I've done a few races and accomplished
a lot of my running goals. In the year 2012 I finish my first
marathon and decided that it was time to do an ultra marathon. Most
people do a few marathons before running anything above 26.2 miles
but I felt that if I can do a marathon in 4 hours then I can run a
50k in under 9 hours. And in December I signed up for The North Face
Challenge 50k.
I had 6 months to train and tried to
follow an ultra training plan, but I hate when others or an app tells
me what to do with my running. We are the only ones that truly know
our body, so I ditched the plan and started running whatever I felt
like for the week. I don't recommend this because my longest run was
a 21 miler follow by a 4 miler the day after so that meant that I
would run +31 miles without really knowing how my body would react to
high mileage.
Race day came and I average around 28
miles per week, very low, but I felt ready. My knees and hip have
been behaving really well and physically and mentally I was at the
best shape I have ever been. The race was very hot, around 91 degrees
but it was mostly in the shades which helped a lot. The volunteers
were great pouring water in our heads and taking care of all our
needs. I had my beautiful girlfriend as my aid station crew, she
waited at mile 12 and 19 for me and it really motivated me to finish
the race. I didn't hit the wall till mile 26 which I was very proud.
The wall was nothing to what I hit on mile 20 in the marathon, I felt
like I couldn't move at all and my whole body just weakened. I
couldn't get any food down. There was supposed to be an aid station
at mile 26 but it was marked wrongly and it was at mile 27. 1 mile at
that point with no water felt like hell but I made it and it gave me
the energy needed to finish. I found out chewing ice and eating
pretzels at the same time really help me get some salt in my body. I
finish the race at 7 hours and 12 minutes.
The race was truly the most amazing
experience in my life, I meet some really awesome people and finish
the biggest running accomplishment so far in my career. By the end of
it my body couldn't get any food down and I felt like puking the ride
home; only my muscles felt tired but not injured.
Now it's time for a new challenge which
I haven't decided what it will be.
