In our most recent episode of The Stronger Revolution, we sat down with Kaitlyn Yerger. She is an endurance athlete competing in long distance runs that span six (plus) hours. During our conversation, she told us about growing up with outdoor activities and how she got into endurance racing.

Some of us strive to complete a marathon: 26.2 miles of road running. There are industries built around people running marathons and training programs to help people achieve that goal. However, 26.3 miles on the road wasn’t enough for Kaitlyn. She wanted to run more … a lot more. Also, she didn’t want to run more on the nice smooth road, she wanted to do it on trail. An Ultramarathon is defined as any distance over standard marathon. Ultramarathons can be 50 miles, 75 miles, 100 miles, or more. They take hours and hours to complete. Runners have to train themselves to be able to eat during the runs and often have support teams to help get them from start to finish.

For her training, Kaitlyn obviously runs. However, she also attends CrossFit regularly. She needs to build strength in places other than her legs. She also needs to make sure that all of those little support muscles in her ankles and knees are strong. Trail running isn’t easy and can be incredibly taxing on the lower leg. After getting the taste of first place in a recent race, she’s gunning for top stops in upcoming races as well. Hear more about those in the full episode.

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