How should I run? Where should I start? What’s the secret to sticking with it? As a new year arrives the same question comes pouring in again: How do I run? People never want to hear the simple truth: run slower. Most of us are blessed to move daily in some form, but our ego often is not prepared for the low rate at which our body can stride after time off.
There is a special pleasure in embarking on a run of unknown duration or undetermined distance. It brings time closer. When I set out on a long run, I check the clock and calculate progress. During speed workouts, my mind is focused on the intervals that are yet to come, and even easy runs sometimes have me ticking off sections, with each turn becoming an item on a to-do list. In recent months, I had decided to discard these preconceptions in favor of open-ends, curiosity and adventure.
The experience of not seeing progress as fast as I would want to can feel frustrating. While can borrow someone’s idea or dream, but you cannot borrow their conviction. Conviction is the glue that holds your dream together when everything is falling apart.
There is something special about this trail running community that is hard to put into words. Never mind your background and life outside of your running shoes, the sports brings people together.
During the course of 2020, all of my planned events had been cancelled for obvious reasons. Even when I had that I had an UTMB qualifying race, a few weeks later, the prospect of running the Camí De Cavalls in Menorca had also been erased. So, after a few months of waiting, I finally found myself at the starting line in Cituadella in the middle of May 2021.
One cannot deny that it has been a year filled with plenty of ups and downs, and a need to adjust, requiring patience, while facing the unknown. I began to note a number of similarities between running an ultra-marathon and living life amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. It has become clear to me that having a defined goal, offers purpose and direction, while navigating towards an unknown future.
All of my 2020 races have been cancelled or postponed for obvious and good reasons. It started with the Paris Half Marathon back in March, followed by The Speed Project, Mozart 100 as well as my plan to run the 150 kilometer-long Jebel Shams trail in Oman. While searching the UTMB website for potential qualification races, I stumbled upon Camí de Cavalls on Menorca.
Since deciding to run Ultra-Trail Du Mont Blanc (“UTMB”) in August 2015 and turning into my dream, I have come a long way. It feels like the journey in itself has turned into an ultra trail, filled with plenty of steep ascends and wild downhill sections, mental highs and lows. More than eight years into this journey, the most recent segment of this adventure best compares to a difficult, technical trail. Running countless races and accumulating thousands of kilometers by foot, I came to realise that it was time to hold my breath and pause. So, let’s take one step back and rewind my journey until today.