"Moving Beyond The Marathon....."

* What Does It Take ? *

* Where Does A Runner Begin? *

Fathoming the completion of an ultra-distance run.....

 

 

 

 

*
It's approaching 2 weeks since observing the AC 100's

26th running in the Angeles National Forest

and the questions of wonderment continue to beckon...

"How do they do it?"...."How do they prepare

for a race of that distance?"

~

The only way I can compare what it must be like

would be to combine a few of my own experiences into

a continuous 24+ hour window of time.

~

 I imagine it would be something like running

two consecutive marathons interspersed between

three non-stop ascents/descents of a challenging

16 mile, 8,000+ ft. summit elevation,

mountain trail training run I've done.....

~

From my experience, the completion of just one

of these takes a tole, let alone the idea of

pushing beyond and adding the remaining four distances

is unimaginable...or is it??

~

Looking back, I do remember how daunting that

very first marathon seemed. The number "26.2"

loomed within my subconscious and wharped my

perception of the distance.

~

I had run several half marathons and couldn't

visualize what doubling the distance would be like.

I was stepping into unknown territory and training

now became "stressful"....

~

"Is it far enough?....am I running fast enough?"

Like an adrenaline fueled game of catch-up with

unattainable goals, I constantly questioned myself

because I had no experience and nothing to

gauge off of. Kind of like cooking Thanksgiving

Dinner for the very first time. An overwhelming

task, but with the correct ingredients, good directions

and proper preparation, the end result will always

be a positive one. And that's exactly how

that first marathon turned out.

~

So many valuable lessons were learned with it's

completion. It was no longer

mysterious but a building block towards the

next few to come....

~

Is that how ultra distance runners arrive at

taking on the 100 mile distance? Were they once

just marathon runners like myself? What made them

shift into running this far and to push their bodies

beyond normal limits?

~

I observed many of the lead AC 100 runners as they

came through the half-way 50 mile checkpoint. These

were the elite top group who would break 24 hours

at the finish line.

~

Each runner had their own unique reaction to our

cheers as they came in to refuel. Some smiled and

joked, others barely uttered a few words and some had

no verbal interaction at all. Though all very different

in that respect, one thing they all shared in common

was the blank and focused stare of being in

"survival mode". I've heard some runners have

experienced hallucinations as they run through

the night...the result of pushing to a level where

the mind separates from the body and goes into a

trance-like state.

~

Traveling 100 miles on foot, non-stop,

through treacherous mountain terrain, battling cliffs,

rock slides, possible wild animal encounters,

unpredictable weather, and in the Angeles National Forest,
*

*
the infamous and super-toxic Poodle Dog plant...

It all sounds so scary...but what fun it would

be to do just once!! After all, the marathon ended up

not being half as difficult as I imagined it would be....

 

* Happy Running!!*