Sunday, July 22, 2007
Welcome aboard Jesper
Great news this morning that Jesper Olsen from Denmark is going to join the team. For those of you that don't know Jesper here is his website. www.worldrun.org He has completed a 26,000km trip around the world and in July 2008 he will be starting a 40,000km trip.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Dealing with Maps
Today is one of tedious tasks, so I'm taking a breather and posting to the group blog. I'm less than two weeks away from my departure to Lapland. My pc died a couple of weeks ago and this morning I spent about an hour loading the scanner software into my laptop. Then it was another couple of hours scanning and printing sections of my maps. It was a bit boring, and somewhat intimidating, but the little chore has cut my load from 6 full fold-out maps to 10-12 pages of reg. sized paper printed front and back.
This may not seem like such a big deal, but I'm preparing to walk 275 miles with everything I need on my back, around my neck (waterproof map case and compass), or in my pockets (camera). This hearty walk has been in the planning for over a year. I'm down to the nitty-gritty details now. I'm embracing the required simplicity in my gear list.
It'll be my first walk of this magnitude and my husband worries how I'll handle the solitude. I worry about handling my return to normal civilization with its incredible amount of noise.
All my miles will be dedicated to the million kms for Tibet. I'm sure I will spend more than a few hours thinking about man's mistreatment of his brother. It's long been a personal philosophy of mine that we are on this earth with a responsibility to one another. Our burden and joy crosses language, cultural, and geographic barriers. It gives me comfort to know that my kms in Lapland won't just be a rather selfish indulgence.
My preparations are coming along. I've got piles of bags of beef jerky, dehydrated fruits, various nuts, and oatmeal sitting on a box in the living room. My tent, boots, backpack, and various small objects are huddled together in one end of the studio. They remind me daily to prepare, to check my lists, that the time is getting short.
It's short too for our Million Kms for Tibet. Next summer is not so far away. So, in my own awkward way, I encourage you to donate your training and event kms to this cause. It doesn't matter if you walk, run, swim, or bike. It's an opportunity to participate in something that could have great impact if we all do our little bit.
I don't know if I'll have a chance to post again before I leave. I'll definitely give you some kind of news when I return. After all, my kms will be "official" then - not just a hypothetical, waiting to happen.
My husband posed the hope that perhaps this will be my last wild adventure. I just looked at him, he knows better. Wherever you are, I hope you have happy and safe days between now and my return. My motto for today: "celebrate whatever comes your way, it's all part of life's great adventure!" Cheers! susan
This may not seem like such a big deal, but I'm preparing to walk 275 miles with everything I need on my back, around my neck (waterproof map case and compass), or in my pockets (camera). This hearty walk has been in the planning for over a year. I'm down to the nitty-gritty details now. I'm embracing the required simplicity in my gear list.
It'll be my first walk of this magnitude and my husband worries how I'll handle the solitude. I worry about handling my return to normal civilization with its incredible amount of noise.
All my miles will be dedicated to the million kms for Tibet. I'm sure I will spend more than a few hours thinking about man's mistreatment of his brother. It's long been a personal philosophy of mine that we are on this earth with a responsibility to one another. Our burden and joy crosses language, cultural, and geographic barriers. It gives me comfort to know that my kms in Lapland won't just be a rather selfish indulgence.
My preparations are coming along. I've got piles of bags of beef jerky, dehydrated fruits, various nuts, and oatmeal sitting on a box in the living room. My tent, boots, backpack, and various small objects are huddled together in one end of the studio. They remind me daily to prepare, to check my lists, that the time is getting short.
It's short too for our Million Kms for Tibet. Next summer is not so far away. So, in my own awkward way, I encourage you to donate your training and event kms to this cause. It doesn't matter if you walk, run, swim, or bike. It's an opportunity to participate in something that could have great impact if we all do our little bit.
I don't know if I'll have a chance to post again before I leave. I'll definitely give you some kind of news when I return. After all, my kms will be "official" then - not just a hypothetical, waiting to happen.
