Episode 25 Talk Ultra

Posted on December 26, 2012 by talkultra

Episode 25 – MERRY CHRISTMAS. A super stacked festive show with some incredible stars of 2012. Our show includes interviews with Ellie Greenwood, Timoth Olson, Western States RD Craig Thornley, Ryan Sandes and Lizzy Hawker. We announce the winners of ‘A Year inthe life of…’. Talk Training is about heart rate training and Karl, Ian Sharman and myself review the year. Merry Christmas to you all and thank you for making 2012 a great year!

ITunes http://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/talk-ultra/id497318073

Libsyn – feed://talkultra.libsyn.com/rss

Website – talkultra.com

SHOW NOTES:

Merry Christmas everybody and we would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your fantastic support in 2012. The Talk Ultra community is nothing without all of you.

Here is to a fantastic 2013 !

00:00:00 Intro and hold your breath….. a Christmas jingle from Ian

00:02:40 Show start

00:11:40 Ellie Greenwood talks about an incredible 2012 season and what lies in store for 2013

00:32:50 Back to the show

00:38:30 Craig Thornley is the new RD for Western States. He takes the reigns in 2013 and in our interview we discuss the iconic 100 miler

01:05:58 Back to the show.

01:09:36 Timothy Olson discusses setting that CR at Western States and how life has had to adapt to the birth of his first child.

01:28:25 Ryan Sandes tells us about a superb 2012 and how he has become one of the premier ultra runners in the world.

01:48:20 ‘A Year in the life of….’ we announce the winners!

01:51:30 A quick chat with the female winner – A Year in the life of…

01:56:20 A quick chat with the male winner – A Year in the life of…

02:02:00 News

02:22:40 Blog – Joe Grant – Alpine Works

02:23:50 Talk Training with Marc Laithwaite – Hear Rate Training

02:51:12 An interview with Lizzy Hawker… Lizzy needs no introduction. In 2012 she won UTMB for the 5th time, won Run Rabbit Run and then set a CR at Spartathlon, all within a few weeks. We discuss her career and what makes her tick.

03:19:28 A Meltzer Moment with Speedgoat Karl

03:21:40 Up and Coming Races

03:22:55 Close

03:28:30

Salomon Sense Ultra

Posted on December 22, 2012 by talkultra

The long awaited ‘Sense Ultra‘ has arrived. THANK YOU Santa……

As many of you will know, the ‘Sense‘ has become the shoe of choice for those who are wanting to run on trail with a minimalist and responsive shoe. However, we can’t all be as efficient as Kilian Jornet or Andy Symonds.

The Sense Ultra offers a little more but holds true to all the elements that have made the ‘sense’ so popular.

The Salomon S-LAB Sense Ultra Racing is one of the lightest trail shoes ever made. It is heavier than the Sense but has added strengthening of the sole for longer and harder races.

It has the new lacing system: Quicklace this reduces the weight of Sense.
Dynamic Traction: allows the Salomon S lab Sense optimum grip in all conditions. It wasdeveloped by Solomon with the greatest athletes without any compromise. It has different grip and texture which has been designed to optimize grip when it is necessary.
EndoFit: has an inner liner to the shoe designed for positioning the foot optimally.
Drop: a low 4mm drop to provide a natural contact and feel with the ground.
OS TENDON: Thanks to this system inserted in the sole of the S lab intermediare sense, there is a natural flow with excellent energy return.
Profeet Film: is a protection film that will protect your foot area from angular or sharp objects that are on the trail. The Sense offers maximum protection despite its lightness.
Weight: 240g in 8.5 U.S.

When you lift up the box you think wait a minute… they forgot the shoes! Not so. These ‘runners’ are super light.

The lacing system as with all Salomon in reassuring and holds the foot firm.

The addition of the internal ‘Endofit’ makes the shoe more comfortable than you would ever imagine. They can be a little tight to get on at first and you may initially think; uh oh, wrong size. But once your foot is it is snug and supremely comfortable. The most comfortable shoe I have ever worn.

I am not a small guy and the therefore I always felt the original ‘Sense‘ was maybe just a little too minimal for me… certainly on longer runs! not so with the ‘Ultra’. The additional cushioning is immediately apparent.

The sole has grip but nothing like the ‘SLab Softground‘ or ‘Speedcross‘. The shoe is therefore certainly more suited to road and hard pack (or rocky) trail. If your running in soft ground they perform perfectly but if you are a great deal of mud the added grip of the Soft Ground or Speedcross may be a better choice.

In use they are a dream to wear. On the roads they are light, responsive and provide that feel that I have had with traditional racing flats. The bonus with the ‘Sense Ultra’ is the hold of the foot. The speed lacing and Endofit provide supreme comfort. On the trails this becomes even more apparent as the foot moves from left to right with changes in terrain.

