Race Report
Omaha Marathon
Omaha, NE
Sun, Sept 24/06
#272 – State # 45 (2nd loop)
3:40:39 – 1 AG - 1st Senior Masters
Where did I leave off in my last report? Oh Yes! I was hurting at mile 23 of the Crested Butte Marathon and worried about my legs recovering for this marathon! I knew I would be running the Omaha Marathon the following weekend because I wanted/needed to run Nebraska to scratch State #45 off my list as I complete the 50 States for the 2nd time.
Thus we left our summer home in the High Country of Colorado on Fri in a snowstorm to begin our drive home to Florida for the winter. We arrived in Omaha Fri night so that we could rest and explore the city on Sat. After picking up my race packet we decided to take a free bus tour of the course. I had researched the Net to learn that the winning time in my age group last year was 4:12? That seemed very slow so I needed to check out the course. It was described as “hilly and tough” but surely it wasn’t that difficult?
The course started at the Civic Center in downtown Omaha and ran east to the Missouri River and past the Lewis and Clark Landing. The first two miles were downhill and/or flat as they ran along the river and through the ConAgra campus (an agriculture and food conglomerate). Then began nine miles of hills including four nasty/BAHs (Bad Ass Hills) as the course headed south through the Henry Doorly Zoo to a turn-around point about 7 miles and then back past the Rosenblatt Stadium (home of the College World Series) before it looped back to the initial course through ConAgra and back to the Civic Center. The Half finished in the Civic Center while those lucky/crazy enough to run the full marathon got to run a 2nd half marathon loop north of the city. That loop ran north through a depressed/dilapidated section of the city to Carter Park and along Carter Lake that separates Nebraska from Iowa. At 20 miles the course climbed out of the Park into an old/poor neighborhood to a turn-around point at 21 miles. From there it was a straight and boring 5-mile shot back to the Civic Center. The 2nd Half was relatively flat except for the BAH at mile 20! I was glad we had taken the bus tour because I realized that the 1st Half would beat the crap out of our legs and I would have to run SMART!
Thus I finalized my goals:
1) Win my Age Group
2) Finish at least under 4 hours and hopefully under 3:45
The rest of the day we spent exploring the city and the Old Market – an old section of the city with warehouses that have been converted to shops, pubs and lofts.
Sun was ‘M’ day. I lined up at the start line with another 1500 runners – 350 in the marathon – the rest in the Half and 10K. The weather was good – cloudy and temps in the low 50s. The wind was the only concern since it was 10/15 mph? The sports manager waited at the start line to collect my warm-up clothes (perhaps she read that report from Stowe?) Since the first 2 miles were downhill/flat I passed mile 2 in 15:41. Then the hills and pain began. At mile 3 an old fart passed me. He was wearing a ’50 State’ T-shirt with the name ‘Rick’ on it. A ‘Rick’ from FL had emailed before the race asking to share a room so I asked if he was Rick from FL? Yes! We started running together and I told him I planned to run ‘smart and easy’ (an 8:30/9:00 min pace) through the hills so that I would have something left for the 2nd Half! But somehow we started pushing each other and I felt we were pushing too hard/fast through the hills? When we crested the final BAH at mile 10 in 1:23:06 I was concerned that we had used up too much energy in the hills. When Rick decided to make a pit stop I continued on and expected that I would not see him again? I followed some Half-marathoners to the Civic Center and passed the Half in 1:48:31 – about 5 minutes faster than planned?
I slowed my pace a wee bit to let the legs rest but that didn’t last long! As I turned a corner at mile 14 I glanced to my right and saw Rick closing on me - fast! Soon we were back together and pushing the pace again. I became concerned. We were in the same age group and I really didn’t want to run the whole race with a competitor. What would happen when we approached the finish line? How serious and painful would the pissing match be? I didn’t want to find out so I played a mean game. I figured Rick had to be hurting more than me because he had to play catch up so I lowered the pace to 8 min/mile. He stayed with me until mile 16 and then started to complain about a side stitch and slowed down. I continued on to the turn-around point at 18 miles in Carter Park (2:30:19) where I was able to confirm that I had built up about a ¼ mile lead on Rick. I slowed my pace again until I reached the BAH at mile 20 and charged up the BAH to gain more lead! I passed mile 20 in 2:47:10 and reached the final turn-around point at mile 21 where I noted that my lead had increased to about ½ mile and Rick was still having problems with his side stitch.
I knew that we were 1st and 2nd in our Age Group and figured Rick would fade/slow on the last 5 miles so it was decision time. Should I slow and coast to the finish line - OR? The race provided the answer! At that point I could see about one dozen runners spread out over the next mile in front of me. I decided to use this as an opportunity to teach the old bod how to cope with pain while pushing the pace to pull all those runners in! I passed 12 younger runners – the final runner on a short steep hill up to the Civic Center at mile 26! When I passed mile 25 in 3:30:26 I struggled desperately to finish under 3:40 but that last short hill felt like a friggin mountain and slowed me down so that I entered the Civic Center and crossed the finish line in 3:40:39!
I was expecting cheers and a nice hug from the Sports Manager – but NO sports manager? I had told her I expected to finish between 3:45 and 4:00 and she wasn’t there – I was too early? But to be fair and to give her credit she had left to bring the car closer to the finish line so that I wouldn’t have to walk too far to the car. So she was forgiven!
After the required finish line photos we headed to the hotel for a quick shower and late check out and then returned to the Civic Center to check the results. My official finish time of 3:40:39 was good enough to win my Age Group and also collect an additional award for the 1st Senior Master to cross the finish line.
No time to celebrate – we had to continue our drive back to Florida – 3 more days and 9 more states to drive across before we finally arrived back in Florida.
Now that I have had time to reflect I am pleased that I achieved both goals on a tough course. Even Maddog seems pleased that I ran 4 marathons in the past 3 weeks and won my age group in all four! He is giving me this weekend off from racing so that I can rest up for our international trip next week to South America – 3 marathons and 2 countries in one week!
Stay tuned for the trip reports!
Friday, September 29, 2006
Monday, September 18, 2006
RR Crested Butte
Race Report
Mountain Air Marathon
Crested Butte, CO
Sun, Sept 17/06
#271
3:52:43 9th OA – 3rd Male – 1st AG
Why did I run this marathon? I seriously asked myself that question when I lined up on the start line on Sun morning. It was not on my race calendar. It was a last minute decision based on a good race the previous weekend in Vermont and a personal goal/desire to run every marathon in Colorado. The Mountain Air Marathon was held in Crested Butte, CO which is a pretty area in southwest CO and close to Black Canyon National Park that we wanted to visit. So I registered on Tue and then watched the weather forecast become very ugly! It called for a deep freeze to hit the Rocky Mtns over the weekend with snow and temps plunging into the 20s. Oh Goody!
Thus we left Summit County on Sat morning in a blizzard – the 1st snowstorm of the season to reach down into the valley – and a definite sign that it is time for us to return to Florida! As we drove south we escaped the snowstorm but noticed that the peaks were covered with a nice new blanket of white powder. And the temps continued to plunge! We arrived in Gunnison, CO in time for lunch and picked up my race packet before exploring Crested Butte and Gunnison. It was the end of the tourist season but we didn’t expect the towns to be completely ‘dead’. We had planned to stay two nights but decided one night would be enough. We would visit the Park on the way home on Sun. We drove the marathon course to check it out. It was a point-to-point course starting in Crested Butte (8880 ft) and ended at the Mountaineer Bowl at Western State College in Gunnison (7700 ft). The first 20 miles was along the paved shoulder of Hwy 135 from Crested Butte to Gunnison. There were several rolling hills but no nasty hills (no BAHs). At 20 miles the course finally left the Hwy and turned on to a side road for the final 10K into Gunnison and the finish line in the stadium. It seemed to be a relatively easy course except for the altitude?
After our traditional pasta dinner on Sat we checked the weather channel. The news was BAD/UGLY! The temps were forecast to plunge into the low 20s and the marathon started at 7am in Crested Butte so it was going to be very COLD! I prayed that the 20 to 30 mph winds that had prevailed all day Sat would stop? I had wisely packed cold-weather running gear but was still not eager to run this race.
It was bitterly cold when we left the hotel in Gunnison at 6am for the drive to the start line – temp was 19F! When we arrived at the start line in Crested Butte the temp had soared to a balmy 21 F. I refused to get out of the car until a few minutes before the start – I was not too enthused about running this race and kept asking myself that opening question: “what am I doing here”? I asked the sports manager if she would take my place? Her response “I’m not crazy – maybe I am – because I should be in a warm bed”!
I wore polypro tights and top with a 2nd layer (T-shirt) on top plus a green garbage bag to trap my body heat. Of course I wore gloves and for only the 2nd race in my life I wore a hat/tuque to keep my body heat from escaping through my head. We were lucky – the winds had calmed to 5/10 mph so the wind chill was only 15 F! Fifty runners had registered for the marathon but only 35 ‘crazies’ showed up at the start line. Sissies!
I tried to take off with the lead pack but my legs were cold and stiff and my lungs were burning from the cold, thin air and all I could manage was a 9-min pace for the first 2 miles? I finally started to warm up and lowered the pace to 8:30s. When I reached mile 5 in 42:38 the sun started to rise and the temps warmed up quickly to the mid 20s and I discarded the garbage bag and tuque. By that point the race positions had already been established. I had lost sight of the lead pack already but there were 6 runners about ½ mile in front of me. I felt confident that I could/would pass all of them before the end of the race. I passed four of them before I reached the Half in 1:51:44. When I passed mile 16 in 2:17:00 I realized that I had slowed to a 9-min pace and the two runners in front were leaving me behind. I was alone and there wasn’t much motivation to push the pace - and hurt. I tried to push the pace just to reach the 20-mile marker and get off the Hwy but the old legs refused to go faster than 9min/mile? I wasn’t sure if it was the altitude or the marathons the previous two weekends (or both) but my legs were wasted?
I finally passed mile 20 in 2:53:34 and turned off the Hwy on to the side road. I couldn’t see any runners in front or behind me. The race was just starting and I was hurting! I repeated the opening question many times to myself! I knew that I was winning my age group and decided that my finish time was not important (as long as it was under 4 hours). I calculated that a 10-min pace would get me to the finish line under 4 hrs so I decided to let my tired/wasted old legs set a pace that they felt comfortable with. That strategy/relief only lasted for 1 mile! At mile 21 I could see two runners in front of me again – they were about ½ mile ahead and slowing. I decided to pull them in. I tried to push the pace but all the push that was left was a 9:15 pace. I passed the 1st runner as he walked up a short steep hill at mile 23. When I crested the hill I couldn’t see the other runner which meant I was not going to catch him/her (turned out to be a her) and I reverted back to my previous strategy. I was now more concerned about my wasted old legs recovering for a marathon next week in Nebraska. I switched to ‘survival’ mode and slowed my pace to 9:45s for the last 5 Km. As I struggled up the final short steep hill into the Mountaineer Bowl I finally removed my 2nd layer T-shirt (it was a toasty 35F at the finish) so they could see my race number as I crossed the finish line in 3:52:43!
After a few finish line photos we returned to the hotel for a long HOT soak in the tub. It was soooooooooooooooo wonderful. Not only did it soothe my tired/wasted legs but I was WARM for the first time that day! We returned to the stadium to check the results and arrived just as my name was being announced – I assumed for 1st in Age Group? Surprise! I had indeed won my age group and I also was the 3rd male finisher! Notice that I did not say 3rd Overall as one would expect? Confused? So was I until I looked at the results. The top three and top 6 out of 8 finishers were females! I was the 3rd male across the finish line and 9th place Overall! In 271 marathons I have never seen a race with results like this? The women handed the men their asses on a silver platter in this race! I asked the race director who the ‘fast’ ladies were? There is a group of very good female athletes/ runners/triathletes/skiers in Crested Butte. I am convinced! No need for any of my single friends to move there – you would never be able to catch any of the females!
After collecting another beer mug for all my painful efforts we left for Black Canyon National Park located 60 miles west of Gunnison. It is a canyon that has been cut into the Rocky Mtns by the Gunnison River over the past 20 million years. It is 50 miles long with steep/sheer walls over 2700 ft and very narrow – ¼ mile from rim to rim at its narrowest point! The rugged views are spectacular but the visit is not for those with acrophobia or any problems with heights because the trails and viewpoints are perilously close to the edges of the canyon. But it is well worth a visit! We visited the south rim that has the most spectacular views.
We then drove home through the back roads of western Colorado. This lengthened the journey but we saw a lot of CO that we had not visited before. When we arrived home we immediately turned the furnace up and the fireplace on, opened a bottle of wine and toasted our feet and bods in front of the fire! I may stay there until we leave on Fri?
Although the race did take a toll on my old legs I am hoping that if I reduce my training miles this week and taper that they can recover enough to carry me through a good race at the Omaha Marathon next weekend? We plan to leave the High Country on Sept 22 and drive a northern route across the US through Nebraska so that I can run the Omaha Marathon on Sun and complete my 45th State (2nd loop).
Stay tuned for the race report (from sunny and WARM Florida).
Mountain Air Marathon
Crested Butte, CO
Sun, Sept 17/06
#271
3:52:43 9th OA – 3rd Male – 1st AG
Why did I run this marathon? I seriously asked myself that question when I lined up on the start line on Sun morning. It was not on my race calendar. It was a last minute decision based on a good race the previous weekend in Vermont and a personal goal/desire to run every marathon in Colorado. The Mountain Air Marathon was held in Crested Butte, CO which is a pretty area in southwest CO and close to Black Canyon National Park that we wanted to visit. So I registered on Tue and then watched the weather forecast become very ugly! It called for a deep freeze to hit the Rocky Mtns over the weekend with snow and temps plunging into the 20s. Oh Goody!
