Sunday, July 11, 2010
Middle of the month
In the middle of each month, along with a few friends, I try to run for 1 hour on the track near my home. Up until now I have been doing this at 9 am on a Sunday morning, but since the weather has become much warmer we are now starting at 8am. Yesterday I was in Zagreb with some friends who swam in an open water 5km race while I ran 5km. I really enjoy a nice easy run with friends on a track, though I have noticed that for the last week my right Achilles has been a little sore.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Aftermath
It has been 1 month since the 6 day race in New York when I ran and 1 week since Ultrabalaton when I was a handler. I am now seeing what the aftermath of these 2 events are. I am still losing some skin of the bottoms of my feet from the 6 day, this is normal and not a problem. The main thing from Ultrabalaton is my desire for sleep, I still wake early as usual, but I get quite sleepy during the day. This of course will pass and is all part of the recovery process.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Ultrabalaton 2010
This was such a great adventure.
I met up with my friend Tomaz on Friday morning and after a shopping for a few last minute things we left his home for 3 plus hour drive to Tihany on Lake Balaton. Along with 5 other Slovenians we had rented an apartment very close to the race start/ finish. After checking in at the apartment we went to race packet pick up and the pasta party, during which time a thunderstorm came and went.
Back at the apartment there was some race discussion and then we watched the world cup games involving Slovenia and England, which also included our own pasta party. The forecast was for rain over the weekend and we got a lot overnight, but Saturday morning was beautiful. The race started with about 200 runners, 85 of which were individual racers and the rest members of relay teams. The runners carry a code key which they have to insert into a box at checkpoint/aid stations of which there were 51 I think, spaced approximately every 5 km. I was very impressed with the support the race gives, you could do the race without a handler without too big a problem. The course often goes on trails and bike paths, which are not accessible by car so this was a challenge for me. You are given a booklet with individual route maps from each town to the next, which can be a little confusing until you get used to them. On a couple of occasions you have to make long detours. Some runners used handlers on bicycles which means they can stay with you all the time.
Tomaz and I had talked about race strategy and his aim was to finish inside the 32 hour cut off. There are also a few time cuts during the race. My feeling was that he could do it in about 26 hours.
After about 1 hour I had to make a big detour and would not see him for an hour or so, I gave him extra water and energy bar, but knew that there were also aid stations during the break and off I went. Unfortunately due to some confusion I joined the course later than expected and it was 2 hours before we saw each other again.Which was a little unsettling. He was doing well though was feeling the heat. After that I think both of us settled in and became more comfortable as the race went on. After about 5 or 6 hours the field was beginning to spread out and by nightfall there were not too many runners to be seen. At this time Tomaz had passed 100km in around 10 1/2 hours. During the night hours there were maybe 4 or 5 runners running fairly close together and small friendships developed between them and the handlers as we helped each other master the course and it's interesting movements. There was one runners Dr Szylvie Lubic I think was her name, she was having some major problems in the late night hours and dropped back a little , but I was very impressed with the way she came back quite strongly and finished second female and about 30 minutes ahead of Tomaz. Having got through the night hours and struggling with tired and sore legs was within 60km of the finish and I think we were both confident that we could get there, I felt that maybe he could finish closer to 25 hours. Tomaz was now slower but steady and in the last few hours the rain came first some showers then a thunderstorm which made the arrows marking the course a little hard to see and Tomaz being tired and having to concentrate more was a little frustrated. We were so close now and there were 2 runners just a few minutes ahead. There was one last long uphill before you enter into Tihany where the race finishes, I gave Tomaz one last energy gel and told him I would see him at the last turn before the finish line. I parked the car and started back to that point when Tomaz suddenly came tearing around the corner, in a final sprint he had passed the 2 runners in front of him and I barely made it to the finish line before he did. He crossed in a time of 26 hours and 15 minutes plus some seconds and looked quite good if somewhat sore and tired. Peter, a Danish runner who we had befriended during the night came in a few minutes later.After you cross the finish line you are presented with a finish line tape with your name printed on it, which I think is a great idea. After we both had a shower and some lunch and experienced another thunderstorm, it was time for me to drive us home. Tomaz got to sleep a little in the car and somehow I managed to drive back safely despite having not slept for 36 hours. Both of us were extremely happy with a good weekends work.
Tomaz was 17th overall and 15th male.
I met up with my friend Tomaz on Friday morning and after a shopping for a few last minute things we left his home for 3 plus hour drive to Tihany on Lake Balaton. Along with 5 other Slovenians we had rented an apartment very close to the race start/ finish. After checking in at the apartment we went to race packet pick up and the pasta party, during which time a thunderstorm came and went.
Back at the apartment there was some race discussion and then we watched the world cup games involving Slovenia and England, which also included our own pasta party. The forecast was for rain over the weekend and we got a lot overnight, but Saturday morning was beautiful. The race started with about 200 runners, 85 of which were individual racers and the rest members of relay teams. The runners carry a code key which they have to insert into a box at checkpoint/aid stations of which there were 51 I think, spaced approximately every 5 km. I was very impressed with the support the race gives, you could do the race without a handler without too big a problem. The course often goes on trails and bike paths, which are not accessible by car so this was a challenge for me. You are given a booklet with individual route maps from each town to the next, which can be a little confusing until you get used to them. On a couple of occasions you have to make long detours. Some runners used handlers on bicycles which means they can stay with you all the time.
Tomaz and I had talked about race strategy and his aim was to finish inside the 32 hour cut off. There are also a few time cuts during the race. My feeling was that he could do it in about 26 hours.
