Running has never been only about miles for Michelle Doza.

It's a place to think, process life, clear her head, and sometimes think about absolutely nothing. It's something that brings her happiness and grounds her when life feels off. Michelle

Michelle's running journey eventually took her from the 17-mile Imogene Pass Run to six marathons and a pursuit of the elusive sub-four-hour marathon. Her current PR? 4:00:53. Yeah... painfully close. Michelle

Then came the Leadville Trail Marathon.

Starting around 11,000 feet, climbing roughly 6,000 feet and reaching above 13,000 feet at Mosquito Pass, Leadville forced Michelle to change the conversation happening inside her own head. Instead of asking why she was doing it, she reminded herself that she had trained for it, that people were waiting for her, and that she could do hard things. MichelleMichelle

In this episode, we talk about running as therapy, injuries and patience, chasing a sub-four marathon, learning to trust the process, the mental battle of Leadville, finding joy in difficult things, the running community, and her experience co-hosting Runners Like Us.

And after Leadville, another question has started creeping in:

Could an ultramarathon be next?

Michelle says it's firmly on her radar. Michelle

Because sometimes running isn't really about how many miles you've covered.

It's about discovering how much further you're willing to go.

Keywords: Michelle Doza, More Than Miles, Pushing Horizons, Pushing Horizons Step by Step, Runners Like Us, Leadville Trail Marathon, Leadville Marathon, Colorado runner, marathon running, trail running, running podcast, women runners, sub 4 marathon, running motivation, running as therapy, mental health and running, endurance running, running community, ultramarathon, first ultra