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A Recipe For The ‘Edge’ Written on September 3, 2010, by annaf.

7 days in 35°C heat – Boulder

5 days at high altitude beer hunting – Aspen

Saturday 7am – Pikes Peak Ascent. Bronze medal 2.42hours. 2000m to 4300m altitude climb.

Saturday 5pm – Drive to Buena Vista (Start of TransRockies Run)

Sunday 9am – Start of TR3 (TransRockies 3 day solo) 35km undulating

Monday – Day 2, 21km with 10km steep climb, 42minute lead

Tuesday – Final Day, 38km, 3miles to go and take a tumble skinning thigh to foot and bash knee into tree trunk, Douh!

Wednesday – Friday, sleeping in cold tents amongst 300 others snoring and midnight pees.

Friday 5pm to unknown time – 2 to 4+ too many tequilas

Saturday – feel sorry for self and travel back to Boulder

Sunday through to Monday – Travel Denver, London, Slovenia.

Mix all together and you should end up with a snotty nose, an aching knee and bags around your eyes, emotionally wrecked and in desperate need for horizontal sleep in a real bed.

That brings me to Slovenia for the World Mountain Running Championships. This year 8.5km uphill only on a beautiful mountainous course. Not the best preparation ever, but I would not change a thing. Living on the ‘edge’ is always worth it.

Love to all that have been my rock through the journey and may it never end.

Frosty

Pikes Peak Ascent Written on September 3, 2010, by annaf.

Pikes Peak – World Long Course Mountain Running Championships:

 With some Boulder heat acclimatisation and some Aspen 4000m+ altitude mountain runs, Rickey Gates and I jumped in ‘Orange’ (his VW van) and headed for Colorado Springs. I was not as prepared as usual – by running on the course, and was therefore fairly nervous. 21km uphill, starting at 2000m and climbing up to 4300m altitude. I didn’t know how I would respond to racing at such a high altitude and so decided that I needed to race conservatively and if I had any extra oxygen near the top then I could work hard once I could see the finish.

Over the whole of the weekend and 2 races (the Pikes Ascent and the Pikes Marathon (Up and Down!)) there were a total of 7000 participants from 37 different countries. The 1^st wave was off at 7am, we zigzagged our way up through the bush on the dusty but run able trail. It took me 20-minutes until I finally began to feel comfortable and got into a nice rhythm, sitting comfortably in 3^rd. Rickey had given me some altitude running tricks to practise which I used throughout the race. One was occasionally doing a deep out breath clearing the lungs of ‘stale’ air, the other was stretching the shoulders and head back to really open the lungs up to the thin and dry air. At the Half way point I was 5-minutes behind USA’s Brandy Erholtz but as we came out of the bush and onto a moon like terrain, weaving in and out of the big red boulders I spotted the leading girls. I knew it was a bit late in the race to try to catch up but still feeling good I tried with all my might to finish the last 3miles by chasing the girls down. I finished still in 3^rd but now just 55-seconds behind first place. I now know how I can perform at that altitude…it has added an experience to my racing of which I can learn from.

That’s what I love about running…I am always learning new levels of performance, discomfort and mental strength/weakness.

 Rickey also finished 3^rd after a terrible start to the race and an incredibly strong finish.

For all the results see:  http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/   

 Frosty

TransRockies Run (TR3) Written on September 3, 2010, by annaf.

Day 1: Buena Vista – Railroad Bridge (33.1km, 923m+/824m-)

 Luckily for me the race started at 9am so I had a bit of time to get organised after arriving late the night before from the Pikes Peak Ascent race. The sorest part of me was my ribs – from breathing hard at such a high altitude. But with 50 other excited TR3 (3 day solo) runners and 130 teams of 6-dayers I didn’t even notice my ribs but soon enough I felt my legs! Fellow southern hemisphere – Australian solo runner Karen Barlow set the pace kicking up the dust. As the hills started and the day warmed up, my acclimatisation kicked in and I caught up the gap at the first aid station at 12km. Over the next 15km I increased the gap as we ran through red dusty canyons, past beautiful mountainous views and onto the last ‘killer’ 3miles of a long hot dry road into the finish. I finished up with a 7-minute lead in a time of 2.48hours.  

Day 2: Vicksburg – Twin Lakes (21.7km, 1102m+/1238m-)

The TransRockies race is a logistical nightmare – but you just would not know it. The organisers have it down to the minute. The start arch and banners are up and then down, the tents are set up and then taken down, the food and marquees are all up and out and packed down and away before you can even blink. They have truly mastered it. Today was going to be nice for me – a steep up, steep down and a 5km lake side run in. With the World Mountain Running Championships in my mind – I decided to work hard up, steady down and wind it up to the finish. It was good to chase some of the front runners who I had met on the previous day up the hill. It was a 4mile climb up to Hope Pass – also used the day before in the Leadville 100mile – but they have renamed it Hopeless Pass as they have to climb it, descend it, re-climb it and then re-descend it. Ouch! After finishing at the Twin Lakes we were shuttled to our next camp site in Leadville. 200 tents, 30 porter-loos, a portable shower truck, chilli-bins full of beer and soft drinks, energy food 10 massage tables and 12 medical (blister galore) care. A fun day out finishing in 2.15hours increasing my lead to 42minutes over 2^nd place.    

