Susan Donnelly

There’s nothing quite like having someone look you in the eye and tell you you’re aging.
To an athlete, it’s especially stressful.  I’m far from needing a walker (well, except after certain 100-milers) but that diagnosis immediately raises all kinds of uncomfortable specters about the future. Thoughts we’d all prefer not to entertain.
My relationship with ultrarunning [...]

Heaven knows I’ve made plenty of mistakes in races and unless I become perfect overnight (not likely) I’ll continue to make more in the future.  By now, though, I’ve about stopped repeating the worst mistakes and can help you do the same.  I hate seeing others learn big lessons the hard way, so here’s my [...]

Last weekend was the Massanutten 100 miler.  I love that race.  It’s an annual reunion that after all these years, is as much about the people as it is about the experience of running the course.  It’s one of the two races I plan everything else around each year.  If all goes well, this will [...]

Standing at the starting line, you never know if you’ll be able to finish the race.  Even if you’ve finished it seven times before, today is unique and the outcome unknown. 
Especially in a tough, rocky 100-mile race like Massanutten.  The longer you’re out there, the more that can happen.  There are so many variables that [...]

 
Why does time spent in the aid station matter?  Consider the upcoming Massanutten Mountain Trails 100-miler I’m running this weekend.  There are 16 aid stations.  Spending a thin 2 minutes at each will cost me 32 minutes.  Spending 5 minutes at each, not noticeably more than two minutes, will cost me 80 minutes, an hour [...]

Yesterday was finally an honest-to-goodness play day.  We’ve been racing steadily all spring.  After Miwok 100k last weekend and rocky Massanutten 100 Mile next weekend, we need some light, unstructured, rest and recovery time on local trails.  It was Rob’s choice, and as always, he opted for the Smokies.
After delaying for the morning storms, running [...]

Twelve years ago last weekend, I ran my first ultramarathon, the Strolling Jim 40 mile.  Like that race, the time has gone fast.
Looking back, I don’t remember much about making the decision to run it except for a deep belief, a bedrock sureness that I could do it.  I found the race in Ultrarunning magazine [...]

I don’t know about you but for me, letting go of expectations is sometimes harder than it should be. Even on a good day, things rarely go exactly as we plan, so we learn to be flexible.  At least most of the time.  Judging by this weekend, unfulfilled expectations still seem to be a problem [...]