Thus we left Summit County on Sat morning in a blizzard – the 1st snowstorm of the season to reach down into the valley – and a definite sign that it is time for us to return to Florida! As we drove south we escaped the snowstorm but noticed that the peaks were covered with a nice new blanket of white powder. And the temps continued to plunge! We arrived in Gunnison, CO in time for lunch and picked up my race packet before exploring Crested Butte and Gunnison. It was the end of the tourist season but we didn’t expect the towns to be completely ‘dead’. We had planned to stay two nights but decided one night would be enough. We would visit the Park on the way home on Sun. We drove the marathon course to check it out. It was a point-to-point course starting in Crested Butte (8880 ft) and ended at the Mountaineer Bowl at Western State College in Gunnison (7700 ft). The first 20 miles was along the paved shoulder of Hwy 135 from Crested Butte to Gunnison. There were several rolling hills but no nasty hills (no BAHs). At 20 miles the course finally left the Hwy and turned on to a side road for the final 10K into Gunnison and the finish line in the stadium. It seemed to be a relatively easy course except for the altitude?
After our traditional pasta dinner on Sat we checked the weather channel. The news was BAD/UGLY! The temps were forecast to plunge into the low 20s and the marathon started at 7am in Crested Butte so it was going to be very COLD! I prayed that the 20 to 30 mph winds that had prevailed all day Sat would stop? I had wisely packed cold-weather running gear but was still not eager to run this race.
It was bitterly cold when we left the hotel in Gunnison at 6am for the drive to the start line – temp was 19F! When we arrived at the start line in Crested Butte the temp had soared to a balmy 21 F. I refused to get out of the car until a few minutes before the start – I was not too enthused about running this race and kept asking myself that opening question: “what am I doing here”? I asked the sports manager if she would take my place? Her response “I’m not crazy – maybe I am – because I should be in a warm bed”!
I wore polypro tights and top with a 2nd layer (T-shirt) on top plus a green garbage bag to trap my body heat. Of course I wore gloves and for only the 2nd race in my life I wore a hat/tuque to keep my body heat from escaping through my head. We were lucky – the winds had calmed to 5/10 mph so the wind chill was only 15 F! Fifty runners had registered for the marathon but only 35 ‘crazies’ showed up at the start line. Sissies!
I tried to take off with the lead pack but my legs were cold and stiff and my lungs were burning from the cold, thin air and all I could manage was a 9-min pace for the first 2 miles? I finally started to warm up and lowered the pace to 8:30s. When I reached mile 5 in 42:38 the sun started to rise and the temps warmed up quickly to the mid 20s and I discarded the garbage bag and tuque. By that point the race positions had already been established. I had lost sight of the lead pack already but there were 6 runners about ½ mile in front of me. I felt confident that I could/would pass all of them before the end of the race. I passed four of them before I reached the Half in 1:51:44. When I passed mile 16 in 2:17:00 I realized that I had slowed to a 9-min pace and the two runners in front were leaving me behind. I was alone and there wasn’t much motivation to push the pace - and hurt. I tried to push the pace just to reach the 20-mile marker and get off the Hwy but the old legs refused to go faster than 9min/mile? I wasn’t sure if it was the altitude or the marathons the previous two weekends (or both) but my legs were wasted?
I finally passed mile 20 in 2:53:34 and turned off the Hwy on to the side road. I couldn’t see any runners in front or behind me. The race was just starting and I was hurting! I repeated the opening question many times to myself! I knew that I was winning my age group and decided that my finish time was not important (as long as it was under 4 hours). I calculated that a 10-min pace would get me to the finish line under 4 hrs so I decided to let my tired/wasted old legs set a pace that they felt comfortable with. That strategy/relief only lasted for 1 mile! At mile 21 I could see two runners in front of me again – they were about ½ mile ahead and slowing. I decided to pull them in. I tried to push the pace but all the push that was left was a 9:15 pace. I passed the 1st runner as he walked up a short steep hill at mile 23. When I crested the hill I couldn’t see the other runner which meant I was not going to catch him/her (turned out to be a her) and I reverted back to my previous strategy. I was now more concerned about my wasted old legs recovering for a marathon next week in Nebraska. I switched to ‘survival’ mode and slowed my pace to 9:45s for the last 5 Km. As I struggled up the final short steep hill into the Mountaineer Bowl I finally removed my 2nd layer T-shirt (it was a toasty 35F at the finish) so they could see my race number as I crossed the finish line in 3:52:43!
After a few finish line photos we returned to the hotel for a long HOT soak in the tub. It was soooooooooooooooo wonderful. Not only did it soothe my tired/wasted legs but I was WARM for the first time that day! We returned to the stadium to check the results and arrived just as my name was being announced – I assumed for 1st in Age Group? Surprise! I had indeed won my age group and I also was the 3rd male finisher! Notice that I did not say 3rd Overall as one would expect? Confused? So was I until I looked at the results. The top three and top 6 out of 8 finishers were females! I was the 3rd male across the finish line and 9th place Overall! In 271 marathons I have never seen a race with results like this? The women handed the men their asses on a silver platter in this race! I asked the race director who the ‘fast’ ladies were? There is a group of very good female athletes/ runners/triathletes/skiers in Crested Butte. I am convinced! No need for any of my single friends to move there – you would never be able to catch any of the females!
After collecting another beer mug for all my painful efforts we left for Black Canyon National Park located 60 miles west of Gunnison. It is a canyon that has been cut into the Rocky Mtns by the Gunnison River over the past 20 million years. It is 50 miles long with steep/sheer walls over 2700 ft and very narrow – ¼ mile from rim to rim at its narrowest point! The rugged views are spectacular but the visit is not for those with acrophobia or any problems with heights because the trails and viewpoints are perilously close to the edges of the canyon. But it is well worth a visit! We visited the south rim that has the most spectacular views.
We then drove home through the back roads of western Colorado. This lengthened the journey but we saw a lot of CO that we had not visited before. When we arrived home we immediately turned the furnace up and the fireplace on, opened a bottle of wine and toasted our feet and bods in front of the fire! I may stay there until we leave on Fri?
Although the race did take a toll on my old legs I am hoping that if I reduce my training miles this week and taper that they can recover enough to carry me through a good race at the Omaha Marathon next weekend? We plan to leave the High Country on Sept 22 and drive a northern route across the US through Nebraska so that I can run the Omaha Marathon on Sun and complete my 45th State (2nd loop).
Stay tuned for the race report (from sunny and WARM Florida).
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
RR Stowe Marathon
Race Report
Stowe Marathon
Stowe, VT
Sun, Sept 10/06
#270 – State # 44 (2nd loop)
3:39:29 14 OA - 1 AG
The main purpose of this race/trip was to complete a marathon in State # 44 in my quest to complete all 50 states for a 2nd time. The 50 State Club rules require that you run a different marathon each time so I selected Stowe since I had never been there.
I also decided that since my sister Carole Anne lived in NY State I would make a long weekend of it and visit her and her family in Burnt Hills, NY.
Thus I flew into Albany, NY on Fri where my brother-in-law Joe picked me up at the airport and we spent the night at their home. On Sat we left early for Stowe traveling the back roads of Vermont. It took much longer but we saw parts of VT that they had never seen in the 36 years they lived there. We crossed the Green Mountains and approached Stowe from the south just in time for lunch. After lunch I picked up my race packet and then we explored Stowe and the area. Stowe is a typical ski village but smaller than I expected. We toured Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory (not being a B & J’s fan I didn’t even know it was located in VT?) visited the Trapp Family Lodge (the Von Trapps from ‘Sound of Music’) and stopped at a Maple farm to buy some delicious maple syrup directly from the farmer! During our touring we drove about 75% of the marathon course which provided a good look at the course – especially the nasty BAH (Bad Ass Hill) in the middle of the course.
The course started at the Topnotch Resort near the base of Stowe Ski Resort on Mount Mansfield – VT’s highest mountain (4393 ft). The course started at 840 ft elevation and dropped 130 ft over the first 4 miles and then climbed gently to the base of the BAH on Trapp Hill Rd at mile 9.5. Then the nightmare began as the BAH climbed relentlessly for 600 ft at a 10% grade for 2 miles to top out at 1360 ft in front of the Trapp Lodge. It then dropped 700 ft over 2 miles of dirt road before climbing another 100 ft over the next 2 miles. The course then looped back (and declined) over that 2-mile hill before climbing 200 ft over the final 8 miles back to the finish line at the Topnotch Resort! Sounds like fun huh? Actually the course was relatively easy except for that BAH! But I was glad I had seen that BAH because I knew what to expect on race day!
After our tour it was time to enjoy a great pasta dinner and then watch Ohio State whomp Texas. What a great day!
Sun was M- Day! I had two goals for this race:
1) I had researched the results and discovered that a friend who is a very good runner had won our age group last year in a 3:43. I wanted to run sub 3:40 or at least beat his time for bragging rights
2) Win my Age Group
The race started at 8:15 am. The skies were cloudy/overcast with a temp of 46 F and no wind. The sun later broke through the clouds but the temps never rose above the low 60s – great race weather! There were about 110 runners at the start. I knew that the BAH was going to add several minutes to the race and if I wanted to achieve my time goal I figured I needed to start out fast and deposit some time in the bank. I followed a lead pack of young female runners and let them pull me down the mountain on a paved bike path at a sub 8-min pace. We passed an old fart at 3 miles and another old fart at 7 miles. He responded by passing me back but I wasn’t ready to play any games so early in the race and especially before we got to the BAH! So I stayed behind my bevy of young beauties and let them pull me through mile 9 in 1:11:19.
I decided to slow the pace for the next ½ mile to let my legs rest before assaulting the BAH. Smart move because the pain/agony soon began and continued relentlessly for 2 miles!
I climbed the first mile of the BAH in 9:30 and passed the old fart. The 2nd mile was really tough and many runners were forced to walk. I was determined to run the entire BAH and kept my legs churning by reminding myself that this BAH was no worse than my ‘favorite’ hill loop in the High Country and in fact should be easier because it was 8,000 ft lower in altitude! I passed many runners including two of my female pacers. I got close enough to the 3rd female to joke with her. I told her that I had been chasing her for 11 miles and now that I was close to catching her I didn’t know what to do with her?
She laughed and quickly left my tired old ass in the dust! (She was half my age –31- and finished 3rd overall for females!) I climbed that 2nd mile of the BAH in a painfully slow 10:30 but finally I was at the Trapp Lodge and began the steep descent on the dirt road.
I stretched my stride to let gravity pull me down the BAH at a 7:30 pace with my quads screaming at me because they had to ‘brake’ all the way down that steep 10% grade to control my speed and momentum!
As I passed the Half in 1:47:03 I commented to a fellow runner “Our quads are not going to be happy with us tomorrow”! It didn’t take that long! When I reached the bottom of the BAH and turned on to a paved road to begin a 2-mile loop up a gentle hill my quads were already tight and sore and my legs felt like they had been beaten with a 2 X 4 instead of a 4-mile BAH! Out of necessity (but I would like to convince you it was smart strategy) I decided to slow the pace for the next 2 miles to let my wasted old legs rest and recover. Whatever – the strategy worked as the soreness disappeared and some ‘zip’ even returned to the old legs and I was able to lower the pace back to sub 8s for the next few miles. However that fast pace didn’t last long.
When I passed mile 18 in 2:28:55 near Moscow, VT I recognized that I was starting to labor/struggle to hold an 8-min pace and I knew that I couldn’t hold that pace for the final 8 miles – uphill! And I had another problem. My pretty female pacer had increased her lead to about ¼ mile and I could only see her on straight sections. There was nobody in sight behind me – I was running alone! I had noted and counted runners on the 2-mile loop. I was 1st in my Age Group and about 15th Overall – thus there was not much motivation to continue pushing the pace – and hurting! But then I remembered my GOALS – I really wanted to finish under 3:43 and win those bragging rights! A quick calculation determined that an 8:30 pace would get me across the finish line under 3:40! That became my sole focus/purpose in life for the next 8 miles! I decided the best/easiest way to accomplish this task was to do it in chunks. The 1st chunk was to get to 20 miles. I reached 20 miles in 2:46:01. I was still on target. But as most marathoners know/understand the race was now just starting – and the final 10K was uphill – and I was hurting! I needed to play mind games!
The 1st mind game was to block everything out – the entire outside world and all distractions! Then I used every ounce of will power to conjure up a dense fog in my mind and a monster named ‘Mr. Pain’ who was hiding in the fog and trying to find a way out of the fog to destroy me. I ran the next 4 miles in the fog trying to evade Mr. Pain and clicking off 8:30s! I reached mile 24 in 3:20:32 - less that 20 minutes left to achieve my goal. Time to change mind games! I let Mr. Pain through the fog because now Pain was GOOD! The worse the PAIN the better because it was motivation to push harder/faster – the faster I ran the sooner I would get to the finish line and the sooner the PAIN would stop. I just needed to get to mile 25! When I reached mile 25 in 3:29:17 I knew my goal was in the bag! The sweet smell of success/victory provided the necessary excitement/exhilaration for the old bod to produce one final jolt of adrenaline and endorphins! And what a jolt! The self-induced drugs created a euphoric bubble that ‘floated’ me through the final mile!
