When I was I first introduced to the sport of trail and ultra running I knew I had immediately found something that would be a big part of the rest of my life. I have always been active and liked to push myself and played football (soccer for you US folk) very competitively up until a few years ago. Ultra trail running was different though.

The long hours of training and working out how to get my body into the best possible shape for my next challenge was engaging. The scenery was spectacular. The community aspect also came out of left field and blew me away. It truly is a special sport.

Saying all that though I think what mostly drew me to the sport was the fact that at its core it came down to a deeper desire to push myself out of my comfort zone and the constant mental challenge (in both training and race day) to keep putting one foot in front of the other when things got tough.

I've learnt a lot about myself through ultrarunning - dedication, persistence, resilience, but most of all it reminds me that I am capable of doing hard things. And I love that.

Putting that to the test...

I have certainly put that to the test over the years. 60kms into my first 100km race (I would find out later) I got a slight tear in my quad which bled into my left knee capsule completely seizing my knee up. I was on track to hit my goal time but once running downhill or as the injury progressed running flats become impossible I was left to death march the last thirty odd kms of the race as runner after runner passed me. It was a long ten hours in the rain but I was determined to finish. I can do hard things.

During COVID lockdowns in Australia we were bored one Friday night and someone brought up the news a french guy had run a full marathon on his balcony. My friends thought that would be impossible. I was like if that guy did it I could do it.

Challenge accepted. I ran 42.2kms the next day on an 8m balcony (5200+ laps) in five and a half hours on a live stream raising money for a COVID charity. Because after all - I can do hard things.

At this point I had run a bunch of ultra races across a range of distances, extreme weather conditions, through injuries, or even at my peak fitness. While my performances certainly had their ups and downs the constant through it all was that I finished. I am a firm believer you should finish what you start and I had shown that time and time again.

So its time to sign up for my first Miler...

Was I ready to run my first miler? Why not. I knew I could have ideally done with some more experience and training before tackling the challenge of 100 miles reaching Australia's highest points. But I had proven before whatever the challenges or issues my body faced that I would have the means to keep pushing on to the finish line.

TBC

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Welcome to Moretrail!

Welcome to Moretrail - the online community dedicated to all things trail running. A place for you to discuss your latest training plan, share a recent race report, chat your favourite new piece of gear get ideas and any other such trail running topic!

I had never DNF'd a race.... Until I Did! (part 2 of 3)

The months leading up to the race did not go to plan.

I had never DNF'd a race.... Until I Did! (part 3 of 3)

Reflecting on my first DNF... and plans for the future.

I had never DNF'd a race... Until I did!! (Part 4 - the final)

Back on the start line... 12 months later!