The North Face Lavaredo Ultra Trail 120-last thoughts

I wanted to attempt this race again, purely on the basis that it is absolutely fantastic. Running in the Dolomites is a priveledged opportunity indeed. A running luxury. Being any part of this event is an honour.

I am not too enthused by my finishing time of 27.20, but complete I did. Race stats are showing that 1608 competitors started, 1189 finished. Of the starters, 224 were female, with approx 150 female finishers. To my mind, I am very proud to have been one of these 150, albeit in the bottom third.
The good wishes and support played a significant part in getting to the finish line!

This race, this place, is very special. Extreme. Stunning.

I have completed twice, that is enough for now : there are other races to explore. The last few months training has been for this--every minute was needed.

Thank you mountains. We still adore you.

Limped through the finish line

So, somehow I managed to limp through the finish line this morning, I think after about 27. 20 hours of being on the move. Somehow, despite getting lost in the woods on the return trip, this is still not as bad a result as I anticipated. Finishing the race was my aim.

The race was every bit as tough as I remembered it. I went through every emotion during the race, between elation and despair. There were tears and many words which I would not repeat in front of the kids. One minute I was eternally grateful for this opportunity to see the Dolomites again : the next, I was determined to never partake again in a such a ridiculous race length as this.

You get the idea.

Probably most importantly, good friends Roz and Caroline came to enjoy a weekend away and support the race. Their support at the race start and finish was second to none: their many texts throughout the event kept me running at moments when I was ready to give up. A million thanks at least, for sharing this weekend and the excitement of this very magical run. The photos are awesome Roz : ladies, long live madcap trips to out the way places in the name of running. Post race celebration ice cream is on me: it might take me a little while to get there on these wobbly feet though.

Thanks for thinking that running long distances in strange places is a normal thing to do :thank you a million for your continued support and interest.

Take care guys.

Checkpoint mid race

The North Face Lavaredo Ultra Trail

Well we saw Rachel off last night at the start of the Lavaredo Ultra Trail after a fabulous day! Starting with the registration in the am and only in Italy would you get meats, cheeses, cakes and Prosecco at the Expo! While Rachel was resting we went for what we thought was going to be a gentle stroll with the North Face promotions, more like selection for the ultra running team. We were the eldest (this made obvious by the group leader who politely wanted to help us over every difficult section)! Whilst the others were nearly at running speed.
Finished with a welcome beer and after the 2nd  🍻🍻 and an ice cream 🍨🍨we considered entering the race!!!🏃🏻‍♀️🏃🏻‍♀️🧗‍♀️🧗‍♀️😂😂

Rachel is doing fabulously in her race with being about halfway in you would like to track her you can on The North Face Lavaredo Ultra Trail website.

Dolomite views at a race checkpoint

Oh my word, again

Registered

Registered. All there is left to do is eat, rest, and combat race nerves

DOLOMITES HERE WE COME

Keep hydrated?

Well, attempting to run a long way tomorrow night. Need to keep hydrated, surely.
Plus, well, we are, after all, on holiday.

LAVAREDO 2018

Looks incredible

Mountains we love you....

Going to be running up those soon....

On our way!

Last longer run before the Lavaredo attempt next week....

Three aspects of long events?

So, I think I finally boiled the art of long distance racing down to three elements. In my head, if you can co-ordinate these, you'll be able to survive.

1) managing the pain

You are going to hurt. Your legs will be protesting at any unaccustomed distance work. That's before blisters. Be prepared with accessible paracetamol in your bag.

2) managing food

You need to fuel with anything that you can tolerate : whatever you can manage to eat, try and get it down. Just as much as possible to keep going.

3) manage the duration

You will be out for a long time. Accepting that you will be running for a day, or two: accepting the length and time of the event: makes it easier to realisticly continue. Let's face it, you're not going to be having a brew with your feet up, by mid afternoon.


Oh, enjoy those endurance challenges.

We all have our uses?

This story in the news - you got to love this. Apparently, a new craze, of joggers who collect rubbish as they run.

An all round decent workout, surely

Oh my word.....

Less than three weeks to go.... What an adventure...