When I approached the finish line and saw the finish clock reading “3:38 + change” I had to dig deep and sprint the final few hundred yards to cross the finish line in 3:39:29! The instant - measured in nano-seconds- that I crossed the finish line the euphoric bubble burst and I was left with a wasted old bod drained of all drugs and energy. There wasn’t enough energy left to move – if breathing weren’t involuntary that would have stopped too! But just as quickly the excitement/exhilaration of sweet success/victory got the ‘juices’ flowing again and I was able to stumble through the finish chute to the arms of my support team. And what a wonderful support team! They had driven me to the start line and waited to take my warm-up clothes just before the start so I wouldn’t get cold. Then they drove to several locations along the course to cheer me on and take pictures and there they were cheering me at the finish line. Should I dare mention to my ‘regular’ sports manager that this is the way it is supposed to be done – and the way she used to do it - 250 marathons ago? Nahhhhhhhh – I don’t think that would be a wise move!
After some finish line photos we rushed back to the hotel for a quick shower and late check out and then returned to the finish area to check the results. I confirmed that my official finish time was 3:39:29 – good enough for 14th place Overall and 1st in my Age Group! Since I had achieved both of my goals I was quite pleased/happy with my time and performance. The awards were not very nice or worthwhile waiting around for so we left immediately. We decided to drive back through Burlington. I ran the Burlington Marathon 11 years ago but couldn’t remember the race or the city so we stopped to visit the downtown area and eat lunch. Burlington is a pretty city with the Green Mountains to the East and Lake Champlain to the West. We took a ferry across Lake Champlain to NY State but alas – no sightings of Champy – the legendary lake monster (a kin of Nessie?).
Once we reached NY it was a pleasant 2-hr drive back home. Although some trees were beginning to change color I unfortunately missed the autumn Technicolor show by a few weeks.
But it was a good trip. I achieved my race goals and got to spend a lot of ‘Q’ time with my sister and her family. And strangely my quads and legs were not as sore as expected on Mon morning? Thus I have decided to sneak another (unplanned) marathon into my schedule this weekend. It will be my last high altitude marathon of the season – the Mountain Air Marathon in Crested Butte, CO.
Stay tuned for the race report!
Stowe Marathon
Stowe, VT
Sun, Sept 10/06
#270 – State # 44 (2nd loop)
3:39:29 14 OA - 1 AG
The main purpose of this race/trip was to complete a marathon in State # 44 in my quest to complete all 50 states for a 2nd time. The 50 State Club rules require that you run a different marathon each time so I selected Stowe since I had never been there.
I also decided that since my sister Carole Anne lived in NY State I would make a long weekend of it and visit her and her family in Burnt Hills, NY.
Thus I flew into Albany, NY on Fri where my brother-in-law Joe picked me up at the airport and we spent the night at their home. On Sat we left early for Stowe traveling the back roads of Vermont. It took much longer but we saw parts of VT that they had never seen in the 36 years they lived there. We crossed the Green Mountains and approached Stowe from the south just in time for lunch. After lunch I picked up my race packet and then we explored Stowe and the area. Stowe is a typical ski village but smaller than I expected. We toured Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Factory (not being a B & J’s fan I didn’t even know it was located in VT?) visited the Trapp Family Lodge (the Von Trapps from ‘Sound of Music’) and stopped at a Maple farm to buy some delicious maple syrup directly from the farmer! During our touring we drove about 75% of the marathon course which provided a good look at the course – especially the nasty BAH (Bad Ass Hill) in the middle of the course.
The course started at the Topnotch Resort near the base of Stowe Ski Resort on Mount Mansfield – VT’s highest mountain (4393 ft). The course started at 840 ft elevation and dropped 130 ft over the first 4 miles and then climbed gently to the base of the BAH on Trapp Hill Rd at mile 9.5. Then the nightmare began as the BAH climbed relentlessly for 600 ft at a 10% grade for 2 miles to top out at 1360 ft in front of the Trapp Lodge. It then dropped 700 ft over 2 miles of dirt road before climbing another 100 ft over the next 2 miles. The course then looped back (and declined) over that 2-mile hill before climbing 200 ft over the final 8 miles back to the finish line at the Topnotch Resort! Sounds like fun huh? Actually the course was relatively easy except for that BAH! But I was glad I had seen that BAH because I knew what to expect on race day!
After our tour it was time to enjoy a great pasta dinner and then watch Ohio State whomp Texas. What a great day!
Sun was M- Day! I had two goals for this race:
1) I had researched the results and discovered that a friend who is a very good runner had won our age group last year in a 3:43. I wanted to run sub 3:40 or at least beat his time for bragging rights
2) Win my Age Group
The race started at 8:15 am. The skies were cloudy/overcast with a temp of 46 F and no wind. The sun later broke through the clouds but the temps never rose above the low 60s – great race weather! There were about 110 runners at the start. I knew that the BAH was going to add several minutes to the race and if I wanted to achieve my time goal I figured I needed to start out fast and deposit some time in the bank. I followed a lead pack of young female runners and let them pull me down the mountain on a paved bike path at a sub 8-min pace. We passed an old fart at 3 miles and another old fart at 7 miles. He responded by passing me back but I wasn’t ready to play any games so early in the race and especially before we got to the BAH! So I stayed behind my bevy of young beauties and let them pull me through mile 9 in 1:11:19.
I decided to slow the pace for the next ½ mile to let my legs rest before assaulting the BAH. Smart move because the pain/agony soon began and continued relentlessly for 2 miles!
I climbed the first mile of the BAH in 9:30 and passed the old fart. The 2nd mile was really tough and many runners were forced to walk. I was determined to run the entire BAH and kept my legs churning by reminding myself that this BAH was no worse than my ‘favorite’ hill loop in the High Country and in fact should be easier because it was 8,000 ft lower in altitude! I passed many runners including two of my female pacers. I got close enough to the 3rd female to joke with her. I told her that I had been chasing her for 11 miles and now that I was close to catching her I didn’t know what to do with her?
She laughed and quickly left my tired old ass in the dust! (She was half my age –31- and finished 3rd overall for females!) I climbed that 2nd mile of the BAH in a painfully slow 10:30 but finally I was at the Trapp Lodge and began the steep descent on the dirt road.
I stretched my stride to let gravity pull me down the BAH at a 7:30 pace with my quads screaming at me because they had to ‘brake’ all the way down that steep 10% grade to control my speed and momentum!
As I passed the Half in 1:47:03 I commented to a fellow runner “Our quads are not going to be happy with us tomorrow”! It didn’t take that long! When I reached the bottom of the BAH and turned on to a paved road to begin a 2-mile loop up a gentle hill my quads were already tight and sore and my legs felt like they had been beaten with a 2 X 4 instead of a 4-mile BAH! Out of necessity (but I would like to convince you it was smart strategy) I decided to slow the pace for the next 2 miles to let my wasted old legs rest and recover. Whatever – the strategy worked as the soreness disappeared and some ‘zip’ even returned to the old legs and I was able to lower the pace back to sub 8s for the next few miles. However that fast pace didn’t last long.
When I passed mile 18 in 2:28:55 near Moscow, VT I recognized that I was starting to labor/struggle to hold an 8-min pace and I knew that I couldn’t hold that pace for the final 8 miles – uphill! And I had another problem. My pretty female pacer had increased her lead to about ¼ mile and I could only see her on straight sections. There was nobody in sight behind me – I was running alone! I had noted and counted runners on the 2-mile loop. I was 1st in my Age Group and about 15th Overall – thus there was not much motivation to continue pushing the pace – and hurting! But then I remembered my GOALS – I really wanted to finish under 3:43 and win those bragging rights! A quick calculation determined that an 8:30 pace would get me across the finish line under 3:40! That became my sole focus/purpose in life for the next 8 miles! I decided the best/easiest way to accomplish this task was to do it in chunks. The 1st chunk was to get to 20 miles. I reached 20 miles in 2:46:01. I was still on target. But as most marathoners know/understand the race was now just starting – and the final 10K was uphill – and I was hurting! I needed to play mind games!
The 1st mind game was to block everything out – the entire outside world and all distractions! Then I used every ounce of will power to conjure up a dense fog in my mind and a monster named ‘Mr. Pain’ who was hiding in the fog and trying to find a way out of the fog to destroy me. I ran the next 4 miles in the fog trying to evade Mr. Pain and clicking off 8:30s! I reached mile 24 in 3:20:32 - less that 20 minutes left to achieve my goal. Time to change mind games! I let Mr. Pain through the fog because now Pain was GOOD! The worse the PAIN the better because it was motivation to push harder/faster – the faster I ran the sooner I would get to the finish line and the sooner the PAIN would stop. I just needed to get to mile 25! When I reached mile 25 in 3:29:17 I knew my goal was in the bag! The sweet smell of success/victory provided the necessary excitement/exhilaration for the old bod to produce one final jolt of adrenaline and endorphins! And what a jolt! The self-induced drugs created a euphoric bubble that ‘floated’ me through the final mile!
When I approached the finish line and saw the finish clock reading “3:38 + change” I had to dig deep and sprint the final few hundred yards to cross the finish line in 3:39:29! The instant - measured in nano-seconds- that I crossed the finish line the euphoric bubble burst and I was left with a wasted old bod drained of all drugs and energy. There wasn’t enough energy left to move – if breathing weren’t involuntary that would have stopped too! But just as quickly the excitement/exhilaration of sweet success/victory got the ‘juices’ flowing again and I was able to stumble through the finish chute to the arms of my support team. And what a wonderful support team! They had driven me to the start line and waited to take my warm-up clothes just before the start so I wouldn’t get cold. Then they drove to several locations along the course to cheer me on and take pictures and there they were cheering me at the finish line. Should I dare mention to my ‘regular’ sports manager that this is the way it is supposed to be done – and the way she used to do it - 250 marathons ago? Nahhhhhhhh – I don’t think that would be a wise move!
After some finish line photos we rushed back to the hotel for a quick shower and late check out and then returned to the finish area to check the results. I confirmed that my official finish time was 3:39:29 – good enough for 14th place Overall and 1st in my Age Group! Since I had achieved both of my goals I was quite pleased/happy with my time and performance. The awards were not very nice or worthwhile waiting around for so we left immediately. We decided to drive back through Burlington. I ran the Burlington Marathon 11 years ago but couldn’t remember the race or the city so we stopped to visit the downtown area and eat lunch. Burlington is a pretty city with the Green Mountains to the East and Lake Champlain to the West. We took a ferry across Lake Champlain to NY State but alas – no sightings of Champy – the legendary lake monster (a kin of Nessie?).
Once we reached NY it was a pleasant 2-hr drive back home. Although some trees were beginning to change color I unfortunately missed the autumn Technicolor show by a few weeks.
But it was a good trip. I achieved my race goals and got to spend a lot of ‘Q’ time with my sister and her family. And strangely my quads and legs were not as sore as expected on Mon morning? Thus I have decided to sneak another (unplanned) marathon into my schedule this weekend. It will be my last high altitude marathon of the season – the Mountain Air Marathon in Crested Butte, CO.
Stay tuned for the race report!
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
RR Colorado Springs
Race Report
American Discovery Trail Marathon
Colorado Springs, CO
Mon, Sept 4/06
Marathon # 269
3:45:59 37 OA - 1 AG
This is the 3rd straight year I have run this marathon and I had a few goals:
1) I wanted to defend my Senior Title and win my Age Group for the 3rd straight year
2) I wanted to run under 3:40 – maybe even 3:35 and set a new course PR
Both previous years I had not shown up to the start line in good health or shape but this year I was healthy and (I thought) in good shape. I had to take some extra time off the week before the race to rest an injured left knee but I didn’t think it would affect my performance?
The sports manager decided not to accompany me to Colorado Springs since she had gone the two previous years. So I drove down to Colorado Springs on Sun night in time to pick up my race packet and enjoy a traditional pasta dinner.
The race started at 6:30am on Labor Day at Confluence Park – now ‘America the Beautiful Park’ – in downtown CO Springs. The course started at the Park @ 6200 ft and followed paved and dirt bike trails along Monument and Fountain Creeks to a turn-around point near the Air Force Academy at mile 16. The first 5 miles were flat and then there were a series of small rolling hills until mile 14. Miles 14 to 18 were a series of tough BAHs (Bad Ass Hills) that rose 300 ft in elevation! The final 8 miles dropped gently over rolling hills back to the finish line in the Park.
It was great running weather, sunny and 50 F, at the start and never warmed up above the low 60s. There were 200 runners in the Marathon. I decided to start smart – and slow – to let the knee warm/loosen up and passed through mile 2 in 16:45. The knee felt OK so I lowered to pace to 8min/mile over the next 3 miles. By mile 5 however I was starting to struggle to hold the 8 min pace which was not a good sign. I knew I couldn’t hold that pace for another 21 miles so I slowed the pace to 8:30s that felt smooth and comfortable.
I revised my strategy to hold that pace through mile 14 and the BAHs and then try to lower the pace to sub 8s for the last 8 miles!
That strategy worked OK through the 1st Half (1:51:07) but I struggled to run an 8:45/9:00 min pace through the 4 miles of BAHs. And when I finally emerged from the BAHs I tried to push the pace down to sub 8s – but there just wasn’t any ‘push’ left in the old legs. I was struggling to run 8:30/8:45s when I passed mile 20 in 2:51:37! I realized that I was paying the price for no speed work since my European trip. No surprise – if you don’t push in training it is difficult to push in a race! I knew that sub 8s weren’t going to happen and I also knew that I was in 1st place in my age group and thus there was not much motivation to push and hurt! So it was time for revision #2 to the strategy. It was based on some advice that a friend gave me before the race: “Find some nice tight buns (hopefully belonging to a female) and follow them for motivation and to take your mind off the pain”.
