Booking my first ultra in 5 years

I miss racing.

I spent Saturday as a cheerleader at the Bristol Half/10K and, boy, do I miss racing.

Running has always brought me immense joy, but I’ve not been able to do much of it the last few years, in the long wake of burnout.

Yesterday, I entered an ultramarathon.

This isn’t something new to me, but it’s the first race I’ll be running in 5 years. So there’s a mix of trepidation and excitement.

I don’t have long to prepare—it’s in ~5 weeks, and I’ve not run 20 miles (let alone 30) in many years. I’m doing the Castle 50k, one of 3 routes on offer as part of the Race To The King series.

But my legs and lungs have returned over the 2 months, and I’ve been comfortably covering longer, hillier distances. Regular 16k sessions with the Bristol Trail Runners have certainly helped.

I’ve done pre-ultra training blocks 5 times before, so I know what’s in store and what I can get by on. I did half of my training on a bike in preparation for one ultra. I know how to tweak my diet and eek out my weekly mileage whilst preventing injuries. These days, I’m more concerned about preventing injury than amping up mileage any more than necessary.

Another reason I didn’t have much time to fit in an event was that the Fan Dance challenge is looming. 2 weeks after the ultra, I’ll be lugging 17kg over 24km, up and down Pen Y Fan, on what I imagine will be a warm day. These are pretty different events, but I enjoy cross-training.

I’m ready. I think. Whatever happens, I’m elated to be toeing a start line, soon.