Los Llanos de Aridane – La Palma

Posted on December 16, 2012 by talkultra

Day 7 (Friday) Niandi and myself went sight seeing, cake eating and coffee drinking in the beautiful town of Los Llanos de Aridane. Los Llanos is the finish area for the Transvulcania La Palma.

It’s a great place. It has a mixture of modern shops, traditional architecture and one has the opportunity to see local life unfold. Thankfully no signs saying “English Pub” or “English Breakfast served here”. It is as a Spanish town should be; Spanish!

For me with all the pastel coloured buildings it has a feel of Cuba. Now I haven’t been to Cuba so I am make some serious assumptions here…. however, I am happy with my speculation!

I left Niandi at surfing and answering emails at ‘Tasca El Patio‘. A great little cafe in one of the many side streets in Los Llanos. I went to KN Sports situated in the town. No matter how much sport kit I get I still love checking out whats available. These guys had a great selection of Salomon kit so I did wonder if I would be parting with some money….

In the store I was greeted like a celebrity. It was a real random moment. I was asked to be photographed with each of the staff one by one and the manager in front of a huge ‘Kilian’ poster. At first I was confused… I thought it must be because I was British. As it turned out they are big followers of Facebook and my blog. Funny!

The relaxing morning was followed with Niandi taking some chill and relax time at our villa but I needed a fix. I went out for just a couple of hours on local trails in the late afternoon sun. Taking the LP13 trail I ran down the valley and went rock and boulder hopping.

Our evening was spent with some friends in Tazacorte Port eating and drinking the local specialities. A perfect day in La Palma…

You can see a selection of images HERE

Episode 24 of Talk Ultra

Posted on December 15, 2012 by talkultra

We have an extended interview with ultra running legend, William Sichel. William, who is now 59 years old has been setting records and winning ultra long races for years. In our show he discusses how he got started, his life, his training and highlights some of his key moments. In Talk Training we discuss overtraining and highlight some of the warning signs. Speedgoat Karl joins us and we have a Meltzer Moment. We have a blog, discuss the news and mention the up and coming races and Christmas is less than two week away!

ITunes HERE

Libsyn – HERE

Website – HERE

Show Notes

00:00:45 Start

00:08:56 News

Jez Bragg in New Zealand

Jez Bragg departs on his New Zealand epic:

Journal HERE

Jez’s tracker: HERE

00:18:51 Blog – Iain Ridgeway has just completed a solo unsupported winter Paddy Buckley round in north Wales. HERE

00:19:40 Talk Training on Overtraining with Marc laithwaite

00:42:00 Interview with William Sichel:

William started ultra running in 1994.

William has set multiple ultra distance records at World, British and Scottish level including age-group records, classic event records and Guinness World Treadmill Records. Full details here

Unusually he won his debuts in the 100km, 24 Hour, 72 hours, 6 day, 7 and 8 days events.

Furthermore, he has won international events in the UK (five times), Netherlands, USA (twice), Switzerland, Monaco (3 times), Greece, Hungary and Germany (twice).

In the 2010 Hungarian 6 Day Race, William became the oldest person ever to set an outright Great Britain athletic record when setting a new GB and Scottish 6 Day road record of 518.31 miles.

In the Athens 1000 Mile World Cup race held in March 2010 William was runner-up in an age-group world record of 13 days 20 hours, 8 minutes and 1 second. William became the oldest British person ever to have completed a 1000 miles in under 16 days. He also set intermediate age-group world records at 6 Days and 1000 kms.

The last time a British male runner, of any age, completed a 1000 mile race, in under 16 days was in 1991.

Some of William’s Personal Bests

Marathon: 2:38:17 (1995)
100km: 7:07:49 (1996)
12hr: Track 141.50km/87.92 miles (2001)
24hr(Road): 246.70km/153.30M (2000)
48hr (Indoor): 344.267km/213.92 miles (2007) Scottish Record
48hr (Track): 340.80km/211.76M (2008)
48hr (Road): 329.710kms/204.87 miles (2007)
Six Days(Road): 809.230km/502.8 miles (2007)
Six Days(Track): 857.07km/532.56 miles (2008)
1000kms (Road): 7days, 23hours, 45minutes, 43seconds (2010)
1000 Miles (Road): 13days, 20hours, 8minutes, 1second (2010)
Badwater: 31hrs 36mins 12secs British Record (2006)
Spartathlon: 29hrs 01mins 29secs Scottish record (2007)

Some highlights

Athens International Ultramarathon Festival – 1000 Miles World Cup. Runner-up with 13d, 20h, 8m, 1s. Three World Age-Group records at 6 Days, 1000kms and 1000 Miles.