Fortunately there were 2 young female runners (half my age) in front of me so I pushed the pace until I closed right behind them and followed my friend’s advice (and the buns). Good scenery and good motivation! When those ‘tight buns’ tired and slowed I was able to pass and pick up another set in front to focus on! I followed the final set of ‘tight’ buns until mile 25 and then Maddog insisted that I pass her before the finish line.
I crossed the finish line in 3:45:59. I was not happy/pleased with that time and I was really upset with my inability to push the pace to sub 8s when needed! Obviously I need to do some serious speed work and push the old bod through some severe pain to get some speed back!
I had to rush back to the hotel for a quick shower and to check out. When I returned to the finish area I learned that I had indeed won my age group – and collected my third beer mug. I had finished 37th Overall (187 runners) and 1st AG (6 runners).
When I returned home and checked my race reports I discovered that my PR for that course is 3:44:15 so I guess I didn’t do as badly as I thought. However I am convinced that I should be able to run a sub 3:40 (even 3:35) on that course. Maybe next year?
Unfortunately I don’t have time to do any speed work before my marathon in Stowe, VT next weekend so I am hoping that this marathon will serve at least as a fast training run in preparation for that race. I will need to run much better/faster in VT if I hope to win my age group!
Stay tuned!
American Discovery Trail Marathon
Colorado Springs, CO
Mon, Sept 4/06
Marathon # 269
3:45:59 37 OA - 1 AG
This is the 3rd straight year I have run this marathon and I had a few goals:
1) I wanted to defend my Senior Title and win my Age Group for the 3rd straight year
2) I wanted to run under 3:40 – maybe even 3:35 and set a new course PR
Both previous years I had not shown up to the start line in good health or shape but this year I was healthy and (I thought) in good shape. I had to take some extra time off the week before the race to rest an injured left knee but I didn’t think it would affect my performance?
The sports manager decided not to accompany me to Colorado Springs since she had gone the two previous years. So I drove down to Colorado Springs on Sun night in time to pick up my race packet and enjoy a traditional pasta dinner.
The race started at 6:30am on Labor Day at Confluence Park – now ‘America the Beautiful Park’ – in downtown CO Springs. The course started at the Park @ 6200 ft and followed paved and dirt bike trails along Monument and Fountain Creeks to a turn-around point near the Air Force Academy at mile 16. The first 5 miles were flat and then there were a series of small rolling hills until mile 14. Miles 14 to 18 were a series of tough BAHs (Bad Ass Hills) that rose 300 ft in elevation! The final 8 miles dropped gently over rolling hills back to the finish line in the Park.
It was great running weather, sunny and 50 F, at the start and never warmed up above the low 60s. There were 200 runners in the Marathon. I decided to start smart – and slow – to let the knee warm/loosen up and passed through mile 2 in 16:45. The knee felt OK so I lowered to pace to 8min/mile over the next 3 miles. By mile 5 however I was starting to struggle to hold the 8 min pace which was not a good sign. I knew I couldn’t hold that pace for another 21 miles so I slowed the pace to 8:30s that felt smooth and comfortable.
I revised my strategy to hold that pace through mile 14 and the BAHs and then try to lower the pace to sub 8s for the last 8 miles!
That strategy worked OK through the 1st Half (1:51:07) but I struggled to run an 8:45/9:00 min pace through the 4 miles of BAHs. And when I finally emerged from the BAHs I tried to push the pace down to sub 8s – but there just wasn’t any ‘push’ left in the old legs. I was struggling to run 8:30/8:45s when I passed mile 20 in 2:51:37! I realized that I was paying the price for no speed work since my European trip. No surprise – if you don’t push in training it is difficult to push in a race! I knew that sub 8s weren’t going to happen and I also knew that I was in 1st place in my age group and thus there was not much motivation to push and hurt! So it was time for revision #2 to the strategy. It was based on some advice that a friend gave me before the race: “Find some nice tight buns (hopefully belonging to a female) and follow them for motivation and to take your mind off the pain”.
Fortunately there were 2 young female runners (half my age) in front of me so I pushed the pace until I closed right behind them and followed my friend’s advice (and the buns). Good scenery and good motivation! When those ‘tight buns’ tired and slowed I was able to pass and pick up another set in front to focus on! I followed the final set of ‘tight’ buns until mile 25 and then Maddog insisted that I pass her before the finish line.
I crossed the finish line in 3:45:59. I was not happy/pleased with that time and I was really upset with my inability to push the pace to sub 8s when needed! Obviously I need to do some serious speed work and push the old bod through some severe pain to get some speed back!
I had to rush back to the hotel for a quick shower and to check out. When I returned to the finish area I learned that I had indeed won my age group – and collected my third beer mug. I had finished 37th Overall (187 runners) and 1st AG (6 runners).
When I returned home and checked my race reports I discovered that my PR for that course is 3:44:15 so I guess I didn’t do as badly as I thought. However I am convinced that I should be able to run a sub 3:40 (even 3:35) on that course. Maybe next year?
Unfortunately I don’t have time to do any speed work before my marathon in Stowe, VT next weekend so I am hoping that this marathon will serve at least as a fast training run in preparation for that race. I will need to run much better/faster in VT if I hope to win my age group!
Stay tuned!
Saturday, August 26, 2006
14er Report - La Plata Peak
14er Report
La Plata Peak – 14,336 ft
Aug 25/06
Since Fri was scheduled as a ‘rest’ day from running I figured it would be a good day to climb a 14er and hopefully assist my effort to re-acclimate to the high altitudes upon my return from the latest marathon trip to Europe. But what 14er to climb?
I decided on La Plata Peak – the 5th highest peak in Colorado at 14,336 ft – because my son Chris and I had tried to climb that peak last fall and sadly had to turn back at 13,600 ft when we ran into a severe sleet/snow storm. I remembered how steep and treacherous the trail had been so I consulted my ‘14er Guide’ and chose an alternate route described as the ‘easiest’ route up Plata Peak.
I woke at 4:30 am to get an early start since La Plata Peak is located in the Sawatch Range between Leadville and Buena Vista and the West Winfield Trailhead is located 15 miles in the remote wilderness of the Sawatch Range. I arrived at the trailhead before 7am and luckily (in hindsight) as I was leaving the trailhead at 7am I met another hiker from Denver and we agreed to team up for the climb. The ‘easy’ trail starts at 10,380 ft and climbs 3960 ft over 5 miles to the summit of La Plata Peak (14,336 ft)! The first 2 miles were easy as described in the Guide – we climbed about 1,900 ft to the tree line. But then the lies/misinformation began! The trail climbed about 200 ft over 1 mile through an Alpine Swamp/Marsh. This section of Hell was not described in the Guide? Brushes covering the trail were wet from a rain on Thu night and soaked our clothes from head to foot while the trail was ankle-deep mud that tried to suck the trail shoes off my feet! And as we tried to get through this miserable section of trail the skies started to cloud over and darken. We were not sure and concerned if the weather would hold out. However when we finally got through the marsh the sun burned through the clouds and started to dry out our clothes as we approached a couloir that ascended steeply about 800 vertical ft to a ridge. We could barely see a huge mountain peak through the clouds above the ridge and assumed that had to be La Plata Peak?
We climbed a very steep dirt trail up the couloir to the ridge at 13,200 ft. I was not looking forward to the descent back down that couloir! The Guide said that we had to hike about one mile along the ridge and up a gentle slope to the summit. Bullshit! When we reached the base of the mountain we were faced with a 1,000 ft ascent across scree/rocks and no trail. We had to pick our way up the scree using Cairns (man-made rock piles) as our only guide to the summit. I estimated that we would reach the summit about 10:30am. I was close – it was10:40am when we reached the summit. However we were surprised to discover it was a ‘false’ summit – another summit that was 300 ft higher lay about another ½ mile to the North? That must be La Plata Peak? But there was a wee problem – we had to descend 300 ft into a saddle and then ascend another 600 ft to that next summit – all down and up more scree/rock with no defined trail!
As we crested that next summit about 40 minutes later I was again surprised/dismayed to see 3 hikers descending yet another summit about 100 ft higher and another 500 ft North. We were on our 2nd ‘false’ peak – neither of which was described in the 14er Guide? Fortunately it was a short hike (across more scree) to the true summit of La Plata Peak. It was 11:30 am – 4 ½ hours to climb 5 miles and 4000 ft – and half of it scree – and that was the ‘easy’ route! As we were unpacking our lunch a 3rd hiker joined us on the summit. He and his dog had hiked up the ‘difficult’ route (the same one Chris and I had used) in 2 ½ hours! I contemplated asking him if I could hike back down the ‘difficult’ route with him and hitch a ride back to my car. But then I had an even better idea as my friend called his wife from the summit. I asked her to send a helicopter because we didn’t want to hike back down either route! However that silly notion vanished quickly as we noticed some dark/ominous clouds approaching from the west. A thunderstorm was approaching rapidly – time to get our asses off the mountain!
We didn’t think that we would have enough time to descend back down the ‘easy’ route before the storm struck so we had to hope that the storm would skirt north or south of La Plata Peak? We made it back down the saddle and had begun our ascent up the 1st false peak when the sky darkened, the temps plummeted 30 degrees and it started to sleet. – the 2nd time this mountain had greeted me with sleet? It was cold and the sleet stung every piece of exposed flesh but we were happy that there was no thunder/lightning. As we crested the summit of that false peak and began our descent across the scree the winds increased to 40 mph driving the sleet into every inch of exposed flesh. It also limited our visibility and covered the scree/rocks with sleet and ice. Shit – can it get any worse? The answer unfortunately came too soon – about half way down the descent with a FLASH –KABOOM! The center of the storm was passing directly over the mountain and the lightning was flashing all around us! We were fully exposed on a rocky mountain at 13,500 ft in the center of a violent thunder/electrical storm! We looked at each other with concern and thought, “Our chances of getting off this mountain alive are not looking too good! We had no choice but to hasten our pace/descent and increase our risk of a fall/injury on the slippery rocks covered with sleet/ice!
When we reached the bottom of that summit and the ridge at 13,000 ft the storm was still directly over us so we ran the entire ½ mile flat section of trail along the ridge to the top of the couloir. When we reached the couloir the sleet stopped. We thought things were finally looking up - until we looked down! That steep dirt trail down the couloir was covered in sleet and ice! “No way in Hell am I going down that!” I thought. But Mother Nature had a different opinion as she hurled another bolt of lightning into the mountain followed by an-almost simultaneous boom of thunder that proclaimed a bold and clear message “Move your ass or I will fry it with a million volts of electricity”!
Fear is a great motivator! I threw myself off the edge of the ridge/cliff down into the couloir! With the help of my hiking poles – those ‘blessed’ poles - and using a strange fluid motion that I thought might work – a combination of jogging and sliding – I was able to maintain my balance and managed to make that frightening 800-ft descent down that couloir in less than 20 minutes! I was so thankful that I had carried my poles because I would never have made it (safely) down that couloir without them! While I waited at the bottom for my friend the weather started to change in our favor. The storm center had passed over us and was now on the east slopes of the mountain. We could still see the lightning and hear the thunder so we knew there was still an extreme risk/danger from the lightning. I told my friend that I was going to run the entire 1-mile section of trail across the Alpine Marsh and would not stop until I reached the safety of the tree line!
I took off. He followed but did not have the stamina to keep up. However I kept my promise as I hauled ass through the wet brushes and ankle-deep sucking mud and did not stop until I reached the tree line where I finally waited for my friend! By the time he arrived at the tree line the weather had improved significantly. The storm had moved off to the east of the Sawatch Range and the sun was breaking through the clouds and it was warming up!
We finally felt relatively safe so we relaxed and changed out of our cold/wet clothes and completed the final 2 miles and 2,000 ft of descent at a more leisurely pace. When we arrived at our cars we looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement. We were sooooooooooo lucky to get off that mountain ALIVE and we were grateful that we had teamed up because each other’s company had provided a feeling of comfort and safety on that terrifying descent down the mountain!
It had taken 3 hours for the hasty/frightening descent for a total of 7 ½ hours for the trip – on the ‘easy’ route. You have probably already guessed that I have a strong recommendation for anyone planning to climb La Plata Peak:
DO NOT – under any circumstance believe that untrustworthy and lying sack-of-shit- author of the 14er Guide and - take the ‘EASY’ route! Instead – take the ‘difficult’ route. It is much easier, quicker and safer!
I also have 2nd recommendation that I am going to follow myself:
I plan to buy a new toy – a lightning detector that can detect lightning 75 miles away and track the direction of the storm. It can probably also tell you (right before you die) when your ass is going to be hit by lightning!
In spite of some scary moments I still consider the climb to be a successful adventure with many positive benefits:
a) I managed to complete an alternate workout on my rest day that was interesting- challenging- exciting – almost electrifying!
b) I had no difficulty with altitude as I climbed 3 peaks above 14,000 ft and ran faster than lightning along a ridge at 13,000 ft. Thus I am confident that I am re-acclimated to altitude.
And most importantly
c) I survived a violent thunderstorm at 14,00 ft and am alive to tell this story to my loyal readers!
