Episode 10 | Chapter 9: Snow-capped | Living The Day-to-Day

One of the biggest surprises of running across America wasn't the running.

It was everything else.

As I reread this chapter, I'm reminded that the run itself only occupied a part of each day. The rest was spent moving vehicles, setting up camp, cooking, grocery shopping, finding water, dumping tanks, doing laundry, and preparing to do it all again the next morning.

It sounds exhausting, and in many ways, it was.

But what I remember most isn't the work. It was the sunrises over the Nevada desert. The quiet mornings out on the road. The stillness of being alone for miles. The contrast of warm afternoons and bone-shakingly cold nights. Out on the road, life slowed down enough for me to notice the beauty that's easy to rush past—a lesson I find still true today.

In this chapter you'll:

- Experience the day-to-day realities of what it takes to run across America beyond the miles.

- Travel across Nevada's high desert, where warm spring afternoons give way to bone-shakingly cold nights.

- Meet a pair of cyclists crossing the country for brain cancer research and follow my reflections on comparison, purpose, and living for today.

As the chapter closes, I write the first donation from the run—an $8,000 check for multiple sclerosis research. It isn't the full amount I set out to raise, but it's proof that every mile is already making a difference. It's also a reminder that while it's easy to compare our journey to someone else's, that the truest path is focusing on the one that's meant for us.

The Long Run Home is available wherever books are sold.

If you're enjoying these chapter readings, I'd love for you to subscribe to Dare To Begin, leave a rating or review, and share the podcast with someone who might enjoy following the journey.

Connect with me:

🌐 AshleyMSchneider.com📖 The Long Run Home — Available wherever books are sold🎙️ Dare To Begin with Ashley Schneider📸 Instagram: @AshleyMSchneider🧡 MSRunTheUS.org

Episode 9 | Chapter 8: Big Water | Confidence Is Earned

One of the things I appreciate most about the version of myself that ran across America was my willingness to figure it out as I went. As I reread these chapters, I can see that every challenge made a small deposit toward my confidence—deposits that would eventually prepare me for much bigger risks later on.

This chapter begins just six weeks after I ran an impromptu marathon from my parents' home. Now I'm standing at the start of my first 50-mile ultramarathon, wondering if I've gotten in over my head. The night before the race, reading about the dangers of ultrarunning had me questioning everything. But as the miles ticked by the next morning, I remembered something it's easy to forget when fear takes hold: my body knew how to run. I just needed to show up and do it.

In this chapter you'll:

- Follow my first 50-mile ultramarathon and discover how fear almost convinced me I wasn't ready.

- Ride along as Nate and I learn to navigate an RV we'd never used before, solving problems and building confidence one mistake at a time.

- Arrive in Lake Tahoe just as a broken spare tire hitch and a winter storm force us to change plans.

Frustrating moments often become great stories later, and this is one of those moments. As the chapter closes, what begins as an unexpected delay turns into one of the most memorable moments of the entire journey—one that changes the rest of my run.

Thanks so much for listening to Chapter 8: Big Water and for continuing this journey with me.

xo,Ashley

The Long Run Home is available wherever books are sold.

If you're enjoying these chapter readings, I'd love for you to subscribe to Dare To Begin with Ashley Schneider, leave a rating or review, and share the podcast with someone who could use a reminder that growth often comes from figuring it out as we go.

Connect with me:

🌐 AshleyMSchneider.com📖 The Long Run Home: Available wherever books are sold🎙️ Dare To Begin Podcast📸 Instagram: @AshleyMSchneider🧡 Learn more about MS Run the US: MSRunTheUS.org

Episode 8 | Chapter 7: Run On | Before I Had It Figured Out

In this episode of Dare To Begin, I read Chapter 7 of The Long Run Home.

The journey continues from the San Pablo Bay through Sacramento and toward Lake Tahoe, where the miles begin to hint at the biggest climb of the run so far.

Revisiting this chapter reminds me how little I knew when I began. I was learning how to run across America, build a nonprofit, and navigate challenges as they came. Looking back, I find that younger version of myself endearing. She didn't have all the answers, but she kept moving anyway.

In this chapter:

- Spade unexpectedly departs for another client, leaving Nate and me on our own for the first time in ten days.

