Made it!

...actually in some style, as I was really hauling today, feeling great, & ended up finishing in the first few. My final ranking was 14th - coulda been top ten if I hadn't had fat feet for so many days. But so it goes.

Thanks again to family, friends & co-workers for the huge support, and to Diana, J-B & Jan for not letting me quit when I was down-and-out and desperately wanted to on Stage 8.

Oh, & by the way, did I mention?...I JUST RAN ACROSS GERMANY! Woohoo!

If the town name ends in -berg...

...you can rely on a nice bracing climb to end the day. We're now in Feldberg, which is true to its suffix, but with only one day left, no-one's complaining. Today was easily the most beautiful stage - 'Sound of Music' gorgeous. An early threat of rain never materialized, and so the day was cool & perfect for running. My mojo returned as my feet were almost pain-free for the first time in 2 weeks, and I finished ahead of some of the better runners. Definitely a 'feel good' day.

Diana had a great first Ultra today! Only her natural modesty & respectfulness of others stopped her from crossing the finish line first. She blistered (no pun there) through 31 very hilly miles in 6 hours. She's very happy, & we're very proud of her.

So the show winds down tomorrow with the final 37-mile stage into Loerrach. I'm expecting the usual mix of emotions - elation at finishing, tempered with a tinge of sadness as things come to an end. But being able to sleep past 4am will be something to relish, at least!

Black Forest ice cream...

...greeted us at the finish line in the center of beautiful Sankt Georgen. Blue skies & views of pine covered hills from our gym windows give this place the first 5-star rating of the race. Diana's research just let me know that we're close to the birthplace of the cuckoo clock.

Today's mercifully short 34 miles was no major issue for anyone, though my feet continue to complain loudly about being tenderized for 9 hours a day.
Tomorrow Diana is still planning to run the stage. It will be a fun day, before we finally bring it home on Wednesday's final stage into Loerrach.

A cool, hot Sunday...

A blissfully flat course under lovely sunny skies gave me my quickest finish so far. Feeling stronger each day.

We've reached B-celebrity status here in Horb am Nectar. In how many other sports would kids be asking this particular grandpa with grotesquely swollen feet for his autograph? Or be handed a microphone in the town square just before the finish line, and deliver a speech of epic German schoolboy standards & receive rapturous applause? How bizarre, how bizarre...

Anyhow, two particularly hilly Black Forest stages ahead, then a downhill run to the finish on Wednesday. Diana's signed up to run Tuesday's stage as an 'Etappelauferin'. Should be a fun change of pace for her, after selflessly looking after me all these days. Her first ultra!

Stay tuned as the hills - mountains? - beckon.

Just 4 more days!

Today's 39 miles were disposed of by all except one runner - that leaves just 21 survivors from the original crew of 41. These are very, very tough folks, believe me - dropping out so late in the race is a sign of major injury issues, usually severe shinsplints.

I'm running OK each day for the first 6 hours or so, but afternoons are very difficult for me due to cumulative fatigue & very sore feet. But so it goes. My times look horrible on paper, but my only concern right now is to make it to the finish line on Wednesday. My chances improve with each passing day.

Happy Sunday!

A much better day...

A quick summary of the best day so far:

'Only' 45 miles!
Beautiful weather.
Outstanding Bavarian farms & villages.
Nice lady who offered me a bunch of grapes (vineyards are everywhere).
My legs are back & working!
Only 5 'even shorter' days to go.

Got plans for the weekend? Me, I'm planning to run. Have a great time whatever.

A very tired me

Running two plus marathons in a day isn't easy - believe me! - especially on slopes that make Mt. Bonnell in Austin look flat. I'm wiped out. And in 6 short hours, I get to do it again.

Diana got me through some very tough times again today. I honestly don't think I'd have made it this far without her. Sometimes you just get lucky - the planets aligned.

So 6 hopefully not such tough days to go! Loerrach will be a wonderful sight.

Peace and love.

Another long, tough day

No surprise there! 47 miles, only 35 degrees at the start. Had to save plenty of energy for tomorrow's even longer stage, so it proved to be a very long day on my feet.

We're well into Bavaria now, so the landscape is becoming spectacular. My swollen hands & feet continue to bother, despite lots of salt intake.

The dropouts continue. I think we're down to only 23 of the original 41 entries - tortoise & hare stuff! 10 stages done, only 7 left, hopefully.

Back in the game!

Well, the karmic influence of all those wonderful messages, plus a stern talking to by Coach Diana, got my sorry body out of bed at 4am, & onto the start line by 6am. The cold, lashing rain was a delightful touch!

At least I could run again today, albeit very slowly. Doubling up on anti-inflammatories (Vitamin I - sorry, kidneys) seemed to help. A relatively 'short' but very hilly 40 miles took me ages to complete, but at least some progress.

Just before the finish, we crossed a huge, wide open field. There, right by the road, was an old disused East/West checkpoint tower. Quite a spooky bit of history.


Back to 50 miles tomorrow - fingers crossed stilll.

'I don't like Mondays...'

...at least not like this one. A brutally hilly 50 miles which - due to tons of walking on account of my painful, swollen feet & quads - took me an ungodly 14 hours.

J-B, Diana & Jan did a fabulous job at 50K persuading me not to quit there & then, so I made it to the race's 602.5K midpoint late in the day. Some consolation there. But I didn't make the official 13 hour time cutoff, so between that & my painful extremities I may be a non-starter tomorrow morning.

I'll try & sleep off the pain, but I'm none too hopeful. Sorry to disappoint, but this is physical, not mental.