It’s early days in testing but this shoe will not be of my feet for a while… they are so comfortable I would even be tempted to use them as slippers.

Now then, I need to go run…..

As a foot note, (no pun intended) Spring/ Summer 2013 will see a new Sense model – ‘Mantra‘

I saw this shoe earlier this year at Cavalls del Vent. A couple of the Salomon runners tested the shoe (Emelie Forsberg and Philipp Reiter) By all accounts a great edition to the range but too early to provide some detailed feedback.

The Mantra will be an everyday trainer in the same mold as the Sense and Sense Ultra. It’s a door-to-trail hybrid. With it’s 16mm heel and 10mm front (6mm drop as opposed to 4mm) and 260 grams weight, it looks to be a featherweight trainer without requiring the user to go to a 4mm drop shoe. Salomon has been heavily delving into exactly how different heel-to-toe drops effect actual stride speed which has resulted in their “Natural Motion Construction.” A lower heel drop supports a mid-foot or forefoot strike that in turn better enables muscles, instead of joints, to absorb shock. Ultimately, their argument is this builds greater balance and overall running efficiency. More to follow….

Sense Mantra

Pico de la Nieve – La Palma

Posted on December 18, 2012 by talkultra

Today, Niandi and myself ran some of the same trail that we ran last week. Unlike our previous day way had no cloud cover so we ran and hiked in glorious sunshine, blue skies and with crystal clear views. Starting at the Roque de Los Muchachos at 22426m we ran the rim in an anti-clockwise direction taking in Fuenta Nueva, Los Andenes, Pico La Cruz, Pico de Piedrallana and Pico de La Nieve at 2239m.

It’s a stunning technical run over hard and rocky terrain. You are constantly going up and then down….

Every now and again moments happen on the trail. Here is one of those moments capturing the Transvulcania La Palma course running off into the distance and the islands of Tenerife and Gomera in the background. Magical !

Niandi at Pico de La Nieve 2239m

Images of Roque de Los Muchacos and this route are available HERE

Caldera de Taburiente – La Palma

Posted on December 16, 2012 by talkultra

An easy day should surely be followed with a longer day right? Good! Niandi and myself did follow the ‘Los Llanos‘ experience with a wonderful 7 hours on the trails of the LP13 in the National Park of the Caldera de Taburiente. What a day!

I had read about the PRLP13 being a super hard hike (Here) and how we could take a Taxi to Los Brecitos…. nonsense! If you are going to do it, then do it! That’s all part of the fun.

We started the trail at 0900 in the valley and had decided on an anti-clockwise direction going through the Barranco de las Angustias ravine which is all about boulder and rock hopping, crossing the river multiple times and some scrambling. It’s mostly slow going and if you are not technically proficient you do need to take care. (NOTE: If you plan to do this you must check that no heavy rain has happened in the previous 24/48 hours or more importantly that any is due for your own excursion. The water level rises very quickly).

Niandi is not the best at this really technical stuff but she embraced it, smiled and bounced from rock to rock when she could. Hats off to her… she very rarely says ‘I can’t’. She takes a breath and gets on with it; respect!

As we have grown to accept with La Palma the terrain changes constantly. Running through the ravine we would then climb and drop back down. Sometime we could run, others we would scramble. I loved it. It would make a great race route but only for the proficient… moving over this terrain at any speed requires real skill.

Finally arriving at the end of the ravine a dam was in front of us. The water here changed colour to incredible oranges from iron discolouration. We moved to the left and moved onwards and upwards finally joining incredible single track. We had gone from rocky ravines to pine forests.

The Roque de Idafe like some huge rock finger pointing to the sky in front of us. We now started to climb up and up. Although this was running terrain the gradient means sometimes you jog, sometimes you hike, No worries. All part of the fun.

Niandi loved this section of the LP13. It was beautiful and inspirational. The sune had now moved up high into the sky and warmed our backs. We finally arrived at our turning point at the end of the valley. Here is a Tourist information centre and campsite. From here you can go on several different routes. Some are out and backs, others circular routes.

We had a picnic lunch and then followed the signs to Los Brecitos. We now had the opportunity to pretty much run and power hike this whole section. Narrow single track made soft and bouncy by fallen pine needles… a carpet like feel under our feet. Niandi smiled and bounced her way down the trail. Such a contrast to the way out down the ravine. It is what makes running here in La Palma so special.

From Los Brecitos we had a small section of road and then we dropped back down the trail to our start point in the valley.

You don’t measure these runs via distance. It means nothing. To be honest we are not even running much of the time. It’s about time on feet and experiences and today was one of those days on the trail that you don’t forget.

You can see a selection of images HERE

In the evening we went and had Cerveza, Pizza and then sat outside at Cafe Eden being entertained by a local band playing Dire Straits, The Rolling Stones and so on… we both could get used to this!

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

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”.

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: