> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.practically.fit/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # PF Episode 26: From Ultra Runner to Yogini, One Woman's Real Fitness Journey - URL: https://www.practically.fit/pf-episode-26-from-ultra-runner-to/ - Published: 2023-05-18T12:03:32.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-01T00:12:54.000Z - Author: Alex Johnson - Tags: Podcast, #Migrated-1786808468945, #Import 2026-08-15 15:41 For [Jenn Bencheck](https://www.instagram.com/yogini%5Fjenn/?ref=practically.fit), running 100 miles was nothing compared with the grit and determination it took to overcome two life-changing neurological disorders. Now a registered yoga teacher, Jenn shares her story, including her experiences with ultra running and why fitness friends and positive thinking were keys to her success. This episode is our first in a series we’re calling “real fitness journeys,” where we’ll feature guests with inspiring stories about how fitness influenced their lives. #### Read The Transcript ****Jen:** Welcome to Practically Fit, Real Fitness Over 40\. I'm Jen Chamberlain. ****Alex:** And I'm Alex Johnson. ****Jen:** And today we're very excited to have a special guest with us to share a bit about her fitness journey. This is the first in a new series we're calling Real Fitness Journeys, where we'll feature guests with inspiring stories about how fitness has shaped their lives. Alex, why don't you introduce our guest, Jenn? ****Alex:** Yeah, absolutely — and this might be a little confusing today, since we've got two Jens on the show, so bear with us. Our guest today is Jenn Bencheck. She's a registered yoga teacher and a former ultrarunner, and she has a pretty amazing fitness and health journey to share with us today. Jenn, thank you so much for joining us. ****Jenn:** Thank you for having me, guys. ****Alex:** So, I came to know you because my wife, Abbie, used to be in a running club with you. I was telling her about this idea we had to start featuring real stories on the podcast, and she told me about your story, and I thought, wow, that's an amazing story — so we're really excited and grateful to have you on the show today. ****Jen:** Absolutely. ****Alex:** Well, let's get into it. Jenn, when did you first get into fitness? Getting Into Fitness ****Jenn:** So, I grew up always playing soccer, then hurt my knee and gained a bunch of weight during the back half of my high school years. When I got to college, the parking pass for campus was this obscene amount of money, and I only lived about a mile away, so I thought, I'm not spending my money to park on campus, I'll just walk. I started losing weight, and my favorite time to walk was when it was really hot — San Antonio, dead of summer, a hundred degrees, no shade anywhere, just dripping with sweat. Then in the second half of college, I started running a little bit — nothing crazy, just a couple of miles a few times a week. And I fell in love with it — that whole feeling of being sweaty, knowing you'd earned it. It felt like a badge of honor. ****Alex:** Running those Texas summers, you definitely earn a lot of sweat. ****Jen:** Yeah, I think that's something we all have in common. So you went to college in Texas, then? ****Jenn:** Yes, in San Antonio. ****Jen:** Okay, fantastic. I also walked to class in college — great exercise, and very warm. I went to school in Arlington, Texas. From Marathons to Ultras ****Alex:** So you started running in college mostly as a way to get around campus, but then you got into ultrarunning — how did that happen? ****Jenn:** So it was 2013\. My son's father and I were splitting up, and I was just going a little crazy trying to figure out this new life as a single mom on my own. It started as stress relief — I began running with a friend of mine, and she and I joined MRTT, Moms Run This Town, which is actually how I met Abbie. I just kept running, and did my first marathon in 2014, which was insane — I actually went in with a stress fracture in my left foot, then dislocated my proximal tibiofibular joint at mile 16, and just kept going. In my head, I was thinking: the marathon was in DC, I'm a single mom, I'm a teacher — I've already invested all this money, I have to go, I'm doing this. Marathons were hard, but they weren't enough — I never felt like the distance was long enough to actually feel comfortable. A half felt too short, a marathon felt almost right. So then I heard about ultras and thought, I'm going to do one. I started training, did my first ultra in May of 2016, and then I caught the crazy train. That's really the only way to describe it. ****Jen:** That's right. ****Alex:** So was the marathon your first race? ****Jenn:** My first race was actually a half marathon. ****Alex:** Okay, okay — that makes more sense, because I was thinking, wow, you really jumped straight into the deep end there. I've never gone beyond a half myself, I'm good. That's amazing. So you got into ultras after the marathon — where did that lead