Cheers for now,
Russ

So German at the finish line...

Ooompah band, sausages, beer, & Germans. A great end to a nice day - sunny weather, less wind, & some slightly stronger running from yours truly. My feet are nastily swollen, & I've gained yet another pound - the medical experts are speechless!

Thanks again - family, friends & co-workers - for all the kind posts & messages. They do keep me going through the tough times.

7 days & 533K (325 miles) done, but a few more hills ahead.

Less ouch...but very windy...

...and I've GAINED 4 kilos - that's 9lbs! My daily weigh-in with the medical team shows that my legs are expanding as my arms are shrinking, & my feet & hands are grotesquely water-filled! Oh well...

Anyhow, today's stage was shorter - 67K, a shade under 40 miles. We ran under huge turbine windmills, & also for a while with some nice locals who are training for Berlin Marathon in 2 weeks.

Diana ran 10K with me today, & continues to be a huge help during the inevitable 'dark times' each day.

Six stages down, 11 to go. 29 have survived thus far. Hills started today :( Switzerland here we come!

OUCH

My feet are very sore today...maybe the beginning of plantar fasciitis? But good news, no cankles...yet. 73K today in 10 hrs 45 mins. A few more dropouts today, I think we are up to 12 out. Very high mileage in the early days (250 miles in 5 days) was rough. The shoe surgery worked, and my toes felt much better today. Weather is getting better each day, with a high of 70 today!

We are staying near the beautiful Elbe river tonight. Today Diana wanted to take a picture of me finishing; she ran next to me in sandals, and I swear I couldn't keep up with her!

Tomorrow the distance is about 60K...so relatively short! I just hope the sore feet can hold on a few more days, but as the cliche goes..."taking one day at a time".

High dropout rate

10 folks are out of the race already, due in large part to so many very long early stages. Today's 50 miles felt better for me, except for a lot of pain in my feet. 11 hours 20 minutes or so. Whew, I'm tired. The next couple of stages are slightly shorter, so this might work.

We're about to start a surgical procedure on my shoes, which should help to relieve pressue on my toes.

Oh, & the doctor tells me I've gained 3lbs already - go figure.

7 toenails left still ...

...they're dropping like flies! Luckily Jan the medical man (who also did a nice job on Diana's tire - see Day 1) is an excellent toenail repair guy too.

Today's 60 mile stage was verrry hard. I was well into the 13th hour, but it's over. The longest day is done. I'm totally whipped - until 4am tomorrow!

Thanks everyone for the messages. Technology is too primitive to allow me to respond to them all.

Now to sleep...perchance to dream.

Russ

55 miles is a long way to run...

...especially when you have to run 60 miles tomorrow. But so it goes.

The weather was much kinder today, & the course alternated between beautiful paths by lovely fields, and deathly spells of running facing huge trucks & buses without any shoulder.

Diana ran some pieces with me, which helped raise my flagging spirits. It took just over 10 hours, & thanks to a railroad crossing near the finish, I managed to finish with J-B (again) & my Norwegian friend Trond. 11th again overall, I think.

Now I'm astonishly tired - another 4am wake-up tomorrow. Looking forward to some shorter stages soon!

The Baltic Sea

Russ again...

Does the name Baltic Sea bring to mind howling gales, freezing rain & U-boats? Well, we had two out of three of those at the Baltic Sea start today. Miserable conditions until the last 10K. I ran 65K in just over 7 hours, & crossed the line with my French friend J-B.
Diana was an absolute trooper, picking up a flat in the early part of the race. Thanks to Jan, her charm, die Polizei, Hertz, & a garage, she managed to avoid a DNF!
4am wake-up call tomorrow, followed by 80+K. It'll be interesting, after a tough stage today.

Out German the Germans

From Diana:
We had quite an introduction to the Deutschlandlauf participants today- everyone in their undies.

As we set up camp in the first gym of many, initial data was collected from the runners that will be compared throughout the stages of the race. In the middle of the gym men and women stripped down to their skibbies and stood in line waiting to be poked, prodded, weighed and measured. A collection of cups filled with urine accumulated on the bench, awaiting later testing. It was quite a sight and welcome to this phenomena of ultra running.

We just finished a kick-off meeting being introduced without a clue of what they were saying, I hope it wasn't anything too important. I think I will eventually pick up on this language.

With the first day under my belt, I look forward to what is to come...

We made it to the start...

...but only after a brief detour into Poland, of all places. Diana & I met as planned - on time - in Berlin airport, picked up our rental car, and were doing oh so well navigating to the Baltic Sea town of Stralsund, when we realized that we were on a very bumpy road with no exits, and eventually a border crossing. A quick check of the map confirmed that we were incontravertibly entering Eastern Europe. After some grovelling apologies to bemused guards, we were given our passports back, and sent back from whence we'd come.
Eventually we reached Stralsund, & met up with charming race director Ingo & my friend Hiroko from Transe Gaule.
Diana snapped some photos, & I'll post them online as soon as we can get our technology to cooperate.

Heading to the start...

I'm scheduled to leave Austin today, arriving in London tomorrow morning at 7am. Nothing hurts today, and thankfully the tube strike is over, so I'll be able to visit my parents and make my connection on to Berlin with less travel misery. Two wonderful things yesterday - a waterstop themed party at my company Hoover's to send me smiling on my way, and a "care package" of logowear from my friends at Rogue Running. Before that, on Sunday night, a delicious meal with our ultra swimming friends, David & Leslie Blanke. Thanks, everyone! And last night, my last pair of Asics arrived courtesy of UPS - a good omen, surely?