Oh my goodness...do I really want to do this? YES, the answer is YES, I want to run an ultramarathon on my home turf and Peacock flats is one of my favourite places to escape to on the north shore of Oahu. In the same breath I will say too, that every time I run the 14mile or 21 mile loop on these mountain trails, it kicks my butt without fail...and now I'm going to repeat that, multiple times to complete this inaugural 100km race. All I have in my favor at this moment in time is my stubborness i.e if I say I'm going to do something, I do it!
Unfortunately the fact that I ran a 250km (staged survival race in the Kalahari Desert) last year does not mean much in terms of my ability to complete this non-stop race within a specific cut off time this year. That was then and this is now. I am undertrained this year and have spent the past few weeks frolicking in Amalfi, Italy, sipping on Limoncello and then recovering from jet lag and once I hit the tarmac on my return to the Hawaiian Islands I have had to work, work, work multiple 12 hour shifts at the hospital...make that...I'm exhausted.
On the up side, I have 14 weeks to train. It will have to be a crash course in building up endurance and stamina and fortuantely I can also train on the actual terrain that the race is to be held on which is brutal by the way, with gnarly steep hills that seem neverending. The other major up-side factor is that I get to spend more time with the fantastic HURT (Hawaiian Ultra Running Team) runners. In fact that almost seals the deal for me.
Get ready, lace up those trail shoes, tie the hair in braids and let's go....another ultra adventure! Yay!!
