Archiv der Kategorie: Allgemein

2021 – underground distance running

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With the narrow escape from SARS-CoV-2, the LT250 finish and the pandemic edition of AOBTD which concluded the Legends Slam in 2020 a circle closed. Everything came to an end. There was nothing more to aim for and the winter 2020/2021 was anyway dominated by restrictions to fight the virus. What to plan in these uncertain pandemic times?

Under the impression of these conditions we discussed our options and created our own private Slam in Germany/The Netherlands/Belgium to keep us busy in 2021 – a selection of 4 tracks and the task to finish them between Halloween 2020 and Silvester 2021 – the Titanic Slam. Few friends have been invited – even fewer finished it.

Being located in Germany and with travel restrictions/various night locks in place in the Netherlands/Belgium beginning of 2021 the chance to start this Slam early 2021 were close to zero. With the unsuccessful first attempt on KATE180 end of 2020 the hope of finishing the Slam was defeated quite early in the game.

January – April 2021:
Long distance running was kicked off in January 2021 with a long run as part of the #aachenläuft challenge: 68 Hangeweiher loops are 100 miles as well – what a surprise. A nice 24h tarmac training run. The mAMa edition 2021 in February 2021 was a lonely one – only the two of us: a true Corona edition. Looking for nice tracks in these days we decided to tackle one of the main routes of the Eifelverein: Hauptwanderweg 10 – Krönungsweg. 140 nice km from Bonn to Aachen. Inspired from that adventure we startet to enjoy more of these well-marked tracks: Hauptwanderweg 8 – Hüttenweg in March and Hauptwanderweg 5 – Wald Wasser Wildnis Weg in April. A beautiful collection already and for sure something to be continued.

  • #aachenläuft
  • HWW10 – Krönungsweg
  • HWW8 – Hüttenweg
  • HWW5 – Wald Wasser Wildnis Weg

May – September 2021:
And then finally. With the end of wave #3 and the lifting of some of the restrictions we were able to meet in Belgium to climb the Iceberg. So nice to see all of them in person again. It was one of the strangest and toughest thing so far – with 11.000 m elevation gain in 100 miles the first successful attempt at the Titanic Slam. What could have been the start of a nice and smooth walk-through the Titanic Slam was abruptly ended beginning of July 2021: a DNF at km 140 of the LEO180 Slam Edition. To weak to come even close to a finish. The chances to finish the Titanic Slam were reduced to a tiny piece of faintest hope. The recovery from that defeat took long – running restarted end of August when the two of us tackled and finished a track we created back in 2015 but never ran – our own creation of circling around Aachen: BjöTiFul 50 – what a beautiful nonsense. The September was a low point again – really tired of running. Did not see or feel the meaning in it anymore. So – what to do? Give up? Come back?

October 2021:
With the leftovers of energy a decision was made: all in.

We secretly planned our attempt on another Titanic Slam track: the Duinhopper. A weekend not to be forgotten: a stressful travel, the excitement in the final train to Hoek van Holland of finally letting the inner circle know what we were about to start in a few minutes, their reaction to that surprise, the unbelievable long journey on foot along the coast, the horrible weather in the second night and finally the bright blazes of the dying sun up there in Den Helder looking south to where we came from – an unreal and sublime feeling. What an experience, what an amazing long distance family.


To top it all – end of October KATE180 was finally defeated from a bunch of long-distance experts. It was an amazing journey especially to see how this self-created track finally expanded all its potential – and to see how everyone was fighting through. A run with everything long-distance running has to offer.

November/December 2021:
After a lazy November it was time again to go for a run again. I could not stand the feeling of not at least try to complete the Titanic Slam. So LEO180 was left on the table. Lots of last minute changes set the frame of another remarkable experience of the lonely job of underground long-distance running. It was a narrow escape but it was a successful attempt. The next Slam in the books – another year of running done.