Athens International Ultramarathon Festival 7 Day, Outright winner. World Age Best for 6 Days (Road) 751km/466.65 miles (2009)

“Across the Years” 72 Hour race, Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Outright winner with 269.364 miles/433.50 kms. (2009)

Hamm Six Day Track Race, Germany. Outright winner, P.B., British Record (M50), Scottish Track record and All-Time Scottish record (Modern) – 857.07km/532.56 miles (2008).

“World 48hr Championships”, Surgere, France. 5th overall (M50 1st). Track P.B. (2008).

World No3 for the Six Day event with outright win and course record in Monaco Six Day race -809.230km/502.8 miles (2007)

Scottish event record in the world’s longest point-to-point race – the 153 mile “Spartathlon” in Greece (2007)

Scottish Record 48 Hour 344.267km/213.92 miles (2007)

World No1 for the Six Day event with 770.247km/478.60 miles, Monaco course record (2006)

British event record in the 29th running of the “World’s Hottest Race” the Badwater Ultramarathon 31hrs 36mins 12secs (2006)

Scottish event record in the world’s longest point-to-point race – the 153 mile “Spartathlon” in Greece 33hrs 14mins 20secs (2005)

“Across the Years” 24hr, Phoenix, Arizona, outright winner (2005)

World 24Hr Championships Age-Group Silver (2004)

Guinness World Records (treadmill) 100 miles & 24hrs (2002)

World 24hr ranking No12 (1998 & 2000)

Basel 24 Hr, Switzerland, outright winner (2000)

British 100km Champion (1999)

Masters World 100km Champion (1998).

European 100km Championships: Team bronze medal (1997)

Scottish 100km Champion (1994)

Represented Great Britain 11 times since 1996:100km team x 8 & 24hr team x 3

Represented Scotland 5 times since 1995. Last representation was in 2009.

01:57:33 A Meltzer Moment with Speedgoat Karl

02:00:32 Up and coming races

02:01:43 Close

02:04:01

European Skyrunning Championships 2013

Posted on December 15, 2012 by talkultra

Emelie Forsberg, winner 2012 Dolomites SkyRace®. © Pegaso Media

Every two years the European Skyrunning Championships are celebrated and 2013 is no exception. The big news is the inclusion for the first time of the ultra distance. The venue is all-Italian with the Vertical Kilometer® and SkyRace® in Canazei, Dolomites on July 19 and 21, while the Ultra will take place just six days later in the nearby Veneto Region.

The Dolomites will again host two of the events in the three-year history of the Championships. The record on the unforgiving Vertical Kilometer®course just 2,1 km long, stands at 33’16” by world record holder Italian Urban Zemmer and Antonella Confortola in 39’13” back in 2008 when the course was inaugurated.

The classic Dolomites SkyRace® favoured by the world’s top runners offers a new challenge after record-breaking performances here this year by Kilian Jornet in 2h01’52”, and the three top women, Sweden’s Emelie Forsberg, American Kasie Enman and Spaniard Mireia Mirò – all under record time. Forsberg’s record stands at 2h26’00”.

Trans d'Havet. ©Augusto Mia Battaglia

The challenging and often technical course represents one of the toughest proving grounds for the relatively short distance: 22 km but with 1,750m climb to the summit of the Piz Boè which, at 3,152m altitude, towers above the start and finish of the race in Canazei.

The much anticipated Ultra is embodied by the Trans d’Havet, a point to point 80 km long with 5,500m vertical climb traversing the Piccole Dolomiti in the Veneto Region. The route, technical in stretches, includes 6 km of tunnels dating back to the First World War, created by General D’Havet, to whose name the race is dedicated.

At the launch this year, the men’s winning time was 10h58’44”, no doubt destined to fall with the top European runners participating here in 2013.

