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Hill running (walking) in February Written on February 28, 2010, by andys.

Yesterday’s training run in the Ochils Hills ended up being an outing of approximately 2 and a quarter hours during which time Joe (my brother) and I covered about 7 miles… Is this good training? How many miles does it count as for the training diary (what’s the hill/snow mileage adjustment formula)?!

In any case I think skis would have been more appropriate…

2010 here we come! Written on February 18, 2010, by annaf.

After 2 months in the Himalayas with just two snowfalls above 5000m we were treated to a wintry UK on our return. Snowman making in London at 3am was of course the normal thing to do and arriving back in Wrexham we went in search of our van which was buried under snow. A quick unpack and repack and we were happily moved into our little cottage near Llanberis with fantastic views of Mt Snowdon and Elidir Fawr out our window.

With some treatment from Dr Andy and slow moving rehab I was looking for something fun to get me going up again! So what did we come up with?…Stair running!

First up in the World Vertical Series (www.verticalrunning.org) was the Milan Vertical Sprint Regione Lombardia. Fellow team mate Natalie (who has already done a blog with all the details) and I were so excited to be racing our first stair race; I had major butterflies and couldn’t stop giggling at the Italian organized chaos at the start. We had to finish top 10 in the heat (in the old building) to qualify for the finals (in the new building). After some hustle and bustle with the 30 other girls we managed to push and shove our way to 2^nd and 3^rd. Next up – with jelly legs and burning throats – was the final which was a time trial format set off at 30-second intervals. Again I chased the Italian stair racer – Vassalli to settle for 2^nd and Natalie finished 3^rd ahead of the Spanish stair racer – Gomez. Ricky finished a respectable 5^th.

Next up and with a little bit more knowledge about how to race on stairs was the London NSPCC Step Change in the Gherkin Building with 1037 steps. I started with Vassalli and tried through my anaerobic burn to hold onto her but her powerful legs and strong lungs got me by 6-seconds. It was amazing views across London from the top of the building and looked out directly at the Tower 42 building – next weeks challenge!

Frosty….

Vertical Stair Racing, Milano Written on February 7, 2010, by Tim.

That’s not what Anna and myself were thinking the morning of the races!

Anna, Ricky and myself travelled to Milano for the 1st stair race in the World Vertical Sprint series. There were 2 races the Pirelli building 31 floors, 710 steps, elevation 127m – Altra Sede building 39 floors, 866 steps, elevation 161m. The women’s race was a mass start, where the 10 fastest women would get to run up the Altra Sede building and the men’s race was run in different heats, where the top 30 fastest men would run in the next race.

Luckily for us, our hotel was situated directly opposite the Pirelli building, so we had a fantastic view 2 days before the race!Friday evening was spent running through the freezing cold streets of Milan trying to find a park and then dining out at a very nice Italian restaurant.

After a brief wander through the freezing cold streets of Milan on Saturday morning, we attended a photo shoot in the afternoon and a recce of the 2 buildings – it was soooooo cold!

Saturday evening was spent chatting and socialising at the evening meal with some of the other elite athletes, including last year’s World Stair racing champion, Thomas Dold!

Race day arrived after a sleepless night, due to the excitement and nervousness of what was to come! Anna and I decided to do an extended warm up to what we would do for one of our normal races – this included “laps” outside the Central Station in Milan with “fast” strides…we were prepared!!!

The first race was at the Pirelli buidling. It seemed like we were kept on the start line in the freezing cold for hours – we had to pose for numerous cameras and listen to the President introduce us all and then we were off – faster than a rocket! I remember trying to keep up with 4 women who were in front of them and then catching them at the foot of the stairs. You literally had to run underneath their arms, as they were using the handrail to pull themselves up….after battling passed the women, I found myself in 2nd position, trying to run so hard, lungs burning, heavy breathing…all good fun (I’m sure….) – then Anna flew passed me and we pulled each other on – legs felt like jelly on the flat run in to the finish – Daniela Vassalli 1st 4.40(Italy), Anna 2nd 4.55, me 3rd 5.00, Tina Gomez (Spain) 4th 5.07 – my lungs have not hurt so much before and the best thing was, we had qualified for the 2nd race…..

