No pain, no gain – well, that is what they say! Today, was ‘pain’ morning at the Lanzarote Training Camp when all the participants did at least 6 reps of a volcano.
It’s a challenging morning and the vertical gain is designed to replicate the largest jebel that has appeared in all the latest editions of Marathon des Sables.
Steep with lose gravel for the climb and the descent is a mixture of stone, lose rocks and sharp lava – a gravel road section allows some recovery before a repeating.
It was a hot day and although the session was tough – everyone loved it!
A break for lunch and then Elisabet Barnes did a practical workshop of foot care. It’s an essential session that prepares everyone with all the relevant skills to allow them the flexibility to be self-sufficient when racing. Elisabet also showed and demonstrated foot taping as a preventive measure against blisters.
At 6pm, the day concluded with an easy 5 or 10km shake-outrun to loosen the legs!
Today was arrival day at Club La Santa in Lanzarote. Early starts from a snowy and icy UK saw our first clients arrive midday and then a steady trickle of runners arrived culminating in our last runners arriving at 1630. In total, the 2018 Lanzarote Training Camp has 46-attendees.
We have the best coaches on hand to guide our clients through the rigours, both physical and mental, for preparing for a multi-day adventure in 2018 or onwards into 2019.
Arguably, day 1 is a relaxing day as it is all about travel. However, to ease everyone into a challenging week, we started with an easy 1-hour run as the day came to an end. Clear skies, the glow of a disappearing sun and the smell of the ‘sea’ in the air – what better way to start a training camp?
Tom Evans, 3rd place at the 2017 Marathon des Sables led the speedy runners. Sondre Amdahl, experienced single-stage and multi-day runner, lead the 2nd group. Two times MDS champion and experienced multi-day race expert, Elisabet Barnes, guided group 3 and then group 4 was lead by our walking specialist, Marie Paule Pierson.
It was s stunning start to the 2018 camp!
Early evening drinks, a group meal and briefing finished the day. Tomorrow, Friday, the participants embark on a lengthy coastal run of sand, rocks, single-track and dunes. It is going to be a great day and one that is eagerly anticipated by all.
However, racing (and life) today is very different to say just 5-years ago. Social media has changed all that. Our lives are shared daily, hourly or by the minute in some cases.
Is racing about ‘the selfie?’
Mariepaule Pierson here takes a look at the ‘race report’ and provides an enlightening insight into why we run…. THE BLOG!
Dear friends and Facebook followers, I cannot thank you enough for the support you have provided me in my times of need, as this mostly faithful account will show.
As you know, I attempted the infamous Parish Walk on a remote Island of the Irish Sea, cut off from all civilisation for as much as 2 or 3 days a year when the weather is more adverse than an English summer. Their flag is a mess of three human legs, quartered and reassembled in a grotesque spurred star; at least I knew the score, should I fail to finish.
Bracing myself for the task ahead, involving a trip to Gatwick in the not-so-early hours of Friday morning, I just made it in time on the pavement outside my house, amazed by the sheer strength of human resilience so early into the day before a race event. Luckily, I still had Wi-Fi connection and hypothermia was only just a mere possibility on the scale of unlikely disasters ahead.
As soon as the car arrived, I felt a surge of gratitude. My lack of training had not been in vain. Here I was, stepping in the front passenger seat, treated like a VIP even before proving my worth over the coming days, while three brave athletes were narrowly confined on the backseat, feeble squashed morning thoracic cages sacrificing their airspace for my comfort. As you, my trusted FB friends, know it well, this kind of incredible support you can get from complete strangers is what life is all about, the likes and encouragement messages without which hardly any one save the hardest hardened survivor can even consider doing any sporting event at all.
In any case, we reached Gatwick, and thereupon, the Isle of Man. Digging very deep within myself, and in spite of the absence of blisters or joint pain, or even the dreaded dehydration which is so prevalent on low cost airlines, I made it to the luggage reclaim and we piled up in the car, this time using every bit of mental strength remaining to take my place in the rear seat. In such conditions, when team work is essential for survival, it is the unconditional support of one’s fellow compatriots, even though we were in effect not far from asylum seekers from three different countries, which sustains one.
The traversée of the Island was no mean feat. The 10 miles from the airport to Peel, with luggage in tow, as well as the necessary water, food and supplies for the Parish Walk the following day and night, were only achieved thanks to the clarity of mind and sharpness of spirit of our driver, who, well ensconced at the wheel, allowed us a little detour via Snaefell, the highest mountain and the (only) summit higher than 2,000 feet on the Isle of Man, at 2,034 feet above sea level. The summit is crowned by a railway station, cafe and several communications masts. And, let’s add for the sake of accuracy, by a statue of Joey Dunlop, motorcyclist icon who won the Isle of Man TT 26 times. My poor suffering knees will bear witness of the truth of this brutal ascent. Grass, sheep, even a cloud, nothing would stop us from reaching the café at the top, and we gave it our all, throwing caution to the air and risking everything for the foggy lack of breath-taking view, limbs screaming for relief, hands numb from the unforgiving dampness of the wind… this will be a loosening up stroll I will never forget.
