Where a Monkey Needs a Walking Stick

Lican Ray to Villarica - 3rd

2012-01-10T15:05:00.000-03:00

In pictures for now. Full report coming soon.

Starting in the rain.

First 5km and last 5km were on the roads with trails in between.

Settling into my pace about 3km in.

Feeling really good at this point.

Most of the race was on roads like this with about 5km of perfect trails in the middle.

First stop at the only aid station which was at 40km and then used again at 50km.

About to take 3rd place in sprint to the finish.

Podium Finish in Chile Ultra

2012-01-09T12:38:00.000-03:00

I finished 3rd in the Lican Ray to Villarica 70km trail race this weekend. Here's a small article in La Segunda that mentions my result:

Article in La Segunda

Pre-race Lican Ray to Villarrica

2012-01-07T18:16:00.000-03:00

The race is tomorrow and we had a full pre-race day to get ready. First up was a "regenerativo" run from the race start through the first 3km followed by a team breakfast.

RunningChile team pre-race run.

RunningChile breakfast.

Next up, we went to check out the route and especially the point were the only aid station would be and where the relay runners would change over.
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Route map for the race. (Source: olimpo.cl)

Stopping at the 40km and 50km aid station point.

Discussing the climb that starts just after this point.

On the race morning before we got started was a compulsory gear check. I think that I did well with a light pack and minimal gear, although the 2l of hydration I had to carry sure added some weight to the pack. Nonetheless, I was looking much lighter and more compact in my gear than a lot of the competitors.

Racers lining up for gear check.

Keeping the required gear to the minimum.

Second Table Mountain run for the week!

2011-12-18T18:45:00.000-03:00

I took another trip up Table Mountain to make the most of the trails on our trip to Cape Town. With this run it made for three times up the mountain in three days. Trail running doesn't get much better than that!

Dam at the top of the mountain.

Enjoying the sunshine on top.

Unreal beach between Skeleton Gorge and the dam on top.

I love this beach. It's so weird and feels like it doesn't belong, but I stop here every time I'm on the mountain.

My descent on Skeleton Gorge down to Kirstenbosch.

Ryans2Run

2011-12-17T18:35:00.000-03:00

Today I ran with Ryan Sandes. I got to ask a few questions about his races from this year and about his experience at the Atacama Crossing. Along with some great advice I also enjoyed an amazing run along Chapman's peak and met some other keen trail runners from Cape Town.

Hout Bay view from Chapman's Peak.

The 4Deserts champ.

Beautiful view from Chappies.

Keen runners joining the Ryans2Run.

Ryan taking photos for twitter.

Thanks to Vida e Cafe for the free coffee at the end.

Awesome day on Table Mountain

2011-12-16T18:34:00.000-03:00

Today I ran up Table Mountain, then down the other side, then along the contour path to Devil's Peak, then back up, and then back down. It was a monster 6 hours in the mountains and I loved every minute of it!

Climbing up from Constantia.

Beautiful dam on top of the mountain.

The wall that holds the dam on the mountain top.

Amazing view over the mountain to the Atlantic.

There is a series of boardwalks and chain ladders to climb on to the Table top.

The easy way up!

View over the harbour and signal hill.

View of Lion's peak from the Devil's Peak contour path.

The contour path was some of the only flat running of the day.

I love Cape Town!

Cerro Pochoco

2011-12-11T18:15:00.000-03:00

Today I ran up Cerro Pochoco with the RunningChile team. It was great to run this peak that I'd hiked with V and Fede a few weeks ago. I thought that it was much longer after the hike, but actually it's a short distance with a lot of altitude gain that makes it a fun and tough run. The views of Santiago are spectacular as they are from a different place and greater altitude to my usual view from Cerro Carbon.

Half way up.

Still a lot of work to do from Pochoco-chico.

800m of altitude gain.

It was a great run and fun peak to work up at a hard pace.

Cerro Provincia

2011-12-03T18:05:00.000-03:00

I really like the range of mountains around Santiago and I know Cerro Carbon and Cerro Manquehue well, but I'm not that familiar with a lot of other peaks around here. Fortunately my RunningChile team mates Francisco and Alejandro know them really well and are always excited to show me a new peak.

For this run we went just half an hour outside of Santiago to run Cerro Provincia. It's a tough climb with a break in the middle where it's easier to run and roll through a few smaller hills. We reached the summit in a little over two hours and appreciated the unbelievable views of the Andes with many of the summits covered in snow.

Alejandro working the last section to the summit.

Alejandro, Francisco and me.

Summit of Cerro Provincia.

