Excited at the prospect of competing in either a 100 or a 205 mile ultra- the grand raid pyrenees and the tour des geants respectively- I decided to do what I didn't do last year or the year before and train.
A friend of mine had just rented out a house in Tregarth, and being only 6 or so miles away, i thought it would be a good idea to run up there and check the place out. Problem is where I live, I need to run up very steep hills less than 10m from where I start so any chances of a warm up run before the steep bits are lost. Regardless, I started well, for the first five minutes. I underestimated how unfit I was! My lungs were burning as if I'd inhaled strong acid and my thundering heart was reducing my sternum to dust. These same nuisances I've experienced every time I've run in the UK and the same pain that puts me off running, leaving me in a catch-22 situation. My legs were already tiring. I'd only gone 1 and a bit miles! Gurning through the discomfort, I plodded my way to Tregarth just as the weather began to worsen. What as worse than the weather though, was a sharp pain emanating from the outside of my left knee. Perfect. I'd taken an active step to try and make the ultras a bit easier for myself and I bloody get caught in the rain and injure my knee ligaments! It's slightly better now but I'm still wincing as I walk around. Damn, if I knew training for an Ultra would be this much hassle, I wouldn't have bothered!
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