My husband posed the hope that perhaps this will be my last wild adventure. I just looked at him, he knows better. Wherever you are, I hope you have happy and safe days between now and my return. My motto for today: "celebrate whatever comes your way, it's all part of life's great adventure!" Cheers! susan
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Cap't. Karl's Traverse Trail Race in Burnet, Tx. 6/30/07
Hi trail runners,
I signed up for Capt. Karl's Traverse Trail Running in Burnet, Tx. .It is a 6 or 12 hr figure 8 loop night race. I've never run all night before. I want to run a 100 mile race sometime so I thought this was a good trial run to see how it would go and what I could learn from it.
I definitely learned a lot from this race. I learned I need to bring more provisions to fix my feet for one.
Capt. Karl's is a pretty rugged trail, well, compared to Huntsville State Park in Tx. which is mostly where I run. This was at least as much work as hiking the Grand Canyon. I expected I'd get 50 miles in the 12 hrs and I think I would've gotten 45 except the 3rd loop was a fiasco and took me a couple of hrs to figure out my way back to the start..that bit was so exasperating I wanted to scream but I got reoriented and successive loops went better. Several places I had to walk fast, the terrain was just too precarious to run.
The first loop went well enough. I followed the pack and although the pace was slower than I would've preferred, I took the opportunity to try to remember the course b/c I'm notoriously disoriented in the dark..Toward the end of the second loop it got dark. I finished the 2nd loop pretty much by myself and feeling pretty good about my time, I headed back out..and got lost. Somehow I did several loops within the designated loop, passed the manned aid station twice w/o going back to the start, I can't tell you how this made me feel when I realized I'd made circles that would not be counted..
A guy appeared, said,"I hate to tell you this but you are going the wrong way. You may as well keep going and do the loop backwards." Then he explained that there are a couple of hard rights after the start, and of course I went straight..I spent a few minutes berating myself for being the only moron on the planet who doesn't know what they are doing but that passed quickly. I'm not as entertained by self flagellation anymore, and besides I wasn't the only one who screwed up. The other irritating thing was I started my last loop at 5:30 a.m. thinking I had plenty of time to finish but the guy at the manned aid station said I had to be back at the start by 6:30 so quit running, walked, did that exact same inner loop that made me lost the first time, grrr..meanwhile my husband called and since I was near the road, he came along picked me up and drove me to the start to get my stuff. Now I'm wondering if I misunderstood the guy, and he meant I had to be back by 6:30 to start another loop..I mean if I had known the last loop wouldn't be counted I would've have bothered doing it. Oh well, there's next year. It was a good experience, overall, I wasn't afraid, I never got sick, or tired, I had to go to the bathroom at "usual" times, so I learned that I can run for along time w/o losing it. And when I was lost, I didn't lose it. And I kept trying to eat something at regular intervals even though I was never hungry. I drank Amino all night, ate a couple of gels, shot blocks, orange slices, a banana, half a bagel..
It was really muddy in places and successive loops of several runners made the course muddier and muddier. I had 2 prs of shoes and socks, switched them out at midnight but I really could've used a 3rd pr of both. My feet were always wet, always rubbing and developed some mega size, really nasty blisters. (mental note to bring duct tape).
My legs are really stiff this morning and a couple spots on my feet hurt. In a couple days I'll be fine. There weren't a lot of people at the race, more were there for the 6 hr then the 12 and after the first loop I barely ever ran into anybody. I saw several fireworks displays off in the distance and once the moon came up, it wasn't hard to see. I had a headlamp and a flashlight. It was hard to remember not to beam the light right in people's faces but I'm sure a few people will remember me for that.
There was about a mile of jeep road through woods that was runnable and I always cut loose there. The rest varied between a short climb, jagged rocks, single track, mud or hard packed dirt. I fell once but that wasn't bad, I wasn't going fast. Overall it was fun, mostly just really funny, at times. One of the times I came to the manned aid station and the bag of pretzels was strewn all over, made me laugh, I felt so right at home! Hearing the generator in the distance was a strange comfort, I guess after that 3rd loop I really focused on staying on the course and everytime I'd pass the sound of the generator I'd be relieved, I'm on track..(There really is nothing like an ultra is there? :-)
They had breakfast burritos and fruit in the morning, and it looked good, but I still wasn't hungry. So I packed up my gear and left. I had taken my shoes off in the road, and by the time my husband drove me to the start I couldn't put them on again so was hoofing it through the weeds and gravel back to camp. They haven't posted the results yet but last yr, 50 miles was the furthest anybody got. I had expected to do 45,but I only recorded 30. I think. If ya count all the trail I covered while I was lost and the last loop that didn't count, I easily walked/ran 45. Oh well, there's next year..I really want to go back and do that again.
