Early this morning I competed my first Ultra race, the Bryce 100 K. Good thing there was no cutoffs because I finished in 19.5 hours. Not last place at least. Time was not a concern, my goal was just to finish, but I did try to make a schedule for my pacers. I'm so glad they were patient and they really helped me get to the end. According to everyone, it was a very hard course and many runners dropped. Pretty amazing experience.
Finally experienced a major low that has not happened in any of my previous long runs. If I break the run into 3 parts, 1st went great and I was ahead of schedule, 2nd part was a struggle with fatigue and hydration issues and overheating, and the final part went great when it started getting cooler and I was finally able to process some calories. I certainly have a lot to improve on, but the positives far outweigh the difficulties that I experienced. No injuries, not even a blister. Sore muscles, but I expect to be back at it in a few days.
Even though running barefoot or even wearing minimal shoes was not an option, I give barefoot running most of the credit for getting me to this mileage level. I'll try to get some pictures and a report, but you know how I am flaky about these reports.
Just wanted to share my experience. Zero mileage and injured in February to a 64 mile Ultra four months later.
Finally experienced a major low that has not happened in any of my previous long runs. If I break the run into 3 parts, 1st went great and I was ahead of schedule, 2nd part was a struggle with fatigue and hydration issues and overheating, and the final part went great when it started getting cooler and I was finally able to process some calories. I certainly have a lot to improve on, but the positives far outweigh the difficulties that I experienced. No injuries, not even a blister. Sore muscles, but I expect to be back at it in a few days.
Even though running barefoot or even wearing minimal shoes was not an option, I give barefoot running most of the credit for getting me to this mileage level. I'll try to get some pictures and a report, but you know how I am flaky about these reports.
Just wanted to share my experience. Zero mileage and injured in February to a 64 mile Ultra four months later.