And 2022? Plans are made – races have been booked; the next Slam is set-up as well and will be kicked-of in January. What from all of this will become realty: who knows. Only one thing remains true:

Long-distance running is always waiting out there. Be aware!

Titanic Slam Results

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The Titanic Slam is over. All attempts have been made – all stories have been told. The overview of the achievements is listed on the Titanic Slam page. The summarized final result looks like this:

My personal Titanic Slam is depicted in the following. The numbers will tell you something, the stories behind are way beyond this and have been already told throughout the year:

It was after all a nice challenge but also a lonely one. Good that this chapter is closed and the next Slam is done.

Throwback LEO180

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Another November gone – another November without LEO180. Beautiful memories:

  • LEO180 2017 – 190k
  • LEO180 2017 – 190k
  • LEO180 2017 – 190k

LEO180 – 2017

  • LEO180 2018 – 200k
  • LEO180 2018 – 200k
  • LEO180 2018 – 200k
  • LEO180 2018 – 200k
  • No-Coke-2018


  • LEO180 2018 – 200k

LEO180 – 2018

  • LEO180 2019
    LEO180 2019 – 210k
  • LEO180 2019
    LEO180 2019 – 210k
  • LEO180 2019
    LEO180 2019 – 210k
  • LEO180 2019
    LEO180 2019 – 210k
  • LEO180 2019 – 210k

LEO180 – 2019

Comfort Zone

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Comfort zone is defined as an area/status in private/social life which is characterized as to be comfort and risk-free to the fullest. Or to say it with the words of Brené Brown:

„Where our uncertainty, scarcity and vulnerability are minimized — where we believe we’ll have access to enough love, food, talent, time, admiration. Where we feel we have some control. […]“
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komfortzone

In general leaving this comfort zone is considered to be a positive thing. It means one is ready to risk something, ready to invest some effort and to endure a certain amount of discomfort to get things done or to reach a goal.

But is this the only perspective? Is that all?

Once the comfort zone is left – does this mean comfort is beyond reach until you return from your journey? What if you fought through uncertainty, scarcity and vulnerability on this journey and suddenly realize that you found comfort again although you are as far away from the „comfort zone“ as humanly possible?

It may not be comfort in the classical definition. You may not have access to enough love but if you planned wisely you should have access to food; you certainly used a decent amount of time and a little bit of talent to reach that status. In addition to these attributes you may be blessed with fellow travellers on the very same journey which gives you access to company, friendship and – yes – comfort. Whether or not these situations can be considered as to be „under control“ is worth a different discussion.

But it is indeed a kind of comfort. Comfort plus maybe. Something you feel home in. Moments of honest, fullest and deepest acceptance of everything there may be. Because the circumstances do not matter anymore as you finally fully merge with the situation – no matter what it may be.

Photocredits: Olav & Martino

Sleep Deprivation

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Sooner or later during long distance running attempts the moment of tiredness comes. As this is a fact we better discuss ways and means to deal with this.

What does science say?

Looking at two publications:

[1] A group of 636 ultra marathon runners answered a questionnaire. Amongst the questions with regards to normal sleep behavior and the expected findings (the participants sleep a bit more on weekend compared to weekdays, on days without work more people were doing small power naps during the day) these people have been asked on their strategies how to deal with sleep during ultramarathon races. Around 74% if the study group replied that they do have a sleep strategy which meant for around 55% of them to try to increase sleep prior race day. 21% of the study group reported that they do have a strategy to manage sleep DURING the actual race – the micronap strategy was the most named strategy. From this data a subgroup was further analysed with the finding, that there is some sort of correlation of race duration and sleep time: the longer the race, the more they sleep.

[2] A systematic review on the napping behavior of athletes and how it impacts performance looking at all available literature. The key conclusions are that athletes may want to consider a daytime nap between 20-90 min duration between 1 and 4 p.m. (not later) and may want to think about a 30 min nap prior a long training run or race. Both will ease/delay the impact/onset of sleepiness while running and generally leads to a better performance.