Following on from the Dolomites SkyRace® on the 21^st, five days’ activities and fun-packed action are being organised for runners who want to stay over for the Trans d’Havet. More news on this later.

The European Skyrunning Championships are open with individual titles at stake in each discipline and a combined title based on the sum of the highest points scored in two out of three events. The national title is based on the score of the first three men and one woman in all three events.

2013 European Skyrunning Championships

Dolomites Vertical Kilometer®, Canazei, Trento, July 19

Sky

Dolomites SkyRace®, Canazei, Trento, July 21

Ultra

Trans d’Havet, 80k, Piovene R. Piccole Dolomiti, Vicenza – July 27

El Pilar – La Palma

Posted on December 14, 2012 by talkultra

Days don’t get much better than our 7 hour jaunt in the mountains of the Cumbre Nueva on the island of La Palma yesterday.

Slowly but surely, Niandi and myself have now covered the whole route of the Transvulcania La Palma and what a route it is…. it so varied. Lava, dark black sand, rocks, pine forests, hard packed trail and so on. The course constantly changes beneath your feet and with it the weather too. One moment you can be in bright blue skies with mid 20 degree temperatures and then suddenly a bank of cloud engulfs you and the temperature drops.

Yesterday we started our day at El Pilar, arguably about a third of the way into the whole Transvulcania La Palma route. Our object was to continue up the course toward Roque de los Muchachos but stop at the point we had reached on a previous run. This was Pico de la Nieve on the rim of the Parque Nacional de la Caldera de Taburiente with Roque de los Muchachos in sight in a north west direction.

It was an incredible day on the mountain with terrain, views and weather constantly changing. We had the trails to ourselves only coming across three other people all day.

The running from El Pilar for approximately 8k was pretty easy and then the climbing begins once again and it is all about managing your effort as once again you head up well above 2000m. Both Niandi and myself felt pretty good. We are not worried about pace or constant running. We are on the mountain having fun… running when we can, jogging when we can’t run, hiking when we can’t jog and then crawling when required ;-).

My only issue yesterday was my knees. The long descent back to El Pilar took its toll in the final hours and I have to say that from hour 6 to 7 when we finished was a touch uncomfortable. So, it’s an easy morning today with some sightseeing and maybe a couple of hours on the trails later this afternoon to get our fix! We are here for another week after all….

Images from the day can be seen HERE

Here are a few highlights:

Fuencaliente – La Palma

Posted on December 12, 2012 by talkultra

Day 4 of our La Palma, Transvulcania La Palma experience and today we started our run at the official start area of the race next to the sea on the southern most tip of the island with the Fuencaliente lighthouse in front of us.

Yesterday Niandi and myself did a 3 hour hike on some trails within walking reach of our apartment. To say our legs are a little beat up would be an underestimation. Niandi usually doesn’t get quad sore but she has found that running down hill on technical terrain for 2.5 hours really does batter your legs…. For me, my worry was my knees but I am pleased to say with taping and being careful I am really positive with the progress. Of course 16-18 weeks away from running also meant that my muscles were not quite ready for the beating I gave them. C’est la vie. I am on beautiful trails, the sun is out and it’s great to have one to one time with Niandi. If that means sore legs, so be it.

From the light house you head up and up and continue to head up for almost 50k. This is what is so unique about the Transvulcania La Palma race. As I mentioned earlier, we are not able to do point to point runs as we have no means of collection so our runs are all out and backs. No bad thing. We get to see the trail both ways.

The contrast in the course is quite amazing. Today we stared in black, gritty, lava with rocks everywhere (the first 2 miles of the race are tough going) and then when you pass through the town of Los Canarios you are then running through forests for miles upon miles until you finally break through the clouds and run along Cumbre Vieja with a highest point of 1923m at Pico Nambroque and to the left you have the viewpoint of the Crater del Hoyo Negro.

Navigation is easy, follow the red/white paint flashes on the rocks or markers that say GR131.

We spent 6 hours on the trails and had an incredible day. You can see a full set of images HERE

But here are some highlights:

ULTRA Running Magazine Jan/Feb 2013

Posted on December 11, 2012 by talkultra

Roque de los Muchachos – La Palma

Posted on December 10, 2012 by talkultra

After yesterdays 8 hour epic on the trails starting at sea level and going up; straight up to 2400m both Niandi and myself decided on a shorter run today. Or plan was to drive to the summit of the Transvulcania la Palma course at Roque de los Muchachos and run around the rim of the Caldera de Taburiente all at above 2000m. We would run ant- clockwise of the Transvulcania course and then turnaround and come back.

