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Do You Want To Run An Ultramarathon
?
By Chanakhya Jakovic
An ultramarathon is any race that is longer than the standard distance
of the marathon, which is 42k.It is
generally accepted that races from 50k and up are called ultramarathons
.
It is my belief that anyone who can run a marathon, can run an ultramarathon.I
would like to offer some
i deas to those of you who are inspired to do so.
I do not consider myself in any way a world class athlete but I
just recently ran 1000k for the fourth time
and I am now 50 years old.
Getting Started
It is a good idea to start with a race that is not much longer
than a marathon,say 50 or 60k.Your approach
to running the race is very important.For us ordinary runners, we
should think about running at a slower
pace than we would run a marathon.You know when you are out on a
training run and you find a pace
that is about 75% of race speed, and you feel very comfortable and
like you could run forever, that is the
kind of pace I like to start an ultra race. I have practiced meditation
for more than 30 years and I use
that knowledge to help me find the right approach but if you adjust
your training to getting used to
running at a more comfortable pace, you will have found the right
way to complete an ultramarathon.
The Race
When it is finally time to run the race I have chosen, my approach
is to try and be as calm as I can, again I
use my practice of meditation to help me do this, but if one can
find a quiet place and consciously find
the calmness inside yourself, this will prevent burning up a lot
of nervous energy before the race even begins.
One line of thought is to run the race as if you were running a
marathon and then try to hang on as best you can to the end of the
race. I find that this usually results in the runner not having
a good experience and ultimately leads to a feeling of not wanting
to try it again. My suggestion is to approach the race from the
point of view that you just want to finish and have a good experience.
For me the first race should be one in which you learn something
about how to run an ultra race and what skills you have to do so.
My approach to the race is to start at a comfortable pace and be
very patient, try not to feel that you are competing with all the
other runners in the race but that you running only against your
own ability to complete the distance.
There is always a tendency to want to race with someone else or
to feel that you should be running faster, this is part of the age
old battle with the mind that we all have to contend with in races
of any kind.
Learning how to deal with this problem is part of the secret in
running ultramarathons. When we run shorter races lots of our decisions
are fast and instinctive, in ultras we have more time but we should
also use our
instinct to guide us in the right direction. I cannot stress enough
the need to use patience when running an ultramarathon, listen to
what your body is telling you and always be prepared to change things
during a race.
It is good to have some kind of plan, but it is not such a good
idea to force yourself to stick to that plan at all cost, be ready
to make adjustments at any time.There is an expression: " in
nature adaptation is the secret of success" I like to use that
to help me realize my goal in trying to complete my races to the
best of my ability. Try to be constantly aware of how you are feeling
and enjoy and learn from the experience. Nothing can take away from
you the sense of achievement when you complete the race. I like
to feel that just completing your first ultra race is the most important
thing, that is the only result you should need.
Hopefully it will instill the desire to run more ultra races to
see what else you can learn about yourself and your capacity to
run in this type of race.
Post Race
Once the race is over, now is the time to look at what you have
learned about yourself, your capacity to run an ultra race,how you
managed to deal with any physical problems as well as mental or
emotional questions that came up during the race. What mistakes
you think you may have made and what things you would do differently
in the future, I always feel that each race is another opportunity
to learn something about myself and how I deal with problems in
a race environment. I also feel that if I can learn how to deal
With problems in a race, then I should be able to use this same
knowledge in my every day life, this is the gift that I feel running
ultra races gives me,and is one of the reasons why I continue to
run these races and
encourage other runners to at least try them.
There are so many things that we can learn about ourselves when
we run ultramarathons I hope that you will be inspired by my words
to consider trying one and finding out for yourself, good luck.
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