52 km of pure trailfun on the border with Belgium. And your portrait on the poster for the next edition. What it feels like to have an ultra walk.
Who my blog about the Winter trekking may remember how disappointed I was that I could not finish the race. Day 1 with 55.89 kilometers went well, but on the second day my knees hurt too much to continue running. Partly due to the primitive night on the concrete floor, I think. But who thinks I only did the Leenderbos Trail to make up for myself, is really wrong.
Already on 19 august me and Ramona signed up for the 50 km of the Leenderbos Trail. In the first instance we were only going for the Ghent MarathonBut somewhere during the fun we decided to sign up for a longer distance. Despite the fact that trailing is relatively new for Ramona, she dared to do it. After countless trails I actually believed in it too, especially since Leenderbos isn't very challenging in terms of terrain (no altitude meters, easy to do underground), but the surroundings are beautiful and the 9 hour limit is plenty. And so the marathon of Gent became our training for the first ultra.
We kept it a secret for a long time that we were going together, Ramona didn't want any pressure from outside. The first runner who heard about it was Simone, who promptly joined us. Also for the first ultra. But nothing is as changeable as running addicts anonymous. I signed up for the Winter Trek after the death of my father-in-law. And persuaded a doubting Simone to just go for the Dice after all. Fortunately, during the trail, they didn't think too much of me for being the instigator of their ultra’s…
Pains
So instead of starting fresh with an exciting adventure in the Leenderbos, Simone and I had already deflowered 2 and 3 weeks respectively beforehand. Fortunately, we now regard all races as training for the next challenge.
The weird thing about trailultra’s is that you have very little pain the days after. In fact, I feel better now than I did before the run. After the Winter Trek, I had some aches and cramps in my ankles and feet –s conscious knee was over after a week of not putting too much strain on it. And in the spirit of resting, I had only done some cycling on the Me-Mover the first week after the Winter Trek, some walking the intervening week, and only a short oil ball run near my mother-in-law the last week that I would run quietly.
Quiet, until it turned out to be a big event, with 800 of us being squeezed along a bike path, and I started to feel cramped from not walking in my own stride. I started walking bits across the grass, zigzagging and whatever else it took to get to a quiet spot. Eventually I found my match in someone who had a nice steady pace and ran similar. But yes, at 5.05-5.10 min/km which was not quite the intention. Again a moment of ‘not very sensible’ for a slow runner like me.
Green family
Above picture was the original three that would run the Leenderbos Trail 50 km. Unfortunately I don't have a better one of the three of us from this trail, Ramona was a bit snotty, but that didn't stop her.
However, we ended up with a much larger group of RMD people at the start. After Frank showed his interest, we decided to lift the secrecy. So there were six of us at the start: also Saskia – ‘never run a trail again‘ – and Wouter joined us. A nice club to run with.
Your pace or mine
I must admit that in the beginning I was a bit hesitant to expand the group. From Ramona and Simone I know that we can tune in to each other's runs very well. Frank and Wouter are actually a bit faster, and that can break down on the long distance. At the Airborne I was in earlier than them, but I also started earlier and ran on power to make the cut-off (6 hours for 44 km with 400 hm). And this time Simone and I weren't day fresh and we wanted to let Ramona enjoy her first ultra. In reality, I think Ramona was the only one who really trained seriously and could have outrun us anyway.
But as a group we walked very quietly. We took our time at the refreshment points and to chat along the way. As a result, we walked much slower than during the Winter Trek, where I saved strength for day two (55,89 km, 344 hm in 7h35 against 51,5 km with 338 hm in 7h15) and lost a lot of time with gps failure and subsequent mental problems.
So this time it wasn't first trotting out at around 6 minutes per kilometer, but a reasonably steady pace. That made the stretch from 30 to 40 km much easier. But at a certain point, you get to the point where it hurts, and everyone is just sulking. Around that 40 km. Whether we take it easy or not, the ankles start to play up again. And that, I think, is mainly a mental threshold. I'm also curious if you'll just run through this on longer distances.
