And now, the end is near…….

What I’m required to carry

and it all fits….. just

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, the last pre-event post from Bulgaria – although I will try to update from St Moritz if there is free Wi-Fi at the campsite.

I think all the kit is ready, the route maps laminated – eight back to back sheets, with holes punched in each corner so that I can hang them from the front of my pack to read whilst running – bags containing various shoes waiting to be put in the car, shorts, socks………. and so the list goes on.

To date I have run 1168 training miles, or there about, since 09/01/12 which is possibly the most I’ve ever run in a six month period…….. is it enough, I don’t know, but I have to say that it has become a little boring and I am looking forward to just getting out in the wilds again without the constant thought that I should achieve something specific with each run.  Looking back, I now agree with what I have read suggesting you need to use other races as part of a training programme – there is at least some reason behind the hours on your feet and you get the chance to test yourself and your strategy.  Unfortunately there just aren’t any races within a couple of hundred mile radius so this was impossible.

I stated at the start of these Blogs that I wanted to see if anyone ‘off the street’ could realistically take on a challenge such as this Ultra.

So, is it possible?  If somebody has the dedication and discipline, yes, but to be working full-time and also put in the mileage required, on the right kind of terrain, would certainly put any ‘normal’ life on hold.  One would need a very supportive and understanding family and friends!  I also feel that it would help if one had somebody of like interest to occasionally train with.  The majority of my running life has been as a lone-runner and I’ve always enjoyed this but…….

Financially these things are never going to be cheap but ‘where there’s a will there’s a way’.  I have a friend here who manages to spend every free moment she has in the mountains, all over Europe.  She manages this on a very modest income, hitch-hikes everywhere (helps the fitness), and doesn’t seem to be worried by unexpected events.  I’m not that brave…… or dedicated?

I really have tried to be frugal but even so have still consumed funds at an alarming rate.  This is without spare equipment to have changes of shoes/clothing at designated points along the route – this seems to be the ‘norm’ and is catered for by the organisers who supply suitable bags and transport for such items.   When shoes could cost £120 per pair and, if you’re rich, compression shorts (Salomon) £130, I doubt that many runners have four fresh sets to change into on the way!  A round trip to the event of over 2000 miles is also a burden, I could have travelled by air for considerably less but how does one carry all the running and camping equipment required.  If you are staying in a hotel it would be possible but, with the cheapest campsite in this area is 30 Euro per night, a hotel room is impossible to consider.  The entry fee was, by comparison with many Ultra races, cheap at £145 – some cost thousands of pounds due to the support required.  All things considered,  I think the whole enterprise will have cost me somewhere in the region of just over £1000 and that’s using mostly old equipment and clothing……. is this reasonable, I think so, but it’s far more than I imagined when I emailed my entry form last December.  So my answer to original question: ‘Can an ordinary person undertake something like the Swiss Irontrail?  Yes, if they really want it and work in a prosperous country.  In BG many people don’t earn £1000 per year whatever the national statistics say.  The world must be full of runners who never get a chance to compete even when they possess great ability!

Whilst Ultra Running might not have the over-heads of motor-sports, golf or even tennis, by the time you pay club membership etc., it must still be considered elitist, which is a great shame.

There is little fame to be savoured and no real prize money to be won, just an amazing amount of physical and mental strife to be endured along the way BUT the comradeship between competitors, which I have found in previous races, is second to none as is the sense of achievement in just getting to the start line. If I finish, it’ll be even better.  Has it all been worth it? YOU BET!

Looking down on creation

At the top of Cherni Vrah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rain has stopped, the sun is out, the sky’s blue…… so now I can complain that it’s too hot, 30c-35c, there are too many flying creatures and the tracks have now vanished beneath a blanket of knee length green.

Things have been going quite well and life is good, if I didn’t have to run this little 201kms things would be fine!  I managed to, at last, run up to the highest point of the Vitosha Mountain – Cherni Vrah, which stands at 2290m, or about twice the height of Snowdon for those of you in Wales.  As the start point is at about 800m it only required 1490m of climbing and then descent….. a lot of very rough and steep rocky path through the forest and then largely open mountain on stone track.  Good technical stuff especially on the way down – with poles, which helped a lot when leaping from rock to rock.

My first attempt was not as good as I had hoped – It took me 2:10 for the up, although I did speak to quite a few people on the way, and 1:10 down.  Two days later I did it again and managed 1:50 up and about the same 1:10 down.

Since my return to the village I have spent two long sessions exploring the area on the open mountains above Milanovo.  This is too beautiful for words with views to die for.  All I do is park up, just outside the village, and then run up in to the wilds wherever my fancy takes me.  I have a rough map that shows water-springs so I just fill up my bottle as I go.  This is what running should be, hills, tracks, meadows and forests…….. and NO people.

Only just over a week until we leave for Switzerland – I need to stay above 1500m for at least five days prior to the race to get used to the thinner air.  Think that I have everything I need, if not, I’ll get it in St Moritz!

King of all I see…..

Running Free

The Sill of the Night

Local Flooding

OK, where’s the ford?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A busy couple of weeks and the running has, for once, not taken prime place in my life.   A local festival took up most of my time for four days so I decided to have a break and not run, this combined with terrible weather has kept me largely off the hills.  To compensate, I have managed five speed session, from 6-12 mile/10-20km, on road and found that keeping a steady 7.5min/mile is still possible….. just (my SamNav tells me that I do achieve 5 min/mile max but I have no idea how – this seems very fast for my old body) – I’ll need to work on pace once back from Switzerland and get back to my old ½ marathon speed of speed sub-7 min/mile ready for the Sofia Marathon.

I have been in the forest a couple of times during thunder storms and really find it quite enjoyable but getting all the muddy kit clean and dry is a problem so……… no excuse really!

The real fun has been ‘night running’ which is fantastic.  Although I’d run in the dark many times in the UK it was nothing like this!  The Fenix head-torch is better than I could have ever hoped for and I only need the second of four power output settings to see perfectly – whatever the terrain, I float along in a world all of my own, just 10 meters of trail ahead in view.

These runs are a great confidence booster – there is no one but myself to rely on, whatever happens it’s ‘self-rescue’ – nobody knows where I am (the friend I normally live with is working away at present).  On my first venture after mid-night I ran up to Parshevitsa from Liutadzik on what was once a road through the forest.  It’s now a pretty rough track with overhanging trees forming corridors through the darkness for most of the 5mile/10km climb.  Lots of interesting sounds but only one encounter with a gleaming pair of eyes bounding towards me….. I growled loudly at which the creature, whatever it was, stopped dead, waited a few seconds and then made a hasty retreat into the forest.  Most likely a stray dog, although I’ve never seen any on this route before, nothing to get too excited about as, although there are wolves in the area, bears haven’t moved in yet – I do make LOTS of noise when I run, the local wild-boar could cause some serious damage if surprised by a day-glow clad, mentally deranged, Englishman.

Last night I took a more remote track up on to the mountain, again from just outside Liutadzik (note: because of all the village dogs I have to start any night run somewhere where there are no houses or I’ll cause mayhem and wake the whole region!).  This was a rough rocky path and, I hope, much like those I’ll be running on in the Alps.  There had been a thunderstorm earlier in the evening, the trees were dripping, a huge full-moon shone red through the boughs, and a thought of werewolves did cross my mind but, not being of a feeble constitution, I had a ball!

It should all be downhill from now, the last four weeks, all the hard work done, well…… no.  I don’t know that I’ll feel ready for a race like this so will concentrate on my mental preparation – the body will do more than we could ever believe it’s the mind that lets us down!