling hills. If you live anywhere else, they're not rolling. It's very hilly. There's roots out there. It was extremely muddy. It can be muggy. It can be rainy. It can be cold. It can be hot. So honestly, I'm just going to be prepared for anything and everything and just roll with it and just try to finish. That's the only goal is just get the 50 miles done. Yeah. 

Karey:

And that'll be cool,  just different  terrain. That'll add to the excitement of it and the challenge of it. Oh, that sounds like so much fun. So, the Cold Water that you did just recently: Tell me a little bit about how it went and also can you talk a little bit about how you trained for this one? Like, are you working with a new coach?

Michelle:

I am. So I do have a coach. Her name is Kylie Aldous. She owns a company called Desert to Peak Coaching. I signed on with her in June of 2023. So from June of 2019 until June of 2023, I was with a different coach. I'm sure you've seen Run for PRs on Instagram. I was with them for four years and you're like, why would you need a coach, Michelle? You're not an elite athlete.  But it's kind of different these days. A lot of people have coaches. It seems like it's more of a kind of accepted thing. But I originally hired on with Run for PR’s because I was worried I wouldn't make the cut off of my first marathon and they helped me get to that place.

But once I started transitioning into the ultra world, Run for PR’s is pretty much based on road running and I just didn't feel like I had the support, and my coach was in Minnesota, and he didn't understand my summer deal and dying of heat stroke. There were just a lot of disconnects that were happening. He was great. And I loved him for the years I had him, but it was time for a change. 

So, I started working with Kylie in June of 2023 and she drastically, I mean, I can't say I'm faster,  but that's not what I'm going for. But I am a much better runner, especially mentally my outlook. I think I'm a lot stronger and she's taught me a lot of tricks about how to deal with the summer heat, especially with my nutrition and so many things. So, she trained me for Pass Mountain 50k and for Cold Water Rumble 60k…

 So, you're asking more specifics, right? 

Karey:

Sure. Yeah. 

Michelle:

Okay, so basically, for Cold Water Rumble 60k, I ran five days a week, and my long run was on Saturdays, and I would have one day of cross training, and then I always took every Sunday off. So that was a rest day. During the week, I would have anywhere from four to probably seven, eight miles at the very most, and then my longest long run, well, for either one of my recent ultras was 20 miles on trails and, you know, 20 miles on trails takes me 7 to 8 hours.

That's how pace-challenged I am.  So I was prepared when I went into Cold Water. Obviously 20 miles and 38 miles, they're kind of different, but I knew going into it that I had just ran Pass Mountain and it was about 34 miles. I knew that cold water was only four more. So I'm like, Michelle, you've got this.

You can totally do this. It's not that much farther.  It was two loops and so there was a 10 mile loop. You come back into the start finish area and hit that. After your first 10 mile loop, and then you go out for a second loop, that was about 27 miles. So my coach was there and I said, okay, I said, I'm going to be back to the start finish area in three hours.

I said, expect maybe a little bit longer. And I was so proud of myself. I was back before three hours and she helped me fill up my tailwind and everything headed out for my second loop. I was exactly on my pace. . I wanted to get under 20 minute miles. That was my goal. Yeah, I was doing so good until I hit about 15 miles.

And at 15 miles, I looked at my watch and I said, Oh no. Oh no. And, and there's not one specific thing I can point to that slowed me down. , I felt fine. I was able to eat every 30 minutes. So I don't know exactly what happened. Um, it is very rocky technical terrain, but. I looked at my watch and I'm like, Oh, no, I'm not, I'm not going to make the time that I  planned on, on making.

And that was kind of when the downward spiral started. Um, so I, I kept running and I felt like I was  making up time. But every time I looked at my watch, I wasn't. And by the time I had gotten to,  I think it was hour five, I was at like. Not even 16 miles. And I was like, Oh no,  there's no way.  I started getting discouraged and I started kind of getting into a low place in my mind where I thought,  why are you out here? , you continue to do this to yourself. You continue to put yourself through this. Everybody on Instagram knows that you are out here today, you know, running this race and looking at you, you can't even do it. 

You know, 15 miles or whatever in five hours, , how can you say that you're  a runner, you know,  I let all that roll around in my head probably longer than I should have  so I'm climbing up this mountain  and my head's down and I'm hiking it and I hear somebody yelling  and I, this dude had just passed me like he was running really fast.