After a nice gentle run, we wandered over to the Altra Sede building to begin round 2 warm up….Anna and myself were really buzzing and we had so much adrenalin rushing through our bodies for the next race. This was more of a time trial, as the fastest women of race 1 set off last and the slowest set off 1st, each with a 30 second gap before the next woman set off. I managed to set off very fast, not sure how, and then run my fastest up each stair….by the finish my lungs and legs were burning and it was good to see Anna finish the same as I was feeling….the results were the same as the 1st race, Daniella 1st 5.17, Anna 2nd 5.28, me 3rd 5.45, Tina 4th 5.55.

Overall Anna finished 2nd and I finished 3rd……I can safely say I really enjoyed my first experience of Stair running and I shall definately be doing another one soon!

Cross Country and injuries! Written on January 29, 2010, by johnh.

Last Saturday, whilst Ricky, Natalie and Anna were enjoying the delights of Milan, Rob Hope and myself were both flogging ourselves around a muddy Witton Park in Blackburn at the North of England Cross Country Championships. Both representing our athletics club, Pudsey and Bramley, we both finished in very respectable positions (especially considering it is our off season), with Rob coming home in 16^th and me in 12^th.

I was particularly pleased with my result as for the last six weeks or so I have being suffering with a bad case of Plantar Fasciitis, resulting in me only being able to run two or three times a week. Thankfully the course was quite tough, meaning speed was not the deciding factor. With this is mind I ran a tactical race, sitting in on the first couple of laps and then moving up through the field on the last lap. I lost a couple of places in a sprint finish for the line, but I couldn’t expect anything else with the paucity of my training.

Thankfully the injury is getting better (slowly) so hopefully I’ll be able to get back into full training soon. Race wise, next for me is a trip to the Republic of Ireland to take part in their Intermediate Cross Country Championships, before returning to the UK for the National, which is at one of my former haunts, Roundhay Park in Leeds!

John

My first post…. Written on January 12, 2010, by Tim.

I thought I would take 5 mins to put something together for the website…

Well 2009 is over and thank goodness – didn’t like that year – certain parts were fun and exciting, but other parts were not!

The end of 2009 saw me have a kidney infection, nasty reaction to the antibiotics, cold, stomach bug and not forgetting a hamstring tear on Christmas eve!!! 5 days of agony and watching films was so frustrating, but on the other hand it made me REST!

After 5 days of watching films, icing and stretching the leg, I was then able to go walking and then spent many hrs on the fells in the snow with the dog (Rosa). Had lots of fun and gave my hamstring time to heal.

I’m now back running and visiting my physio – who’s been ace! Its really tough running in the snow, esp. when its so slippy and icy!

The next task is the Vertical World Stair Racing race in Milan – 700 stairs and 31 floors in race one and if I’m lucky enough to do well, there is a 2nd race up 800 stairs…..I’ve been practising running up steps already!!

Photos of my fun in the snow to follow…..

Nats

Goddess Of Abundance – Circuit to ABC Written on December 29, 2009, by matt.

Anna and Gil’s Nepal adventure continues…

6am, steaming hot fresh cinnamon rolls awaited us at the ‘tourist’ bus park in Pokhara. 4-hours of gravel bumpy roads in a ‘tin’ bus later we arrived at the start of the Annapurna Circuit trek. At 800m altitude we were surrounded by jungle, orange and banana trees and the warmth of the sun baked trails, and faces of the locals.

The geology was extremely fragile with massive landslides that made the walking incredibly slow and often quite dangerous while creeping around huge boulders balancing on the path edges that often crashed down into the furious river 300m below.

Unfortunately the amazing fiord type hillsides that made us feel so tiny were constantly under construction while the future plans to make a road all the way around the Annapurna circuit continue. The Nepalese boys risk life and limb while sitting on bluff edges drilling, bombing, chiseling and stripping the hillsides bare before pushing all the rock crashing and banging down into the once blue river.

Each morning we woke in our local lodges with the cocks doodle dooing chorus and the early donkey trains moving through the villages all geared up with their bells ad flowers and 100kgs worth of rice.

After 5 days following the river gradually up we felt our first rainfall after 6weeks in Nepal. Luckily it turned to snow 30minutes up the trail so we were welcomed to the highest pass in the world – Thorong La (5412m alt) – with fresh snow completely surrounding us. My buff and jacket froze instantly in position if I stopped moving even through the blaring sun.

From the pass we began the big decent, and over the next 3 days it was amazing to see such diversity in the terrain and scenery as we passed mars like red rock, barren foothills, 360 degree views of the massive Himalayan mountains, softening and whitening of the Nepalese and Tibetan faces, hot springs and the return of bright Christmas flowers and fruits.

