Running Errands

So a part of my training will be running vs driving whenever possible, today I got a 9 mile run in just doing some shopping and stuff. I saved some gas and got some good training miles. Another advantage of "running" errands is you get to see things from a different perspective, I discovered new stores, an outdoor ice skating ring (with real ice) in Santa Monica. We miss so much driving around. Go ahead and "run" some errands or run to work.

Back for more

Since my last post I've moved to Santa Monica, run a few more ultras, the usual 50ks and 50milers and my big one was UTMB (Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc) a 166km (103mi) that I finished in just over 43hrs. I just ran Javelina Jundred a few weeks ago and finished in 23:50 for my first sub 24hr 100.

So whats next, well thanks to Facebook my friend Chihping Fu posted a link to Tor Des Geants it looks like an amazing event that runs past some of Europe's highest peaks through the Italian Dolumites. Only problem is its sounds really challenging with a distance of 336km (109mi) and 24,000m (79,000ft) of elevation gain and has 150hr time limit. After talking to my friend Beat Jegerlehner, a great ultra runner who has finished some of the toughest ultras including Hardrock, Hurt and Plain we decided to sign up, it also falls on my birthday.

Now you have the update, how am I going to train for this... well I've done some research on the course, it follows two famous trails called Alta Via No 1 and Alta Via No 2, they recommend anything from 9 to 13 days each, so thats around a 20+ day hike, we get less than 6 days. I looked around to see if anyone had attempted a speed record on these trail and couldn't find anything other than some fast packers doing Alta Vai 1 in 5 days. After my research I'm getting a little concerned, this may be even tougher than I thought. Oh well its going to be "Epic" and I can't wait to start training that starts tomorrow with the PCTR Santa Monica Mountains 50K