Everybody was really nice and the race director is a doll. Capt Karl's is another great, enthrallingadventure and for a good cause. (Cancer research) I loved it.
Lynnor Matheney
Houston, Tx
I signed up for Capt. Karl's Traverse Trail Running in Burnet, Tx. .It is a 6 or 12 hr figure 8 loop night race. I've never run all night before. I want to run a 100 mile race sometime so I thought this was a good trial run to see how it would go and what I could learn from it.
I definitely learned a lot from this race. I learned I need to bring more provisions to fix my feet for one.
Capt. Karl's is a pretty rugged trail, well, compared to Huntsville State Park in Tx. which is mostly where I run. This was at least as much work as hiking the Grand Canyon. I expected I'd get 50 miles in the 12 hrs and I think I would've gotten 45 except the 3rd loop was a fiasco and took me a couple of hrs to figure out my way back to the start..that bit was so exasperating I wanted to scream but I got reoriented and successive loops went better. Several places I had to walk fast, the terrain was just too precarious to run.
The first loop went well enough. I followed the pack and although the pace was slower than I would've preferred, I took the opportunity to try to remember the course b/c I'm notoriously disoriented in the dark..Toward the end of the second loop it got dark. I finished the 2nd loop pretty much by myself and feeling pretty good about my time, I headed back out..and got lost. Somehow I did several loops within the designated loop, passed the manned aid station twice w/o going back to the start, I can't tell you how this made me feel when I realized I'd made circles that would not be counted..
A guy appeared, said,"I hate to tell you this but you are going the wrong way. You may as well keep going and do the loop backwards." Then he explained that there are a couple of hard rights after the start, and of course I went straight..I spent a few minutes berating myself for being the only moron on the planet who doesn't know what they are doing but that passed quickly. I'm not as entertained by self flagellation anymore, and besides I wasn't the only one who screwed up. The other irritating thing was I started my last loop at 5:30 a.m. thinking I had plenty of time to finish but the guy at the manned aid station said I had to be back at the start by 6:30 so quit running, walked, did that exact same inner loop that made me lost the first time, grrr..meanwhile my husband called and since I was near the road, he came along picked me up and drove me to the start to get my stuff. Now I'm wondering if I misunderstood the guy, and he meant I had to be back by 6:30 to start another loop..I mean if I had known the last loop wouldn't be counted I would've have bothered doing it. Oh well, there's next year. It was a good experience, overall, I wasn't afraid, I never got sick, or tired, I had to go to the bathroom at "usual" times, so I learned that I can run for along time w/o losing it. And when I was lost, I didn't lose it. And I kept trying to eat something at regular intervals even though I was never hungry. I drank Amino all night, ate a couple of gels, shot blocks, orange slices, a banana, half a bagel..
It was really muddy in places and successive loops of several runners made the course muddier and muddier. I had 2 prs of shoes and socks, switched them out at midnight but I really could've used a 3rd pr of both. My feet were always wet, always rubbing and developed some mega size, really nasty blisters. (mental note to bring duct tape).
My legs are really stiff this morning and a couple spots on my feet hurt. In a couple days I'll be fine. There weren't a lot of people at the race, more were there for the 6 hr then the 12 and after the first loop I barely ever ran into anybody. I saw several fireworks displays off in the distance and once the moon came up, it wasn't hard to see. I had a headlamp and a flashlight. It was hard to remember not to beam the light right in people's faces but I'm sure a few people will remember me for that.
