The North Face 100 - Thailand. A race report

It was many years and a different blog when I last titled a post as Race Report.  

It is a great feeling.

Last weekend we packed up our car and drove into the Khao Yai National Park.  Our destination was a very quiet golf resort in a valley.

There was no golf for the husband this weekend as we were there for the The North Face 100 Trail race starting 6km from our hotel and I was the one actually running.

It was still dark out when I lined up at 0615am.  15 minutes later a loud horn (or 3) blared.

A robed monk blessed us with water. 

And we crossed the starting line into a 10km trail run through the fields and jungle.

This was the best running experience I have ever had.

Except for that time I was overtaken by a few kangaroos on a suburban Perth Street.

And the time I ran in the snow in Sweden.

So this was the 3rd best running experience I have ever had.

That is still pretty great.

I ran down rocky hills almost tripping a few times.

Through a path made in a corn field

Around a lake whilst dodging giant piles of poo and breathing in the unmistakeable smell of elephants.

I ducked to avoid tree branches and pulled myself up narrow hill paths.

It was incredible.

There was even a clearing full of white Buddhist Statues and a Monk watering plants.

In my mind I was running super fast.  I felt like a super star and when I crossed the line and looked at my iPod I was excited to see that I had done it in 1 hour and 8 minutes. 

I was filthy.  Tanned in dirt and sand...and hopefully not poo.

I earned my first runners medal.... new bling that I might even love more than my Tiffany's pendants.

But by Monday afternoon the Euphoria all came crashing down when I saw my net finishing time. 

It was actually 1 hour and 19 minutes.  

I felt deflated.

All this hard work.

All this weight lost.

All this pain.

But I was still just a fat girl running.

A slow, fat girl running.

I should have felt proud.

I didn't.  

I actually cried.  

The feelings of failure were great.  

I put on my shoes and I tried to clear my head with a run.  

After two hours and one almost missing toenail I realised that there was still much to feel good about.

• I was number 228 out of 555.  
• Middle of the pack, not back as per usual.
• There were 40 people in my age category and I came 10th. 

I still have weight to lose.

I just need to come back again next year.

Fitter, stronger, faster.

In the meantime, I am not sure when my next race will be.  I am waiting for the registration to open for one in South Australia in September.

Until then I will be wobbling around the Nichada Lake, working on shrinking my butt and improving my speed.

*Note...all the great photos in this post were taken from the TNF 100-Thailand Facebook page... the other not so great photos were taken by us*