Like many runners I was attracted to the idea of stepping up my distances from , through , to . The distance of an ultra-marathon is widely held as any event longer than 30 miles, or 50km, although some people class an ultra race as any distance longer than a marathon. was a hilly one, the Ochils Ultra, which took place in the range of hills between Stirlingshire and Perthshire in Scotland.
Here are nine things I wish I'd known before running my first ultra marathon. Being a competitive person and feeling good at the start of the ultra marathon, I got caught up early on running the race of other people. I enjoyed the first 10 miles or so running alongside a couple of younger female runners.
I knew the pace was a little fast but I was pulled along by their chat and my race-day enthusiasm and I figured that I could drop the pace at any point that I wanted to. Sadly, that first section of running outwith my comfort zone turned out to be a heavy price to pay towards the end. I did need to slow down and those ladies ran on to finish in first and second place.
Meantime, I struggled to maintain even my usual comfort zone running speed and suffered with very heavy legs and tired and cramping muscles for the final stages of my race. I know now that if I had settled into my own race pace right from the start, I would have had a much more enjoyable experience and I m sure I would have achieved a faster overall time. In any running race, I like to do my best and this normally means I kee.