There are some more but not too many articles about sleep behavior/deprivation in ultra running. Most focus on the sleep behavior of athletes in general and how this relates to performance. A general tendency, especially in the view of the above is: take care that you do have a healthy, good quality sleep; perform a nap in the optimal time window during the day; sleep a little more in the days/weeks prior a race and have a little nap before you actually start.

What does experience say?

And then there is life.

Life does not care at all on what would be ideal; life is amazing in giving you sleepless nights right when you are in the important prior race period; you job simply does not allow you to nap (depends on what you work) and your lovely kids keeping you awake anyway at anytime. If you can make use of the knowledge above, perfect. If you can’t – well you have to live with this as well. There are some hands-on experiences how to deal with sleep while moving for 24-64 h (one to three nights).

Do not deny the sleepiness for too long. Its ok to ignore it or work against it fo a certain period of time but at some point the problematic effects become too dominant: you forget to eat/drink in proper intervals, you tend to stumble and fall and navigation is no longer possible. There is a variety of big mistakes when being sleepy you definitely want to avoid. So take a break.

During long race/runs with sheltered and warm sleep possibilities a longer nap of up to 1 hour really makes a difference on the situation and your feeling. If you are lucky it recovers you completely from sleepiness (at least for the night you are in).

If you are in situations where indoor/sheltered sleep is not possible or forbidden you need to shorten the breaks. Everything from 5-30 minutes in a nap-format can help. If you are unlucky you will need these type of naps several times in one night to make it to the next morning. Don’t be angry about that – this is another loss of energy and time (and leads to bad decisions as well).

Try to find the best place for your nap. You may want to stay as dry as possible, it should be possible to lay down without massive problems (although some runners report that they slept while standing in the rain), it should be protected from wind (do not sleep on top of anything) and you may want to stay out of private property.

Set an alarm clock. Make sure you will be able to hear the sound (e.g. sleep on your smartphone).

During colder/wetter weather conditions it is handy to use one of these emergency blankets/foil/sleep bags you carry with you anyway. Take off your jacket and backpack (and more clothes if you are still able to undress and dress yourself), wrap yourself completely (gold outside) and lay down. This will keep body and muscles warm, will dramatically increase the nap sleep quality and reduces the stiffness when starting off again. Take the foil with you for your next stop. That is one of the reasons why you should always pack two of these emergency blankets. One for sleep brakes, one for emergency.

Furthermore it will help to regularly fuel your body with something to eat and drink in short intervals during the night (and during the day as well). Prevents your system from shutting down completely and ease the sleepiness a little as your body has something to do. Make a game out of it: every 5k I eat a little something and drink a few ml.

Last but not least: remember the first one of the two rules: never quit at night – it will get better during the day.

Talking about rules – the second one of the two rules is: never quit during the day – there is simply no point in doing this.

References:

[1] Martin, T., Arnal, P. J., Hoffman, M. D., & Millet, G. Y. (2018). Sleep habits and strategies of ultramarathon runners. PloS One, 13(5), e0194705. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0194705

[2] Lastella M, Halson SL, Vitale JA, Memon AR, Vincent GE. To Nap or Not to Nap? A Systematic Review Evaluating Napping Behavior in Athletes and the Impact on Various Measures of Athletic Performance. Nat Sci Sleep. 2021;13:841-862. Published 2021 Jun 24. doi:10.2147/NSS.S315556

Tired of Running

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There are sometimes phases in which running (especially long-distance-running) seems to be so far away that you slowly really disconnect from that world. Finally retired from that bullshit with no way back. Either it is because of injury, other things in life which need all of your time or a long down period from a previously encountered great victory/huge defeat (its really the same in long-distance-running).

In the beginning it’s a weird feeling: you open e.g. Strava, one of the (un)social networks or your Garmin Connect app and everyone – EVERYONE – is running like hell. And this does not feel nice. All of them (some of them are even your friends) are so strong and running long distances as if it is nothing. Again and again. Meanwhile you sit at home looking into the dark night outside unsure if it is regret or relief that you are not out there with them. Then you silently close down the live tracking page, switch off your PC and go to bed.