The drive from Los Lllanos takes just over an hour on some twisty winding roads but one bonus, at least for Niandi was that she noticed the Sunday market in Tazacorte en route… at a risk of sounding sexist; women and markets go together (I like them too). So Niandi could fulfil her shopping needs, usually local and typical jewellery and I could get some photos. I love to capture the people at markets. Not stop and and ask them to pose but sneak up on them and capture them incognito. You can see all of them HERE

Back in the car, onward and upward we finally reached the summit at ‘Muchachos’. I kept telling Niandi how incredible this place is. As she got out of the car her expression changed as she saw a blanket of cloud cover the mountains and peaks breaking through. It brought back memories of May when I watched Kilian Jornet, Dakota Jones and Andy Symonds race around the rim and come towards me before finally dropping for the descent to Tazacorte (our run yesterday).

We spent 30 minutes being ‘tourists’. This summit area is like a James Bond film set with a lunar landscape and observatories dotted here and there.

Time to run! The first thing that was noticeable was the altitude and secondly in comparison to yesterday when we had lterally climbed for 5 hours, today we could run much more. A stunning day.

A full selection of images are available HERE

Caldera de Taburiente – La Palma

Posted on December 9, 2012 by talkultra

La Isla Bonita – Transvulcania La Palma

Niandi and myself have arrived on the island of La Palma – ‘La Isla Bonita’ – the home of the Transvulacania La Palma.

We are here for a working holiday. By that I mean we are here on holiday but still working as and when we feel like. We both have commitments that we need to fulfil while out on the island but we plan to be really flexible… of course I have another episode of Talk Ultra to get out. Based on how slow the wifi is here in our apartment that may be a real challenge.

Anyway, we decided NOT to to ease ourselves into this and went out for a full on 8 hours on the trail on our first day. Considering the longest run I have done in the last 17/18 weeks has been 75 min (due to dodgy knees) that was somewhat optimistic. However, I knew that this was not gong to be a run… more of a tough long hike with some jogging (mostly downhill).

The Transvulcania course starts in the south of the island and heads up the spine to the dramatic Roque de Los Muchachos at 2426m and then from here you basically have a 32-36k drop back to the sea at Tazacorte and then a run into the finish at Los Llanos.

Niandi and myself don’t have the luxury of multiple cars or drop/ pick ups so pretty much all our days out will be out and back.

Today we went from the sea at Tazacorte Port and went straight up to 2400m, had a picnic, turned around and came straight back down.

An incredible day on the trails and while friends back in the UK struggled with snow and ice we had T shirts and shorts on for the whole trek. The course offers some tough technical terrain, the views are dramatic and once above the cloud one really does feel like a ‘Skyrunner’ quite literally.

I personally had a great day. The longest on my feet for months BUT dropping from 2400m to sea level in one go DID test the knees. It wasn’t pretty at times but I am happy.

Here are some images from the day:

No warm up, from Tazacorte you go up for 18k

Caves in the rock face – once homes!

Follow the GR markers

Niandi has a break

About 1800m up, still a way to go…

Running through the cloud was incredible

Just stunning

Once through the cloud layer the views are incredible and the temp was 20+ deg

After 7 hours on the trail, with just 1 hour to go we get to see the sun disappear.

Trail Magazin Germany

Posted on December 6, 2012 by talkultra

Many thanks to tailmagazin.de for providing a multi-page feature on some of my photography from 2012.

This article is featured in the edition available for sale mid December. HERE

The article is available in higher quality HERE

L’Ice Trail Tarentaise 2013 – Skyrunning

Posted on December 5, 2012 by talkultra

The Ice Trail Tarantaise (ITT) is unique. Its course is exclusively at high altitude (1850m alt min) which is the highest in Europe ( medium altitude and altitude max.) and secondly, by the Summit La Grande Motte which is located at 3653m above sea level making this the highest trail in Europe.

Fancy a challenge? Registration open soon HERE