Update on last weekends ultra:
Before the race I kept telling myself to start off slow but as always I shot off from the start way too fast. There were 8 of us in the ultra and I was leading for the first 16 miles. I didn't really care what position I finished but I know the first section very well and it is flat and easy compared to the rest of the terrain so I made progress while I felt good. I knew the two people behind me were faster runners and would soon pass, which they did shortly after.
At 16 miles is the biggest, steepest hill on what is a very hilly course and after walking to the top I started running again only for both of my calves to seize up completely forcing me to stop where I am and sit down. After a minute I got up and could hardly walk, but limped along for a few minutes before eventually they recovered and I continued running. Only a few minutes later I could feel the calves about to cramp again so slowed to a walk. The quads were also joining in on the downhills. Basically for the remaining 51 miles I had to run/walk but I did eventually get to the finish in 17hr 47m and 4th place
Very happy with that considering the constant cramp all day, and it was very hot too. The winners both managed just under 14hrs, and 3rd place was about 16hr 20m. I did keep within 30mins of third place for most of the race but eased off towards the end as my legs were destroyed and I knew I couldn't catch him.
Still recovering almost a week later. When I did a 50 mile run I was fine the next day but the hills and cramp in this race were really hard on the legs. I couldn't walk for two days and the knees still hurt on stairs, but hopefully be back to normal next week.