Ultrarunner's notes

  Wellness and mud bath included in the entry fee I ran Ultra Fatra for the first time two years ago, and the race enchanted me not only because it takes me 20 minutes by car from my home to Ružomberok, but also because of its atmosphere, difficulty and the beauty of Velká Fatra nature. It is different from the Tatra or Little Fatra. The steep climbs and descents are in stark contrast to the undulating grassy ridge that stretches far and wide. But I have already forgotten that Japeň has two peaks, that you go to Krížna over three humps, that you have to run up one more hill after Ostredek and only then follows the descend, that the traverse around Ploska to Chata pod Borisovom is looooong as... , that the traverse from Ploská under Rakytov is even longer. But I haven't forgotten how beautiful it is there. I haven't forgotten that Ploská is not that Ploská (flat), I haven't forgotten Rakytov, nor Sidorovo 😍 I haven't forgotten how it feels to reach the finish line of U...

 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...