Second Backyard Ultra in the bag. One lap further than last time. I know in the grand scale of things 4 laps is nothing in this context, but 26,8km it's literally the furthest I have ever run. So I'm proud as hell.
Felt fairly strong for most of it, but the heat played it's part and honestly my body is not used to just knocking out over 20km in a day. I mean I usually run like 10k a week (on a good week mind you). So I definitely felt the strain and I only barely made it on the final lap. I had 2 minutes to spare and my calf muscles were cramping so bad I had no control of my toes. It was such a weird fucking sensation having your toes just spasm and curl involuntary. No other weird pains though, feet held up fairly good, one blister one of my big toes, muscles fairly sore, but nothing extreme today. Only downside is that I definitely ended up in a pretty severe caloric deficiency yesterday so today I feel fucking hung over - like I spent all night getting blind drunk. Main take away is that I need to up my weekly mileage and when does the registration open for next year?
Honestly I feel like a cult member, but I like this whole thing. One it's excellent to have that time limit of one hour per lap, it's good to have something chasing you to push and give that little bit extra. Also the whole festival feel to it is kind of joyous. All the serious runners bringing tents and huge containers with food and equipment and it's...it's just like a music festival; everyone smells, is constantly drinking, no one eats real food just snacks and after a few hours people are sprawled out all over the camping area.
Today I'll eat a little too much food, rest my muscles and wallow in my pride. And tomorrow - tomorrow we start again, this time chasing that fifth lap.
