Race Report: Sierre-Zinal
“So in true me style I turned it into a mental game. I imagined myself as a water droplet flowing down the trail, while keeping my breathing at a 4 steps in/4 steps out rhythm. I kept this mindful breathing going for the next 13km, happy to find myself still passing people on the downhill as I ‘flowed’ along. It seemed to be working, although my breathing sounded ragged I could control it and as long as I could control it I felt safe to continue. I told myself I would just continue this until the finish line to be safe…. Then, I saw the 3km to go marker.”
Race Report: Dolomyths Skyrace
For me, Dolomyths Run was all about pushing my limits and running a race I was proud of. After the race I had for Marathon Du Mont Blanc, I had my mind set on forgetting all kinds of race plan, going hard from the start, and just seeing where that got me. The blessing of the struggles I had experienced so far on the trip was that this time around, I really was able to forget about everyone around me and what anyone else would think. I was there to give my best, no matter what that looked like, and if I crossed the line knowing I had done that then I really didn’t care about anything else.
Race Report: Marathon du Mont Blanc
I turned the rest of the race into a game. As with any pain, the less you mentally focus on it the less it screams, so I focused on the person in front of me and would try to challenge myself to catch them in a certain number of minutes. There were no females around, I hadn’t been passed by or seen anyone in around 2 hours by this stage, but there were men near me that became my targets.
Race Recap: The Archie 53km Ultra Marathon
It didn’t feel good, but I was able to run the rest of the way down and almost had energy to spare, just not much pain tolerance left for the day. I was getting a little teary as I realized it was coming to an end and I had finally done it. As people started to come into view and cheer though, the tears once again turned to a smile of relief, of joy, of satisfaction, and of pure gratitude. Getting a massive hug from the inspirational legend that is Andy, the founder of the Oscars100 Charity and father of Oscar and Archie, was an incredibly meaningful and moving end to what was a perfectly tough, beautiful, and exciting start to my Ultra Running endeavours.