So I thought, oh, well, they're talking to him and the fast dude turns around and he goes, hey, someone's yelling at you.  And I look up and somebody starts waving. I have no clue who it is. So I just wave back, right? And I put my head back down and I keep climbing. Well, I got a little bit farther and the dude, he turned around and he was way ahead of me.

He turned around and came up to me and he said, you're a Waddell running lady. He said, I had to come back. I had to turn around and meet you. And he said, can we please get a picture? He said, I love you. I love your stuff. And he just gave me such a boost and you know what somebody it's like, look, do you see me?

 I'm struggling right now. And yet you think I'm out here doing amazing , it just meant so much, you know? And, and so I'm like, okay. And so I, it gave me enough. to where I kept pressing on. Well,  there came a point where, in my mind, I had to tell myself, if you can just get to the next aid station, you'll be halfway.

If you can just hit that aid station, it was 19 miles. I'm like, that's half of 38. Of course, you know, trying to do math when you're running is hard. And I'm like, yeah, if I get there, I'll be halfway. But Karey, it seemed like, every time I looked at my watch. I wasn't getting any closer You know and I started getting back down into myself again thinking how in the world Am I gonna really run almost 40 miles and I started looking at my watch and I'm like I'm in the teens right now This watch has to turn over to all the ones all the twos and almost all the threes  I'm gonna be out here till next year.

You know, I just started getting so discouraged. Well, of course, my coach would be like, you're doing great. She would text me. You're doing great. Just keep going. And I'm like, no, I'm not.  Look, I'm not making progress. Yes, you are. Keep going. So I would, of course, keep going. And to me, it got to the point where I just kept going.

Yeah. Told myself, you just keep putting one foot in front of the other. You just take another step. Eventually you'll get there. Like if you just don't stop, Michelle, if you just don't stop, you'll get there. Finally made it to that stupid aid station halfway. And somebody told me at the aid station, I said, who's good at encouraging, who's good at motivation here because I need some.

So , they did their best and they're like, after this, it's, it's pretty smooth and whatever, which I didn't believe you know, cause who knows what they tell you. So I kept going and I started feeling better. I started feeling more encouraged and I started running more and I'm like, Hey, I'm doing pretty good.

And I got a couple of miles where I was like, Hey, this is less than 20 minute miles. This is awesome. And started getting encouraged again. And then I realized it was getting dark and I'm like, Okay. Oh man, you know, how many hours am I going to be out here in the dark? And it was, it was such a series of highs and lows, you know, and I think probably the worst point was when I was in the, about the 20, 25 miles or so.

And every time I looked at my watch, it was still 25.3. Then I'd look again and it was 25.5. Then it was 25.8. And I'm like, you know what?  It's just not going, but I had several people that fist bumped me along the way.

They knew who I was.They cheered me on. My coach's boyfriend ran by me. He ended up getting 2nd place in the 100k and as he ran by, he said. Michelle, Kylie's so proud of you. You look so strong, keep going, as he just flew by, right? Dust flying in my face, you know?  I'm exaggerating, but he was really fast.

So I had people all along the way that would say cool things like that, that helped me when I was in the dark spots, but, I don't think anybody ever caught the six times that, it's like I cried one time for each 10k. Yeah, and I don't think anybody ever caught me crying, there were some lows.

Well, anyhow, um, got to the very last aid station. It was 7 miles to the finish. Thought I would never get to this aid station. I get there, I get all the stuff I need and I'm like, okay, like, I was feeling really good about it. I'm like, I've got this. Get half a mile from that aid station and my headlamp goes out.

My waist light went out.

Karey:

Oh, no. 

Michelle:

I know. I had an extra battery because I was prepared. Okay. Put the extra battery in. It dies. It doesn't work. It didn't charge. I was so prepared. It didn't work.  I called my coach at this point crying. I said, Kylie.Yeah. But she's like, you're calling me to tell me you're going to do this. Right. And I'm like, I don't know. You know, she's like, do you want me to bring you a headlamp? I said, no, I don't want you to have to try to find me out here. I'll walk back to the aid station and see if anybody has a headlamp. Nobody had a headlamp at that aid station, right? So I texted my coach and I said, how long would it take you to bring me a headlamp? And she's like, well, I can actually drive to that aid station. It's 15 minutes. And I said, okay, so I plopped my butt on a chair and I'm like, I'll wait here for 15 minutes.