A little after the summit there's a geodesic dome where we stopped for a break and to get out of the wind. It would be a great place to stop overnight and enjoy staying up in the mountains.

Taking a break in the dome.

About to tackle the run back down.

Getting some sunlight on the way back down.

Corpbanca 5km race in Las Condes

2011-11-27T18:11:00.000-03:00

Today I ran a 5km race with Vanessa that started in the park a block away from our house. It was really well organized and plenty of people turned up for the race. We had a great run and enjoyed doing a new route with the lanes closed so close to our apartment!

V in action and going strong!

First medal for a race in Chile.

Happy after a great race together.

V really enjoyed the run and ran very well. I'm sure there'll be a few more races for her on the roads and trails of Santiago in 2012.

Atacama crossing #3

2011-11-11T20:06:00.001-03:00

Weekly test of my training progress for the 4Deserts Atacama Crossing.

10 mins with 8kg pack at race pace on the treadmill:

Date: Friday 11 November 2011
Average Heart Rate: 138
Perceived Exertion: 7

Slowly getting used to the pack.

Wednesday weekend

2011-11-09T23:27:00.001-03:00

Wednesday is always my favorite run of the working week. When I trained for triathlon we came up with "Wednesday weekend" because that was always a low intensity day and sort of like taking a mid-week break even though there were still two or three training sessions. Now Wednesday weekend is my hill running day and a chance to explore outside the city- almost a mini adventure to keep my running spirits high.

Somehow the dark of late night feels different to the dark of early morning.

Santiago is always beautiful from Cerro Carbon, it doesn't matter which was you look.

I never see any one on the mountain when I do this run, but I feel like I'm at least an intimidating cyclops to the spring hares!

Running the water canal.

2011-11-06T22:04:00.000-03:00

Today's schedule called for 2 hours running without any definition to pace, place or objective of the run. It's only three weeks after all my trouble with ITBS during UMA and a lot of my training is still done on feel and testing if there is any pain in my knee.

I wanted to go and do a run off the roads and headed towards my reliable route along Cerro Carbon and Manquehue. I didn't want to push too hard in the climbs or come bombing down any descents so I ran along the contour trail that formed part of the UMA route.

Left along the contour path, right across the bridge to start climbing.

To make it a little more specific I went out at 1pm in the heat of the day to test how I would handle the heat and to start acclimatising for the desert. It felt brutally hot and I now know that I've got a lot of work to do to prepare for up to 50C in March.

Dry, dusty trail next to irrigation water.

I don't think that I drank enough water in the first hour and a half and could feel the effects slowing me down. I know how much water I will receive during the race, so now I need to get used to rationing it and drinking at a race pace.

Feeling dry-mouthed and hot!

Bridge to no-where.

Atacama progress #2

2011-11-04T09:49:00.000-03:00

Weekly test of my training progress for the 4Deserts Atacama Crossing.

10 mins with 8kg pack at race pace on the treadmill:

Date: Friday 4 November 2011
Average Heart Rate: 141
Perceived Exertion: 8

Running with a pack is still really tough.

Atacama progress #1

2011-10-28T21:51:00.001-03:00

Weekly test of my training progress for the 4Deserts Atacama Crossing.

10 mins with 8kg pack at race pace on the treadmill:

Date: Friday 28 October 2011
Average Heart Rate: 140
Perceived Exertion: 8

Running with a heavy pack is hard work.

Launch of RunningChile

2011-10-28T07:19:00.000-03:00

Tonight was the re-launch of RunningChile. A fantastic initiative to bring a team atmosphere and professional services to the running population of Chile.

RunningChile overview.

Large gathering of support for the launch.

Amongst the many new ideas and projects from Matias and Cristian are:

multiple training platforms and schedules
management and planning of races (K42 Chile and 4deserts Atacama Crossing)
training camps and technical talks
charity "expeditions" such as Matias' 15 marathons in 15 days in 15 regions
a Chilean specific running magazine

They have built a team including kinesiologists, sports scientists and experienced runners that should deliver fantastic advice to anyone interested in running in Chile. With large sponsors such as VW and Aguas Andinas there is now an amazing vehicle for development of running in Chile.

Matias describing some of the team features.

I'm proud to be a part of the RunningChile team and look forward to seeing the growth and development of running in Chile.

Happy to be a part of this great team.

Mucho éxito, RunningChile!!

UMA - DNF

2011-10-16T11:06:00.000-03:00

I had been looking forward to the Ultramaraton de Los Andes since I got to Chile six months ago. It is one of the biggest races in the country and North Face brings out some of its athletes and the winners of other races in the series here to compete (Hal and Sebastien last year, Ian, Tracy, Tim and Ellie this year). It is also held on the mountain I can see from my house, Manquehue, which is where I train three or four times a week. All of these factors along with a good tune-up race a few weeks ago should have put me in a great place to race well.

