Hi everybody,
After a bit of a hiatus, I’m back! That gorgeous little pup I posted pictures of not too long ago passed away and I needed some time to myself.
I figured this post in its entirety will be a bit long so I’m breaking it up. Here is part one.
All those races I’ve been talking about before were in preparation for this... the big one: Lavaredo Ultra Trail in Cortina, Italy. This 120km (76 miles) race takes runners through the Dolomites, a region of the Alps in northeastern Italy. The highest point of the race is around 2500 meters (8000 feet) and runners have 30 hours to make it to the finish. There are cut off times which I will come to find out are extremely strict - more on that later.
Collecting my race bib
I found out about this race before I even ran my first marathon in 2014. I watched a four-minute video showing some of the best runners in the world taking on this course and the seed was planted. So I ran my marathon that I talked about in my introduce me post, my first 50k in 2015, 50 miler and 100 miler in 2016 all in preparation for this.
My family and I under the start/finish arch
Most of my family lives in Italy so it was nice for them to come and support me. A good friend of mine was going to crew me - basically driving around to any post he was allowed at to bring me food and a change of clothes.
The weather during the day was quite warm, much warmer than in years past and the race director had decided to cut down on the number of required items we needed to have, mainly cold weather gear. Night time, anything goes. One night before the race it hailed!
HAIL!
The hours were counting down and start time was approaching. Nerves were high as this was my dream race for the last three years. I had dedicated the last six months of my life to training almost every day for this. It was exciting and terrifying.
We took our time exploring the area and eating our weight in pizza and gelato. The race would start at 11 pm and we would run through the night. The lucky ones would finish the next day but the slow pokes like me would run through the next night.
My family all hung out in the hotel room watching me prepare. It felt something similar to a wedding day. The clock hit 10:30 and it was time to go stand at the start line.
Make sure to follow me so you can check back in to see what happens next!
Beautiful Cortina d’Ampezzo
The love of my life: gelato
Nerves and excitement