Our trail then headed north and up again towards Annapurna base camp which we marched out in 2 days so we could be back at the hot springs for a relaxing Christmas day topped off with Christmas dinner of pizza, beer and chocolate cake with custard. Yum!

330km later we were back in Pokhara, a little tired and looking forward to a boiling hot shower. A beautifully diverse region with some incredibly awesome mountain ranges. I think I can safely say I have had my years worth of trekking. Time to relax. NAMESTE!

Winter mountain biking Written on December 13, 2009, by andys.

Whist three or four million people in the Scottish Central Belt sat under a thick blanket of water vapour, Tom and I took to the hills on what was probably the best mountain biking conditions you could possibly hope for.

As we climbed out of Dollar and past the castle we entered another world from that of the sea level dwellers just a couple of hundred metres further below. From 100yrd visibility we suddenly had clear blue skies. The photos say enough.

The ride was just over 20 miles with 4000ft of climbing. With many a photo stop (as above) and a lunch break on the summit of Cleuch, we were out for over three and a half hours. I’ve run variants of this loop many times before (in much shorter times!) and I’ve often thought it would make a good ride and today, with the still air and firm ground it was perfect. We hardly even got muddy. And with the ground being hard and dry it was relatively easy to get up most of the slopes, just one short push out of Burnfoot at 10 miles.

Well, it certainly beat hands down my alternative (normal winter option) of a 15 mile road run, or Christmas shopping in the fog which is what the rest of the world seemed to be doing.

the route map

Anna’s diary – 2 weeks to E-Day! Written on December 9, 2009, by matt.

Namche Bazar (3440m) to Gorak Shep (5160m) 2-Week Acclimatization

I joined the Everest Marathon “Red Team” in Namche Bazar who welcomed me as the other kiwi in a mixture of great people from all backgrounds of life, running, ages and cultures.

From Namche we had 2 weeks until race day, enough time to acclimatize to the high altitudes and the intensity of the terrain.

Anna on Top of the World

Each day our yak train, 21 sherpas, porters and sidars lead the pack out to our next camping spot where they would have set our tents out in neat little lines and cooking up a storm for dinner. The nights were a little chilly especially as my thermarest was popped and I had an old school sleeping bag, but my tent mate didn’t seem to mind me snuggling up to her too much (thanks Julia!).

In order to acclimatize we were limited to gaining 300m altitude every night to sleep. We headed up to Gokyo over the first week with a beautiful evening up Gokyo Ri (5500m) watching the sunset bright pink over Mt Everest and Makalu. From there we headed back for the Khumbu Valley and onto the race route that headed past the Tengboche monastery, through Pangboche, Pheriche, up the steep and rough valley to Thukla, Lobuche and finally across the moraine to the race start – Gorak Shep.

Everest Marathon Race Day

6.30am at 5160m you would expect to be frozen solid but to the surprise of the 60 foreigners and 20 Sherpa it was pleasantly warm. I stood on the start line (which was drawn in the dust of the moraine) beside Gilbert (who had humbly taken the place of fellow Welshman who had unfortunately come down with an altitude virus) with a harmony of coughing and spluttering from myself and 95% of the other athletes suffering from one snotty or tummy bug or another. This was going to be hard!

The race was 42km, starting at 5160m, ascending 1030m and descending 2690m, past the finish at Namche Bazar for a 10km loop to Thamo before finally returning to the blissful finish.
It was probably the most eventful race I have ever done…starting right from the start line suffering from a bad head cold and the “Khumbu Cough”. The Nepalese sherpas fired across the first 100m in kamikaze manner before slowing to a walk across the moraine. It was beautiful taking moments to look up and see the sun rise on the surrounding mountains…and then…ouch. I went right over on my ankle at about 8km. I felt every ligament, bone and tendon stretch and grind to a halt. I spent the next 5km deciding whether I could go on, but then thought I would have to walk out anyway so with some painkillers down the hatch I decided to just go for it. And that’s what I did. I motored through all the aid stations, all my caffeine ZipVit gels until I was almost there at the final loop. By now I had caught the leading Nepalese lady and all I has to do was stay on my feet…not too much to ask you would think.

Well as the painkillers started to wear off, I managed to hit the dust literally 2 times one on nothing and the second by a yak…yes a yak. Out of the blue he decided I was in his was so he butted me into the rock back, the poor little yak Shepard quickly grabbed me by the arm, heaved me up and gave me a shove along all the while very apologetic, while all I could do was shout how horrible the yak was…ok so I was tired!

