Badwater Ultramarathon 2011 - Memories IV

8:00 am Start - Part 2

Video by: John Rennison

Badwater Ultramarathon 2011 - Memories III

8:00 am Start - Part 1

Video by John Rennison

Badwater Ultramarathon 2011

Team Swiss Miss on Swiss TV. Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the best Badwater crew on the planet. John, Adam, Bernie and Jeff I could not have done it without you.

http://www.videoportal.sf.tv/video?id=fd133557-77ec-4fcf-9dd0-84ff1bea51d8

Badwater Ultramarathon 2011 - Memories II

This is one of my favourite views during the Badwater Ultramarathon - going up to Panamint Pass. Simply breathtaking!

Photo: John Rennison

Badwater Ultramarathon 2011 - Memories

Manfred Steiner aka "Stone" is explaining the special "cooling system" of his Lederhosen, and Mimi Anderson aka "Marvellous Mimi" at the start of her Badwater Double.

Video by my crew chief John Rennison.

Badwater Ultramarathon 2011 - 8:00am Start

It seems such a long time since Team Swiss Miss was at the starting line of the Badwater Ultramarathon 2011. My favorite race once again is over but the memories will last a lifetime.

http://www.youtube.com/user/AdventureCORPS#p/u/4/cZzS0R1gwJg

Badwater Ultramarathon 2011

Team Swiss Miss rocked at Badwater - sub 30 hours! Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart to my crew, John, Jeff, Adam and Bernie. You are the best crew on the planet!

3's a Charm

Allt the training is done and I'm ready for another great adventure. Thank you all for the good wishes. Badwater here we come!

My lucky Badwater charms. Susanne and Annette thank you so much. It is something very special.

Team Swiss Miss Badwater Songs

This year Team Swiss Miss will have 2 Badwater songs to cheer up my fellow Badwater Ultramarathon runners!

The first one is already known in Death Valley from last year - Hey Baby! by DJ Otzi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNsmiqmaEWo

And the second one will be famous after Badwater - "Stahn uf!" by Baschi, Bligg, Ritschi, Seven and Stress

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgfeqzfQrfs

Translation of chorus: "Get up and do exactly what you want! Don't give up! You're the only one who can help yourself!"

Badwater Training and Races

It has been a while since my last Blog post. I was a very busy runner for the past few months. My training for Badwater and the races I've done so far went very well.

My first race this year was the Jerseyville Fat Ass 100 Mile on April 23, hosted by the amazing ultrarunner Monica Scholz. Last year my time there was 17:52, which was a new Canadian age group record. Based on my training I knew I had a chance to break my own record. The course is perfect to run a fast 100 mile time - flat 5k out and back. Despite the heavy rainfall in the beginning of the race everything went well. I felt great most of the time and I finished first overall in a time of 17:33 which is a new pending Canadian age group record.

One week later on April 30 I was at the starting line of the Pick Your Poison 50k. It's a very hilly four loop course on ski hills in Horseshoe Valley. The weather was beautiful. Spring was in the air and I had a blast, especially running the downhills in my Hoka Mafate. I finished the race in a time of 6:51 which was good for 28th place out of 52 runners. I can't wait to go back there in the winter and fly down those hills on my snowboard.

The next race after PYP was Sulphur Springs 100 Mile on May 28. The weather leading up to the race and most of the spring was quite bad, cool and lots and lots of rain. On race day the runners had to challenge some very muddy and wet trails. The course is a 20k loop and some sections of the trails were knee deep mud. After every loop the conditions got worse but at the same time it was also a lot of fun. I had a great race, felt very strong and finished in 20:55 which was a new PB on that course even with the slight tougher course change and the very muddy conditions. I finished first female and was 4th overall out of 66 starters.

Two weeks later on June 11, I did the Self-Trandencence 6 Hour run in Kingston, Ontario. I ran 62,554k / 38.869 miles which was good for second place female and 5th overall out of 50 runners.

Going into the Niagara 50k race one week later on June 19 my plan was to finish it in less than 5 hours. The course is a 25k out and back, following the Niagara River Parkway from Niagara-on-the-Lake past Fort George and on to Niagara Falls and back. Last year I had very bad cramps at the end of the race and had only 29 seconds to pare to break five hours. This year I felt a bit tired on the uphills going out but on the way back I felt great and passed many of my fellow runners. I was flying in my Hoka Bondis, and with a time of 4:24:33 I finished much better than I expected and is a new PB.

All in all I have to say I'm very pleased and happy with my race times so far and the way my training is going. I think I am ready for Badwater and can't wait to put my feet to the starting line. Less than two weeks to go!

Badwater Training and Race Schedule 2011

My training for the Badwater Ultramarathon 2011 is going very well so far. Even though I much prefer running outside, the long and very cold winter in Toronto made me choose the treadmill a lot more frequently than I normally do during the winter months. Running for hours on the treadmill next to the fireplace was still way more enjoyable than running in the freezing cold on icy roads or trails. All in all I kept increasing my weekly mileage and March was my best month ever – 402 miles!

My training schedule till Badwater looks something like this (except for race weeks):

Monday: 5 – 10 miles easy recovery run
Tuesday: morning 10 – 15 miles; evening 5 – 10 miles
Wednesday: 10 – 15 miles hill repeats, intervals or tempo run
Thursday: morning 5 – 10 miles, evening 10 – 15 miles
Friday: off
Saturday: long run
Sunday: long run

I’m also doing weights 4 – 5 times a week, and will add heat training (sauna sessions) the last two months before the race in July. In addition, I’m planning to do some races before and after the Badwater Ultramarathon.

