Ultrarunner?
Oh my goodness, what did I just do? Ok so I just signed up for the Arc’teryx Squamish 50 50km race August 10,2013. So far my amateur running career (if I can be so bold as to call it any kind of career) consists of a 10 mile and a 13 mile in 2009 and then a full marathon in 2011 and 2012. Just looking at the list on this page makes me realize I don’t really take baby steps when it comes to things like this. It’s all or nothing I guess. I convinced myself to jump to an ultrarun with the rationale that it’s really only 8km more than a marathon, even if it’s all on technical trail; plus we do a lot of long tiring mountaineering trips most weekends, which is a good base, right? I rather enjoy the suffering involved in these types of sports and from my limited experience have found that, along with a lot of training, there is a huge mental aspect involved. Just being able to talk yourself through discomfort and pain and still being able to carry on is a huge part of it, right? Well this is what I will keep telling myself for now. I have 8 months to get ready for the biggest race of my life. What do I expect from myself? What kind of time goal should I expect? What kind of training plan will I use? These are all questions that I am sure I am going to be agonizing over for the next month or so before the real training starts. Until then, I will enjoy the “just registered for my first ultrarun” high I am feeling and deal with the knots in my stomach that I feel are slowly forming tomorrow morning! If you want to follow my progress and updates then bookmark this: http://pebbleshoo.com/tag/Squamish50/ Video of myself and a few other runners by...
Just when you think you’re fit enough…
You have probably seen this video on our facebook page, but i wanted to post it again because it is MOTIVATING!! It’s one of those video’s that gets stuck in your mind. Stuck in the way ,that as I biked home from work in the torrential downpour that is Squamish’s endearingly wet winter, I think about pushing it harder today up the big hill I have to bike every night . I think about kicking it down to a lower gear till my quads are burning and I can’t catch my breath. I get to the point where I feel like I have to stop, but I can’t…no I won’t, I know it’s just my mind trying to convince my body it’s had enough, so I decide to take the longer route home. I can’t let my mind win, I refuse to give in. “To climb high altitude mountains you need be more than an adventurer, you need to be an athlete”. Today in my own small way I felt like an athlete. I felt like that extra push was making me stronger. I don’t know if I can ever be at the athletic level portrayed in the video, but I am definitely going to keep pushing that little extra every day! Now let’s hope I can actually get out of bed when my alarm goes off at 5:30am tomorrow to go running in what promises to be another one of Squamish’s endearingly wet winter mornings....
