terça-feira, 26 de maio de 2015

23-05-15 Endurance Challenge North Face Agulhas Negras

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Totally in love with trail run I decided to take a step further and try a really ultra trail race, the choose one was the North Face brand by the first time in Brasil on a amazing region called Agulhas Negras near Rio. 2 weeks before the race we got a terrible news that the course it would have to change cause the park
administration had denied (after a permission) the autorizathion to run inside controlled areas. Ok, we still have 80km and the organization promised a great run.
As usual and as in the Ironman I didn't trained for this kind of race and believed that my backgroud would be enough.
My plan was try the 80 and then go to the 100 and more for 2017 arrives at the UTMT. Well let's go to the race report

4:00 in the morning, a cooling perfect weather around 12 celsius and here we go. Started and the first 7k was on gravel road to get to a big descent in single track, went a good pace to get to the single in a good pack where slow people could not hold me, went perfect. After that, some plains and at around 20k the first ascend. Everything was fine but I started to feel hungry and even eating that it happens to one of the problems of the day, not so bug but a discomfort. First ascend and descend, just after another one and we got to the 42k where the races changes totally, first because was my limit of good effort versus my training and second the last 40k was mostly plains, so this means fast!
I wasn't feeling in that way, my legs was complaining and I decided to administrate the situation on running parts switch with walks. A lot of people passed me but it was working, I was happy considering my volume in training. And at km 60 everything fall apart, my feet could not take anymore the rocks on the route, full of blisters and hurts from so much impacts. Then a guy stopped and gelped me with a paracetamol pill and a band, more than chemical this gave me a up on my mind and a commitment to finish since someone stopped to gelp me.
8k on a food pace, gave me around 74k, and by that time we should reach the before last checkpoint, something that didn't happened, questions become to flood my head and at 78k we reach the cp when they told us that we had more 12k to finish. This was killing, i was expecting to eat no more and give my last breathe and arrived, had to start eat again and replan everything since we had more almost 2 hours ahead, simple crazy.
Those last km was simple in a forgotten part of my brain, when aI reached the last 4k that it was on the jungle and single track I tried to enjoy again even thinking that I could be doing that with the sunlight and much more fun, but? At the , lasting like 2k I met the guy who helpe me, so cool see a know face, he was with a girl wich was suffering but I decided to stay with them and share that good/bad feeling mixed. 
A fee minutes and we arrived, a lot of people that has passed me early had just arrived some minutes before either wich shows that the race was really tuff.
At the got a litle frustrated by the plan of the race, but conscious that the really problem was my lack of training and even durkng the race I had decided to stay in the middle 42 k distances wich I can go faster and enjoy more the trails.
At the really happy at the bottom, a great experience of suffering, happy to did something that only people more prepared did it and happy to be a on new and great sport wich envolves so many friendship!

Planning the next, for sure 30 mile in the Victoria region of Canada! WOWWW!