Looking forward to my local trails.

The race started great. I went in a reasonable pace knowing what was coming ahead and working towards a plan that would have me competing at the end. The first climb I know like the back of my hand which helped me to keep on schedule with my pacing plan with knowledge of where the grade let up and where it would be too tough to run. At the first checkpoint I was running easy, pleased with the time and looking forward to a great day as we had already summited one of the two large climbs.

A fast start!

The next stretch was a lot of downhill and a few smaller climbs twisting around the back of the mountain. It was still dark and the trail markings were not great, but there were already spectacular views of the city bowl and it was starting to get lighter. I enjoyed this section a great deal and settled into a pace that felt comfortable and where I wanted to be for a long day on the trails. At checkpoint two I was still on track.

Cerro Carbon to the left and Cerro Manquehue to the right.

After the second checkpoint I went off course with about five other runners and lost a few minutes running around searching for route markings with my headlamp. It wasn't a big deal, but it was frustrating that we had just left a checkpoint and no one told us to expect a turn off the trail into a field! This section was between Manquehue and Chicureo in some very muddy fields that left everyone with "bricks" on the bottom of their shoes. At this point I started to feel a slight aggravation in my left ITB, a problem I thought I had resolved. It might have been the uneven footing from an extra inch of mud on the bottom of my shoes or any of a number of factors. Unfortunately it just wouldn't ease up and get any better. I had to walk at somewhere between 25 and 27km and although I was three hours in the prognosis wasn't good.

I walked to the third checkpoint hoping the pain would ease and I could return to running. However, the pain just got worse and worse. I decided to make a final decision at 40km where I was expecting to see Vanessa and Matias and as I got closer to that point I was in a lot of pain and reached the conclusion that I wasn't going to finish. I was limping up the hills, walking the flats and in excruciating pain while limping the downhills. However, I never saw them as the route had been changed in the morning and there was no longer any access from the road.

I struggled on for a long 5 hours walking everything and trying to minimize the damage I was causing my ITB. It felt like there wasn't any other choice and that I had to keep going until I arrived in the city and could stop the madness of limping and hobbling along my favorite trails. I had a tough time and struggled through all sorts of thoughts about why I was out there and what I was doing. I also desperately wanted to stop and couldn't and I also couldn't stop thinking about AJW's views on DNFs and the recent remarks about the DNFs at UTMB. I did have a long time to think about it and finally came to the conclusion that I run for joy and the smile it puts on my face. As I was very far from a smile or enjoying myself and at the same time aggravating an injury that would put a delay to that in the future, it made the most sense to me to stop at 61km.

On the way home - unfortunately I was walking by now.

It was a sad end to a long and hard day, but I took away a number of valuable lessons from the experience:

Pacing - the early pace for the race leaders was much faster than the final overall pace so during the day the running speed declined significantly. I started on a pace that I thought would be sustainable, but in hindsight was also too fast. Two people who started out at a more realistic speed, Ellie who finished third overall and my friend Francisco who finished in the top ten, held on and made huge gains later in the day.
Strength - I saw some of the front runners working hard and maintaining strong fast strides through even the largest climbs. Their power hike speed was impressive and sustained, but I think more of an attitude about attacking the climbs rather than power leagues ahead of the other racers. Having an attitude of strength in the mountains is vital to perform well on the trails.
Injury - a lesson that I would rather have not learnt, but a valuable one nonetheless. Injuries need to be handled proactively, consistently and at the first sign of any problem. I think that I could have avoided some of the issues I had in this race if I'd dealt with small, seemingly insignificant niggles earlier in my preparation.
Chilean running - I haven't been here very long, but I already have a number of friends who are looking out for me and who looked after me on a tough day. Mauricio, Daniel and Matias all called and gave me advice and their support and helped me to refocus on the next goal. There is an amazing community here and I'm proud to be a part of it.

Cerro Carbon trail.

Showing Mike los senderos de Chile

2011-10-09T10:52:00.000-03:00

Mike came to visit for business and although he's been to Chile before he was taken out on the roads and shown some of the parks to run in. While those are great for weekly training and the casual visitor I couldn't take my Alaskan, Crow Pass guiding, Mt Marathon regular for a run in the park!

Instead of letting him rest after about 16 hours of flying and two hours of commuting into the city, I took him up Cerro Carbon. It provided a great view of the city and I hope gave him a different perspective of what trails are available in Santiago.

