The time has come. In exactly a week, I will be well on my way running my first ultramarathon. Last year when I made the decision to run this race I followed advice from various resources. I realize that the conventional progression from marathon to ultramarathon distance would be to run “at least one 50k and either a 50-mile or a 100-kilometer event as part of your buildup to the 100miler”. However, I don’t like to do many things conventionally (“extremist by nature” and all that jazz).
On September 9th I am going to hit the 100-mile starting line as an ultramarathon race virgin. I had so many plans on how I would prepare myself for this race but of course life can throw some curveballs and things don’t always work out as planned. That’s just life. I learned lessons about why I got shin splits and I know how to avoid that in the future. Getting kicked in the face (with resulting whiplash and concussion) really threw me for a loop and was not an expected type of injury. But through prolotherapy I recovered 100% from both. Right now my body feels stronger and healthier than it ever has. I have no nagging injuries. There is no reason for me not to toe the line next Saturday and give it my all. This is going to be a lot of fun and I already feel so welcomed by this ultra running community. These are my kind of people.
This race will be the ultimate learning experience in every respect. It will be the most challenging and painful thing I have ever done in my life. But I’m ready. One important aspect of my training has been “building mental toughness”.
The race I’m running is called 100 miles around the isle of Mors. After I registered last November a journalist who lives on the island of Mors contacted me and asked me some questions about why I chose Denmark for this race. I, of course, told him way too much about myself, added him as a friend on Facebook and told him he could feel free to use any pictures he wanted. I was very surprised with the very detailed and kind article he wrote about me! I will post it on here as a separate post. He really talks me up in this article. I don’t know if I will be able to live up to all that hype however I am going to dig deep and give it my all. I want ultramarathon running to be my ‘thing’, so I’m making it my thing. I have a coach and am following his great advice. I feel so thankful to have some guidance. It provides me with structure and saves me from myself. I was a bit ridiculous when left to my own devices such as when I ran 60 km one night. 🙊 I would often just go out and run and not really have a lot of purpose behind what I was doing (although I knew I should). I just get so excited and my runs got away on me. (Which I liked)
MRIRUNS: Sherry Hill Farm 