I hope y’all appreciate all the effort/pain/risk/peril that Maddog submits his old bod to just to bring you these interesting stories and introduce some excitement into your boring work lives and hopefully motivate you to quit those boring/useless jobs and retire to join Maddog in future adventures. I can promise you adventures that are challenging/interesting/exciting – and maybe even electrifying! In fact I plan to climb a few more 14ers next week if anyone cares to join me!
Stay tuned for the next report!
P.S. I am sorry that I did not take any photos on the mountain during the storm with lightning/sleet/ice etc, but I was a little preoccupied. I will try to make a better effort the next time.
La Plata Peak – 14,336 ft
Aug 25/06
Since Fri was scheduled as a ‘rest’ day from running I figured it would be a good day to climb a 14er and hopefully assist my effort to re-acclimate to the high altitudes upon my return from the latest marathon trip to Europe. But what 14er to climb?
I decided on La Plata Peak – the 5th highest peak in Colorado at 14,336 ft – because my son Chris and I had tried to climb that peak last fall and sadly had to turn back at 13,600 ft when we ran into a severe sleet/snow storm. I remembered how steep and treacherous the trail had been so I consulted my ‘14er Guide’ and chose an alternate route described as the ‘easiest’ route up Plata Peak.
I woke at 4:30 am to get an early start since La Plata Peak is located in the Sawatch Range between Leadville and Buena Vista and the West Winfield Trailhead is located 15 miles in the remote wilderness of the Sawatch Range. I arrived at the trailhead before 7am and luckily (in hindsight) as I was leaving the trailhead at 7am I met another hiker from Denver and we agreed to team up for the climb. The ‘easy’ trail starts at 10,380 ft and climbs 3960 ft over 5 miles to the summit of La Plata Peak (14,336 ft)! The first 2 miles were easy as described in the Guide – we climbed about 1,900 ft to the tree line. But then the lies/misinformation began! The trail climbed about 200 ft over 1 mile through an Alpine Swamp/Marsh. This section of Hell was not described in the Guide? Brushes covering the trail were wet from a rain on Thu night and soaked our clothes from head to foot while the trail was ankle-deep mud that tried to suck the trail shoes off my feet! And as we tried to get through this miserable section of trail the skies started to cloud over and darken. We were not sure and concerned if the weather would hold out. However when we finally got through the marsh the sun burned through the clouds and started to dry out our clothes as we approached a couloir that ascended steeply about 800 vertical ft to a ridge. We could barely see a huge mountain peak through the clouds above the ridge and assumed that had to be La Plata Peak?
We climbed a very steep dirt trail up the couloir to the ridge at 13,200 ft. I was not looking forward to the descent back down that couloir! The Guide said that we had to hike about one mile along the ridge and up a gentle slope to the summit. Bullshit! When we reached the base of the mountain we were faced with a 1,000 ft ascent across scree/rocks and no trail. We had to pick our way up the scree using Cairns (man-made rock piles) as our only guide to the summit. I estimated that we would reach the summit about 10:30am. I was close – it was10:40am when we reached the summit. However we were surprised to discover it was a ‘false’ summit – another summit that was 300 ft higher lay about another ½ mile to the North? That must be La Plata Peak? But there was a wee problem – we had to descend 300 ft into a saddle and then ascend another 600 ft to that next summit – all down and up more scree/rock with no defined trail!
As we crested that next summit about 40 minutes later I was again surprised/dismayed to see 3 hikers descending yet another summit about 100 ft higher and another 500 ft North. We were on our 2nd ‘false’ peak – neither of which was described in the 14er Guide? Fortunately it was a short hike (across more scree) to the true summit of La Plata Peak. It was 11:30 am – 4 ½ hours to climb 5 miles and 4000 ft – and half of it scree – and that was the ‘easy’ route! As we were unpacking our lunch a 3rd hiker joined us on the summit. He and his dog had hiked up the ‘difficult’ route (the same one Chris and I had used) in 2 ½ hours! I contemplated asking him if I could hike back down the ‘difficult’ route with him and hitch a ride back to my car. But then I had an even better idea as my friend called his wife from the summit. I asked her to send a helicopter because we didn’t want to hike back down either route! However that silly notion vanished quickly as we noticed some dark/ominous clouds approaching from the west. A thunderstorm was approaching rapidly – time to get our asses off the mountain!
We didn’t think that we would have enough time to descend back down the ‘easy’ route before the storm struck so we had to hope that the storm would skirt north or south of La Plata Peak? We made it back down the saddle and had begun our ascent up the 1st false peak when the sky darkened, the temps plummeted 30 degrees and it started to sleet. – the 2nd time this mountain had greeted me with sleet? It was cold and the sleet stung every piece of exposed flesh but we were happy that there was no thunder/lightning. As we crested the summit of that false peak and began our descent across the scree the winds increased to 40 mph driving the sleet into every inch of exposed flesh. It also limited our visibility and covered the scree/rocks with sleet and ice. Shit – can it get any worse? The answer unfortunately came too soon – about half way down the descent with a FLASH –KABOOM! The center of the storm was passing directly over the mountain and the lightning was flashing all around us! We were fully exposed on a rocky mountain at 13,500 ft in the center of a violent thunder/electrical storm! We looked at each other with concern and thought, “Our chances of getting off this mountain alive are not looking too good! We had no choice but to hasten our pace/descent and increase our risk of a fall/injury on the slippery rocks covered with sleet/ice!
When we reached the bottom of that summit and the ridge at 13,000 ft the storm was still directly over us so we ran the entire ½ mile flat section of trail along the ridge to the top of the couloir. When we reached the couloir the sleet stopped. We thought things were finally looking up - until we looked down! That steep dirt trail down the couloir was covered in sleet and ice! “No way in Hell am I going down that!” I thought. But Mother Nature had a different opinion as she hurled another bolt of lightning into the mountain followed by an-almost simultaneous boom of thunder that proclaimed a bold and clear message “Move your ass or I will fry it with a million volts of electricity”!
Fear is a great motivator! I threw myself off the edge of the ridge/cliff down into the couloir! With the help of my hiking poles – those ‘blessed’ poles - and using a strange fluid motion that I thought might work – a combination of jogging and sliding – I was able to maintain my balance and managed to make that frightening 800-ft descent down that couloir in less than 20 minutes! I was so thankful that I had carried my poles because I would never have made it (safely) down that couloir without them! While I waited at the bottom for my friend the weather started to change in our favor. The storm center had passed over us and was now on the east slopes of the mountain. We could still see the lightning and hear the thunder so we knew there was still an extreme risk/danger from the lightning. I told my friend that I was going to run the entire 1-mile section of trail across the Alpine Marsh and would not stop until I reached the safety of the tree line!
I took off. He followed but did not have the stamina to keep up. However I kept my promise as I hauled ass through the wet brushes and ankle-deep sucking mud and did not stop until I reached the tree line where I finally waited for my friend! By the time he arrived at the tree line the weather had improved significantly. The storm had moved off to the east of the Sawatch Range and the sun was breaking through the clouds and it was warming up!
We finally felt relatively safe so we relaxed and changed out of our cold/wet clothes and completed the final 2 miles and 2,000 ft of descent at a more leisurely pace. When we arrived at our cars we looked at each other and nodded in silent agreement. We were sooooooooooo lucky to get off that mountain ALIVE and we were grateful that we had teamed up because each other’s company had provided a feeling of comfort and safety on that terrifying descent down the mountain!
It had taken 3 hours for the hasty/frightening descent for a total of 7 ½ hours for the trip – on the ‘easy’ route. You have probably already guessed that I have a strong recommendation for anyone planning to climb La Plata Peak:
DO NOT – under any circumstance believe that untrustworthy and lying sack-of-shit- author of the 14er Guide and - take the ‘EASY’ route! Instead – take the ‘difficult’ route. It is much easier, quicker and safer!
I also have 2nd recommendation that I am going to follow myself:
I plan to buy a new toy – a lightning detector that can detect lightning 75 miles away and track the direction of the storm. It can probably also tell you (right before you die) when your ass is going to be hit by lightning!
In spite of some scary moments I still consider the climb to be a successful adventure with many positive benefits:
a) I managed to complete an alternate workout on my rest day that was interesting- challenging- exciting – almost electrifying!
b) I had no difficulty with altitude as I climbed 3 peaks above 14,000 ft and ran faster than lightning along a ridge at 13,000 ft. Thus I am confident that I am re-acclimated to altitude.
And most importantly
c) I survived a violent thunderstorm at 14,00 ft and am alive to tell this story to my loyal readers!
I hope y’all appreciate all the effort/pain/risk/peril that Maddog submits his old bod to just to bring you these interesting stories and introduce some excitement into your boring work lives and hopefully motivate you to quit those boring/useless jobs and retire to join Maddog in future adventures. I can promise you adventures that are challenging/interesting/exciting – and maybe even electrifying! In fact I plan to climb a few more 14ers next week if anyone cares to join me!
Stay tuned for the next report!
P.S. I am sorry that I did not take any photos on the mountain during the storm with lightning/sleet/ice etc, but I was a little preoccupied. I will try to make a better effort the next time.
Friday, August 11, 2006
TR Greenland
Trip Report – Sweden and Greenland – Part 2
TR Greenland
Nuuk Marathon
Nuuk, Greenland
Sat, Aug 5/06
Marathon # 268 - Country # 77
3:34:06 10 OA - 3 AG
Now where did we leave off in Part 1? Oh Yes – I had finally departed Copenhagen, Denmark for Greenland – a 5 hour flight West to Kangerlussuaq. Why are most of the flight connections to Greenland from Denmark? Because Greenland, which is the largest island in the world, is an independent country with a home-rule government under Danish rule. The small population of 55,000 and economy dependent on fishing is not self- sufficient and must be subsidized by Denmark. Although many Europeans believe that Greenland is thus part of Europe it is considered to be geographically part of N. America! (thus not included in my list of European countries!)
As we crossed Greenland from East to West I was amazed at the size of the Polar Ice Cap. It is 2500 Km long (N to S) and 1000 Km wide (E to W) and 3500 m thick at its highest point! It covers 85% of the country and represents 10% of the world’s total fresh water supply! We flew into Kangerlussuaq (about 200 Km above the Arctic Circle) situated at the head of the Sondre Stromfjord which is Danish for Kangerlussuaq meaning ‘Big Fjord’. It is one of the longest fjords in the world. Kangerlussuaq is a former USAF Base called Bluie West Eight that was built in 1941 to ferry airplanes from the USA to Europe for WW II. After the Cold war the US turned the Base over to Denmark in 1992 and it serves as the international gateway to Greenland.
I arrived in Kangerlussuaq at 10 am on Wed morning. I had booked 2 days there because it is only 30 Km from the Polar Ice Cap and offers tours to the Ice Cap. I immediately booked a tour for that afternoon and then checked into my hotel. Because I was too cheap to pay $200 for a room in the new 3-star hotel attached to the airport terminal I was assigned a room on the former Base on the opposite side of the airport. That ‘hotel’ was a former barracks for enlisted men and had not been updated since it was built 60 years ago? However the room was clean, had a TV with 3 channels (one in Inuit, one in Danish and Discovery Channel with 50% of the programs in English so I ‘discovered’ a lot of information during my 2-day stay) and a common bathroom at the end of the hall. All of that luxury for a mere $130/night!
The tour to the Ice Cap started at 1 pm and lasted 5 hours. We drove in a huge all-terrain vehicle on a dirt 4X4 road that had been built by the US and is now used solely to take tourists to the Ice Cap. The road follows the Watson River that originates at the Polar Ice Cap and flows into the Fjord. Along the route we stopped to explore some of the terrain and wild flowers including the Niviarsiaq – the national flower of Greenland. The terrain reminded me of a mixture of the Canadian Arctic and the Faroe Islands. We also passed the only 18-hole golf course in Greenland that is built on a glacial/alluvial plain of silt /sand deposited by the Ice Cap and the Watson River. Words cannot do it justice so I took some pictures to explain.
The road ended about 30 Km south of Kangerlussuaq at the Polar Ice Cap where we walked about 1 mile out on the Ice Cap to explore. The ice is rough in the summer and easy to walk on without slipping and falling. It was quite cool with temps about –2 C!
I spent considerable time talking to our Inuit guide about the Polar Ice Cap and global warming. I also talked to several other Inuits and residents during my 5 days in Greenland to derive a conclusion about global warming? I mentioned that scientific research had concluded that there were 32 ‘Ice Quakes’ (caused by water melting and running under the ice resulting in the ice sliding/moving faster and causing quakes) in the 1st 10 months of 2005 vs. a total of 10 in 1995? The guide replied that there were some glaciers that were melting faster than normal but the Ice Cap was stable and in fact was increasing in size and depth each year! He acknowledged that the weather was warming but stated that there had been many such patterns or cycles in Greenland over the past generations as told by his elders. He did not believe in ‘global warming’ as warned by the scientists and believed that they were only raising an alarm to win more grants and salary. This same opinion was reiterated by many other Inuits and residents during my visit? So you draw your own conclusion. I have mine that I will share in person but not in my newsletter. The only conclusion I am willing to share is that I confirmed what I already knew “Al Gore is an IDIOT”!!!
