Back to where it all started

In 2006 I decided to try my first Ultra Marathon. I had completed my first Marathon in May of that year and knew that I loved it so why not try a little longer distance. Any distance over 42.2 K or 26.1 Miles, is considered an Ultra Marathon. Typically these races are anywhere from 50K to 160K. I had no idea what I was getting myself into and thought that doing another 8K after the marathon distance shouldn't be that much of a problem. I found out how wrong I could be.

The Niagara race is considered a trail race and is part of the series that I'm in. However, it is run on a bike path from Niagara on the lake to the falls and back again. We run to the great falls (25K) and then head back the same way. It's interesting running among the many tourists there. Many of them are taking pictures or mingling with friends and we have to dart in and out of them along the way.

There are aid stations every 5K and when I ran this race in 2006, my friend and I would run to each aid station, stop for a few seconds and then head off again. Thinking about just running 5K at a time is better than thinking about running for
50K. Towards the last 15K of the race I really started to feel the heat and suffered a little bit of cramping along the way. That race taught me how difficult running an Ultra is.

Tomorrow I will be running in my 8th Ultra race since 2006 with 5 of them coming in the past 2 months. I feel that my conditioning is better than it ever has been and that should help tomorrow. I've also had one of the better eating weeks I've had in a long time and I should enter the race tomorrow at or near the 160 pound mark.

I've decided not to carbo-load too much this week just to see if it will make a difference for me tomorrow. My strategy will be to fuel up every 10K (gel) and carry two bottles of fluids with me (1 with water and 1 with an electrolyte drink). I'll also carry some salt tablets just in case it gets too hot.

Tomorrow starts bright and early for me (3:00 AM) so I need to get as much rest tonight as possible. Wish me luck!