 Day 3: Leadville – Camp Hale (38.6km, 834m+/1116m-)

A controlled start behind a police car to get us through Leadville town and along highway 24 for 4miles meant that it was a nice group run in and up the first hill. From there on, the guys all took off down the hill and left me to the miles of fairly flat running to my self. Today I could definitely feel the last 3 days in my legs and in my head. I was tired! I took the time to look at the scenery, spot the chipmunks and unfortunately eat some dust with only 3miles to go. A few swear words later and I had pulled myself together to finish with a total of 48minutes ahead 2^nd place. The cold night in the tent was slightly warmed with the celebratory champagne and tequila. TR3 tick!

 Day 4, 5, 6 as Salomon Support Crew

It is very different on the other side of the event. Its nice to be able to give back some time and help the volunteers and support crew who are always on the go Making it easy for every runner. With a stiff and sore knee on day 4 I stuck to keeping the seats saved for the Salomon team at the margarita table and enjoyed the campfire and music as the full moon rose over us. Day 5 I got out on the course with the head camera to check out how everyone was doing before heading into Vail to be a bit of a tourist and to get some trusty Starbucks. Day 6 – final day will be incredible for all involved. The efforts, blisters, cuts, muscle tears and blood everyone has gone through will all be worth it as they run into Beaver Creek. TransRockies 6 day completed.

Congratulations!

 Frosty

USA USA USA Written on September 3, 2010, by annaf.

My USA impression… 

Toilet doors that don’t go to the floor,

Tornado shelters and double decker cheese melters,

Boulders’ tans and big GMC motor vans,

Aspen trees and honey bees, bear poop and chipmunks doing loops,

Brewed coffee with 100’s of different flavoured toffee,

Bronze at Pikes, a 2.42hour mammoth hike,

Buena Vista to Beaver Creak, TR3 and a puffy knee, 300 bloody and bruised runners at their peak,

Thanks to all for many great days, you have all been such sunshine rays.

 

LIVE, LOVE, LAUGH…Frosty

Transalps… it’s not long now… Written on August 29, 2010, by andys.

Yesterday was the last long training run before the Transalps. This week is going to mainly consist of filling the body & mind with energy and zest ready to attack 8 x 40km (now does that sound like a rep session to you?!), kicking off next Saturday morning. With only six days to go, all the training’s now in the bag and we can just hope we’ve done enough. I know personally that the (limited) mileage I do comes as a bit of a shock to the pure hardcore ultra runners we come up against in these mega long events, but the difference is that I do a good chunk of it fast. 15 mile runs at 6-minute mileing are a good base and it means that when we hit the long steady runs of the Transalps, they may feel long, but at least they’ll feel slow! And hopefully I’ll feel super comfortable cruising at what will need to be a very steady pace if we’re to sustain it for 4-5 hours each day eight days on the trot. To be honest I’m just not a great fan of going out and plodding for six or seven hours, as many of the ultra runners do. For me, running is about covering ground at speed.

A few pictures of yesterday’s outing in the Ochils with TA partner Tom and Fergus below. Route / run  details here.

Andy

the last 3 weeks of racing Written on August 12, 2010, by annaf.

With a snow fall on the Karwendal Mountains – on the boarder of Austria and Germany the race I had planned to do was changed to a lesser climb and distance so I went with the trusty race – Schlickeralm.

I knew Antonella Confortala would be there and I felt I could do with some one like her giving me a good run for my money. And thats what she did. Its a long slog up up and up and in the end she was 2-minutes stronger than me. It was good to have a new streak of motivation to get out training harder.

http://www.schlickeralmlauf.com/

Next up was the chaberton Marathon. My first sky race. I knew it was going to be over 5-hours, so I loaded up on nutella crepes the day before and carried caffine gels and energy bars to take every 45-minutes.

I set off with the experienced ladies and after 5km found my rythym on the climb to Chaberton forts at 3130m altitude. I had an 11-minute lead at the top, which was enough to keep the lead for the rest of the day. Finishing in a new record of 5.09-hours.

http://www.chabertonmarathon.eu/en/chaberton_races.htm 

So now with tired sore legs I head to the Grand Prix - Ebensee -Feuerkogel race. A great village full of such welcoming people and a steep race course for the cherry on the top. I felt even before I started that my legs were going to be tired and I was right. Andrea Mayer did her usual take off, but I was able to get into a comfortable pace to get me to the top of the slightly new 10km course in 2nd place.  However, life is a crazy thing and sadly the main organiser was in a fatal car accident the very night before. It left a quiet and thoughful aoura. And warm condolences goes to all.

 http://www.wmra.ch/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=684&Itemid=2

Now I am in Boulder – USA – enjoying seeing new places, meeting new people, seeing strange new animals as well as spending time with fellow Salomon family. Pikes Peak here we come.

Anna Frosty

It’s not quite Colorado Springs but it’ll have to do… Written on August 12, 2010, by matt.