you? ****Jenn:** It led me to wanting to see how far I could push my body. I've now done everything from a 5K to a hundred-miler. ****Alex:** Wow. So I think this would be a good time to pause — some people might not know, what actually is an ultra race, and how is that different from, say, a marathon or a half marathon? What Is an Ultra, Anyway? ****Jenn:** So an ultra is anything over marathon distance. A half marathon is 13.1 miles, a marathon is 26.2, and typically an ultra starts at a 50K, which is about 31 miles. Most of them take place on trails, because the ground is more forgiving, though there are road and concrete ultras too — I've never done one of those. For the people who do, mad props to you, my body can't handle that. ****Jen:** Yeah, there's actually one in Fort Worth, Texas — a road ultra — and I always thought, wow, that would be absolutely brutal. But I'm curious: tell me what running an ultra is actually like. What's the physical, emotional, and mental experience of an event like that? The Physical and Mental Demands of Ultra Running ****Jenn:** Physically, it requires a lot of training, especially the further out in distance you get. I remember training for my hundred-miler — it basically became like a second job. Your long runs are back-to-back 30-milers, just to make sure you can sustain that. A lot of people also train by running four miles every four hours for 48 hours straight, just to build up to it physically. But I think the biggest thing is actually the mental side. On my first attempt at a hundred-miler, I had no respect for the distance — I just thought, I did 76.2 miles a couple months ago, this'll be easy, it's just another 24 miles. No. ****Alex:** Oh, wow. ****Jenn:** You have to really understand what you're getting into and respect it. And mentally, if you can't find that positivity, you're setting yourself up for failure, because your mind starts telling you that you can't do this, that you're not physically capable, that you should just quit — and sometimes it's easy to give in to that. ****Alex:** Yeah, that's actually something we talked about on our last podcast — this idea of positivity versus negative thinking when you're exercising, and how if you go down that negative thought pattern, even on a short run, and you start thinking "I'm tired, I can't run anymore" — guess what, you can't run anymore. So did you feel that during ultras too, the power of positive versus negative thinking? ****Jenn:** Yes. I had three DNFs — did-not-finishes — and every single one of them started with that little seed of doubt that I just couldn't flip off. ****Alex:** Wow, that's amazing. I'm also curious about nutrition during those races — that must be really challenging too. Fueling an Ultra ****Jenn:** You've got to find what works for you. For shorter distances, a lot of people use GU gel packets or chews, something light. But once you're doing an ultra, your nutrition has to shift — you have to start consuming way more calories than you normally would. I always joke that it's like running from one buffet to the next: oh, here's some food, Oreos, PB&J, okay, I'll take some of that, on to the next one, oh, pretzels or some nuts. There's quesadillas at night, soups, bacon — ****Alex:** Wow. ****Jenn:** Something about early morning, everybody loves bacon. ****Jen:** And your stomach was able to handle all this? That's what would concern me. ****Jenn:** So, bacon — no, actually, I'm a vegetarian. But I used to do tortillas with mashed avocado and a little salt, mash it up, and put it in a Ziploc bag, and just nibble on that or some nuts as I ran. During my hundred-miler, the second half was a lot of Oreos, and to this day I can't stand Oreos. Then I switched to Skittles. ****Alex:** Not surprised. Tell us about some of your favorite ultra races, or moments during those races that really stand out. Race Stories and Memorable Moments ****Jenn:** I think the most memorable, besides finishing the hundred-miler, was a 100K called Pumpkin Holler in Oklahoma. It had been forecasting rain all week — the race starts fine, but it's three loops, and by the second loop, my crew tells me a storm's coming in. My pacer's like, we can do this. It's the middle of Oklahoma, very rural, partly around a state park, partly just country roads, and this dog starts chasing us — middle of the night, growling and barking. I had pepper spray, and I still feel a little bad about it, but the dog was chasing us, so I pepper-sprayed the dog. ****Alex:** That's happened to me on my bike too — I should probably start carrying pepper spray on these country rides. Good tip. Any other big races or moments that stand out? ****Jenn:** During my hundred-miler, one of my wonderful pacers got to listen to me butcher "Despacito." ****Jen:** Nice. ****Jenn:** I couldn't even remember all the words — it was like herding a cat, for her. At one point my boyfriend came out to meet me on the course, and I was like, "Oh my god, babe, I love you so much," hugging him, and my pacer's