So I said, it's cool. Everybody. Can I just hang out here? My coach is bringing me a headlamp and they're like, sure. Take your time. Whatever. Right. So I'm sitting there  and one of the nice ladies at the aid station is like, here, let me have your waist belt. I'll plug it in and we can get at least a little bit of charge while we're waiting for your coach.

And I said, okay, cool. She dug around in her car. She walks up to me with this purple beanie. This purple beanie is significant. Okay? She walks up to me with this purple beanie and it has a little one inch by one inch light that you push and certainly not for trail running.

I'll tell you that. Yeah. But  she's like, here, take this beanie. I know your coach is bringing you a headlamp, but she's like, take this just in case you can just leave it at the start/finish and I'll get it after my shift. And I'm like, okay, well, thank you. That's so nice. Right? So, the cool thing about being delayed at that aid station is…I'm sure you know Andy Glaze. 

He ran through. He was doing the 100 mile race. He runs through while I'm sitting on my rear end waiting for my coach. I got to chat with him. I got to take a selfie with him. I told him he's awesome. He told me I'm awesome. It was like. Wow. You know, I'm so glad I was delayed at this aid station, even though that this delay ended up costing me like an hour (my coach was delayed). There was an issue with one of the gates and she was much longer than 15 minutes. She brings me the headlamp. She's got  fresh batteries. This'll get you all the way to the finish.

You're good to go. And good luck.  I head out and I'm like, okay, yes, I got this. And that didn't last very long before I got discouraged again, but I'm out there. And at about 90 minutes in, that headlamp died too.  And  I turned my waist light back on that this lady had charged. And for like, you know, a little bit and I'm like, Oh, well, this light looks strong.

I'll be able to make this. I have three miles left, no problem. So I'm using my waist light and I get to where I'm like two miles from the finish. So the waist light, let me just tell you, it went out too. It didn't last very long either, and I passed a friend when my waist light was still working and he's like, Michelle, you're out here! How are you doing? And I said, I'm fine. But my headlamp died back there. Do you need a headlamp? I have an extra. And I said, no, thank you so much. But my waist light is working. Yeah. Like five minutes later, my waist light went out and I'm stuck with a beanie with a one inch by one inch light. I didn't want to wear it.

It would have made good pictures, but I shoved it in my vest and I had to play around with this thing for the last two miles. It was so dim. I couldn't even hardly see the ground  and I almost tripped like a million times. Seriously. And it got to a place where runners were running towards me, and I was running the opposite way, and I had to go to the right where it was really rocky, I couldn't see the rocks, and I ran  but I mean, it worked. 

And then, right as you get to the finish line, it's like a horseshoe. They set it up that way so you could run by the crews and whatever, which of course, this is midnight. So there weren't a whole lot of people out there, but one of the race directors, for Aravaipa, she knows me because I'm always last. And she's like, Michelle!!! And she starts ringing the bell, and she ran me in, and it was awesome, and it was amazing, and they got the best pictures I've ever seen in my life. I was so happy when I saw them, and I cried, and it was awesome, and I want to do it again. So,  it was so hard, but it was so awesome.

It was amazing, so. Yeah, that's part of the story.

Karey:

I'm sure that happens, but it's never happened to me. It's never happened to me yet. I mean, well, yeah, exactly. It's like, what fun would that be just to be like, okay, I raced a race and it was 60k and everything went well, and and that was it. You know what I mean? 

 I think that's why I love trail running, especially the ultra stuff or the endurance, the longer stuff on the trails. It's like, even if you have your best race, there's going to be something like, Oh my gosh, I tripped like five times and then I had to go through this river or, you know, whatever the case may be…or my stomach, you know I think there's reasons why we do this and get such a joy out of it. And I love that you're like, all this stuff happened and I cried six times or whatever, and then you're like, and yes, I'm gonna do it again.

Michelle:

Yeah, I have to. It's like, there's no feeling like it. Like you feel so accomplished because it's so hard. You know, that when you actually finish, it's like, wow, I can do anything. You just feel like a rock star. I don't know how else to describe it. Like, I always feel like a million bucks.

 Let me do it again, you know? And then I just signed up for something else.

