It's Not The Winning That Counts .....

Back blip from yesterday.

As you may gather from the title, I didn't finish the Ultra-Marathon yesterday, but I tried, I gave it all I had and I had a wonderful time (despite the various aches and pains) so I'm glad I did it. Getting out amid beautiful scenery like this, how could I possibly complain?

Anyway, I made it to the 50 kilometers cut off gate with ten minutes to spare (obviously cutting it very close.) At 55 kilometers the 200 meters climb began. I managed to get up that inside the cut-off time as well, but to reach the 72 kilometers cut-off point, 400 meters at the Ikari Plateu Ranch, I would need to cover 7 kilometers, 300 meters uphill in 40 minutes. Well, that obviously was not going to happen so I just enjoyed walking there instead.

I don't think I am going to try any more 100 kilometers ultra-marathons. I am clearly way too slow a runner to make the cut-off points once it gets to 70 kilometers. I will stick to marathons, and perhaps the occasional 60 or 70 kilometers ultra-marathons as well.

Despite the ultra failure, I did achieve one goal. Perhaps I'll save that for a future blip.