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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