There was about a mile of jeep road through woods that was runnable and I always cut loose there. The rest varied between a short climb, jagged rocks, single track, mud or hard packed dirt. I fell once but that wasn't bad, I wasn't going fast. Overall it was fun, mostly just really funny, at times. One of the times I came to the manned aid station and the bag of pretzels was strewn all over, made me laugh, I felt so right at home! Hearing the generator in the distance was a strange comfort, I guess after that 3rd loop I really focused on staying on the course and everytime I'd pass the sound of the generator I'd be relieved, I'm on track..(There really is nothing like an ultra is there? :-)
They had breakfast burritos and fruit in the morning, and it looked good, but I still wasn't hungry. So I packed up my gear and left. I had taken my shoes off in the road, and by the time my husband drove me to the start I couldn't put them on again so was hoofing it through the weeds and gravel back to camp. They haven't posted the results yet but last yr, 50 miles was the furthest anybody got. I had expected to do 45,but I only recorded 30. I think. If ya count all the trail I covered while I was lost and the last loop that didn't count, I easily walked/ran 45. Oh well, there's next year..I really want to go back and do that again.
Everybody was really nice and the race director is a doll. Capt Karl's is another great, enthrallingadventure and for a good cause. (Cancer research) I loved it.
Lynnor Matheney
Houston, Tx
Monday, July 2, 2007
A Marathon in Tibet
Was quite surprised to find this Marathon tonight when I was looking for information for my main web site:
http://www.great-tibetan-marathon.com/
Definitely one to put on the Wish list in future years!
http://www.great-tibetan-marathon.com/
General information
Thank you for your interest in the Great Tibetan Marathon 2007. We welcome you to explore this amazing race, set in one of the worlds highest mountain ranges, amidst a landscape of unparalleled beauty, history and unique culture.
The Great Tibetan Marathon 2007
Set in the Trans-Himalayan backdrop of staggering proportions, this marathon offers an exceptional running experience. Located within the political boundaries of India, Ladakh - the western most province on the Tibetan Plateau is also the only place other than Bhutan that has Buddhism as a living religion.
Running the distance of your choice at an average altitude of 3600mts (11,800 ft.), the Great Tibetan Marathon is undoubtedly a challenge of a lifetime. Forbes magazine selected the Great Tibetan Marathon as one of the “World’s 10 most Extreme Marathons” (Link).
There will be 4 running categories as follows:
1. Full Marathon
2. Half Marathon
3. 10 km
4. 5 km
To help you acclimatize fully and to avoid any serious altitude related sicknesses during the race, there is a mandatory 5 day period you will be required to be at an altitude of 3500mts or higher before you are able to run the distance of your choice. All our packages on offer confirm to this norm.
The Marathon program itself is 3 consecutive days, with the actual marathon taking place on the 21st of July.
On 19th July 2007, or at the earliest your 5th day of stay in Leh, we’ll be going for a Hike up to a monastery just outside Leh. Upon reaching the top, our team of health professionals will test you for your bodies Oxygen retention capacity. This is to give you and idea of how well you have adapted to the thin oxygen level of this Tibetan Highland.
The morning after the Hike, we’ll be organizing a 3km breakfast run. This will help you gauge your fitness level, and give you a taste of the challenge the next morning.
On the morning of 21st July 2007, the Great Tibetan Marathon begins to the sound of several meter long Buddhist horns from the courtyard of Hemis Monastery (3800mts). Hemis is the head monastery of Ladakh Region, and prior to the race the Chief Lama (priest) of the monastery will bless all the participants.
Running across the spectacular views the Indus valley offers, the track is set at the foot of the Stok Kangri Range (6100mts). Through out the track there will be several water and medical stops. Also, Ambulances will be constantly going up and down the track to take care of any emergencies. The track itself varies between tarmac, gravel, wooden bridges, village streets and overall a good firm track. It finishes at the foot of Spituk Monastery with a Buddhist celebration. At the finish, there will be a large medical tent with a team of doctors and nurses should you need any medical attention. Also at hand will be a team of masseurs for your service.
The Marathon day ends with a Gala Dinner in a large marquee tent setup specially for the purpose at the banks of the river Indus. The theme ? 1001 Tibetan Nights!
Participation
We would like to offer everyone the chance to come and experience the Great Tibetan Marathon, but unfortunately given the limited infrastructure in such a remote place as Leh, Ladakh; we are at present only able to offer 250 places.
These are available on a first come first serve basis.
Definitely one to put on the Wish list in future years!
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