Karey:

Definitely. Well, and I think…you talked about your life happenings that have been really difficult and, it may be apples to oranges, but  I have also had some very difficult things and kind of the same where you were saying where the hardest thing in an adventure race or in an ultra race feels like…Yes, it's hard, but there's something about those other things in life kind of lending to your ability to cope and to make yourself be able to do these other things.

And , I think the reason why we go back is because we get to choose that we are doing these things. And so it's an opportunity to give ourselves that challenge, but in a way that we…You know, we can't control everything that happens in the race, but we choose to be there and to be strengthening ourselves and helping ourselves grow.

And I think that's it. It's an important thing for me.  I was actually talking to Kate Boyle, who is a ultra adventure bike racer. And she said that one of her mantras when she gets in a deep dark place is something like…I choose this, you know? I totally have adopted that because it helps me when I'm struggling. I'm like, well, maybe I didn't choose for my knee to hurt right now, but I am choosing this. I'm choosing to be hiking up a mountain in a desert and I'm so exhausted and that's also empowering.

Michelle:

It is! And I like to tell myself. Michelle, you're okay. Like, you're okay, you know, because I'm okay. Like, I'm out here, like you said, by choice. And this is something that I dearly love to do.

And I knew it was going to be hard when I signed up for this thing. I certainly wasn't expecting a cakewalk, you know, so it's so much more about having that mental, you have to have something bigger than, I don't know how to describe it, I feel like so many people that do this sport do come from a background  of darkness, of maybe addictions, maybe just trauma, maybe deaths in the family, who knows?

I feel like a lot of people that put themselves through this, they do come from a background like that. And maybe that's why we keep coming back to it, like you said, because we can, we, we get the choice this time, you know, and maybe we didn't have the choice before.

Karey:

No, I actually agree with that. It is a very empowering thing. And you know, I kind of said this before with like the community thing, but when you, like when you're at that start line and there's all these other people that have chosen to be there too, it's just like. What are we all doing? But, you know, let's do it.

Michelle:

If I can add…There's a young man, he's about 20, I think he's maybe 25 now. His name is Jason Hefner.  On Instagram, his username is “All In is the Default”. I met him at my very first Cold Water. He found me, came up and talked to me, told me about the course. Said, I'm rooting for you, um, kind of thing. I don't know if he won outright or if he came in third place, but he finished a 50 K in like four and a half hours. Well, he was back this year. He came and found me before the race again. Okay. This young, super fast guy…we have nothing in common, so to speak, except we love ultras. He comes and finds me again, encourages me again, says you're going to do amazing, Michelle, I can't wait to hear about it. And he fist bumps me, right? And then he heads to the front because we know he's going to win this thing, right? He heads to the front. I head to the back. We go run our races, same course. And I saw him like, right before he finished, he fist bumped me as I'm heading out for my last loop.

And  he ended up getting 2nd or 3rd place. And again, it was like 4 hours and 45 minutes and it took me 16 hours. But that's what I'm saying is, that's the community. He actually cared about me being out there. He took the time to fist bump me as he was running by and to give me an encouraging word, even though obviously, I'm going to still be out there like all day while he, when he's done, you know, so that's awesome.

Karey:

 Well, that's so awesome. I'm so glad to hear that. So based on what you've learned so far with the Ultra-trail stuff, and as you're gearing up to do an even longer race, you know, I mentioned in messaging with you before this, I'm getting ready to do my first 60k, in a week and a half or whatever that is. And I'm so nervous. Basically, I felt really good going into the Santan Scramble, which was supposed to be like my training race, my shakedown race. And then that went pretty well. I was sore afterwards, but it's what you were talking about where I was like, Oh my gosh, I can, I can do this. Like it is attainable, I survived. And of course then I got some creaks and groans that didn't go away.

 And so now I feel like I'm in a different headspace kind of going into this next one. But again,   this year is all just about like, Okay, what is this all about? And figuring out what courses I like and that kind of thing. So really, it's just to finish or even just to put myself out there is a big thing. So in your experience that you've had, do you have three tips for me of getting through  the hard times?

You talked about, you got some motivation from people along the way and how you kept saying you're okay, you're okay, but anything else? Or just like tips for running long like that?

