The Mighty Rodopa Mountain 2023
The year is 2023, and after a year of preparation and the unsuccessful but very insightful attempt of 2022, I am ready to face the Wild Boar Ultra again. This time I was more prepared as I knew what to expect. I was more confident and ready to face the challenge. The weather was perfect, and the mountain was calling me. I was ready to face the challenge.
Except that I wasn't that ready
I have fixed everything that I thought was wrong with my previous attempt. I had better gear, better nutrition, and all of the minor hiccups like headlight, backpack organization, and so on were fixed. I had gained some weight, but I was confident that it wouldn't be a problem.
A few extra kilos after 50 kilometers feels like carrying one more person on your back
From the start, I knew I was in trouble as my HR was substantially higher than it should be if I wanted to sustain it for 100 km. After the second major descent, I started feeling a creeping pain in my right knee which was slowly turning into a sharp pain.
So I stopped at the 50 km mark
I was feeling great, with no extraordinary pain, so I got a beer and started thinking about how to defeat this race next year. Here's the plan:
- Skip one year
- Go down to 77 kilos
- Train elevation gain
- Train descent
- Train terrains
- Add strength training for foot arches, ankles, knees, and hips
- Make a dry run and plan every segment of the race
- Take the course effortlessly
So let's celebrate not a single equipment failure or injury in 2023.