The last 4 month’s training has been based around the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon in Colorado Springs and to find out the week before I was due to fly out that I couldn’t go due to work commitments was hugely disappointing.

After finishing 3rd in last year’s WLDMRC in the Kaiser Marathon I thought this year I could maybe go one better and the opportunity. To spend 2 weeks in Colorado was amazing but it’ll have to wait until next year. When I found out I couldn’t go I decided to run the Ellenborough 10k starting from Maryport. It’s a fantastic race which is mostly traffic free and run on country roads with two really big hills thrown in too. I always plan to go out easy but when the race gun went the adrenalin got the better of me (or the ZipVit Fruit Punch energy drink), and by the first mile I had a good lead which I extended to two minutes by the finish just narrowly beating the course record by a couple of seconds.

Due to injury I haven’t really planned any other races for the rest of the year except for The Kinabalu Climbathon in Malaysia in October and the Salomon Turbo-X series.

Follow my moves on http://www.movescount.com/groups/group328-Salomon_Trail_Team_UK and http://www.movescount.com/members/Lightfoot

Ricky

GroSglockner Berglauf – Austria – By Anna F… Written on July 19, 2010, by matt.

With 900 participants and a great female organising committee I had always heard this was a great race/event to go to.

As a human I do sometimes find it easier to do what I know and sometimes this means going to the same races instead of trying something new. So this year I am making a point of trying new races in new places and in different distances.

GroSglockner is the highest mountain in Austria and the race begins in the village Heiligenblut (1247m), and over the next 13kms follows the valley up towards the GroSglockner glacier, over the moraine and finishes at the Kaiser Franz Josef Hutt (2370m) with a 1km timetrial ascenting 250 vertical metres.  It is a real mountain running race – although at times I definately had to power walk up the steep bits.

I was very excited to be part of the event and a little nice nervousness to be racing a new course. It was slightly drizzling and a bit cloudy which imade it perfect racing conditions for me. I set off at the front and stayed there for 1.27.58hours to win the race as well as the vertical timetrial.

The mens field was stacked with great international runners – with Jono Wyatt, 5 Kenyans, Markus Kroll and Robert Kupricka just to name a few. They had a close finish in 1.08hours (which I could hear from down on the moraine) with Jono chasing 2 of the Kenyans but just not able to close the 30second gap.

A great event for all the family with kiddies races, a fun 5km race and 3 wave starts for all abilities.

Anna x

World Vertical Kilometer Championships – Canazei – Dolomites Written on July 19, 2010, by matt.

What exactly is it? Well it is 1000m of altitude gain over a very short distance i.e. about 2km. The race started at 1465m altitude and finished high above the ‘Lightning Path’ at 2465m.

Because of the steepness of the course, most of the competitors use trekking poles to give them extra push off through their arms. And often the ones who do well in these races come from ski mountaineering or cross country skiing backgrounds. But if you are one of the few, like me, who do no skiing at all there is really no point in using the poles as i wouldn’t know what to do with them.

So the New Zealand team comprising of Jono Wyatt and myself, lined up poleless amongst Italians, French, Spanish and the Brits  at the bottom of the horribly steep course. With a whole lot of pushing and shoving, polling and tripping, slipping and grabbing we were on our way UP. The sun was beaming and adding insult to the already grueling day but we slogged on up. Letizia Voux – French ski Champion took off followed closely by Antonella Confortalla-Wyatt – also Italian ski Champion. Angela Mudge (also poleless) pushed on up behind and I chased heads down and tails up.

Jono Wyatt gave it his all to hold onto a podium finish right until the last 10 vertical meters when the power walking was just too much and 2 ski mountaineers just snuck by. Lungs squashed, legs burning, heart throbbing, head dizzy, flies in eyes…A fun event but not for the faint hearted. I think I’ll stick to the real mountain ‘running’ races.

Anna x

Yogurt Vipiteno – Sterzing Joghurt Written on July 15, 2010, by annaf.

In the Sudtirol – I am in my element. Mountains (steep ones), Gelati, Cake and of course yoghurt. It is a place where in 1945 after the war the boarders moved between Italy and Austria creating a space called Sudtirol where the people proudly kept their dialect and ‘nationality’.

The hill sides are dotted with cows and their bells grazing on the pastures and beautiful meadow mountain flowers. And because of this, the climate and the people…here yoghurt is made…and lots of it.

The race stared at 10am in Vipiteno/Sterzing at 945m altitude – all squashed in under the church tower clock to avoid the burning 25° sun. Through the town cobbled streets we took off and up. And this is how it stayed for the next gruelling 5km. Up, Up and Up mainly avoiding the scorcing sun but not the breathtaking heat. Climbing up to 1860m I finished strong and with a new record in 44.38mins. A nice difference from racing the Orobie Sky Raid last weekend in 3hours 22minutes!     

Behind me followed my Salomon Team mate Stephanie Jimeniz in 47minutes who I was suprised to see not knowing these were her mountains. And in the Salomon family manner I was welcomed into her and Fulvios home and shared a nice evening out of the storm and a day on the mountain trails.

 The first man – Hannes Runger of Vipiteno came in at 38minutes.

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