Michelle:

So, especially during a race, one thing that I try to do, and honestly, leading up to a race, like you're, you're pretty close to yours. I try to not stress as much as possible. And I know that's so hard and that seems so counterintuitive.  I honestly will kind of push thoughts of the race, even out of my mind,  especially week of. I've put the training in, I can trust in the training because I did the work and I'm going to go out there and do the thing.

And I just push it out of my mind. I play a game. I read a book. And that helps me leading up to actually race day. But when you're in the actual race itself, probably the main thing that helps me is  of course, I talked to myself, Michelle, how would you feel? If, if you quit right now, like, like, imagine, put yourself in that, in that space where  you drop right now, you drop at this aid station, you tell them you're done, what would your reason be? And would you be okay with that after you're done?  Or would you look back and say, You know what? I could have finished. I could have done this. 

And so far now, I've only run three ultras. I've run multiple trail races, but I've only done three ultras so far. But so far there has never come a time yet where I have felt like I couldn't take another step and that I would be okay with answering that question and saying, yep, that's the right decision to quit. So that's a huge thing for me to ask that question. Would you be okay with not finishing this thing? You know, because you can't really leave that as an option. I'm probably going to go do some races that I know I probably won't make the cutoffs for because I just want to go out there and have fun and see this.

So that's different. But when it's a race that I know I can finish, I just go into it without giving myself the option of quitting, so to speak, so that was the first tip. 

The second tip is  just take one more step or just run one more mile and then see if you can.

Keep going after that, like just,  being present right where you are, because  most of the time you can take another step. Most of the time you can go another 10th of a mile, even when you don't think you can, most of the time you really can. And so that takes digging really deep sometimes. But  it works if you really think of that.  I guess I only have two. That's all I can really think of.

Karey:

You gave me a lot of other good tidbits while you were talking about the race! 

I mentioned I saw on your Instagram that you posted a little bit about finding a little bit more life balance with all this training and stuff. Do you have specific things you're trying out now after you've got done with that race?  

Michelle:

Okay. So, of course, when you're training for a big race, my family does understand that I'm slow and if I'm running 20 miles, I'm going to be gone for eight hours.

You know what I'm saying? Um, and so I typically would do that on a Saturday. Well, what I'm doing at my husband's request, because he wants to spend more time with me. I'm switching my long runs to a different day of the week where my husband is at work. He goes and picks my son up. They can spend time together and it will be done running shortly thereafter.So instead of me being gone all day on a Saturday when the whole family's home, I'm doing it during a day during the week, I don't have a job outside the home, so I have flexibility of doing that. So I really feel like that's going to help a ton because then  I'll be more present with the family on the weekend because I'll have a much shorter run and maybe four or five miles. I can do that and still have all day with the family. 

The other thing I'm doing is…I hesitate to say stepping back from social media because I'm not like leaving it, but I'm being more intentional with my time. I love interacting with people there so much that I could literally sit down and do it all day.Like, do you know what I'm saying? Because, and I love making reels. I love coming up with funny new ideas and I love doing that, but it could take over my whole life if I let it. There's a lot more things than running. And there's a lot more important things than social media.

And so I'm just being intentional with that. I'm not answering every comment as soon as it's made. I'm not answering every message that I get immediately. I'm trying to purposely,  maybe not post quite as often. I don't have to post a reel every day. People will survive without seeing one of my reels.

I'm still kind of in that exploratory stage of it. But those are the two things that I'm doing right now to try to have more of that balance between all of this because, you know, I don't get paid.  My account is not monetized. Nobody's going to die.

If I don't post on social media today, nobody will die. I don't go for my run either. So I'm just trying to look at it more intentionally that way. 

Karey:

Definitely. I love that word, the intentionality of it.  Because it does take any one of those things that you're passionate about, or that means something to us, it can take over. And there is something to be said about that life balance. You know, I was just talking to my partner about that last night. My life balance right now is…well, like I'm coming from a space where up until last August, I was teaching music full time, but full time teaching is mostly, I dunno, like 35 hours a week and it was all afternoons and evenings, and so I would have all morning and my boyfriend works from home three days out of the week. So, even if he was working in the morning, we could have some of that time together just to be around each other. And I'd be doing my passion projects or whatnot, and I'd be able to go for rides or runs in the morning and then take a nap if I needed to, you know, it was a totally different lifestyle.

