The day is finally here! All year it seems like I have been waiting, training and, yes, sometimes stressing, about my first ultramarathon. I can't believe how far I have come since I started running is 2011. It is almost like I was made for this. As I have been training my legs have gotten stronger, my ability to deal with distance has increased (to the point now where it is not so much the distance that gets me as if I have time in my day to do the distance I want!)
When my friend Christy asked almost a year ago about doing Flatrock I had just finished my first full trail marathon and LOVED IT! I had trained on trails and felt ready to handle a longer distance. Since then there have been a few kinks here and there that sometimes got me thinking I couldn't do it after all. I had some trouble with my knees that knocked me out for a couple of months then I had heel pain that knocked me out for another month or so. I started at that point to feel kind of resigned to either coming down to the 25K or crewing my friend Christy as she ran it which would have been fun but I am so glad I got over these problems and managed to get in enough training to feel ready to tackle it, enjoy the day and, barring some sudden problem, finish my first ultra. Mostly it is due to heart rate training as my knees and other body parts are better with long, slow distance than pounding speed workouts.
I wanted to do this from the perspective of a video game but since I have not played video games past the 90's I will do this as a mario brothers game. (sorry gamers!) You know in mario brothers when you have gotten past all the mushrooms, turtles, ghosts, whatever and then you get to that part where you have to face off against the big turtle guy with all the spikes and that floor that tries to tip you into hot lava? But if you kill the big turtle you get to level up. Jump up the flagpole and run into that little house and save the princess!!
Flatrock is my big turtle. It is all big and spiky and there may or may not be hot lava involved. But then when I get done I get to level up!! My life wont' be the same post-ultra as it was pre-ultra just like it is not the same post-marathon(s) as it was pre-. I get to camp out, see new places and go back to Kansas where I did live for 7 years or more so it is like a homecoming but not quite as i lived in Kansas City and this is a new part of kansas but still.....it's kansas. I am sure I will bore you all later with a long and involved post-race report so I will leave it at this: Can't wait to return home as an ultrarunner.
Go bib number 77! And bib number 76! (Christy)
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