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After a day-long trip in the car we managed to get to the Bulgarian mountains and found quickly an apartment (with only king size beds), but only for the first night. …
Very politely the Bulgarian starlet thanked me for my kiss when I introduced myself before the start, so it seems that she accept friendship requests for everyone and I was not interested to get into a chat before the run, so I focused on the preparation for my first ultra-marathon. I wanted to have a good start, do a decent training and get some pictures with the leading girl. So I started fast and put myself in position to see the leader when we left the village heading for the hills. We went up early so my mind was relaxed and focused on the track. Uphill the speed dropped a bit and I fell behind some other runners. When we ran down to the next village, I saw the girl behind me before we stopped for the first break together with the twenty kilometer runners. It was crowded at the water station, so I grabbed nuts, chips and took some water directly from the tap, because I wasn't prepared for taking off my plastic bag for water. My stop was so short that nobody registered my number and I have never saw the photos taken before to reclaim my time stamp for that stop. The uphill part gave me another seconds to the local runners that chased me. After the short distance runner turned, it was our time to turn left, but I followed the guy in front of me to the right and saw that he was not sure if we really have to run uphill. So I looked back and saw the leading girl turning left and running down. The track was difficult through a piece what may be a clerical garden and I caught up. Now, I was happy to have introduced myself earlier and the pace was still high so I didn't have to speak a word. We were running in a team of four and the path was dictating next to which racer we were running, but my favourite position was just behind the girl. We were entering a plane field and I was catching up to run beside her when the photographer was taking the picture. My first goal was achieved and strangely for a marathon runner we were having after about 25 kilometers a ten minute break at the water station when I first realized how they are registering the numbers by asking me for it. The break was a bit too long for me but I knew the two guys were much more experienced than me so I continued my run with them. The track was getting harder but there was not much of a steepness in it. My focus was now lying on where I put my feet and the pace was getting to high for me to follow it and feel comfortable with it running 50 kilometers more. Still I followed the group for another five kilometers when I started to fall back and my steps were going to be very heavy. On a slight uphill part I had to give in for a moment and lost track of all my group, could make it up a bit later to the two guys but the girl was gone for good.
The track lead down in the forest to the next refreshment stop, where I filled my bottle and drank it on the go. It then started to go uphill with a high steepness and I searched for a stick that would help me through that part. While I slowed down a bit, a guy came along and asked me how many trails I did, and I replied that it was my first ultra and that I have to take a little break, he made some compliments about my good start and overtook. It was still a mile to the top of the hill and I was happy to see a a little break to go down after a very steep last part. I was running down and didn't believed it when we had to go up for a bit, because there was no ascend on the map so far, but soon after it went down again. It was around 11 o'clock and I was wondering where the next station is, but on the road were a school class watching me and I had to look strong and followed my way playing with my stick. At the end of the road, there were two girls asking me something and I just denied and asked with pointing my stick towards the next forest path downhill if I have to go that direction, they nodded and I went on without seeing the drinking station. I still believed it had to come soon, when I was followed by a girl, I could gain again some meters against her, because the steep down hill track in the woods was not meant to run close to another and I tried to push myself a bit but felt that the marathon distance must have been done and hope that I would not be sanctioned to have missed the one spot. We reached the bottom of the valley and I felt there is no more need for my fellow stick and through it in the meter high grass at the roadside verge. A bot to early because some hundred meters later we had to cross a stream and I offered the girl my hand that she refused. The next eight kilometers are almost vanished in my memory, I was just trying to keep up with her, maybe I was ahead sometimes maybe I have fallen back, and maybe there was a young man joining us before we entered that main road to go upwards again. I just heard them shouting "Davai, davai" and could let the other runner behind me to enter the next food stop, I was eating very fast what was there and drank coke and water and made sure they have registered my number before I saw more boys coming and I thought I needed some extra meters ahead of them. I guess I was quite slow at that moment after my food intake and on the crop fields the girl caught me again. I was quite happy to have company during that time, because my body and mind were quite exhausted, soon after a boy came and started to run with her because I was loosing some meters, that gave me the force to go on after them through the grass fields. We came across a boy with cramps and he asked for some mineral supplements, but I was running without any backpack and had nothing to offer. We headed up to a plateau and I could get rid of my companions during the uphill part, but I was on a 9 min/km section pace and just trying to get home. Shortly after I have reached the station, they already registered me and the other runners joined in as a team. I just took the minimal energy and liquid needed for the last part and went on. It was still a hell of 15 kilometers to run and after a downhill section it went up again longer than I had memorized on the map, still I there was no sign of the other runners and I tried to get over this uphill part as fast as I could even-though it was not fast compared to a marathon pace.
Now, that I had reached the top of what I thought was the last hill and the guy was registering me there, I asked him "Само доле" and he confirmed me that I will go only down from now on. Still it must have been seven kilometers or so to go, but I was happy that I would no longer have to enforce my quadriceps with my biceps. My legs were not really able anymore to run but didn't block when my mind told to speed up downwards. At the bottom of the hill we reached a main road and some apartment blocks were to see and I though we may now follow this road to the end, but I was wrong. The track lead us on a dirty track again and a little bit uphill. I didn't cared any longer, because I knew I can profit by going that down soon just before the finish. And it went down the village to the train track. Where I looked around because I didn't wanted to enter the rail overpass stairs, but this was the way. Going them down on the other side, village people looked at me strangely and it was still a bit to go, but the finish was near. I reached the bridge and had to focus on where to end. I didn't really know how good my time was, but I knew I could make some positions good in the last hour and that made me proud. I could go for a mineral drink and then I got cold a bit. When I sat down a little bit later, it started to pour out the clouds like in a monsoon. A friendly Bulgarian runner lent me his jacket while I just thought how horrible it must be for those runners who still had the cold night and about 20 hours in front of them. I had an exhaustive, sunny day and didn't felt to move for a long time, Tried to chat with the runners around my table a bit, but just needed to rest a lot. When after hours, it got dark and the rain still didn't stopped. I decided to go to the car, change to dry clothes and fell asleep at the copilot's chair. In the middle of the night, somebody was hammering to the car, I couldn't see anything, the windows were totally wet. It was my friend from the bed the other night who couldn't finish and slept on the drivers seat, not really comfortable but we were happy to take a nap until the next morning.