- Boller started running just four years ago, at the age of 38. A stay-at-home mother of two then-toddler boys, she "had never run more than a few miles." But when her husband started venturing onto the trails behind their northern California home, she got intrigued.
"He would come back so happy and refreshed," says Boller. Craving an outlet of her own, Boller started running on a treadmill in the garage. She kept a baby monitor in the cup holder so she could hear when her two sons woke from their nap.
"I felt like dying after half a mile," she says. "But I continued to build up."
- The turning point came in April 2013, when Boller took a field trip to the finish line of California's competitive Lake Sonoma 50-miler.
"I hadn't even run a marathon yet," she says. "Fifty miles seemed impossible."
But as she watched runners pass through the finish arch, she was shocked to discover that they all looked ... fine.
"No one looked like they were going to keel over and die," she says. Realizing that 50 miles was an attainable distance, Boller immediately turned her thoughts to running a 50-miler of her own.
"I really enjoyed my time on the trails," she says. "I figured, the longer you go, the more time you get on the trails, the more enjoyment you get."
That's an amazing read. It's really great to see someone discover something they love and excel at well into their 30s. I'm 36. Who knows what I might yet discover about myself?
I was buying a bottle of wine a few days ago, and the guy at the register carded me, no big deal. I made some remark about 'I hear that one day that turns into a compliment' and he just very casually responded with 'Don't ever feel bad about aging, it's a privilege denied to many.' and it completely changed my mood for the day. Dunno why but your last sentence made me think of that.
She also describes herself as a "wine attorney". I wish I was a wine attorney.
The latest record was set in September. Meltzer's achievement is certainly impressive. It took an 83-mile push on the last day and averaging 47-mile days to break Jurek’s mark.
Right! A 50 per diem average, near enough. Is there research on what that does to your leg muscles over a month? Do the AT runners have to take a long time off afterward to recover from muscle tears? Are they ice-bathing every single night at the hotel? So many questions. The human body is impressive.
Answers to a lot of those questions are buried somewhere on r/running and on other running oriented forums, not sure off the top of my head but there you have it.