Monday, July 18, 2011

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!


Thursday, July 7, 2011

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.


Sunday, July 3, 2011

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!"


Friday, July 1, 2011

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!