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Good morning, Team
You may have noticed that I missed the usual email last Tuesday morning.
It wasn't deliberate, but it wasn't accidental either.
On Saturday, April 11th, I snapped the head off of sanity and partook in my first ever 'Backyard Ultra'.
You will have likely heard of these - thank you BPN (probably shouldn't credit that on a Prerun email).
BU's have a very simple, yet very brutal format. Our event started at 11:00AM, and looked like this:
1 lap, distance = 4.167 miles (6.7km), starting on the hour every hour. Until you can no longer continue.
At the top of the hour, you must be back at the start line (corral), ready to go again for another lap. Run, walk, crawl, as long as you are at the corral - you get to go again.
I set myself a lofty goal. 100 miles.
The beauty - particularly for anybody that likes uniformity - is 24 hours brings up your 100 miles.
So, if you can run for one day - then it's all yours.
Things started off quickly. As in, by hour 4, I didn't feel particularly comfortable, my digestion from the gels and bars was giving me some terrible feedback.
So, I simplified it and moved onto potatoes and water. Between each lap, should you get back to the finish/start line in time, you can refuel, sit down, and try recover.
Potatoes and water, MAGIC.
Things then really started to look up, I felt great, the laps were moving well and I was in good spot.
Dark fell in around 8:45PM, which changed the full atmosphere. Head torches were out.
Conversation dropped across the field quickly. There were still chatters, but the loud high spirited conversations had sunk just as the sun had.
This was the time to dig deep, and the time to take my third round of prerun. I had decided prerun would be the ticket, every 6 hours.
Delivering a good punch of caffeine, amongst all of the other good stuff.
The caffeine was a master stroke. It delivered everything we know that caffeine delivers.
To speed this whole thing up, I moved well through the night, ticking each lap - and with it each hour off, one by one.
Getting tired no doubt, but never really in trouble.
Then it started,
The lap starting at 5AM, there was myself, and 10 other runners left. I set off, and started dropping off the pack like a stone.
My left knee was in bits. It was such a battle, and getting back into the finish area I knew the end was approaching.
I lined back up, and I set off for the next lap, but the story ends there. Around 1 mile in, my knee (amongst being tired, hungry and sapped of drive) forced me to turn around and head back.
I was done. 75 miles. Complete. I was happy at that.
With it I learned 3 things:
- You can do so much more, when you dare to push your goals further than you ever feel comfortable.
- That then means falling short, but getting close, is still a very good spot to find yourself in.
- Potatoes, water, and prerun - are the MAGIC 3.
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