- Long before #vanlife became a trend, Nate and I were learning how to live it one day at a time.

- Together, we begin figuring out the day-to-day logistics of life on the road—from where to park the RV to how to make decisions together and adapt when plans change.

As the chapter closes, we arrive in Lake Tahoe, where a local asks me, "Do you know what you're up against?" With the Sierra Nevada summit ahead, the next challenge is about to begin.

Meaning In The Mess is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

The Long Run Home is available wherever books are sold.

If you're enjoying these chapter readings, I'd love for you to subscribe to Dare To Begin, leave a rating or review, and share the podcast with someone who might need a reminder that they don't have to have it all figured out to begin.

Connect with me:

Website: AshleyMSchneider.com

Instagram: @AshleyMSchneider

Learn more about MS Run the US: MSRuntheUS.org

In this episode of the Dare To Begin podcast, I read Chapter 6 of The Long Run Home.

Day 2 of my run across America was the moment the my run collided with reality.

Running the miles turned out to be only one part of the challenge. There were logistics to solve, people to meet, unexpected problems to navigate, and a support crew learning alongside me. It's also the chapter where I introduce another key person whose influence would shape not only the early days of my run, but the future of MS Run the US.

Looking back, I realize I was far more unprepared than I understood at the time.

Ironically, that may have been my greatest strength.

Had I known every obstacle waiting ahead, I might never have started. Instead, I took the first step and trusted that I would figure out the rest along the way.

In this episode:

- Day 2 of my run across America

- Many unexpected challenges

- Why preparation has its limits

- How resourcefulness is built through action

- A new character who helped shape the journey

- Why beginning before you're ready can become your greatest advantage

🎙️ Dare To Begin is a podcast about courage, purpose, and taking the next right step. Through stories from my life, my run across America, and the lessons I've learned along the way, I hope to encourage you to begin before you feel ready.

🧡 If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs the reminder that confidence is built through action—one step at a time.

Chapter 5 of The Long Run Home: Gateway.

This chapter takes us to Day One of my run across America.

After a year of preparation, I expected to simply begin—one foot in front of the other. Instead, the day quickly went off script. We started at noon, I ran circles through a parking lot for the news cameras, and my support crew got the motorhome stuck navigating San Francisco, leaving me to cover my first 17 miles with very little support.

I've realized that getting started and continuing often require different strategies, and that sometimes the best plan is simply one that's good enough to get you moving.

In this episode:

- Why Day One didn't go as planned

- The unexpected challenges of starting a six-month journey

- Why adapting is often more important than executing the perfect plan

- A lesson I still use today as I pursue new goals

Thanks for listening, and thank you for following along as I read The Long Run Home one chapter at a time.

If this episode resonates with you, I'd love to hear: What helps you keep going after the excitement of starting wears off? And of course, share it with anyone that you think would benefit from hearing this message.

Episode 5 | Part 2, Chapter 4: The Date Is Set | Reading The Long Run Home

There comes a point in every big dream when planning has to give way to execution.

In this episode of Dare To Begin, Ashley M. Schneider reads Part 2, Chapter 4: The Date Is Set from The Long Run Home.

The dream of running across America was no longer hypothetical. The start date had been set, the countdown had begun, and there was no turning back.

From San Francisco, just days before the first step of a 3,288-mile journey, Ashley reflects on what it really took to reach the starting line—not just physically, but mentally and emotionally.

In this chapter, you'll hear:

- Why her first marathon nearly brought Ashley to her knees.

- How the motorhome arrived only weeks before departure.

- Meeting Nate, Ashley's boyfriend, who agreed to become the only support crew member for the next six months.

- The mindset that kept the journey moving forward when the resources weren't there yet.

- Why action—not certainty—is what builds confidence.

Sometimes the biggest obstacle isn't the challenge itself—it's believing you can begin before everything is perfectly in place.

If you're waiting until you feel ready, this chapter is your reminder that readiness is often created through movement.

If this episode resonates with you, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs the encouragement to take their own next step.