After freezing my butt off for an hour on the Ice Cap we returned to Kangerlussuaq and I ate dinner at the hotel restaurant. However when I left the hotel to return to my luxury room I discovered that the bus quit running at 7 pm and I had to walk 2 km around the airport and back to my room. Actually it was a refreshing walk and there was lots of light since the sun only set for 2 hours and even then there was still light. When I woke at 3 am to make the long walk down the hall to the bathroom I looked out the window and was surprised to see the local kids riding their bikes up and down the street? I tried to sleep in on Thu to make the day shorter since there is nothing to do in Kangerlussuaq but the light and jet lag didn’t help! So I got up and went back to the hotel for breakfast and then I walked 2 miles on the 4X4 road to the golf course to take better photos. By then I was really bored and decided to do an easy 10-mile run using every road in town. That evening I joined a businessman from Nuuk for dinner and spent a lot of time learning about Greenland and Nuuk. I was happy to hear that his assessment of Kangerlussuaq agreed with mine “It is a shithole’!
On Fri morning I took an early 1–hr flight to Nuuk. Nuuk or Godthab (Good Hope) is located at the mouth of the Nuuk Fjord. It was founded in 1728 by the Danish missionary Hans Egede and is the capital and largest city in Greenland with a population of 15,000. After checking into my hotel (I had splurged and booked the best hotel in Nuuk) I picked up my race package at the Katuaq Cultural Center. Then I decided I should do my shopping for souvenirs, etc because I figured that I wouldn’t have time on Sat and the shops would be closed on Sun. It only took a few hours to find all four souvenir shops and buy the gifts I needed.
On Fri evening the local running club offered a ‘free’ pasta party at the Katuaq that I attended since it was cheaper than eating in a restaurant. The food was surprisingly good and plentiful and I got the opportunity to meet with the race director and some local runners. I learned that there were about 50 runners in the marathon and more than a dozen of them were in the M50 age group. I asked why there was no M60 group and found out that I was the only runner over 60 in the race! The race director offered to make a new age group but since there were no age group awards offered I declined the offer. Then he informed me that the club had two male runners in their early 50s that could run in the low 3 hrs! And after he described how difficult the course was I knew that I would be lucky to compete for 3rd place in the M50 age group. The course was a half marathon loop using every road in Nuuk and included several BAHs (Bad Ass Hills). The marathoners got to run it twice! One of the club members offered to drive me around the course but I had seen some of the course on the taxi ride to the hotel so didn’t think it was necessary. I figured a goal/target of 3:40 should be realistic and my strategy was to run the 1st half smart – slow and easy to gage the course and then push the 2nd half?
On Sat I woke and ate an early breakfast to assure that it would be digested before the 12 pm start and I wouldn’t suffer the same intestinal problems/cramps that I had in Sweden!
I kept checking the weather outside and the forecast. It was cool/nippy with a temp of 4 C and it wasn’t expected to warm up much during the day. I decided to wear running tights and a long sleeve T-shirt. I felt comfortable when I lined up with about 400 other runners at the 12 pm start. There were 3 races – a marathon, Half and a 3.4 Km Mini Marathon for the kids and families. The race was one of the biggest social events of the year in Nuuk! I took off with the Big Dogs and ran the 1st 5 Km (with 3 hills) in 24:45. At that point I realized that a) I had over dressed; b) I was over heated and c) I had started too fast! I couldn’t do much about a) & b) but I slowed down immediately. I let some Half Marathoners pass me who looked like they were running just a wee bit slower than 5 min/Km and dropped in behind them. I soon discovered that the nastiest BAHs were located at 9 Km and 14 Km (30 and 35 Km on the 2nd loop). By the time I crested the BAH at 14 Km I was engaged in a one-way duel with another old fart. I say ‘one-way’ because I had looked at his race number and guessed he was running the Half so it was not important to me how he ran. But he must have thought I was running the Half and kept passing me so I played a mean game with him. I let him lead until the final BAH at 20 Km and then I surged up the hill and passed him. Once I crested the hill I slowed down and let him catch me just before the finish line for the Half. He was pushing and hurting as he sprinted past me to win the M50 age group for the Half. As I went by him at the finish line (1:49:39) I slapped him on the back and congratulated him on a nice kick to the finish – and continued on the 2nd loop!
But now I had a big problem/dilemma! I was all alone! There were no runners in front of me for the 2nd half! I hadn’t paid much attention to all the twists and turns in the 1st half because I had lots of runners to follow. I wasn’t sure if I knew the course? Fortunately when I reached the 1st turn near 22 Km I looked left and saw two runners about ½ mile ahead of me. I decided I needed to push my pace and follow them. I passed the closest runner around 25 Km but the other runner seemed to be picking up his pace and I had to push harder to stay close. We started passing runners around 30 Km but I had slipped into a comfortable and easy groove following the young runner and decided to stay with him as long as I could. I missed the markers at 25 and 30 Km and when I finally reached 35 Km in 2:57 I was surprised that we were averaging an 8-min pace on the 2nd loop?
I stayed with that young runner/course guide until the BAH at 41 Km where I passed him and another runner as I charged to the top. At the top I decided to cruise the last 1 Km to the finish line in 3:34:06. I was surprised that I had run a negative split through those BAHs on the 2nd loop so needless to say I was pleased with both my time and performance.
There were no results posted at the finish line or later at the post race party so I didn’t learn until I returned to Copenhagen that the two youngsters in the M 50 group had whipped my butt as expected but I had managed to place 3rd in the age group and 10th place overall. I am pleased with my results.
The running club held a great post-race party that evening at a local discothèque where they provided a nice buffet but no booze since beer cost $7/pint. Awards were presented to the top 3 winners but no awards were given for age groups?
On sun I had hoped to take a boat tour on the harbor/fjord to watch whales or see the coast from the water but the weather was miserable. It rained all day with a temp of 2 C and I wasn’t willing to pay $100 to freeze my butt off on the water. Instead I did a self-guided walking tour of Nuuk visiting the old city established in 1728 and the Harbor where the cruise ships docked. On sun evening I enjoyed a great dinner of musk ox. And No – it does not taste like chicken. It tastes like beef with a ‘wild’ taste.
On Mon morning I flew back to Copenhagen via Kangerlussuaq and arrived in time for another pleasant dinner at an outdoor café. On Tue morning I did a final 10-mile training run around the tourist sites of CPH and Christiania before taking a boat tour on the harbor and canals of CPH. I finished my last day in CPH with a gourmet dinner of braised rabbit and beer at an outdoor café while enjoying the magnificent scenery that passed by on foot and bike.
Finally – Wed – time to go home. But there was one last surprise for Maddog. After I checked in at the airport and my gate a Delta rep announced that today was a special day for Delta and the flight from CPH to Atlanta. It was the 100th flight for that new service and to celebrate Delta was going to present a special award to the 100th passenger who checked in at the gate! And that lucky passenger was seated in 26F – it was Maddog!
They gave me a bottle of good French champagne and a box of Belgian chocolates. I was wearing my Nuuk Marathon shirt and questions followed and soon I was asked to interview and pose for publicity photos for a local CPH trade journal. Somehow it seems difficult for Maddog to stay low-key and invisible??
In hindsight (after the news the next day about the terrorists) I was lucky that I had returned home on Wed. I am not looking forward to my next international marathon trip – to S. America in Oct.
Stay tuned!
TR Greenland
Nuuk Marathon
Nuuk, Greenland
Sat, Aug 5/06
Marathon # 268 - Country # 77
3:34:06 10 OA - 3 AG
Now where did we leave off in Part 1? Oh Yes – I had finally departed Copenhagen, Denmark for Greenland – a 5 hour flight West to Kangerlussuaq. Why are most of the flight connections to Greenland from Denmark? Because Greenland, which is the largest island in the world, is an independent country with a home-rule government under Danish rule. The small population of 55,000 and economy dependent on fishing is not self- sufficient and must be subsidized by Denmark. Although many Europeans believe that Greenland is thus part of Europe it is considered to be geographically part of N. America! (thus not included in my list of European countries!)
As we crossed Greenland from East to West I was amazed at the size of the Polar Ice Cap. It is 2500 Km long (N to S) and 1000 Km wide (E to W) and 3500 m thick at its highest point! It covers 85% of the country and represents 10% of the world’s total fresh water supply! We flew into Kangerlussuaq (about 200 Km above the Arctic Circle) situated at the head of the Sondre Stromfjord which is Danish for Kangerlussuaq meaning ‘Big Fjord’. It is one of the longest fjords in the world. Kangerlussuaq is a former USAF Base called Bluie West Eight that was built in 1941 to ferry airplanes from the USA to Europe for WW II. After the Cold war the US turned the Base over to Denmark in 1992 and it serves as the international gateway to Greenland.
I arrived in Kangerlussuaq at 10 am on Wed morning. I had booked 2 days there because it is only 30 Km from the Polar Ice Cap and offers tours to the Ice Cap. I immediately booked a tour for that afternoon and then checked into my hotel. Because I was too cheap to pay $200 for a room in the new 3-star hotel attached to the airport terminal I was assigned a room on the former Base on the opposite side of the airport. That ‘hotel’ was a former barracks for enlisted men and had not been updated since it was built 60 years ago? However the room was clean, had a TV with 3 channels (one in Inuit, one in Danish and Discovery Channel with 50% of the programs in English so I ‘discovered’ a lot of information during my 2-day stay) and a common bathroom at the end of the hall. All of that luxury for a mere $130/night!
The tour to the Ice Cap started at 1 pm and lasted 5 hours. We drove in a huge all-terrain vehicle on a dirt 4X4 road that had been built by the US and is now used solely to take tourists to the Ice Cap. The road follows the Watson River that originates at the Polar Ice Cap and flows into the Fjord. Along the route we stopped to explore some of the terrain and wild flowers including the Niviarsiaq – the national flower of Greenland. The terrain reminded me of a mixture of the Canadian Arctic and the Faroe Islands. We also passed the only 18-hole golf course in Greenland that is built on a glacial/alluvial plain of silt /sand deposited by the Ice Cap and the Watson River. Words cannot do it justice so I took some pictures to explain.
The road ended about 30 Km south of Kangerlussuaq at the Polar Ice Cap where we walked about 1 mile out on the Ice Cap to explore. The ice is rough in the summer and easy to walk on without slipping and falling. It was quite cool with temps about –2 C!
I spent considerable time talking to our Inuit guide about the Polar Ice Cap and global warming. I also talked to several other Inuits and residents during my 5 days in Greenland to derive a conclusion about global warming? I mentioned that scientific research had concluded that there were 32 ‘Ice Quakes’ (caused by water melting and running under the ice resulting in the ice sliding/moving faster and causing quakes) in the 1st 10 months of 2005 vs. a total of 10 in 1995? The guide replied that there were some glaciers that were melting faster than normal but the Ice Cap was stable and in fact was increasing in size and depth each year! He acknowledged that the weather was warming but stated that there had been many such patterns or cycles in Greenland over the past generations as told by his elders. He did not believe in ‘global warming’ as warned by the scientists and believed that they were only raising an alarm to win more grants and salary. This same opinion was reiterated by many other Inuits and residents during my visit? So you draw your own conclusion. I have mine that I will share in person but not in my newsletter. The only conclusion I am willing to share is that I confirmed what I already knew “Al Gore is an IDIOT”!!!
After freezing my butt off for an hour on the Ice Cap we returned to Kangerlussuaq and I ate dinner at the hotel restaurant. However when I left the hotel to return to my luxury room I discovered that the bus quit running at 7 pm and I had to walk 2 km around the airport and back to my room. Actually it was a refreshing walk and there was lots of light since the sun only set for 2 hours and even then there was still light. When I woke at 3 am to make the long walk down the hall to the bathroom I looked out the window and was surprised to see the local kids riding their bikes up and down the street? I tried to sleep in on Thu to make the day shorter since there is nothing to do in Kangerlussuaq but the light and jet lag didn’t help! So I got up and went back to the hotel for breakfast and then I walked 2 miles on the 4X4 road to the golf course to take better photos. By then I was really bored and decided to do an easy 10-mile run using every road in town. That evening I joined a businessman from Nuuk for dinner and spent a lot of time learning about Greenland and Nuuk. I was happy to hear that his assessment of Kangerlussuaq agreed with mine “It is a shithole’!
On Fri morning I took an early 1–hr flight to Nuuk. Nuuk or Godthab (Good Hope) is located at the mouth of the Nuuk Fjord. It was founded in 1728 by the Danish missionary Hans Egede and is the capital and largest city in Greenland with a population of 15,000. After checking into my hotel (I had splurged and booked the best hotel in Nuuk) I picked up my race package at the Katuaq Cultural Center. Then I decided I should do my shopping for souvenirs, etc because I figured that I wouldn’t have time on Sat and the shops would be closed on Sun. It only took a few hours to find all four souvenir shops and buy the gifts I needed.
On Fri evening the local running club offered a ‘free’ pasta party at the Katuaq that I attended since it was cheaper than eating in a restaurant. The food was surprisingly good and plentiful and I got the opportunity to meet with the race director and some local runners. I learned that there were about 50 runners in the marathon and more than a dozen of them were in the M50 age group. I asked why there was no M60 group and found out that I was the only runner over 60 in the race! The race director offered to make a new age group but since there were no age group awards offered I declined the offer. Then he informed me that the club had two male runners in their early 50s that could run in the low 3 hrs! And after he described how difficult the course was I knew that I would be lucky to compete for 3rd place in the M50 age group. The course was a half marathon loop using every road in Nuuk and included several BAHs (Bad Ass Hills). The marathoners got to run it twice! One of the club members offered to drive me around the course but I had seen some of the course on the taxi ride to the hotel so didn’t think it was necessary. I figured a goal/target of 3:40 should be realistic and my strategy was to run the 1st half smart – slow and easy to gage the course and then push the 2nd half?
