I guess distance running began leaving the track and run near home just outside of town in Purmerend in the Netherlands. A circular route became my first training ground and without any running knowledge I just tried to improve my PB over time. I ran my first half marathon before I turned 20 and I still remember how hard the last 3k were. I have no record of my times back then. As a student and also after university I trained running regularly and did some 10k and 10 miles races and even one or two half marathons, but I never thought of training for a marathon, and even less so an ultramarathon.
In the year 2000 I moved to Barcelona, Spain, and for training I had to go to nearby parks, either "Parc Putxet" or "Parc Güell". Both parks reside on hills and make running a completely different exercise compared to the dutch absolutely flat training ground. I ran a few times in a local run called "la Cursa del Corte Inglés" and during holidays I went for running through the hills and mountains or whatever natural area was nearby.
One day someone told me about a run called "Matagalls - Montserrat" and in the summer of 2007 I looked up what that was all about. It seemed a crazy thing to do, 84 kilometers on a very hilly course, partly during the night and I had ran my last half marathon many many years ago then. I decided to try out the Barcelona marathon first and afterwards, if that went well I would decide whether or not to run the MM'08. The first step was looking for ways to train longer distances. So one day I tried out to run up to the ridge just outside Barcelona to a winding path called "la carretera de les Aigües" where we went walking sometimes. It took a few times to find the best way to get there, but it certainly felt great to get out of the city and run up there. In March 2008 I ran my first marathon in 4 hours and 7 minutes. The last part I mainly walked because of cramps in my upper legs, but still I was happy with how it went and I learned a lot. To train for the MM'08 I understood I had to do longer distances and started to look for trails in the hilly natural park "Collserola". Another good thing about running there was discovering the great nature we had really nearby home.
I still remember many details of the MM'08 like it was yesterday. I started in one of the first groups and ran way too fast in the beginning. It was very misty and finding your way was not easy. Running at night was great fun eventhough the thought "when did I see the last track-marker?" from time to time was bothering me. Half way I was very tired but I continued and finished in rather good form, eventhough the days after I could hardly walk and said I would never do an ultra again. The year after I repeated the Barcelona Marathon in 3h15m, ran the Meridia Verd and did the MM'09 and in 2010 I broke the 3 hour limit on the marathon and took a break from ultra running.
In 2011, in spite of a knee injury, I ran 3h14 on the marathon with a great first half. And preparing for my next ultra, the Nuria Queralt-Berga I started exploring more and more about all that can be improved and changed and that is the reason I started this blog. To share experiences related to this great sport called ultramarathon running!