Order The Long Run Homehttps://a.co/d/0j2GO96a

Learn more about Ashley M. Schneiderashleymschneider.com

Learn more about MS Run the USmsruntheus.org

Episode Title

Episode 4 | Chapter 3: Then Do It Now | Reading The Long Run Home

Episode Description

What if one simple thought follow by action changed the direction of your entire life?

In this episode, Ashley reads Chapter 3 of The Long Run Home, where an ordinary three-mile run on a treadmill in Barcelona became the beginning of an extraordinary journey.

At the time, she had never run a marathon, never raised money for charity, and had no idea how someone could run across America.

She simply had an idea—and chose not to ignore it.

This chapter is a reminder that our biggest dreams rarely begin with certainty or a clear path forward. They begin with curiosity, courage, and the willingness to take the next right step.

(And yes...there's also some wholehearted off-key singing along the way.)

If you've ever wondered whether you're ready to pursue something that feels bigger than you, this episode is for you.

In This Episode

- The moment the idea to run across America was born

- The idea that what gets you started doesn't have to be what keeps you going.

- How ordinary moments become life-changing ones

- The courage to act before feeling ready

- A reminder that authenticity beats perfection

About the Series

This podcast is a live reading of Ashley M. Schneider's memoir, The Long Run Home. New chapters are released twice a week.

Whether your dream is to start a business, write a book, change careers, improve your health, or simply take the next step toward something meaningful, these stories are here to remind you that confidence is built through action.

In Chapter 2 of The Long Run Home, I share what it was like growing up as the daughter of a mother living with multiple sclerosis.

This chapter explores the impact my mom's MS had on our family, the emotions I struggled to process as a child, and some of the ways I coped while trying to make sense of a disease that was slowly changing the person I loved.

During this reading, I reflect on how chronic illness affects entire families—not just the person living with the diagnosis—and why sharing these stories continues to matter.

If you've ever loved someone through illness, loss, or circumstances you couldn't control, I hope this chapter reminds you that your experience matters too.

The Long Run Home is a memoir about running across America, building a nonprofit, living with purpose, and learning to take the first step before you feel ready.

Learn more about Ashley, her book, and her work at MS Run the US:ashleymschneider.commsruntheus.org

If this episode resonates with you, please subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review.

#TheLongRunHome #DareToBegin #MSAwareness #MultipleSclerosis #MSRunTheUS #ChronicIllness #CaregiverStories #FamilyStories #PurposeDrivenLife #MemoirPodcast

Episode 2 | Chapter 1: Leading To This

In this episode of the Dare To Begin podcast, I read Chapter 1 of The Long Run Home.

Before there was a run across America, a nonprofit, or a book, there was my family—and my mom, Jill.

Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis years before I was born, my mom's journey with MS shaped the environment I grew up in. The uncertainty, inconvenience, and pain that came with the disease were part of our normal, but so was resilience.

Looking back, I couldn't have known that our family's story would one day become my purpose.

In this chapter, I share the beginning of that story and reflect on how our experiences—especially the difficult ones—can shape us into who we become.

Because sometimes what starts as pain can become something profound, if we're willing to take action.

In this episode:

- Meeting my family and my mom, Jill

- Jill's diagnosis

- What multiple sclerosis is and how it affects a family unit

- When Jill's symptoms turned bad

🎙️ The Dare To Begin podcast is a Lunch & Listen live reading series where I share a chapter from my memoir, The Long Run Home, every Tuesday and Thursday.

📚 Join me live on Instagram Tuesdays and Thursdays at Noon Central.

🧡 If this episode encouraged you, please subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review.

#DareToBegin

In this first episode of Dare To Begin, Ashley introduces The Long Run Home Summer Reading Series and shares the Foreword written by Robin Arzón.

More than a story about running 3,288 miles across America, The Long Run Home is a story about taking the first step towards a goal before you feel ready.

Whether you're pursuing a big dream, navigating uncertainty, or simply looking for encouragement to take your next step, this series is for you.

📖 Reading: Foreword by Robin Arzón

Find Ashley at:Website: ashleymschneider.comBook: The Long Run HomeNonprofit: MS Run the US

If this episode resonates with you, consider sharing it with someone who needs the reminder that they're more capable, resourceful, and resilient than they think.

All you need to do is dare to begin.