Mike looking down on Santiago from the summit.

Half way up at the mirador.

It also happened to be his birthday the next day so to make the day even longer we had a small party- there can't be anything much better than running new trails and having cake on your birthday!!

Happy birthday Mike!!

UMA training with Team Salomon Chile

2011-09-25T07:33:00.013-03:00

I joined the Team Salomon Chile for a training run on Cerro San Cristobal this weekend. I was fortunate enought to meet some of the team members for the K42 and they welcomed me into the Chilean trail running community. It's a great team with a coach, many experienced members including 4deserts and UTMB finishers, and a regular training program close to where I live.

We did a 15km route around Cerro San Cristobal on some new trails for me and I really enjoyed running with a group.

Team Salomon Chile pre-run

I had a great time and was really enjoying myself and fitting in the group well. Just to make myself more noteworthy on my first run, I managed to take a great fall on a rocky, downhill section and scrape-up my hands. I arrived at the end of the run with bleeding palms and couldn't shake hands with anyone when I left!

Results of falling in front of new friends on an easy run!

Salomon K42 Chile- race report

2011-09-14T10:39:00.000-03:00

I learnt about the K42 race after looking for some training events before the UMA in October. This race came up and with Kilian Jornet endorsing the front page of the website it seemed like a good race to get involved in. The first prize was also a free trip to Argentina for the event final and although this wasn't a goal for me it would be a great prize if I did manage to win!

The day started off with some new friends picking us up and taking us to the venue just outside Santiago. It was up in the mountains with a great view of the back of Manquehue and some new trails I haven't run on before. I was expecting a tough race based on the race profile and it didn't disappoint.

Ready for a few hours on the mountains.

Through the first 10km I was running well in the lead group. We came into a section where the markings were not very clear and I went of course following another runner and splitting up the front pack. I was a little disappointed with the mistake as I had found a rhythm and felt comfortable in the group. When I rejoined the course we were amongst some runners on the 21km course so it was hard to tell what pace I should be running at and who would be turning off for the shorter race and who would be continuing. Fortunately at 15km the course split so everyone still running with me was in the K42. This was also the point where we started the 2,000m of climbing for the day.

The climb was tough, muddy, snowy and beautiful all at the same time. There were spectacular vistas of Santiago and times when we were above the clouds. I felt ok in this phase of the race, overtaking a few people and not losing any places although I did have to walk significant sections of the uphill. I think my training prepared me well as I have been running and walking Manquehue often and that sort of pace is eaxactly what was needed. Unfortunately, I struggled a little with my shoes and feet. I developed some blisters under the ball of my foot which I think were caused by moisture and heat in my shoes. I was wearing the goretex version of Speedcross 2 that I used in Susitna and it was perhaps too warm a day for these shoes. I was slowed a little and felt uncomfortable for most of the rest of the race, but at least I learnt a lesson during a 42km race and not during the UMA. I made it to the highest point which seemed to come earlier in the race than I expected and started the race back down to the finish.

The descent was fantastic and challenging and technical. We ran for about 10km down a dry river bed and it was definitely some of the longest sustained downhill running I've done. It was fun to be going down and I felt strong. The only factor that slowed me was blisters being aggravated by the additional friction in my shoes. I really enjoyed this section and would have loved to be running at 100% full speed with perfect feet.

Working through some of the smaller hills close to the end.

Happy to be at the finish!

The final section was about 7km or 8km relatively flat into the finish. It seemed quite difficult at the time and I think I was right on the edge of my fueling and running low on reserves. Another lesson to be learnt and something I'll need to be more careful about in longer races. I rolled into the finish and was quite happy with how the race turned out. 5th place was a great result and I still have lots of improvement opportunities available for me to move higher up in the results.

With new amigos: Jaime, Mauricio and Daniel at the end.

For this race I went as light as possible with my gear:

Salomon XT One Belt (required) - worked perfectly providing easy to access and refill hydration
Sugoi Helium Jacket (required) - only used this at the start and on one pass, but it proved perfect the days conditions
Race T-shirt (required)
Oakley M Frame Sunglasses - best sunglasses ever
Salomon Exo Fit Shorts - very comfortable and fantastically useful pockets
Salomon Speedcross 2 GTX - great grip and light, but I struggled with forefoot blisters during the race

I had an amazing day on the trails and really enjoyed myself in the mountains. The K42 was definitely one of the most beautiful and tough runs that I've done in Chile so far. I'll be back next year and stronger for the climbs!