With a little bit more time into your new running-free life this heavy weight lifts a bit. You start to feel better and are happy for them who are running. You are able to applaud again, cheer with them and even support them while they follow their running dreams. Further and faster – beyond all boundaries. But this is no longer your mission.

When you stumble over your running shoes or your running gear you sometimes have to smile a little. A faint smile from far, far away. What infinite amount of hours you used all that stuff. All those dark and painful nights, all those shivering beginnings/ends of days where you felt like the tiniest and weakest particle of dust in this huge universe. Good that this is the past. Good that this is over.

But is it?

What if …? – what if you open your database one last time and check for that one track you drew ages ago and never ran? Just look at the GPX. Remember how you created this file. What a fool you have been back then. How could you honestly think that these connected dots would make a nice adventure? How could you think they really matter?

Somehow these unanswered questions also do not feel great. Quite the contrary.

And now?

Lights in the dark.

Packing considerations

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Electronics:

  • 1-2 Powerbanks, charged (depends on duration of the run and dropback strategy)
  • GPS watch (do not forget to upload the track and make sure that you were successful)
  • GPS watch cable
  • GPS handheld with charged batteries (upload the track)
  • 1-2 sets of additional batterie sets for GPS handheld (charged)
  • Headlamp with charged batteries
  • 1-2 sets of additional batterie sets for headlamp (charged)
  • Smartphone
  • Smartphone cable
  • Smartphone earphones
  • GPS tracker (if you have one)
  • Signal light (to be attached to your clothings/backpack for road safety and to annoy following runners; sometimes mandatory in races)

Backpack Brainstorming:

If you happen to have several ones – be sure that you know what they are capable of and decide according to your upcoming run. Do you need to be fast? Do you have a lot of dropbacks so that you can refill every other day? Do you need to carry everything all the time? Really? The normal tendency is to overpack – be aware of that and consider to reduce stuff. Make sure that you are aware of the weather conditions during your run as good as possible. Heat and sweat, rain, cold – all that may have an influence on your backpack choice. Be aware where your backpack will destroy your body if you do mistakes while packing and running – do not do these mistakes.

Shoes & Feet:

Well, this is a delicate and personal thing. You may want to:

  • tape your feet to slow-down the blister formation (I use Kinesiotape) or treat your feet with your strategy to keep them as long as possible as intact as possible
  • be ready to renew that tape/retreat your feet on CPs (if any)
  • if you want to re-tape you need a towel to dry and clean your feet, a needle or scissor (to burst blisters) and fresh socks in your dropback or backpack
  • if you have the time at CPs and your feet are in miserable conditions a break of 30-60 min may help to completely dry your feet (a fan helps to speed-up this process)
  • know the pros and cons of your socks and shoes and the parts of your feet they will destroy
  • consider to wear water-proof socks (be aware that they will not be proof forever)
  • consider to wear thin, comfortable socks under your water-proof socks
  • consider to remove the insole of your shoes when wearing thick water-proof socks (the thick socks cover-up for the missing insole and the gained space is a relieve for your swelling feet
  • changing shoes (if possible) may be an option to think about – be aware that your feet will swell and hurt so you may want to change into wider and comfortable shoes
  • be aware that you will be on one point of your long run no longer able to change our shoes
  • Read for more details about feet especially in wet conditions this!

