A little walk today, that’s it. My body is protesting after the BUT 50 of yesterday. My right knee and my right foot are painful. I think 2 ultras in 8 days is a little bit too much for me at this moment. That’s lesson one. Let’s look at the other takeaways from the BUT 50.
Real food versus sports gels
Two slices of sugar bread, two slices of focaccia with peanut butter; that was what I’ve been eating this race. On top of that I ate 2 energy bars and had 1 salty gel. At the refreshments posts I didn’t eat anything. I just filled up my 2 soft flasks.
At the start of the race one of them was filled with ginger tea and the other one with Isostar. My belly was happy with these choices. I think it prefers real food rather than sports gels.
I also ate less, yet I felt energized enough at the end of the race. The reason I had to walk was because of knee pain and sore legs, not because of a lack of energy.
I can do it
Number two of my takeaways from the BUT 50 is the most important one; I now know I can do it. I can run 50 kilometers. That was my main reason to sign up for this race.
Okay, physically I think it’s good I’ve done another 50 kilometers, but the biggest benefit is mentally. I now ran 50 kilometers twice. The Dolomiti Extreme Trail 55k is my big goal this year. It’s going to be hard, but I can do this distance. The 3.800 meters of altitude are still going to be a challenge though.
I admit I was getting afraid last week, when I saw people needing 14 hours to run the Dolomiti Extreme Trail. I wanted to be sure I can go the distance.
Ultras are fun
I’ve been wondering if ultras are something for me, I think I can now say they are. This was my fourth ultra. I had fun. I didn’t get bored. I ran it without listening to music or podcasts. I had some nice chats during the race and I ran parts in silence.
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Okay, around 37 kilometers I was struggling a bit, because my legs were painful. I thought about listening to a podcast to take my mind off my legs, but the battery of my phone was running out. I didn’t totally trust my watch to show me the way, so I wanted the AllTrails app on my phone as a backup. But I was fine, without listening to a podcast.
Having said that, I do like to take a small portable power-bank with me to the Dolomites. Let’s see what is the best one.
Experienced ultra runner
I think that’s it. Those are my takeaways from the BUT 50. The more I do these things, the more I get used to them. Tomorrow I’m interviewing ultra runner Jeroen Stoof. Let’s see if he has some tips for you and me as well.
Keep on running.