Toys
Despite the relatively quiet start, my body needed some time to get going. Usually this takes about 10 kilometers on long distances. Then my ankles are still a bit stiff, I have to get used to the cold and warming up and my breathing is not completely regular.
For a moment the single tracks remind me of that nasty cycle path in Gorredijk. How happy I am to be able to run in nature again at a small event and to open my lungs to the pine forest.
In the meantime, Wouter and Frank are busy with their newly acquired gps devices. ‘Is the course on the path?’ ‘I have a very thick line?’ Like children, they are so happy with the new toys to follow the gpx – the route is not marked – without having to consult the manual. And yes, that is getting better and better. Although the image is sometimes a bit different from the maps on my Fenix 5x and Simones 945. Meanwhile Ramona wants to throw me in the water because I recommended the Fenix 5s without maps (much smaller than the 5x and in reality the map function is quite handy, but still limited). Fair is fair: we didn't really go wrong anywhere.
Upscale
The navigation only gave us a few difficulties. We had to cross the fence at the edge of a meadow to walk along the side of a ditch. Famous last words: ‘there is no cow in sight, it must not be electrified’. That was the first shock at a wire we could loosen. Swinging the wire until everyone was through the opening, and my mind in the meantime a few kilometres further, was shock number two. The third shock came at another fence of which the wires could not be opened. That one was a bit softer, or is that just getting used to it…
The part along the ditch was hard on my ankles. I felt the mud and the narrow worn path for a while. I prefer to walk along the heathlands which are also abundant on this route. Whether it's brown with some golden blades of grass in the winter, or bright purple in the summer, the heathland with its sand hills and fens is always attractive. And secretly I think back to Drenthe, the moors around my parents' house. The many cycle tours and walks with dogs in Norg, Bakkeveen, Dwingeloo and Havelte. It's a shame that Brabant doesn't have any dolmens to complete the picture.
Creaking wheels
The first 35 km the trail was really a smooth ride. A few stops here and there because we had to make a flight. Some grumbling when Frank in his enthusiasm gives away the punch line of Saskia’s vlog too early (I'll stick to words, wasn't very photogenic anyway). A care station without a crew. Again, the first aid station with crew. And so slowly the energy started to run out a little.
The conversations became shorter. We slowly became a little more separated. Like a faithful shepherd, Wouter tried to keep us together again, but we were having a hard time at this point. Fortunately at 40 km there would be another aid station, it was even marked on the handheld gps of Frank and Wouter.
We saw a group of people in the distance. Is that him? No. Next we saw an enclosure that would be a logical place for a point. But again no supply station. It is amazing how much that affects your mental capacity after that distance. During the Winter Trek, there was only one post at almost 56 km. Here there would be one almost every 10 km. Without a post I could easily cover the distance. And yet, I lost a little hope and kept looking for the post in the next kilometers. For Ramona – who needs extra water because she overheats quickly – it even meant a water shortage. Fortunately, I still had at least a liter of water and sports drink with me. But this was really the point where the mental protest started, and all the pain signals from the tired body were amplified.
Ultrashuffle
About 5 km before the end of the race there was a last aid station. We were greeted enthusiastically and the confidence came back a bit. Frank had already called my run shuffle a couple of times, but at that shuffle pace I could pretty much hang on from there.
For Simone it was a bit of enough. Her muscles were still fine but her intestines didn't feel like it anymore so running was painful. For me, walking was painful again. I felt a bit guilty that we could not do it together, together at home.
Luckily we met Tobias – the friend of Simone – not long after that and he was able to accompany her that last bit. Tobias had managed to get Simone and me to bring us to Leende early in the morning. Due to miscommunication with the organisation it looked like we had to start at 8 o'clock in the dark, but fortunately it turned out to be 9 o'clock. Nevertheless this still meant a departure around 6.30 am for Simone and Tobias. And many hours of waiting for Tobias, who was walking the 12 km trail himself.
At the finish it was time for the traditional trail beer and high fives from Cor and Chris. It was done, it was easier than expected. And yes, Wouter, it feels good to be able to say without any doubt that I ran an ultra. Although this is of course only a kids trail… To be continued for sure.
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