Clothing:

Check the weather forecast and dress accordingly – only use stuff you know and you trained in and feel comfortable in. Here are a couple of helpful things to consider:

  • Buffs, hats, gloves and arm warmers are really nice tools to keep your temperature feelings ideal and are easy to remove/put on while running
  • Protect your head from direct sunlight
  • Wear sunglasses if you can run with them – this seems unnecessary but to keep stress from your eyes helps you to stay relaxed
  • Wear underwear and socks you know and which are suitable for what your are doing to prevent chafing as good as possible
  • Plan carefully what you need in your backpack/dropbacks to change clothing
  • Always carry at least a light wind/waterproof jacket with you
  • Keep in mind that you tend to feel colder and start shivering the longer the race lasts
  • Check mandatory equipment when racing

Safety & Hygiene

  • Vaseline/Nok cream/others – to prevent chafing wherever you want to prevent it
  • First-aid kit (fully equipped)
  • Do not forget your meds if you need some regularly
  • Bring safety blankets/sleeping backs (handy if you for whatever reason need to sleep or dye)
  • Check mandatory equipment when racing

Food & Drinks

That is up to you. Whatever helps you to stay up and running. Apart from that:

  • make sure that your water management is fine-tuned – check for places where you can get water during your run and mark them on your GPS
  • Salt pills next to water are important and may help to keep you ok (esp. in warm conditions)
  • I tend to use caffein pills when the seriously tired moments start
  • Coke (just kidding)

Others:

  • Poles (in some races you need to carry them all the time, in some races it is allowed to pick them up at later CP)
  • some packs handkerchiefs
  • ID, creditcard/bank card, 100 € cash
  • (Car)keys
  • FFP2/medical mask
  • Coins for vending machines
  • fatty lipstick (especially in cold conditions) to pretend your lips from cracking
  • if go into the void – take a water filter with you
  • pack your car with whatever you need after finishing your run

More helpful packing list considerations can be found here

To be completed.


Focus

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No matter how exciting it felt at the beginning – at the end all reduces to very little.

It starts with excitement, with joy and with hustle and bustle. The connection with the surrounding and the fellow runners is intense. It feels like a big journey and a great adventure. Lots of discussions go along with lots of laughter. What a great experience. What a gift to be out there together.

Despite this promising start everyone is well aware that this status will not last. It must end as it consumes too much energy and wasting energy is a dangerous thing. Discussions and laughter begin to fade – replaced by increasing periods of calm and monotone running.

The final step to focus is the disconnection from any external influences. One after the other the bands to the „normal“ world need to be losen and finally cut. It is a decision to let go of everything else and the decision to concentrate and focus on the one thing: to go on. Similar to the focus of the headlamp in a moonless night which reduces every existence to a small colourless and 2-dimensional spot: this final step means to enter a place within yourself where no disturbances from the outside can reach you. It is a unique place and only yourself can enter it. All decisions are now directed to the one goal. The sooner one reaches that state the better. It preserves from worrying too much and the strong focus allows no doubts. The still existing troubles are quiet for a while. They will for sure come back and the focus will fade again but it is important to understand that it is possible to go back there at any time. It comes with experience and is improved by practice. It needs a certain kind of mental strength but is worth every effort:

Loops do not matter anymore.
Weather does not matter anymore.
Distance does not matter anymore.
Hopelessness does no matter anymore.

Finishing does.

Doing Your Best?

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Great. Always good to do that. And really – you invested everything you had to give. You withstood all the discomforts. You conquered all obstacles. Everyone told you before it is insane. The race director told you it’s impossible. Twice. But you still signed up and started. And: horrible conditions along the way. Unmatched so far. Way too long distances between the checkpoints. All your friends and family on every social media congratulate you already and comfort you in thinking that what you already achieved is amazing. You yourself are sure that your performance is above all doubts. Your Garmin congratulated you – you just earned another batch and you broke a few of your personal records along the way. On top of that the night fall and the nice indoor checkpoint is warm and cosy. It is time to hit the stop button on your watch or even better: the button on your tracker. Still you may remind yourself:

So you may want to revisit your situation. Don’t you feel that tickling sensation somewhere deep down? Are you sure the light won’t come back again for another bright morning? What if you open your eyes and the clock is still ticking? What if you realise that you maybe really can finish it? What if it is worth the trouble? But that is your decision.