I came to the sport of running late in life.
Weve survived sudden hail storms under bridges.
Weve worked our way back from devastatingplantar fasciitis injuries.
And, weve figured out where every bathroom is in a ten-mile radius.
As I signed up for theRock the Ridge 50 Miler, I tried to calm my nerves.
How hard could that be?
And anything with ultra in front of it is simply better.
Sounds great, right?
As a group, we collectively decided that wed walk the race together as running 50 miles seemed silly.
And, rumor had it that the race volunteers served hot baked potatoes at mile 25.
That alone was intriguing.
(My friends managed to finish but it took them 18 grueling hours).
Heres what I learned from my failed ultramarathon experience:
You have to actually train.
Like, really train
I think my downfall on the race course happened months before my actual race.
When it comes to planning for an ultramarathon, inexperience is a blinder.
I relied on my marathon training to guide my ultra training and that was a mistake.
Conquering a 50 miler is not running 26 miles twice, it turns out.
Ultramarathon training includes building base running mileage, speedwork and long runs, often back to back.
When training for an ultra, you are training your body to function when its exhausted.
And, many ultra training plans are designed to take over four or five months to prepare.
I realized about halfway through the training that I simply didnt want to walk 50 miles.
And yet, I stuck with it because I didnt want to be perceived as a quitter.
If I had it to do over:Id have let myself off the hook.
If your heart isnt in it, just dont do it.
My friends found themselves walking along narrow gravel paths at 10 pm with only headlamps to guide their way.
Ultramarathoning is no joke.
And, we made sure to stick together, too.
Thankfully, my friends loved me through my difficult mourning period after my failed ultra marathon attempt.
They earned their medals fair and square and I could not be more proud of them.
I finished my eighth marathon.
And thats pretty damned impressive, too.