On Sat I woke and ate an early breakfast to assure that it would be digested before the 12 pm start and I wouldn’t suffer the same intestinal problems/cramps that I had in Sweden!
I kept checking the weather outside and the forecast. It was cool/nippy with a temp of 4 C and it wasn’t expected to warm up much during the day. I decided to wear running tights and a long sleeve T-shirt. I felt comfortable when I lined up with about 400 other runners at the 12 pm start. There were 3 races – a marathon, Half and a 3.4 Km Mini Marathon for the kids and families. The race was one of the biggest social events of the year in Nuuk! I took off with the Big Dogs and ran the 1st 5 Km (with 3 hills) in 24:45. At that point I realized that a) I had over dressed; b) I was over heated and c) I had started too fast! I couldn’t do much about a) & b) but I slowed down immediately. I let some Half Marathoners pass me who looked like they were running just a wee bit slower than 5 min/Km and dropped in behind them. I soon discovered that the nastiest BAHs were located at 9 Km and 14 Km (30 and 35 Km on the 2nd loop). By the time I crested the BAH at 14 Km I was engaged in a one-way duel with another old fart. I say ‘one-way’ because I had looked at his race number and guessed he was running the Half so it was not important to me how he ran. But he must have thought I was running the Half and kept passing me so I played a mean game with him. I let him lead until the final BAH at 20 Km and then I surged up the hill and passed him. Once I crested the hill I slowed down and let him catch me just before the finish line for the Half. He was pushing and hurting as he sprinted past me to win the M50 age group for the Half. As I went by him at the finish line (1:49:39) I slapped him on the back and congratulated him on a nice kick to the finish – and continued on the 2nd loop!
But now I had a big problem/dilemma! I was all alone! There were no runners in front of me for the 2nd half! I hadn’t paid much attention to all the twists and turns in the 1st half because I had lots of runners to follow. I wasn’t sure if I knew the course? Fortunately when I reached the 1st turn near 22 Km I looked left and saw two runners about ½ mile ahead of me. I decided I needed to push my pace and follow them. I passed the closest runner around 25 Km but the other runner seemed to be picking up his pace and I had to push harder to stay close. We started passing runners around 30 Km but I had slipped into a comfortable and easy groove following the young runner and decided to stay with him as long as I could. I missed the markers at 25 and 30 Km and when I finally reached 35 Km in 2:57 I was surprised that we were averaging an 8-min pace on the 2nd loop?
I stayed with that young runner/course guide until the BAH at 41 Km where I passed him and another runner as I charged to the top. At the top I decided to cruise the last 1 Km to the finish line in 3:34:06. I was surprised that I had run a negative split through those BAHs on the 2nd loop so needless to say I was pleased with both my time and performance.
There were no results posted at the finish line or later at the post race party so I didn’t learn until I returned to Copenhagen that the two youngsters in the M 50 group had whipped my butt as expected but I had managed to place 3rd in the age group and 10th place overall. I am pleased with my results.
The running club held a great post-race party that evening at a local discothèque where they provided a nice buffet but no booze since beer cost $7/pint. Awards were presented to the top 3 winners but no awards were given for age groups?
On sun I had hoped to take a boat tour on the harbor/fjord to watch whales or see the coast from the water but the weather was miserable. It rained all day with a temp of 2 C and I wasn’t willing to pay $100 to freeze my butt off on the water. Instead I did a self-guided walking tour of Nuuk visiting the old city established in 1728 and the Harbor where the cruise ships docked. On sun evening I enjoyed a great dinner of musk ox. And No – it does not taste like chicken. It tastes like beef with a ‘wild’ taste.
On Mon morning I flew back to Copenhagen via Kangerlussuaq and arrived in time for another pleasant dinner at an outdoor café. On Tue morning I did a final 10-mile training run around the tourist sites of CPH and Christiania before taking a boat tour on the harbor and canals of CPH. I finished my last day in CPH with a gourmet dinner of braised rabbit and beer at an outdoor café while enjoying the magnificent scenery that passed by on foot and bike.
Finally – Wed – time to go home. But there was one last surprise for Maddog. After I checked in at the airport and my gate a Delta rep announced that today was a special day for Delta and the flight from CPH to Atlanta. It was the 100th flight for that new service and to celebrate Delta was going to present a special award to the 100th passenger who checked in at the gate! And that lucky passenger was seated in 26F – it was Maddog!
They gave me a bottle of good French champagne and a box of Belgian chocolates. I was wearing my Nuuk Marathon shirt and questions followed and soon I was asked to interview and pose for publicity photos for a local CPH trade journal. Somehow it seems difficult for Maddog to stay low-key and invisible??
In hindsight (after the news the next day about the terrorists) I was lucky that I had returned home on Wed. I am not looking forward to my next international marathon trip – to S. America in Oct.
Stay tuned!
Thursday, August 10, 2006
TR -Sweden
Trip Report –Sweden and Greenland – Part 1
TR –Sweden
Olands Marathon
Olands, Sweden
Sat, Jul 29/06
Marathon # 267
3:38:47 – 25 OA – 1 AG
The purpose of this trip was to run another country – Greenland – but as I started to plan the logistics of the trip I soon discovered that there were no direct flights from the USA to Greenland. The easiest /cheapest way to get there was to fly East for 15 hours from Denver, CO to Copenhagen, Denmark and then fly back West for 5 hours to Greenland.
I figured it made more sense to depart a few days early and stop over in Copenhagen to recover from jet lag, meet some friends and run a tune up marathon somewhere in Europe. Research on the Net revealed that the closest/easiest race to get to from Copenhagen was the Olands Marathon on Olands Island – an island in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Sweden.
I managed to find a friend, Tad from London, who was interested in joining me for the race. Thank goodness because it became very difficult to register and get to the race and his help was invaluable. The local running club had a website (in Swedish) that provided basic details but when we tried to contact the club we got no response? I had to contact some running friends in Sweden and Latvia and ask them to contact the club. Finally we received a response “You are most welcome to run our marathon” but very few details and no offer of assistance with logistics such as hotel, transportation, etc. We were on our own. I had difficulty trying to make reservations on the Net (from the USA?) but Tad was able to succeed from the UK and even had to call a car rental agency to book a car because they refused to answer our emails. But finally we had all the travel plans in place and Tad and I agreed to meet in Kalmar, Sweden on July 28th.
I departed Denver early on July 27 and flew via Atlanta to arrive in Copenhagen around 10 am on July 28. I took a train from the airport directly to Kalmar, Sweden via the 16 km bridge to Malmo – a 3-½ hour train ride. Since I arrived before Tad I checked us into the hotel and did a quick walking tour of Kalmar. Kalmar is a medieval city that was once the mightiest city and center of power in Sweden. The Kalmar Slott (Castle) dates back to the 12th century and the Cathedral was built in 1660. It is a compact city so I was able to tour most of the historic/tourist sites and still meet Tad at the train station when he arrived about 5 pm. I gave Tad a personal tour on Fri night before we enjoyed our normal pasta dinner. By then we had learned two important things: 1) Nothing was cheap in Kalmar or Sweden and 2) Kalmar and Olands were a local tourist region that catered to Swedes (not international tourists) and very few locals spoke English.
We learned that the marathon was being held in Lottorp, a small town located about 80 km north of Kalmar on Olands Island. It started at 5 pm on Sat. We decided to leave around 12 pm because we were concerned about heavy traffic on the narrow roads on the island. I volunteered to drive the rental car since the Swedes drive on the ‘right’ side of the road! We stopped in Borgholms – the largest town on the island – to tour the ruins of the Borgholm Slott dating back more than 1000 years and to eat a greasy pizza for lunch. We arrived in Lottorp about 3 pm and easily found the start/finish line of the marathon. Fortunately one of the runners had been contacted by my friend in Sweden and had been expecting us. He spoke pretty good English and was able to fill in many of the details about the race and course that we needed.
The course started with a 2 km loop around the town and then an 11km loop west to the Sea (Kalmar Sound) and back to town. The marathon would be 3 loops and a final 2 km loop around the town. The course was flat. There were 62 runners in the marathon. Tad and I were the only runners that were not local or from a neighboring Scandinavian country. And the weather was much hotter than forecast – temps were still in the 80s F at the 5 pm start. I had expected cooler temps and had not packed a singlet so I asked the race director if anyone would be offended if I ran without a shirt. He replied that I could run naked if I wished but since my fat ass and the spare tire around my gut don’t have any pockets to carry carbo gels and my race shorts do I kept them on! However the heat was not my biggest problem/concern. Something I ate for breakfast or that greasy pizza for lunch didn’t agree with me and I was suffering severe stomach cramps. I spent a lot of time in the toilet before the race trying to get rid of whatever was bugging me but still had cramps when I lined up at the start line.
I ignored the cramps/pain and took off with the Big Dogs. I followed the three lead women through 5 Km in 23:29 but then the cramps got worse and by 8 Km I was forced to pull off to the side of the road for a ‘full service’ pit stop. I have never done that in a marathon before! While I had my shorts dropped down around my ankles an old fart passed by! When I finally finished the pit stop I set out to catch him and it took me 5 km to pass him and for the next 20 Km we became engaged in a serious duel/pissing match!
We changed the lead many times as we tested each other’s speed and willingness to accept pain. I passed the Half in 1:46:19 in spite of the heat and the time lost to the pit stop. However I knew at that point that the 2nd Half would not be as fast because the heat had extracted a toll on our old bods. Around 25 km my stomach cramps got bad again and I needed another pit stop but was not willing to sacrifice the time so I tried to run through them. As I slowed and struggled the old fart blew by me again and I could not respond. I struggled for the next 5 km but finally the cramps started to ease as I left the town and headed for the Sea again. Around 30 Km another old fart caught me but I could see he was hurting. He asked me what age group I was in and seemed happy when I said “M 60”. He replied that he was only 55 and since we were not competing he was going to drop behind me for a while.
That turned out to be a blessing because I soon became annoyed with the sounds of his footsteps riding up my ass! The weather had cooled some and the cramps had eased so I decided to push the pace and left him behind quickly. My faster pace soon pulled me within sight of the old fart in front of me and I decided to catch him.
As we approached a water station near 32 Km he made a BIG mistake! He stopped and walked through the station and I continued to push. I caught him about 500 ft past the station but now we had a dilemma. If I took the lead he was sure to respond and I wasn’t sure if I had enough left for a serious duel/pissing match for the final 10 Km? My first thought was to see if it was necessary?
I asked him what age group he was in? He replied “M 60”! Damn, Double damn! All I could reply was “Oh Shit – so am I”!
I made a tactical decision – one that was both risky and dangerous! I lowered the hammer and my pace well below 5 min/Km (8 min/mile) and held it for the next 5 km in the hope that I could bury him – or at least discourage him from responding. I didn’t even dare look behind me for fear that if I saw him staying on my ass I would become discouraged and give up! Only when I reached the water station at 37 Km did I dare to sneak a look behind me. I had built up a lead of almost ¼ mile. I eased off the pace a wee bit until I hit the edge of town at 40 Km and sneaked another look. The lead was still ¼ mile with only 2 Km left. I knew I had him so I cruised to the finish line in 3:38:47.
As soon as I crossed the finish line and stopped the stomach cramps became severe again and I also became nauseous so I headed straight to a toilet not knowing which end was going to offer relief? I must have been in there a long time because eventually a local runner knocked on the door of the toilet to ask if I was OK and to say I was wanted at the finish area. I stumbled over to the finish line where I was invited to stand on a podium and receive a beautiful crystal glass award for winning the Senior Division. Maybe all the pain was worth it after all?
Fortunately while I waited for Tad to finish (4:40) the stomach cramps eased and I started to feel much better. I asked some runners if we could eat in Lottorp after 10 pm. Unfortunately all the restaurants closed at 10 pm as they did in Kalmar so it looked like we would not get any food after the race. We couldn’t even have a beer because Sweden has a Zero tolerance law for alcohol. So we had to make the long drive back to Kalmar without food or beer! We arrived in Kalmar about midnight and parked the car and went hunting for a beer. We were lucky to stumble across a grill/fast food stand that served us a greasy hamburger and fries and then we went to the city square for a beer. It was still quite warm so we sat at an outdoor café and enjoyed a few beers (at $8/beer) while watching scenery similar to that shown in that slide show I sent you before the trip. Yes – the scenery was that good!
But after two beers our old bods were wasted and it was time to collapse and sleep. On Sun it was time to take a train back to Copenhagen and begin 3 days of R& R.
I arrived in CPH around 5 pm and after checking into the hotel I searched out a good restaurant to enjoy that celebration dinner that I never got in Sweden. I enjoyed a delicious dinner in Nyhavn (New Harbour – established in 1671) – very good but also very pricey as is everything in CPH!
On Mon I took a standard city tour to reacquaint me with the layout of CPH and its tourist sites (the Royal Palace, Rosenborg Have, the Little Mermaid, etc) and then I explored the city on foot. CPH is a beautiful city that is very compact and easy to get anywhere on foot. But the best scenery can be enjoyed from a sidewalk café as they pass by on bikes and on foot. On Tue I kept my promise to my readers and went to a beach in Amager Strand. It was not a great beach day with temps in the 70s and a brisk breeze but there was still some nice scenery on the beach. However I cannot share the photos with you unless I receive a release form signed by your partner (or your mother)!
And finally on Wed I departed CPH for Greenland. That is the topic of my next report.
Stay tuned.
