Getting ready for my 1st ultramarathon. mood - nervous, but anxious

At the beginning of summer I made a goal to make more time for trail running; a favorite past time of mine. I realized that last summer was the first summer that I hadn't competed in a race and it had almost been two years since my last official race and 3 years since my last marathon.

So I started training by jogging a local trail during my lunch break. After about two months of this I started to get excited and found my race - The North Face Endurance Accelerade 50km (31+ miles) trail race here in the foothills of the Cascades. This race would be the longest solo (non-relay) race I have attempted. It would be my first attempt at an ultramarathon (anything longer than a 26.2 mile marathon).

This race takes place on hiking trails and I will be climbing almost 10,000 feet in elevation during the race as I run up and down 3 different mountains. Unlike a marathon with no elevation change and 10,000 runners all being cheered by crowds along the way, this race will be me and about 25-50 other runners with a water cooler placed every 5-10 miles to stop and get a drink and no crowds to cheer you on.

These two hills are the northern tip of the course

So, the day I found this race and decided this would be my big race of the year, it wasn't more than 4 hours later that I was playing church basketball and sprained my ankle really bad. After a week or two I tried to play basketball again and ending up spraining my other ankle. Once they both started to heal I strapped on my ankle braces and went for a jog only to injure the arch of my foot (running with ankle braces really did a number on my arches) and worst of all I tore a muscle/tendon in my lower leg.

This is a picture of my feet with all my injuries

I tried to keep running but was just getting worse off, so I promised Jenni that I wouldn't run again until my race to let everything heal. So, I've had the past month and half off, now I feel fat and and out of shape but at least I'm pretty sure all my injuries have healed up. LOL

So on Saturday I hope to be able to say I'm an official ultramarathoner. Wish me luck!