In honor of the first day of spring, I thought I’d share a post of a winter ultra challenge I did.
I decided to go for a new kind of challenge this past December: a treadmill distance challenge. I’ve always struggled with the mental aspect of treadmill runs so I thought it would be a good training opportunity during the colder months. Truth be told, I was shooting for 100 miles but I definitely underestimated both the mental and physical challenge of running so long on a treadmill and am still amazed that I made it the 100 kilometers–62.47 miles total according to my prison-style calculations:
I started the run at 11:55am on a Saturday, my four-year old son cheering me on in between movies. I took a few breaks to make myself some ramen, make Mac N Cheese dinner for him and drop him off at his dad’s. (Yes, I’m well aware a purist might say since I got off the treadmill it doesn’t count but I doubt there are many ultrarunning purists out there anyway and I choose to count it since I didn’t stop my watch).
I drove to a gym about an hour north of my hometown to be able to run with a friend. She joined me at the gym a few hours after I’d arrived and we commiserated over the treadmills being unable to continue after an hour of moving time. This is where documenting the mileage on my arm became important, because every time I took too long running to the bathroom or accidentally stopped the run, the mileage would revert back to zero.
There were definite pros to the indoor ultra, though. All the snacks I could ever want were within arm’s reach and a bathroom was also easily accessible.
By the time I was nearing 40 miles, I was hitting a major wall. I actually took a little nap on the treadmill before accepting defeat and going to my friend’s house to rest for a few hours.
The next morning, we finished the run at the gym and went for a celebratory soft pretzel and beer. I was sore for a week but happy to push to my farthest distance to date.
Ultra Slogging 