like, "Jenn, let's go, we've got to move." And I was like, "Oh, okay — bye, babe." ****Alex:** So it sounds like there's real support system built into these races — tell us about the pacers and the kind of support you get during a race, because that sounds fascinating. Crew and Pacers: The Ultra Support System ****Jenn:** It is. The whole ultrarunning community is amazing — so supportive. The volunteers, the other racers, everybody's there to help you succeed. You can run into a total stranger out there — I helped one guy who still tells people, "I wouldn't have finished if I hadn't linked up with her halfway through the race and we ran together." But my crew was always my friend Lori — she traveled to all the races with me, knew my nutrition plan inside and out. She knew, okay, when I see you here, I'm giving you Nuun, to get that electrolyte in, or we're doing half and half. She knew what I wanted to eat, knew my splits, knew how to get me back out on course. She even foam-rolled my glutes for me at one aid station. ****Alex:** She's foam-rolling your glutes. ****Jenn:** And then pacers — they're like little godsend angels, because they come in exactly when you need them, and their whole mission is to get you at the right pace until they hand you off to the next pacer, all the way to the finish. I've had three wonderful pacers. The first one stepped in during my first 50K — a friend from MRTT who happened to be there and asked, "Hey, do you have a pacer?" I said no. She knew I had to finish by a certain time, because the race was just south of Houston at Brazos Bend State Park, and the next morning I was running the Dallas Marathon — too many mimosas the night before, not recommended. She said, "okay, you've got to get going," and stepped in, and we finished about 45 minutes ahead of schedule, which was great. Then my friend Jenny — she's the one who lived through the dog chase, and later let me vent when I couldn't eat another Oreo and started force-feeding me Skittles instead. And Dawn was the one who had to listen to me poorly sing. Each of them just knew exactly when I needed some love, when I needed tough love, and when it was just, "suck it up, buttercup, let's get it done." ****Alex:** Wow. So you were really deep into ultrarunning — what ended up happening that caused you to stop? The Health Crisis: Learning to Walk Again ****Jenn:** So in 2020, right after Labor Day, I was getting ready to go out for a long run — I was holding out for races to come back in person — and I was sitting on the patio drinking coffee with my boyfriend beforehand, and all of a sudden everything just slowed down. It was like I was watching everything in slow motion, I couldn't process anything, and then I couldn't move, I couldn't speak. My boyfriend rushed me to the hospital. At first they thought I was having a stroke — it turned out, after a lot of testing, to be two neurological disorders, where my brain wasn't sending signals to my muscles and nerves the right way. I went through physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and then CBT — cognitive behavioral therapy — for many, many months. And this was during the pandemic too, from 2020 through the summer of 2021. ****Alex:** Yeah, that would make it even more challenging. So essentially, you had to learn how to walk again from scratch? ****Jenn:** Yes. ****Alex:** How long did that take? Walk us through it. ****Jenn:** I got a cane in October of 2020 and used it until March of 2021\. At that point I was classified as a severe fall risk and had to get a walker — I named it Charlie. Well, technically my son named it Charlie. I had Charlie for a long time, then was able to go back down to the cane, and by June of 2021 I was walking unassisted, though still struggling. I'd have occasional relapses here and there, and finally in November or December of last year, I started trying to run again. Very slowly. ****Jen:** Understandably. ****Alex:** So, Jenn, what was your mindset like through all of this? It sounds like you were pretty determined, but I can't even imagine what that must have felt like. The Road to Recovery: Mindset and Turning Points ****Jenn:** At first it was really, really rough. I was stuck in this negative cycle where doctors couldn't tell me what was wrong — they knew something was wrong, but not what. Once there was a diagnosis and an actual plan, I thought, okay, I can do this. But then as therapy went on, I remember thinking, oh my gosh, this is so hard — you're asking me to walk, and I haven't walked without assistance in eight months, and now you want me to just do it? I don't know if I can. My self-confidence really dropped. I've lost a hundred pounds twice in my life, but I never felt as low about myself as I did during that stretch. These basic, simple things — I realized I'd been taking them completely for granted, like using a knife, or scissors, or buttoning a shirt. I'd get so frustrated I'd just rip a shirt off and say forget it, I'm not dealing with this, I'll wear something else — or