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One step at a time

The UTMB is now only 15 weeks away and I cannot wait for that. Having said that, there are 15 weeks of intense training ahead and I already feel a bit stressed. 

Training for an ultra is pretty much like running an ultra, both mentally and physically. During an ultramarathon, there are moments - better said "hours" - that you enjoy running. You move forward effortlessly. There are also hours of struggling and pain. There are moments that you seriously question if you can go on, you wonder if you can climb the hill in front of you, sometimes you just thinking of how to take the next step. 
“I always start these events with very lofty goals, like I’m going to do something special.And after a point of body deterioration, the goals get evaluated down to basically where I am now – where the best I can hope for is to avoid throwing up on my shoes.” – Nuclear Engineer and ultrarunner, Ephraim Romesberg, 65 miles into the Badwater Ultramarathon
When you are training for such an event, you have to get out six or seven days a week and run. If there are times that you cannot move forward due to fatigue or an injury, if  you miss a couple of training sessions because of your busy schedule, you probably feel stressed. Then you need to think about the race. You won't run a 100 Miler easily, there are for sure moments of pain and fatigue. You have to be prepared for the physical and mental torture.Everyone has good or bad days. Learn to push yourself as hard as you can on your good days, and to embrace the failure when bad days come.

I've got a couple of long runs planned for this weekend. The first proper back-to-back long runs of the season. Hopefully I'd cover 50km and 3000 meters of elevation. 15 weeks to the UTMB and 8 weeks to the Eiger! There are loads of training to do.

I'll post a weekly update on my training from now on. Take care and stay tuned.


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