K42 Chile - 5th place

2011-09-10T09:40:00.002-03:00

I had a fantastic race today and enjoyed some beautiful mountains just outside of Santiago. The course offered a little of everything: dry sandy trails; thick sticky mud; big climbs; and a snowy descent!

I ran well and finished 5th overall (2nd in 17-29 age group) in 4hrs30mins.

Finishing!

Snowy day run

2011-08-19T07:50:00.003-04:00

We had some fantastic snow right in the city yesterday. I thought that it was a rare occurrence, but it was even more rare than I realized. The Chileans remember the last four times it has snowed in Santiago since the 1930s...

I went up Cerro el Carbon before work and enjoyed running in the snow and watching the sunrise over a snow covered mountain. It was beautiful!

I played around a little with my camera and made the video of my run. It was during the early part of the morning so the clip has different sections in the dark and as the sun rises, but that's quite a good representation of my morning runs (with a little snow thrown in fun extra fun!).

My new mountain: Cerro el Carbon

2011-07-23T14:51:00.080-04:00

Santiago is surrounded by mountains, but occasionally they seem just a little too far out of reach. I love running on trails and in the mountains so the thought that they're too far is not very cool. However, as my mileage has been increasing over weekly periods and over individual runs Cerro Manquehue has become much more accessible.

At only 20 mins running from my apartment it is easy to run out of the city and into a refreshing, rejuvenating environment. The trail starts with a steep sharp climb and then follows a ridge all the way to the top. I'm not able to run to the summit yet, but it's getting closer with every try.

Chilla half way up the mountain.

I've seen some wildlife on the hill especially when I'm out at dawn or dusk. On this morning I saw a fox-like animal and although I was sure it wasn't a dog I wasn't sure that it was a fox. It turned out to be chilla, which is the second largest canine in South America (still pretty small!). I've also seen a lot of hares and bird life which always lifts the mood of my run and distances me from rush of the city.

Looking up to Cerro Carbon from Vista El Litre.

The route has a few view points along the way and these make for great photos and check points to test my progress and speed. The final reward is a fantastic view of Santiago and Los Andes. It is a truly beautiful city nestled in the mountains.

At the top of Cerro Carbon.

Santiago and Los Andes.

Mountain running in Chillán

2011-06-29T18:46:00.023-04:00

This weekend we went to Chillán for our first ski of the season. I was a little surprised when we had almost arrived in the ski resort without seeing any snow and was wondering whether I would be doing any snow running in my winter trail shoes! However, the ski conditions were great, we did some awesome ski runs and it was so warm we even ate lunch outside. Not quite the same as kitting up for an Alaskan run, but a super experience in a different part of the world.

View of the mountains not covered in snow!

I did get out to do some of the best trail running I've done since arriving in Chile. After a great day on the slopes I headed up the highest mountain close to the town for some breath-taking views and awesome snow running. Running on the road and flat trails in the last few months helped me forget how hard it is to run uphill, but after a few hours going uphill that was easily remedied.

Great mountain trail up the Cerro overlooking the town.

I thought the ski town was a great place and I loved staying in a little wooden cabin for a few nights. I can't think of anything I like more than being able to run out the back door, get onto some trails and into some mountains.

Beautiful Termas de Chillan

Climbing Tour

2011-05-15T21:02:00.000-04:00

This weekend I ran my first trail run in Chile. It was another brilliantly organised race: the trails were well marked and water points were frequent. It was such a contrast to go from the cold, wet and snowy Alaskan trails I love to the completely dry and dusty Chilean ones.

The race was a 7km uphill run in the hills outside of Santiago and proved to be a fantastic challenge. I loved climbing again after a while running in town and on flat smooth roads. The uphill proved tough and was a welcome respite to my normal training routine.

Loving the trails on the way up.

Walking like most of the field at this point in the climb.

Brad and I working from the 5km checkpoint to the top.

The view from the top of the hill. There's a ski resort in the background!

This was another race with Brad and I really enjoyed having his company and getting out on the trails with a friend. We ran well on the initial flat section and worked well together to stay a constant position through the steeper parts of the race. We finished in 01:24:00 and then relished the much faster decent.

10km in Vitacura

2011-05-02T10:01:00.011-03:00

This weekend I ran my first race in Chile. A well organised 10km run in Vitacura. It was a great route, 5km out on a slight uphill gradient in the sun followed by 5km home on a shady tree lined road. There was a great turnout and excellent spirit amongst the runners.

Before the start.

O the way out.

On the way home.

I ran with my friend Brad and we had a great time and ran an easy 50 minutes. I'm so pleased to find such an awesome race in the first week of arriving here. Go Chile!