I'd tear paper instead of using scissors in front of people. I think the turning point came during therapy — there was a woman there who'd had a stroke, and her young daughter came with her to every session, always telling her, "Mommy, you can do this, you can do this." I formed this genuine bond with the two of them, and her daughter started cheering me on too — "Come on, Jen, you can do it, you can walk sideways, go, Jen, go!" And I remember thinking, oh my gosh, this little girl is exactly what I need right now. When she graduated from therapy — before I did — her daughter told me, "you can do this too, you're going to graduate." And that became this little refrain in my head: this little girl has more belief in me than I have in myself, and she's watched her mom recover from a stroke, so here I am — I just need to get my brain to send the right signals again, and we can do this. That's when the negative finally flipped back to positive. ****Alex:** Wow, that's an amazing story — and again, positivity really seemed to play a role in your recovery. Fascinating. I'm curious how your fitness goals changed through that process, to bring you to where you are now. Finding Yoga and a New Career ****Jenn:** One of the things all of my therapists really believed in was the power of yoga and meditation — that mind-body-breath connection. I'd done yoga challenges before and posted the fun pictures on Instagram, but I'd never actually taken a real class. I had a Peloton membership, so I figured I'd give it a try, and I remember thinking, oh my god, this is so hard, what have I done? ****Alex:** And this is after running ultramarathons — this is so hard? ****Jenn:** This is so hard, what am I doing? So I started really focusing on that mind-body-breath connection, and I remember getting so frustrated — how do people do this, how is this peaceful, how is this Zen, this hurts. Slowly, once I found the right kind of practice — starting with restorative and beginner vinyasa, slower classes where you're really learning the foundations of the poses — I started getting into it. Then in March of 2021, while I still had the walker, a yoga school reached out to me on Instagram, having seen all my posts, and asked if I'd ever thought about becoming a yoga instructor. ****Alex:** Oh, wow. ****Jenn:** And I said, what? No — I'm physically disabled right now, I don't know about that. And they said, no, come on, you can do it. So I did it, and they were amazing — I learned so much. Through that, I learned so much more about what we actually need, fitness-wise, to stay healthy and fit. It's been a completely life-changing experience, and fitness for me now is a lot more balanced. ****Alex:** Jenn, you talk on your blog about finding self-acceptance through fitness — can you talk a bit more about that? Body Image and Self-Acceptance ****Jenn:** Yeah. Growing up, I always wanted to look like the models or professional athletes I saw — that was my idea of beauty, and I completely beat up, belittled, and degraded my own body over it. I treated my body like trash. It wasn't until I started running ultras, and really wanted to see what my body could do, that things shifted — I kept pushing it and pushing it, and yes, I'd get injured, and that's when I learned the importance of cross-training as a runner. But no matter what, my body never gave up on me. I'd get hurt, but ultimately I knew that wasn't my body's fault — it was mine, for not taking care of it properly. I started developing this real love and appreciation for everything my body was doing for me. I'd treated it so badly, said such hurtful things about it, and it was still there, still supporting me — like it was saying, "you can abuse me, that's fine, but I'm not going anywhere, I'm still going to be here for you." After all of that, I realized my body was so much stronger than I'd ever imagined, and I needed to love it, because it's the only one I've got. ****Alex:** Wow, that's incredible. Would you say it changed how you see your body, through a different lens? ****Jenn:** Definitely. ****Alex:** And how do you feel about health and fitness now, after this whole journey — from ultrarunning, to learning how to walk again, to becoming a yoga instructor? Fitness and Health Today ****Jenn:** I'd say it's even more important to me now. Going through everything I've been through — a couple of genuinely near-death experiences — it makes you think, okay, cats get nine lives, how many do we get as humans? It's really shifted my perspective. I always try to find some kind of movement throughout the day now — not to punish my body, not to "work off" something I ate, but just to give it some movement, work out some of those kinks, get things flowing. And on the health side, I'm really lucky — there are five of us in my house, and everybody's trying to be healthier, eat better, be more physically active, wanting to live longer, and not just longer, but healthier, without a lot of problems along the way. ****Alex:** Right, exactly — that's so