Running helps Kirtland protocol officer tackle life's challenges

  • Published
  • By Kendahl Johnson
  • Kirtland Public Affairs
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Despite sporting a cut on her nose and a swollen and bruised chin from a tumble while running a 10K race in California the previous weekend, Juliana Astrachan is all smiles.

"Yeah, I took a little fall," she said. "I guess I should be a little more careful."

In 15 years as an avid runner, Astrachan, an assistant in the 377th Air Base Wing Protocol Office, has had several injuries, but she wouldn't trade it for anything.

"It's my obsession," she said.

Astrachan runs about 20 to 30 miles a week. She said the health benefits of running are amazing, including reduced stress, better sleeping and eating habits and lower blood pressure. But it's the ability to work through problems while running that has been of most benefit to her.

"Running is one other tool to help with ups and downs. It's helped me through so many of life's challenges," she said. "I don't think I would have survived so many hardships in my life without it."

Astrachan began long-distance running as an Air Force captain in 2000 when a co-worker who knew she enjoyed running short distances invited her to run the Air Force Marathon.

"After I did that marathon, I was hooked," she said. "I found that the longer runs allowed me to sustain endorphins for much longer and I was better at it."

Since then, she's finished 39 marathons in 24 states.  She has run six ultra marathons, ranging from 45K to 55K. She likes the ultras because they offer a different challenge, she said.

"Ultra marathons are a whole new ball game," she said. "They are always on difficult trails and require a different way of training and preparing. Plus, you get to see beautiful parts of the country you wouldn't otherwise see."

Her favorite challenge was the Mount Taylor 50K, a race up the western New Mexico summit to heights of more than 11,000 feet.

"You have to finish in 11.5 hours, and I just made it under the wire," she said. "Many times you just want to quit, but you keep going.  It's the challenge that drives you to keep going, knowing that if you can do it, you can do anything."

Many people have told her she's insane for tackling such intense challenges, but she says there are more difficult races available to runners than the Mount Taylor ultra marathon.

"People say I'm crazy, but I say I know people who are even crazier," Astrachan said.

Not one to shy away from a challenge, or the potential of more bumps and bruises, she's preparing to compete in her first half ironman competition this summer.