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Monday, May 20, 2013

13 Days to Go...


Since September 2012, I have run over 1300 km’s in preparation for one day; June 2nd, 2013. That’s a lot of running that’s involved a massive adjustment in my day-to-day lifestyle. I’ve learned a lot about my body and ultimately its capabilities and its limits. Apparently, one can push their body significantly further than our brains convince us of during that moment of absolute physical exhaustion (i.e.- running ultra marathons or climbing Mt. Everest, for example). I am looking forward to challenging that theory during the Comrades Ultra Marathon.



It’s completely unknown territory for me. That is, running nearly 90kms in one day. The longest I’ve run in one day is now 56kms during the Two Oceans Ultra Marathon. How will my body react? Am I capable? How will I cope mentally through out the race? What kind of pain will I feel? Is this all worth it? These are some of the many questions and thoughts that are racing (sorry for the bad pun) through my head as race day speedily approaches.

I’ve lost a few pounds/kg’s during this journey. People are constantly asking me “Have you lost weight recently Derek?.” And if you know me well, I didn’t really have a lot of weight to give…so yeah, I’m pretty skinny at the moment. It’s an interesting concept how much food long distance runners actually consume. I mean, it’s so much that we’ve been compared to grazing cattle. I can pretty easily sum up my life lately with 4 simple words; Work, run, eat, sleep.

Some have asked me, what do you think will be going through your mind when you arrive at that starting line at 5:30 in the morning? My answer is simple-I’m anxious to taste victory at the finish line. I couldn’t have possibly trained any harder than I did for that moment. So basically yeah, I’m ready for this.

Now, only time will tell.

I hope you all are great. Thanks again for your support, encouragement and thoughts through this entire process. It means the world to me.

Derek

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