Tuesday, December 09, 2008

I've achieved New Balance!


Christmas came early for me this year, thanks to the good folks at New Balance. Six shiny new pairs of 757s arrived at my Hoover's office today; they should hopefully get a grateful me & my aching feet across Europe.

Four months to go, and feeling strong. My plane ticket to the start line in Bari, Italy is purchased, as well as an optimistic return ticket from the airport closest to the finish - Alta, in northernmost Norway - 10 weeks later. Just the small matter of Austria, Germany, Sweden & Finland in between!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Lake Tahoe 72-mile Ultra


This race starts at 12:01 a.m. at the Pope Beach, Nevada finish line of the Marathon, and the 72.2 mile course is the circumference of the lake. Just before midnight, about 20 intrepid souls with headlamps and reflective gear briefly milled around before been sent off towards the “bright lights” of South Lake Tahoe, home to tacky gambling casinos and a few drunken late-night revellers.

My run started smoothly and easily. Each runner was supposed to have a support crew & vehicle, but I wanted Claire to catch up some overdue sleep (she’d just returned from the UK where grandbaby #2 Ben has just been born), so I ran alone, hoping that the liquids I’d cached the previous two days were still there. Thankfully, they all were. I carried a small waistpack containing two PBJ sandwiches, some GUs and plenty of heavy dose anti-inflammatories.

Once clear of South Lake Tahoe, the streetlights ended, and without light pollution the most incredible display of stars and galaxies came into view. From time to time, I turned off my headlamp for 30 seconds, to get the best possible view. Words cannot describe the sight – a most remarkable 5 hours of stargazing. The lights all across the lake were a perfect man-made complement to nature’s phenomena. The temperatures never got below freezing, and there was almost no wind. In all, a perfect night to run through.

Before 5 a.m., I heard my cellphone ring. It was Claire checking in on me. I was pleased to report good progress. I’d reached 20 miles - the top of Spooner Summit at over 7,000ft - by 3:15 a.m., and was closing in on Incline Village at about 30 miles, still feeling strong as the dawn started to send the stars to bed. Suddenly though I started to have what we can delicately describe as “tummy problems”. Each time I needed to deal with one of these little problems – at least 3 of which I can clearly remember - I would emerge from portajohn or woods to see one or two of my competitors who had passed me while I was indisposed, and were now headed off ahead of me into the gloaming. This was a little worrying and dispiriting, but gradually my system returned to normal as I crossed the stateline back into California with about 37 miles to go. Ultrarunning does teach you patience and the need to accept the inevitability of fate. Eventually I pulled back on the folks who’d passed me, and realized that they were by that time in sorrier shape than I.

Between miles 60 and 66 there are some monster hills on this course and the combination of 75 degree temperatures and brutal climbs was taking its toll, but I confess that I did feel super-strong over the last 6 miles. I had managed to qualify for Western States by completing the first 50 miles in under 11 hours (actually 9 hours 35 minutes), and I got a nice piece of mantelpiece decoration for finishing fourth overall in 14 hours 6 minutes. This was my last real test before attempting Trans Europe in Spring of 2009, and I was very pleased that I managed to complete it feeling strong and without the injuries and pain that have been troubling me for the last two years.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Triathlon Long Course World Championships

Claire placed an outstanding 9th in her age group at the ITU World Championships in Almere, Holland on Sunday. Like many other competitors on a very sunny day, she struggled towards the end of the run, but put in great swim and cycle performances, and beat her goal time of 9 hours by 10 MINUTES! Most importantly, she wasn't intimidated by a field of awesome athletes from all over the world. I was a very happy witness & proud "tri sherpa".

Monday, July 21, 2008

Nine months to go


The start of Trans Europe in Bari, Italy is 9 months away, and it finishes 11 months from today in Norway. Midsummer's Day, in fact - so far north, I'm sure it will be daylight for all 24 hours. I can't wait to get to the Arctic Circle and see the Northern Lights. I'm feeling very good these days; all my muscle problems which made 2007 so miserable & painful for me have receded, and training is going very well. 70+ miles this week was no problem, and so I'm getting more confident that I will be able to ramp my mileage and make it to the start...making it to the finish will be an altogether different and harder challenge.

I like this quote just in from the ocean rower Roz Savage, who's right now in the middle of the Pacific Ocean:

In ordinary life on dry land, I get so wrapped up in the general busy-ness and bustle, and it's only when I get out on the ocean, or into the mountains, or otherwise into the wild, that I am reminded that in the overall span of time and space, my little life - although very important to me - is smaller than a grain of sand on a beach.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Back from Nepal


We made it to Everest Base Camp, and climbed Kala Patthar, both in the 18,000ft range. The last hour or two to Base Camp was terrifying - heading up the Khombu Glacier, we had massive avalanches on our right side and rockslides on our left, as we picked our way over snowy, rocky terrain. Tom got hit by a flying rock on the leg, but adrenalin was flowing, and we made it.

Two weeks sleeping in a tent without seeing a vehicle - let alone a wheel - was a unique experience. The scale of the Himalayas is unforgettable yet so hard to describe, let alone photograph. But as ever, it's good to be home.

More photos at:
http://s316.photobucket.com/albums/mm354/rsecker/?albumview=grid

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Busy June...


I'm heading to Nepal and Mt Everest base camp with my newly graduated son Tom, before he leaves Austin to become a UNC Tarheel. Other son Rob heads to Anchorage, Alaska by bike with the Texas 4000 program, and Claire does her first Ironman in Coeur d'Alene. A crazy month!

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Shoe collection


Lots of people ask me - probably because they can't think of any other topic - "how many pairs of shoes do you get through"? Well, this weekend I dug into my Aladin's Cave of past and present sneakers, and came up with this Emelda Marcos-like array. Yikes.