much what this podcast is about, thinking about health and fitness through the lens of longevity and actually enjoying life, versus that toxic idea our culture often pushes about fitness. ****Jenn:** Yeah, and going from ultrarunning to yoga, I've learned just how much free time I actually have now. Those first couple of weeks, I remember thinking, what am I even supposed to do with my time? ****Alex:** Right — you don't have to run every four hours anymore. ****Jenn:** Exactly, suddenly there's an extra four hours in the day — what do I do with that? So now there's this real balance, and I don't have to push everything to the extreme, because just like anything else, you get burned out. If you work 60 or 70 hours a week for four or five years straight, you're going to burn out and stop enjoying it. Health and fitness need to be something you actually enjoy and want to keep doing. And when something starts feeling a little boring, you spice it up — instead of eating the same meals every day, add something new into the rotation. ****Alex:** Those are amazing reflections, Jenn. For our final question — based on all that self-reflection, what fitness advice would you give 25-year-old Jenn? Advice to Her Younger Self ****Jenn:** I'd tell 25-year-old me: you're stronger than you know, and capable of more than you can even imagine. Your passions right now are so strong, and you should absolutely pursue them — but they're not necessarily going to be lifelong passions, so don't cling to them too tightly. Don't build your whole identity around one single thing, because that's not really what makes you who you are. ****Jen:** Well said. ****Alex:** Well said — amazing advice, Jenn. Thank you so much for joining us. ****Jenn:** Thank you, thank you, guys. Takeaways ****Alex:** Wow, Jen, what an amazing interview. ****Jen:** Oh my gosh, absolutely. ****Alex:** I'm curious what some of your takeaways were. ****Jen:** It was just such an incredible, inspiring story in so many different ways. I was also struck by how many themes it touched on that we've talked about on this podcast before — her fitness friends, her pacing buddies, that was really interesting. The way they looked out for her, down to the minutiae of her racing pace and exactly what she needed to eat at certain points — I was thinking, wow, those are some seriously dedicated fitness friends. ****Alex:** And then her friends during her recovery too, and what that meant to her — even that little girl she talked about was, in a way, a fitness friend who helped her through recovery. Yeah, a powerful illustration of that whole concept. ****Jen:** What about you, Alex? ****Alex:** Yeah, I think just the overall focus on the importance of positivity when it comes to fitness. That's something we were actually talking about just a few weeks ago on the podcast — the example we used was going out for a short run, and partway in you start thinking, "I'm tired, I don't feel well today," and even on a three-mile run, those negative thoughts basically stop you from hitting your goal that day. So imagine what that's like running a hundred miles — I honestly cannot imagine it. Just the sheer amount of positive thinking you'd have to harness to get through a race like that really stood out to me. And then, going back to her recovery, seeing how she was finally able to flip that switch to positive, and the difference it made — again, just the power of positive thinking, and how important that is in fitness. ****Jen:** Yeah, absolutely. And related to that, I really loved when she talked about how fitness helped her overcome some of her negative body image. We've talked so many times about how much negativity and shame our culture attaches to not having the "perfect" body — and I love how she was able to completely reshape her thinking around her body being capable and strong, able to carry her through challenges as extreme as a hundred-mile race. I thought that was really instructive and helpful to hear. Wrap-Up ****Alex:** Yeah, absolutely. So, an amazing first interview for our Real Fitness Journeys series — thanks again to Jenn Bencheck for joining us today. We'll be back next week with a new episode. Jen, what are we talking about next week? ****Jen:** We're going to talk about stress management — how stress impacts your health, and what fitness can do to help you cope with it in healthier, more positive ways. ****Alex:** All right, looking forward to it. As always, hope you're enjoying the podcast — head on over to practically.fit and subscribe to our newsletter for great weekly content in your inbox. If you know somebody with an amazing fitness journey, let us know — you just heard our first interview in this series, and we're going to be doing more, so we're looking for more stories. If you know someone who's had an incredible journey in how fitness has shaped their life, please let us know — you can shoot us an email at [alex@practically.fit](mailto:alex@practically.fit). But until next week, remember: fitness is for everybody.