TR –Sweden
Olands Marathon
Olands, Sweden
Sat, Jul 29/06
Marathon # 267
3:38:47 – 25 OA – 1 AG
The purpose of this trip was to run another country – Greenland – but as I started to plan the logistics of the trip I soon discovered that there were no direct flights from the USA to Greenland. The easiest /cheapest way to get there was to fly East for 15 hours from Denver, CO to Copenhagen, Denmark and then fly back West for 5 hours to Greenland.
I figured it made more sense to depart a few days early and stop over in Copenhagen to recover from jet lag, meet some friends and run a tune up marathon somewhere in Europe. Research on the Net revealed that the closest/easiest race to get to from Copenhagen was the Olands Marathon on Olands Island – an island in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Sweden.
I managed to find a friend, Tad from London, who was interested in joining me for the race. Thank goodness because it became very difficult to register and get to the race and his help was invaluable. The local running club had a website (in Swedish) that provided basic details but when we tried to contact the club we got no response? I had to contact some running friends in Sweden and Latvia and ask them to contact the club. Finally we received a response “You are most welcome to run our marathon” but very few details and no offer of assistance with logistics such as hotel, transportation, etc. We were on our own. I had difficulty trying to make reservations on the Net (from the USA?) but Tad was able to succeed from the UK and even had to call a car rental agency to book a car because they refused to answer our emails. But finally we had all the travel plans in place and Tad and I agreed to meet in Kalmar, Sweden on July 28th.
I departed Denver early on July 27 and flew via Atlanta to arrive in Copenhagen around 10 am on July 28. I took a train from the airport directly to Kalmar, Sweden via the 16 km bridge to Malmo – a 3-½ hour train ride. Since I arrived before Tad I checked us into the hotel and did a quick walking tour of Kalmar. Kalmar is a medieval city that was once the mightiest city and center of power in Sweden. The Kalmar Slott (Castle) dates back to the 12th century and the Cathedral was built in 1660. It is a compact city so I was able to tour most of the historic/tourist sites and still meet Tad at the train station when he arrived about 5 pm. I gave Tad a personal tour on Fri night before we enjoyed our normal pasta dinner. By then we had learned two important things: 1) Nothing was cheap in Kalmar or Sweden and 2) Kalmar and Olands were a local tourist region that catered to Swedes (not international tourists) and very few locals spoke English.
We learned that the marathon was being held in Lottorp, a small town located about 80 km north of Kalmar on Olands Island. It started at 5 pm on Sat. We decided to leave around 12 pm because we were concerned about heavy traffic on the narrow roads on the island. I volunteered to drive the rental car since the Swedes drive on the ‘right’ side of the road! We stopped in Borgholms – the largest town on the island – to tour the ruins of the Borgholm Slott dating back more than 1000 years and to eat a greasy pizza for lunch. We arrived in Lottorp about 3 pm and easily found the start/finish line of the marathon. Fortunately one of the runners had been contacted by my friend in Sweden and had been expecting us. He spoke pretty good English and was able to fill in many of the details about the race and course that we needed.
The course started with a 2 km loop around the town and then an 11km loop west to the Sea (Kalmar Sound) and back to town. The marathon would be 3 loops and a final 2 km loop around the town. The course was flat. There were 62 runners in the marathon. Tad and I were the only runners that were not local or from a neighboring Scandinavian country. And the weather was much hotter than forecast – temps were still in the 80s F at the 5 pm start. I had expected cooler temps and had not packed a singlet so I asked the race director if anyone would be offended if I ran without a shirt. He replied that I could run naked if I wished but since my fat ass and the spare tire around my gut don’t have any pockets to carry carbo gels and my race shorts do I kept them on! However the heat was not my biggest problem/concern. Something I ate for breakfast or that greasy pizza for lunch didn’t agree with me and I was suffering severe stomach cramps. I spent a lot of time in the toilet before the race trying to get rid of whatever was bugging me but still had cramps when I lined up at the start line.
I ignored the cramps/pain and took off with the Big Dogs. I followed the three lead women through 5 Km in 23:29 but then the cramps got worse and by 8 Km I was forced to pull off to the side of the road for a ‘full service’ pit stop. I have never done that in a marathon before! While I had my shorts dropped down around my ankles an old fart passed by! When I finally finished the pit stop I set out to catch him and it took me 5 km to pass him and for the next 20 Km we became engaged in a serious duel/pissing match!
We changed the lead many times as we tested each other’s speed and willingness to accept pain. I passed the Half in 1:46:19 in spite of the heat and the time lost to the pit stop. However I knew at that point that the 2nd Half would not be as fast because the heat had extracted a toll on our old bods. Around 25 km my stomach cramps got bad again and I needed another pit stop but was not willing to sacrifice the time so I tried to run through them. As I slowed and struggled the old fart blew by me again and I could not respond. I struggled for the next 5 km but finally the cramps started to ease as I left the town and headed for the Sea again. Around 30 Km another old fart caught me but I could see he was hurting. He asked me what age group I was in and seemed happy when I said “M 60”. He replied that he was only 55 and since we were not competing he was going to drop behind me for a while.
That turned out to be a blessing because I soon became annoyed with the sounds of his footsteps riding up my ass! The weather had cooled some and the cramps had eased so I decided to push the pace and left him behind quickly. My faster pace soon pulled me within sight of the old fart in front of me and I decided to catch him.
As we approached a water station near 32 Km he made a BIG mistake! He stopped and walked through the station and I continued to push. I caught him about 500 ft past the station but now we had a dilemma. If I took the lead he was sure to respond and I wasn’t sure if I had enough left for a serious duel/pissing match for the final 10 Km? My first thought was to see if it was necessary?
I asked him what age group he was in? He replied “M 60”! Damn, Double damn! All I could reply was “Oh Shit – so am I”!
I made a tactical decision – one that was both risky and dangerous! I lowered the hammer and my pace well below 5 min/Km (8 min/mile) and held it for the next 5 km in the hope that I could bury him – or at least discourage him from responding. I didn’t even dare look behind me for fear that if I saw him staying on my ass I would become discouraged and give up! Only when I reached the water station at 37 Km did I dare to sneak a look behind me. I had built up a lead of almost ¼ mile. I eased off the pace a wee bit until I hit the edge of town at 40 Km and sneaked another look. The lead was still ¼ mile with only 2 Km left. I knew I had him so I cruised to the finish line in 3:38:47.
As soon as I crossed the finish line and stopped the stomach cramps became severe again and I also became nauseous so I headed straight to a toilet not knowing which end was going to offer relief? I must have been in there a long time because eventually a local runner knocked on the door of the toilet to ask if I was OK and to say I was wanted at the finish area. I stumbled over to the finish line where I was invited to stand on a podium and receive a beautiful crystal glass award for winning the Senior Division. Maybe all the pain was worth it after all?
Fortunately while I waited for Tad to finish (4:40) the stomach cramps eased and I started to feel much better. I asked some runners if we could eat in Lottorp after 10 pm. Unfortunately all the restaurants closed at 10 pm as they did in Kalmar so it looked like we would not get any food after the race. We couldn’t even have a beer because Sweden has a Zero tolerance law for alcohol. So we had to make the long drive back to Kalmar without food or beer! We arrived in Kalmar about midnight and parked the car and went hunting for a beer. We were lucky to stumble across a grill/fast food stand that served us a greasy hamburger and fries and then we went to the city square for a beer. It was still quite warm so we sat at an outdoor café and enjoyed a few beers (at $8/beer) while watching scenery similar to that shown in that slide show I sent you before the trip. Yes – the scenery was that good!
But after two beers our old bods were wasted and it was time to collapse and sleep. On Sun it was time to take a train back to Copenhagen and begin 3 days of R& R.
I arrived in CPH around 5 pm and after checking into the hotel I searched out a good restaurant to enjoy that celebration dinner that I never got in Sweden. I enjoyed a delicious dinner in Nyhavn (New Harbour – established in 1671) – very good but also very pricey as is everything in CPH!
On Mon I took a standard city tour to reacquaint me with the layout of CPH and its tourist sites (the Royal Palace, Rosenborg Have, the Little Mermaid, etc) and then I explored the city on foot. CPH is a beautiful city that is very compact and easy to get anywhere on foot. But the best scenery can be enjoyed from a sidewalk café as they pass by on bikes and on foot. On Tue I kept my promise to my readers and went to a beach in Amager Strand. It was not a great beach day with temps in the 70s and a brisk breeze but there was still some nice scenery on the beach. However I cannot share the photos with you unless I receive a release form signed by your partner (or your mother)!
And finally on Wed I departed CPH for Greenland. That is the topic of my next report.
Stay tuned.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
14er Report - Huron Peak
14er Report
Huron Peak – 14,003 ft
July 19/06
I wanted to climb another 14er before leaving for Europe because it is great training for the legs and I need to cross a few more 14ers off my list this summer. Thus I chose Huron Peak – one of the shortest 14ers in Colorado at 14,003 ft.
I invited a local friend to join me on the climb so I picked Rodney up in Breckenridge at 6:30 am on Wed and we continued on to Buena Vista, CO. We drove about 30 miles northwest of Buena Vista into the remote wilderness of the Sawatch Range to the South Winfield Trailhead at 10,260 ft. Huron Peak is very remote and cannot be seen from any road. It is necessary to climb 1700 vertical ft over 2 miles on a steep trail to the tree line near 12,000 ft before you get your first look at the mountain.
We had left the trailhead at 8:45 am, which is a late start so we were concerned about afternoon thunderstorms. We reached the tree line at 10:30 am and figured another 2 hours to the summit. Fortunately the trail was in good shape until 13,500 ft where it became very steep and treacherous with lots of loose dirt and rocks and we were able to reach the summit at 12 pm. Because Huron sits by itself the views are spectacular in all directions.
Unfortunately our pleasant views and lunch were interrupted by dark, ominous clouds that descended rapidly over the summit and plunged the temperature 30 degrees and pelted us with sleet. After a few quick photos we hastily retreated back down the mountain to the safety of the tree line!
Luckily the sleet only lasted about 5 minutes and we made it into the trees before the thunder and lightning began. And even more luckily we were able to make it back to the car before the storm became violent with lots of lightning and rain turned to hail! A typical July afternoon in the mountains! We considered ourselves very lucky to have reached the summit of Huron Peak and being able to cross it off our list.
It had taken a total time of 6 hours to climb the mountain and hike 8 miles. I must be getting old??? I won’t have time to climb any more 14ers before I leave for Europe next week but hope to add 3 or 4 more in Aug when my son visits for a week?
Stay tuned for the next report.
Friday, July 14, 2006
14er Report - Mt Yale
Mt Yale (14,197 ft) doesn't look too tough or
scary from Hwy 24 near Buena Vista.
14er Report – Mt Yale
July 12/06
After running a good race at the Copperman Marathon on Sun. I felt I should be in good shape to climb my 1st 14er of the season? So I glanced through my 14er Guide and selected Mount Yale – a 14,197 ft peak in the Collegiate Peaks (a series of 14ers named after Ivy League Colleges).
The book stated “it would test your legs”! I should have paid more attention! It was a bitch! That makes two years in a row that I have selected very tough 14ers to start the season! Oh well – on with the story.
Because the Collegiates are located near Buena Vista, CO – about 70 miles south of Silverthorne I left very early on Wed morning to arrive at the Denny Creek Trailhead before 8am. It is necessary to start early because the afternoons in Jul/Aug usually have thunderstorms and it is very dangerous to be on a mountain in a thunderstorm. Thus it is important to be off the mountain by 2 pm!!
I set out from the Denny Creek Trailhead (9900 ft) at 8am. It was a 4300 vertical ft climb over 3.5 miles to the summit. Below the tree line the trail was rocky and relentlessly steep! It took 1-½ grueling hours of hiking/climbing (w/o rest) to reach the tree line at 12,200ft.
At that point the trail entered an alpine meadow and became loose dirt but still climbed relentlessly. It took another 1-½ hours to reach 13,900 ft where the trail ended in a narrow ridgeline about 300 vertical ft below the summit. It was necessary to pick my way across huge rocks/boulders on a narrow ridge with a 2000 ft drop-off on both sides. A wind was howling across the ridge at 40 mph trying to blow me off as I nervously clung to the rocks and tried to find a route to the summit! I don’t mind admitting I was scared ‘shitless’! In fact I almost quit/gave up about 100 vertical ft from the summit. Thankfully a man and his 12 year-old son caught up to me and I let them go ahead. Then I chastised myself and thought, “if a 12 year-old kid can do this so can I”!
I focused on them and the path they were taking across the rocks to control my ‘Acrophobia’ – fear of heights – and follow them to the summit. However when I stood on the summit I was still scared and shaking so badly that I stayed only long enough to take a photo of the magnificent view to share with my readers and then hastily retreated back down the ridge to the safety of the dirt trail where I didn’t feel like I was going to fall off the mountain? I turned around and looked back up at the scary summit and shouted “Been there - Done that – Ain’t ever going back”!!!!!
The hike back down the steep, dirt trail was treacherous. I was glad that I had carried my hiking poles – they made the descent much easier and safer! It took two hours (w/o a rest) to reach the trailhead – a total of 5 ¾ hours for a 7-mile hike! I must be getting old? My body was more tired and beat up than after the Copperman Marathon?? I kissed my car because there had been a few times on the ridge when I thought I would never live to see it again!
I am glad that I can cross Mt Yale off my 14er list because I have no intentions of ever climbing that mountain again! Unfortunately I know there are worse ones still to be conquered.
Stay tuned for the next report!
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