16 surprising lessons from my first ultra-marathon of 50 miles Saturday I did what I thought could not do! I ran an ultra-marathon of 50 miles (about 80 km). Now Im certainly not the first to run this kind of race - with thousands of other runners, stronger, better, did. Im not even one of the fastest to run this kind of race - I was so slow that I just met the official time limit. So I have no special merit from running this race. If I were to take the credit, it would be mainly my friend Scott Dinsmore, who encouraged me to run and then played a major role in the fact that I reached the finish line. But I am proud to have run the 50 miles. Because it showed me that my limits were not what I thought they were. And it was a way for me to teach the same thing to my children vis-à-vis themselves, in my example. There is much to say about the race, which began at 5 am in clear and very cold conditions, and continued for nearly 14 hours in good weather (although free) uphill and downhill endless hills wonderful Marin Headlands. Seriously, this is a very beautiful area and you should go for a ride on a hike if you go through the Bay Area. But instead of boring you to undergo the summary of my race, I will share some lessons Ive learned along the way.Lessons from my ultra-marathon Here are some things I learned:1 - This was much, much harder than I had anticipated. I mean, I knew it would be really difficult. But it was much more difficult than that. I was clearly under-trained, because I took a month off to travel in Europe and China, but I thought I could do it based on the fact that I had already run a 26 miles, a 19 miles, 17 miles and a month before the race. I was right, I could go all the way with this training, but it was far from ideal.2 - Running with a partner did everything. Scott was the ideal partner race - party fun, he enjoyed the view and experience as much as me. He was relentlessly positive and excited, even when things got tough and I was struggling and I wanted to stop. He did not let me stop. I owe him a lot.3 - 30 miles of pounding, it wears toes. My right big toe kept settle in front of my shoe on the downhills (maybe the shoe was not perfectly true to size?), Which is very inconvenient for the first 30 miles. Then it started to really hurt. The raids have become torture. I continued, but several times I had to stop to walk. Scott would certainly have finished several hours earlier had it not been my trottinements cowards in some runs.4 - There are a lot of hills in the Northface Endurance Challenge. I knew there would be lots of hills - we had not run a lot of time on these roads and it was not a problem in practice. However, the whole race was either uphill or downhill. It was endless. If I had to go back and do it again, I would do a lot more training hills. More than half of my race of 26 miles, for example, was on the flat ... I should have up and down Twin Peaks again and again.5 - See my family at mile 44 really motivated me. Because of the pain in my toe in the hills, I really had the urge to stop somewhere around the 40th mile. But I knew that Eva and the kids expect me to supply the mile 44, so I continued. When I saw them, they took me in their arms, and I told them I would do my best to reach the finish line before the time limit. Scott and I have really grown in the last 6 miles, to the point that I felt like we did the last 4-5 miles sprinting (it was not, we were probably 12-15 km / h). My family has made a huge difference for me and really strengthened my resolve.6 - Junk food does not agree with me for those long races. I generally do not eat crisps and sweets, but I told myself that my body would need energy so I ate everything that seemed suitable. But as much of my blood going to the muscles for the race and in the lungs and the heart, digestion more difficult. So I had stomach problems (without going into details) throughout the race. In the second half I decided to draw the calories in liquid and gels rather than solid food.7 - It is important to smell the roses. I was running a race, but the race was not that of the race. She passed by paths breathtaking, and focus on the fact of reaching the finish line would miss the race. I tried to pay attention to the beauty of the race and the people around me, even towards the end when I was wrong.8 - There are some truly inspiring people in these races. One guy was planning to run a marathon afterwards, the day after our 50 miles. A woman in her fifties was on his 6th or 7th ultra-marathon. Some people who do not look like athletes were great with us, aware of an equally determined that those who were in great shape. People from 50 to 60 were far ahead. It really shows how your fellow humans can be determined, and this forces to humility.9 - Pacemakers are super helpful. Friends of Scott, Ryan and Mike (my friends now), shared the latest about 23 miles and ran with us, talked and joked with us, encouraged us, and basically we were not allowed to slow down to the point scampering. I doubt that we could finish before the deadline if they were not there. They were perfect for us cardiac pacemakers, and I owe them a lot.10 - You feel really good when you start an ultra. Scott and I were really excited by crossing the start line and ran the first miles. It was exhilarating. Your body feels good because you are sharpened after weeks of hard training. You are surrounded by people who prey on the extreme difficulty, and who are also very excited. I have not stopped to look around me and say What a day! 11 - This is an absolutely amazing feeling to cross the finish line. I suffered for 20 miles (the first 30 was pretty easy) but approaching the finish line, I forgot all about it and I wanted to shout my joy in the world. When I crossed the line, I raised my arms victoriously, because it was a deep personal victory. I took Scott into my arms. I loved life.12 - It is very tempting to give in to cravings. Being really tired means that your mental discipline is low. At the same time, the little kid in you wants to give up, go home jump him in a hot bath and in bed, and stop suffering. This is normal. And it is very tempting to listen to this child, these cravings to stop. I watched these cravings, felt their power, and I left without it. It was a continuous process of letting go.13 - Resisting the pain is worse. When my toe was killing me on the downhills, and my shins, my knees and my quads ached, I noticed that my whole body tensed, anticipating the pain of each step. When I allowed myself to relax, to relieve the pain, I was actually helped me feel better. It was no longer as bad. It was worse in anticipating and straining. Relax, let go, relax.14 - You are so bad that you can barely walk the next day. At least that was my case. I knew I had to take an ice bath when I get home, to reduce swelling, fatigue and inflammation, but I was so cold because of the race I was shaking, so I I skipped the ice bath. I used ice packs to my feet and ankles. But I was incredibly tired and I struggled to do anything the next day, and it was almost as hard the next day. I also had a problem with swelling in the foot (edema) for about 3 days. Argh. It has slowly improved, but I think Im just too shot my legs and feet.15 - A vegan lunch the next day epic is so good. Oh damn. Eva and I took the kids to Herbivore the next morning, and I ate like never before. I made pancakes with blueberry, roasted potatoes, vegan sausage, sautéed tofu pesto, coffee, green juice, cornbread and blueberry, a little mocha milkshake, and fries with chili cheese sauce ... the best meal of my life. I was starving. And vegan food for breakfast is what there is of better.16 - You have more in you than you think. I knew it would be difficult, one of the hardest of my life event ... but I had greatly underestimated, and there were times when I felt desperate and me not up to the task. Each time I was able to continue. I always had a little more in me than I thought. And this happened repeatedly, meaning that there is in me a huge reserve of determination and guts that I did not realize presence. We all do this, not just me. We just do not know until we were testing. If there is one thing Ive learned in this race is that all of us, each of us should make us simply test to discover the true self that lies within each of us. marathon, lessons, miles, running
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 10:41:26 +0000
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