Cirque Du Griffith 12-hour race

Run as many 2.43 mile loops on a flat dirt course in 12 hours. Seems easy, right?

Cirque Du Griffith was my first official ultra-distance race in California. I'd only completed one ultra-marathon before in Australia which was a 60km trail race.

I definitely wanted to get in more than 37 miles but as I would soon learn, my ambitious goal of 60-70 miles was not quite what my body wanted me to do.

I envisioned keeping a 9:30 min/mile with minimal stops to refill water, take in some nutrition and cool down briefly.

My body and mind had a few other surprises in store for me.

The first 28 miles were great.

I didn't have a crew at this stage. I stopped once to get a few extra gels for my waist pack.

My brother-in-law Paul was at the water aid station, helping runners fill up their bottles as they came into the end of each loop. He mentioned it was getting warmer, but I didn't notice the heat. I was feel good.

I thought the loops would make me go loopy, but I found the ease of cruising 2.43 miles, being able to run extremely light - one hand held and a waist belt was a few gels great. Keeping me light and moving forward.

Mile 28 I came into meet my crew. My biggest concern was my feet. I could feel blisters building with a mix of dirt and road shoes I hadn't worn in a while - let alone beyond the marathon distance.

To a few people's dismay, I popped the blisters with my hand, drained the liquid and put my socks and shoes back on.

I ate one vegan cheese quesadilla and got back out there.

A few more loops and it was HOT. I was back into my crew's aid station around mile 33. I had to use the bathroom and sat for a minute in the hot, airless toilet and gathered my thoughts and distance goals.

I came out, sat down and drank 2 cups of sparkling mineral water. they tasted so refreshing at the time but would come back to haunt me in a few more loops.

I went back out onto the dirt track and was feeling horrible in my stomach. I knew the heat was getting to me by this stage and every time I tried to run I would get stomach pain. As I came in looking glum on one of the loops, race director Nancy said the best thing to do would be to vomit. I adamantly resisted and hoped I would feel better or worse case, walk a few more loops and stop for the day.

I managed 3 loops of slow walk/running to get around 41 miles.

As I came into the water station, I saw Alex and told him I needed to vomit - which I had been trying to do on the past couple of loops with no success. I leaned over the trail railing and everything came up.

I somehow miraculously came back to life after this. I felt SO much better.

I didn't want to eat, but could sip on water and run most of my remaining loops.

As I approached the 11th hour and my last loop that I was mentally willing to do, I knew I would get just over 50 miles - 51.03 to be exact.

I had an overwhelming sense of relief and joy as I knew I could push my body further than I thought.

I was no longer hesitant or scared of what would happen if I ran further and longer.

I had a safety net of Alex and Paul and other friends with me during the day to help me with anything I needed which made me very grateful.

Having a crew and smiling face makes all the difference in a race.

So what's next on the calendar? Alex and I are turning back to the road for the Chicago Marathon in October.

I have been enjoying the slow, easy runs on the trails so it will be interesting to switch it up to faster road runs during the hot summer days.