I agree, I hadn’t trained enough. My fault entirely. Only on small occasions had I managed a whole day without internet, and had not done a multiday event in months. God knows where I found the inner strength to stay nearly a whole day and a half without social media, but sometimes the unsurmountable difficulty, the exhaustion, the grandiose scenery, make you forget all your misery for a last surge of raging resolve. The hotel didn’t have Wi-Fi and the island, although a financial tax haven, on a purely telecom basis, is inhospitable and social media averse. We decided on the sheer shock of the revelation, to gather our resources and share our remaining data. Eyes sore from straining on tiny screens, fingers swollen to twice their size and numb from typing digits and letters, neck and shoulders in need of deep tissue massage from the relentless effort of looking down on our devices, oh the pain and mental blistering. But it was all worth it. We were connected! We could all sit at the breakfast table the next morning, typing to each other via our mobiles, communication restored! I had felt so alone, but the memories of those dark times are fading in the light of the amazing connectedness we all felt. Thank you again, my FB friends, for your likes and oohs and aahs and wonders and words of encouragement and congratulations. This would not have been possible without your faithful and deep addiction to other people’s news feed.
The next day was the 85 miles’ parish walk, then we flew back to London without incident.
We would love your feedback. Let us know does this post ring true for you, are you the blogger, are you the reader, are you the participant….
Episode 97 of Talk Ultra has an interview with Andy Symonds about his return to running and top results after prolonged injury, we speak with Remi Bonnet rising star of the VK and SKY distance and Mariepaule Pierson is back from Atacama and tells us all about it. We have Talk Training, the News and Speedboat Karl.
00:01:30 Show Start
00:07:30 NEWS
Help Nepal – Nepal images ‘FACES of NEPAL’ – order a print and all funds donated to Nepal charities HERE
TRAINING CAMP in Lanzarote with Elisabet Barnes 28th Jan to Feb 4th HERE
LANTAU 2 PEAKS
1 – Remi Bonnet 2:14:07
2 – Manuel Merillas 2:24:29
3 – Tadei Pivk 2:26:39
1 – Yngvild Kaspersen 2:42:04
2 – Laura Orgue 2:49:58
3 – Maite Maiora 2:51:19
00:12:56 INTERVIEW
REMI BONNET
UTAT 105km/ 6500m +
1 – Andy Symonds 13:41
2 – Julien Chorier 14:20
3 – Omar Bouhrim 15:32
1 – Andrea Huser 15:47
2 – Francesca Canepa 19:34
3 – Geraldine Leroy 23:08
Other races are 68km, 42km and 26km
WARRIOR DASH
Max King 2-years in a row wins $30,000 – F***!
CROWN OF THE CONTINENT TRAVERSE
Mike Wolfe and Mike Foote run an incredible 600-mile FKT from Missoula to Banff. We will have both Mike’s on the next Talk Ultra to tell us all about it. Read HERE
LAKE TAHOE FKT
Krissy Moehl 47:29 new record by 2-hours Read HERE
GRINDSTONE 100
1 – Brian Rusiecki 20:24
1 – Amy Rusiecki 23:36
FLAGSTAFF SKY RACE ULTRA
1 – Dan Kraft 5:49
2 – Gabe McGowan 5:54 ?
3 – Josh Arthur 6:00
1 – Ashley Erba 6:47
2 – Meredith Edwards 7:39
3 – Jen Benna 7:47
FLAGSTAFF SKY RACE SKY
1 – Martin Anthamatten 3:59
2 – Joe Gray 4:06
3 – Tim Parr 4:39
1 – Megan Kimmel 4:29
2 – Kristi Knecht 5:04
3 – Corinne Malcolm 5:12
TNF CHALLENGE WISCONSIN
1 – Tyler Sigi 5:55
2 – Dylan Bowman (went of course) 6:28
3 – John Knudson 6:49
1 – Molly Culver 8:10
2 – Christine Murphy 8:18
3 – Emily Kratz 8:22
LAKES IN A DAY
1 – Kim Collison 9:12:07
2 – Marcis Gubats 10:27:48
3 – Stuart Dickson 10:49:05
1 – Helen Leigh 11:00:10
2 – Sabrina Verjee 11:29:59
3 – Lucy Spain 11:58:48
00:48:27 INTERVIEW
ANDREW SYMONDS
01:22:46 INTERVIEW
MARIEPAULE PIERSON
02:11:42 TALK TRAINING
TALK TRAINING – BASIC STRENGTH TRAINING read the document HERE
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