And then because of one reason or another, I decided to have a career change. And so now is the first time I've been in a full time, like nine to five job  since like 2013, it's been 10 years since I've had a job like this and I do enjoy it. And I'm learning a lot and I think it's definitely the thing that I needed to do, but at the same time, it has been a huge shift in how I'm spending my time and I have to be more intentional about how I'm spending that time. So like last night  I was basically having a breakdown and probably some stress about the race too, but I'm like, I'm not getting my runs in when I'm not [intentional].  And then I feel like I'm not recovering and then I'm not, I'm not helping out with dinner and like, you know, all this stuff.

And he's like, you know what, first and foremost, if you're getting your needs met quality time wise, together, he's like, I am fine, so we're good in that situation. I fully support you and what you are trying to do and you're racing and you're running. He's like, you need your runs and you need your exercise, you know, cause I get all cranky, you know, and the whole thing. And he's like, I fully support it. Even if it's just getting you out there a little bit, it means that you can't help clean up at dinner or you have to miss a show that we were watching or, whatever he fully supports that.

And I think it's something to that just being said as well, because knowing what that balance looks like, not just for yourself, but for those around you, I think is important to hear and talk about that. And yeah, it's just, it's a process of always experimenting and as your goals change, and seeing what that looks like in balance with everything.

So that's, that's great to hear the things that you're doing and, you know, we're each a little bit different, but we all deal with that at some point, I think, because you don't want to burn out. You don't want to burn out at any one thing and you don't want to, yeah, so it's, oh, that's so good.

Specifically, do you have anything more for general folks who are adventuring outside or feeling a little apprehensive about getting out there or pushing yourself? Any last words that you want to put out there in the world? 

Michelle:

So I would just say that everybody, just remember if you are hesitant to get out there, that everybody was a beginner at one point and what I found to be the case is. When you're out there, maybe you're feeling self conscious, um, me, I'm in a larger body, and I dealt with that for so long, um, every once in a while, I still do, but I found that people are worried about themselves more than they are worried about you trying to go on a ride or run or go for a walk or a hike. They're worried about themselves and they're worried more than they are worried about you.

So you just go out there anyway and do what you need to do. And don't worry about what anybody else thinks because this is for you. And if it's something that you feel strongly about that you need to do, you need to go out there and do it. You need to chase your dreams. You need to go for your goals because you only get one life and you get one chance and You need to just go for it.

And I don't know, I wish I could just… if I could bottle up all the joy that I found since discovering that the clouds were so white and fluffy and the wildflowers were so beautiful and the sky was so blue, I would, I would, I would be a millionaire if I could sell that joy because it's,  just,  so amazing and I just, I want that for everybody.

And so please don't hesitate to go out there and, and enjoy and, and go explore.  

Karey:

I love it. I love it! Well, you have a podcast as well.  What is the name of your podcast? 

Michelle: 

It's called Fun of the Run podcast. 

Karey:

Love it.  So that's out there as well. And your Instagram?

Michelle:

Waddell Running Lady. 

Karey:

Yes. Perfect! And I'll put that in the notes so yeah, Michelle, I want to thank you for your time. Any other little things you want to say or did we get, or did we capture everything? 

Michelle:

I feel like we got a good bit covered. Honestly, I could talk about running all day.That's why I have a podcast because  I have to talk about it. So, but I enjoyed talking with you so much, Karey.

Karey:

 I am so excited that you were able to make the time and we'll look forward to seeing more about your adventures and what happens for your 50th? I'm so excited for you!

Michelle: 

Thank you. Thank you again for having me. 

Karey:

Of course!  Thank you….We’re signing off!

That was so much fun! Michelle is such a great storyteller and it was a blast hearing from her first hand.  I hope we get to do it again some time!  Make sure to support Michelle and send her cheers for her upcoming 50 miler and beyond. You can follow her at waddell running lady on Instagram and check out her podcast called Fun of the Run.  (Both of which are in the show notes).  And that’s it! Please continue to share the stoke!  I love that you are all still following and supporting me here at THe Art of Type 2 Fun! As always, you can become a supporter of the show by heading to my Support Page (link in show notes).  Your donations help support me to make this podcast happen and I truly appreciate all the support I can get!  

With that, Happy Type 2 Fun adventures!  And I’m signing out!