After about 1 hour I had to make a big detour and would not see him for an hour or so, I gave him extra water and energy bar, but knew that there were also aid stations during the break and off I went. Unfortunately due to some confusion I joined the course later than expected and it was 2 hours before we saw each other again.Which was a little unsettling. He was doing well though was feeling the heat. After that I think both of us settled in and became more comfortable as the race went on. After about 5 or 6 hours the field was beginning to spread out and by nightfall there were not too many runners to be seen. At this time Tomaz had passed 100km in around 10 1/2 hours. During the night hours there were maybe 4 or 5 runners running fairly close together and small friendships developed between them and the handlers as we helped each other master the course and it's interesting movements. There was one runners Dr Szylvie Lubic I think was her name, she was having some major problems in the late night hours and dropped back a little , but I was very impressed with the way she came back quite strongly and finished second female and about 30 minutes ahead of Tomaz. Having got through the night hours and struggling with tired and sore legs was within 60km of the finish and I think we were both confident that we could get there, I felt that maybe he could finish closer to 25 hours. Tomaz was now slower but steady and in the last few hours the rain came first some showers then a thunderstorm which made the arrows marking the course a little hard to see and Tomaz being tired and having to concentrate more was a little frustrated. We were so close now and there were 2 runners just a few minutes ahead. There was one last long uphill before you enter into Tihany where the race finishes, I gave Tomaz one last energy gel and told him I would see him at the last turn before the finish line. I parked the car and started back to that point when Tomaz suddenly came tearing around the corner, in a final sprint he had passed the 2 runners in front of him and I barely made it to the finish line before he did. He crossed in a time of 26 hours and 15 minutes plus some seconds and looked quite good if somewhat sore and tired. Peter, a Danish runner who we had befriended during the night came in a few minutes later.After you cross the finish line you are presented with a finish line tape with your name printed on it, which I think is a great idea. After we both had a shower and some lunch and experienced another thunderstorm, it was time for me to drive us home. Tomaz got to sleep a little in the car and somehow I managed to drive back safely despite having not slept for 36 hours. Both of us were extremely happy with a good weekends work.
Tomaz was 17th overall and 15th male.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Another word on World Harmony Run
I have been back from the World Harmony run now for a couple of days and just wanted to post something.
It is always a great experience to participate and this year was quite interesting for me. The International team included an American, a Canadian and a Guatamalan along with the usual Europeans. The run, which is organized mainly by my friend Marjan, can be quite intense at times, but really takes care of the runners. We had some great meetings with lots of schools and such dignitaries as the President of the country and President of the parliament.By the time the week was up many great friendships had been made. Personally after the first few days I had more soreness than usual in my legs, but this improved over the week and the whirlpool and swimming pools in our hotels really helped. In September I get to run in the final leg of the European run which ends in Moscow, which should be quite an experience.
It is always a great experience to participate and this year was quite interesting for me. The International team included an American, a Canadian and a Guatamalan along with the usual Europeans. The run, which is organized mainly by my friend Marjan, can be quite intense at times, but really takes care of the runners. We had some great meetings with lots of schools and such dignitaries as the President of the country and President of the parliament.By the time the week was up many great friendships had been made. Personally after the first few days I had more soreness than usual in my legs, but this improved over the week and the whirlpool and swimming pools in our hotels really helped. In September I get to run in the final leg of the European run which ends in Moscow, which should be quite an experience.
Friday, May 21, 2010
World Harmony Run
Tomorrow a few of us will drive from Ljubljana to the border with Croatia near Rupa. There we will receive the torch and will then combine with the International team to run to Postojna. Then due to a change in the schedule for Monday, the Slovenian team will try to cover the distance between Postojna and Ljubljana over the weekend. I hope to give a report of everything that will go on during the next week in my next post.
Friday, May 14, 2010
24 Hour World Championships
I stayed up most of the night and probably missed only about 5 hours of the live updates. I have friends on both the American and Italian teams, so I had a lot to look at. Congrats to Scott Jurek who got the indivual Sliver medal and set an American record in the process. My friend John Geesler, who I was running in a 6 day race with just a few weeks ago. Did not have such a great race, but still comes home with the team Bronze medal.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Self- Transcendence 6 day race
On April 19 I manged to fly out of Trieste airport in Northern Italy when the ash cloud that had closed it for 2 days moved and allowed my flight to take place. The airport was closed again the next day, so there you go. I arrived in NY an hour late and my bag arrived a day later after spending an extra day in Rome. I had 3 days to to get my stuff together which included recovering from a bad cold I had the previous week.
The race began a noon on April 23. it was a sunny, but not too warm day. Though I quickly got into my usual pattern of running and walking and sharing some news with fellow runners, I ended up with a first day total that was about 8 miles short of usual. On the evening of the second day the rain came and along with it my cold became bad again. For the next 3 days I pushed on as best I could, but found that my sleep breaks were longer than in previous races and my mileage was low. It sort of worked out that I was a day behind on my usual daily numbers, so that my final distance covered in 6 days was 222 miles. My total last year was 277 and this is about my average for 6 days. Anyway I have always felt it is not about the mileage, but more about the experience and once again I learned a lot about myself and many of the other people in the race. This is what multiday racing is all about.
The race began a noon on April 23. it was a sunny, but not too warm day. Though I quickly got into my usual pattern of running and walking and sharing some news with fellow runners, I ended up with a first day total that was about 8 miles short of usual. On the evening of the second day the rain came and along with it my cold became bad again. For the next 3 days I pushed on as best I could, but found that my sleep breaks were longer than in previous races and my mileage was low. It sort of worked out that I was a day behind on my usual daily numbers, so that my final distance covered in 6 days was 222 miles. My total last year was 277 and this is about my average for 6 days. Anyway I have always felt it is not about the mileage, but more about the experience and once again I learned a lot about myself and many of the other people in the race. This is what multiday racing is all about.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
