Ultrarunner's notes

 A birthday party, as it should be - smash yourself into a mash. Výhľad na Kľak z Homôľky For several years now, I have been practicing celebrating my birthday at some running event - it started with Liptovský Krč, continued with Zázrifské Ultrapobehaňä, and this year I chose an event with the poetic name Ultrapunk85. The route from Handlova to Bojnice, leading through Žiar, Malá Fatra and Strážovské vrchy promised experiences from a quiet, wild nature not visited by people too much. I was looking forward to this adventure 😍Slovak ultratrail star Majka joined me, who, by the way, ran Ultrapunk in May this year. It's probably a really nice route, when she took it one more time. So I am arranging accommodation in Bojnice and a tracker so that our fans (and haters) can follow us on a live map. It's gotten quite cold in the last week - I have to forget about my favorite running skirt 😭 and I'm finally going to sew up my 3/4 shorts, which I tore in the spring while running dow...

 "I'll start at full blast and gradually speed up." (Motivational quote) "He who does not overdo the beginning will not make the personal best." (Tekel, J., 17.7.2021, Telgárt) Foto: Matúš Jančík I was the first one at the presentation that morning. I say to myself, OK, at least I'm the first at the presentation 😂 That morning at 7:00 a.m. in Svit, 16 men and 5 women - me, Mirka and three other girls - lined up for the start. I had no idea what result I should expect from myself, I counted on all kinds of alternatives, even the last place, but I didn't even dream of winning. I just wanted to have a good run and finish the race. To have numbers and not letters in the result sheet 😄 and most importantly, do it all in good health. That morning, as I always do before the start, I put myself somewhere in the back so as not to get in the way of the speeders in the initial few hundred meters. For the first two kilometers along the flat, the majority remained ...

 Attempt No. 1. WTF? DNF 🤷‍♀️ The race took place on Sunday, July the 18th, the forecast called for beautiful warm weather in the morning and thunderstorms in the afternoon. Katka and I arrived in Blatnica early in the morning, managed to park correctly in three attempts, go to the presentation, warm up and piss off the owner of a nearby guesthouse.  I met a lot of people I hadn't seen for a long time, the atmosphere was great, I was looking forward to the race. The course is challenging not so much for physical fitness, but rather for the setup in your head.  First, it's a 7km long run through the monotonous Blatnicka dolina with a long steady ascent. Then the path turns into the forest and a sharp climb vertically up begins, fine-tuned with a lot of fallen trees. This climb was etched in my memory three years ago, when I ran a shorter course through Drienok as a part of the event. I name it internally as "PUKE". And that's where I got switched off this time. Sh...