There comes a time when you say you can wake up and do a 1-mi run. Then you work on your fitness and endurance. And the 1-mi becomes 3-mi, 3-mi becomes 5-mi, and so on.. you keep pushing yourself.
This was definitely a time where I was like.. "I can wake up and do a 50K."
2016 training was going nowhere and it needed a kickstart. Spring run got me thinking about it. And then I was looking for local 50K races to sign up for. Boom. Quicksilver 50K pops up and there were never a second thought. Who can say no to a race pretty much in your backyard. The proximity of the race from home made it a no-brainer, and I signed up for it. This would be the start of my long running season ahead.
Soon I found out that Nattu (100K), Dennis (100K), Reshu & Bipul are also signed up for it! I never knew the race was so popular! Apparently one of the few 100Ks that are qualifiers for Western States 100!
A quick look at the trail elevation map at least got me mentally prepared for the task ahead. Uh-oh. What did I do? Good thing though - it had a 14-hr time limit. (While the cutoff for 100K was 17-hr!) Luckily for me, Reshu was going to run this with me. So, I just had to follow her lead. The goal for this race was to get some hours on my feet.
I grabbed a running camelbak from Vinod, who advised me to use up the entire 14-hr limit. I nodded. He asked Reshu to not let me run off. :-) In a conversation with Nikhila earlier, I set up an expectation that a 10-hr finish would be good. At the end of it all, just decided to listen to the body and see how it went.
The race was so pretty! It had wild flowers and some wild hills. And the support was terrific. And with constant support and guidance from Reshu, it was so enjoyable! Definitely recommended race. At the end of it, I crossed the finish line running in about 10.5hrs! Seemed like a pretty good finish!!
Things I learnt from the race:
- Watch out for signs of soreness/tightness early enough & keep stretching as required
- Keep moving forward, one step at a time, regardless how much you want to just stop
- Eat, drink, move!
And 2016 is underway!!
This was definitely a time where I was like.. "I can wake up and do a 50K."
2016 training was going nowhere and it needed a kickstart. Spring run got me thinking about it. And then I was looking for local 50K races to sign up for. Boom. Quicksilver 50K pops up and there were never a second thought. Who can say no to a race pretty much in your backyard. The proximity of the race from home made it a no-brainer, and I signed up for it. This would be the start of my long running season ahead.
Soon I found out that Nattu (100K), Dennis (100K), Reshu & Bipul are also signed up for it! I never knew the race was so popular! Apparently one of the few 100Ks that are qualifiers for Western States 100!
A quick look at the trail elevation map at least got me mentally prepared for the task ahead. Uh-oh. What did I do? Good thing though - it had a 14-hr time limit. (While the cutoff for 100K was 17-hr!) Luckily for me, Reshu was going to run this with me. So, I just had to follow her lead. The goal for this race was to get some hours on my feet.
I grabbed a running camelbak from Vinod, who advised me to use up the entire 14-hr limit. I nodded. He asked Reshu to not let me run off. :-) In a conversation with Nikhila earlier, I set up an expectation that a 10-hr finish would be good. At the end of it all, just decided to listen to the body and see how it went.
The race was so pretty! It had wild flowers and some wild hills. And the support was terrific. And with constant support and guidance from Reshu, it was so enjoyable! Definitely recommended race. At the end of it, I crossed the finish line running in about 10.5hrs! Seemed like a pretty good finish!!
Things I learnt from the race:
- Watch out for signs of soreness/tightness early enough & keep stretching as required
- Keep moving forward, one step at a time, regardless how much you want to just stop
- Eat, drink, move!
And 2016 is underway!!
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