2009 Everest Marathon - winner!

The last 2km were hard and emotional as I passed by the winning men and some of my fellow racing friends. I finished in Namche in 4hours 35minutes in a new ladies record and was 6th over all behind the first 5 Sherpa males.

It was a relief to be finished and gave me a huge sense of success and happiness not only for myself but for so many of the others who had achieved such a mean feat. In the days since we walked out of the mountains (6-hours of it) to Lukla where we experienced the most amazing and scary flight take off on this planet…zooming along a downhill runway before just going off the edge and into the cloud. Back in Kathmandu we have now, topped up some of the calories lost in the 42km on coffee and cake. We head to Pokhara soon to begin the Anapurna circuit and for some R-and-R by the lake!

Thanks for all your support and encouragement! Frosty

Anna Frost smashes Everest Marathon record on her way to historic win Written on December 8, 2009, by matt.

After months of preparation towards this year’s goal in Nepal, the 2009 Commonwealth and 2008 World Mountain Running Grand Prix champion Anna Frost has smashed the Everest Marathon record (formerly held by team-mate Angela Mudge). However, Anna had a tough start to her 2009 season. After some early knee problems the decision was taken to undergo knee surgery in May to help rectify the ongoing issues that were plaguing her training. Following a successful operation utilising keyhole technology Anna headed for Europe and immediately her form returned and has been built on ever since.

Anna pre-race at the Cho-la Pass

In the months leading up to Everest Anna secured wins at Drei Zinnen and the Commonwealth championships in Keswick, UK. A good spell of acclimatization in Nepal then saw Frosty hit the Everest start line in top condition.

Her run on Friday saw Anna secure a number of firsts. Apart from being first woman across the line Anna also broke the record by a massive 27 minutes, she was the also the first non-Nepalese athlete, male or female. Comparing Anna’s time of 4 hours 35 minutes with the 1987 winning time of 6 hours 52 minutes also puts her achievement into perspective.

Speaking briefly after her momentous run Anna said:

“I am feeling amazing. I am really happy with my race and so happy to have the new record and to be the first woman across the line. 6th over all behind 5 Nepalese men. The race went really well for me apart from a couple of injuries that I picked up.

It seems that Anna’s race wasn’t run without the odd mishap:

Yeah well, my ankle is bluey pink and fat from turning it at 8km, I didn’t sleep a wink due to my altitude dry (and green) cough and snotty nose, not to mention my over dose of sugar and caffeine from the day before, and I am a little stiff not only from the 42km 1000m climbing and 2000m descending but also from where a Yak butted me to the ground at the 2km to go marker!”

Anna now makes her way back from Nepal and no-doubt some well earned r&r. Expect an in-depth interview with the 2009 Everest Marathon winner in the coming weeks.

anna frost: running himalayas – episode 2 Written on November 21, 2009, by matt.

after a nice rest day in namche topping up on treats we left with our porter for the higher ridges and passes of the himalayas.

our porter raj carried one bag with both mine and gil’s stuff while we had just our day bags allowing us to run from village to village. it worked a treat, however we were a little bit restricted by the altitude height that we could climb in a day.

we headed up the thame valley to where there was a big ceremony in a monastery to pay respect to an old mok dude who had passed away…it was quite amusing to see the offerings being ‘biffed’ over the side of the hill of the monastery…very pure?!

the next couple of days we basked in the sun, and ran our way up to gorak shep 5140m (the last village before base camp) stopping at a few tea houses on the way.

and just our luck, after coming back don from kala patar – a view point for everest and base camp the snow came in and this time didn’t stop.

so we headed back down the valley this time on the marathon race course. it felt good to be on the course but at the same time created a little bit of anxiety as it is extremely rough, technical and mostly down! not to mention covered in snow and freezing cold!

on the way back to namche we stopped at a little friendly village called sanasa which looks straight over to ama dablam. from there we said our goodbyes to raj and did day runs on the last 15km of the course…what i think is going to be the hardest.

back in namche and an apple pie down, we have met some of the other athletes and are getting prepared to head back up to gokyo before going to gorak shep for race day – 4th december.

i am feeling great and cant wait for the race, though i have had to eat like food is going out of fashion since i am shivering all my calories off. next update after the race i guess…

namaste, anna

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