My tentative race schedule for 2011 is:

April 23: Jerseyville 100
April 30: Pick your Poison 50k
May 28: Sulphur Springs 100
June 11: Laurel Highlands 77 miles or Kingston 6 hour
June 18: Niagara 50k
July 11: Badwater Ultramarathon
Aug 6: Dirty Girls 6 hour or 12 hour
Aug 20: Summer Beast of Burden 100
Sep 10: Haliburton Forest 100
Sep 24: Ottawa 24h
Oct 8: Oil Creek 100

I will be a very busy runner this year and hopefully it will be another great year of running with Badwater as my highlight again!

Ultrarunning Magazin - March 2011

My PB at the Jerseville 100 in April 2010 made it to the 11th place of the "2010 TOP 100-MILE TIMES -WOMEN in the Ultrarunning Magazine. http://www.ultrarunning.com/ I just missed the top 10 by 4 minutes but I am very happy to see my name behind some of the best American female ultrarunners.

Freezing Rain and Snow or Treadmill?

Yesterday when I checked the weather outside my house I decided in a split second that there is no way I would run outside in those conditions – wet and cold! The treadmill next to the fireplace looked way more appealing than getting soaking wet and freezing cold. I don’t really like running on the treadmill, but wintertime in Toronto can be quite tough. Right now it looks like this winter will never end. I’m really getting tired of all this exercising with the snow shovel and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Anyway, I ended up running 33 miles yesterday and another 22 miles today – yes on the treadmill! It definitely was the most I ever ran on the treadmill in two days. All in all it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. All you need is an iPod loaded with lots of music. The best tunes for long runs are very long songs like:

Genesis – Abacab
Genesis – Tonight, tonight, tonight
Don McLean – American Pie
Peter Frampton – Do you feel like we do
Pink Floyd – Echoes
Pink Floyd – Shine on you crazy diamond
Iron Butterfly – In-A-Godda-Da-Vida
Doors – L.A. Women
Doors – Light my fire
Doors – Riders on the storm
Doors – The end
Dire Straits – Money for nothing
Dire Straits – Telegraph Road
The Temptations – Papa was a Rollin' Stone
Prince – Purple Rain
Michael Jackson – Thriller
Mike Oldfield – Tubular Bells
Jimi Hendrix – Voodoo Child
Rolling Stones – You can’t always get what you want

Badwater Heat or Toronto Cold?

What a tough run on icy and snowy roads this morning! The temperature in Toronto is completely the opposite than what it will be during the Badwater Ultramarathon. It was freezing cold and with the wind chill factor it was -20 degree Celsius. Even imagine how hot it will be in Badwater didn’t make me feel any warmer. I can’t wait for this long and cold winter to be over and run in the heat again. At least my feet were warm. I was wearing the Drymax Cold Weather running socks http://www.drymaxsocks.com/index.php Great socks! And they keep my feet dry and warm.

Drymax Cold Weather Running socks

Badwater Ultramarathon 2011

Yea!! I got some great news at 4:00 am this morning:

Congratulations! You have been accepted to compete in the 2011 Badwater Ultramarathon, presented by AdventureCORPS, Inc. You are part of a select group who will participate in what is recognized across the globe as “the world’s toughest footrace.”

I am so excited! I can't wait to run in Death Valley again. Congratulations to all the other Badwater Ultramarathon runners. See you in July.

Hoka One One - Time to Fly!

And flying I was today. I absolutely love my new Hoka One One! I did a 3 hour trail run at Sulphur Springs today with my friends Adi, Steve and Dave. The Hoka One One surpassed all my expectations. When I first tried the shoe on the treadmill for 10 minutes it felt ok but didn’t give me that “wow factor” so I was very anxious to test it on the trails.

The trail conditions at Sulphur Springs were absolutely perfect today – packed snow. It was quite cold but very beautiful. When Dave first noticed my new Hoka One One he asked if I was wearing moon boots. However after we finished our run he was quite impressed. He likes to try out everything new and I bet he has already ordered a pair online.

The Hoka One One has a very good grip in snowy conditions. The shoe is light as a feather and very comfortable right from the beginning and the cushioning is incredible. It almost feels like running on a cloud. I was never worried I could roll my ankle; rather the Hoka One One has great stability and helped me to keep my balance. Running downhill with the Hoka One One is a blast! I can’t wait to run my next 100 mile race with the Hoka One One (http://www.hokaoneone.com/en/).

Jerseyville 100

My first race this season will be like last year the Jerseyville 100 on April 23. I ran a 100 mile PB there and I hope it will be a very special race for me again.


Hopefully all the stars will be lined up again for a perfect race...

Badwater Memories

Last year at our post Badwater Ultramarathon party I got a very special present from my friend Jim Morrison, which means a lot to me and will always remind me how strong I felt running from Darwin to Lone Pine. Jim was on the crew of my fellow ultrarunner Rob Gryfe. Thank you so much Jim! You really know how much I love being part of the Badwater Ultramarathon.

Sand from Keeler http://keelercalifornia.com/

Badwater Music

One of my favourite Swiss Music group is Zueri West. During last year's Badwater I heard many of their great songs which kept me moving. Thank you very much Zueri West for your support, and huge thanks to my girlfriend Susanne for waiting in line to get the special signed CD for me.

This is one of my favourite Zueri West songs. Kuno and Co you rock!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxdZ_HaLJzQ