TRAIL RUNNING HAS BEEN A SAVIOUR FOR A VAST ARRAY OF PEOPLE. FROM ESCAPING THE EVERYDAY GRIND TO FINDING THEMSELVES AGAIN AND REDISCOVERING THEIR TRUTH. VICTORIAN ANIKA WARREN-SMITH WENT FROM ROAD TO TRAIL RUNNING IN 2013, REVELLING IN EVERYTHING THAT SURROUNDED HER – FROM THE TERRAIN AND NATURE-SCAPES, TO THE COMMUNITY WHO SUPPORTED HER. IT WASN’T UNTIL 2022 THAT SHE BIT THE BULLET, THOUGH, AND TRAINED FOR HER VERY FIRST 50KM. TODAY, SHE SHARES WITH TRAIL RUN MAG READERS THE KNOWLEDGE SHE GAINED, EXPLAINING HOW SHE DID IT AND WHAT WORKED BEST FOR HER.
When I started writing about preparing for my first ultramarathon, the practical stuff first came to mind. Training plans, gear, nutrition, etc. Whilst all of those are important, and I will get to them later, I realised they were not the most important for me. The key element I needed before anything else was the belief that I could do this because for quite some time, I had diminished my trail running efforts.
I’m just a short-course runner…I’m very slow…I could never run a half-marathon.
That kind of talk. On reflection, I can see this had
