Monday 040212

I am still in Tel Aviv, and while I am not the wimpy arse victim of jet lag nearly as bad as I was last couple times I was here (thus far), I am clearly in some sort of funk.  Maybe it is the melatonin I am taking.  Maybe it is that I can only eat diced tomatoes and cukes with humus so much.  Or maybe it is sea level air.  Or maybe that coffee here is just plainly horrible (I guess I have become that old man snob with coffee, but they drink the equivalent of Nescafe here as the norm and it is not good).  Or maybe it is indeed the time difference – it is 5AM here right now on Monday, but my computer clock tells me that it is 8AM on Sunday. Or that I have been running on this compromised Achilles for too long (over a month).  Something ain’t right, and I know it, I am just doing a ton to fix it right now.  And I am not overly worried about it.  Take the training that is given to me.   Not always the smartest strategy, but one that is easiest for me to embrace.

Maybe it is that ketchup and mayo are completely confused in this country.

Clearly the big news in the ultra space the last couple of days has been the passing of Micah True, or the “Caballo Blanco.”  Michah was brought into fame with “the book” but he was doing his thing well before the book took off.  I never met the guy, nor have I read the book but saw his posts on the Boulder Trail Runner list serve for quite some time before “Born to Run” pushed him into the limelight.  With his passing, his most recent and last post on the list was re-shared.  Reading this, it is clear why the man had such a profound impact on so many.

Sunday, March 4, 2012 was just another beautiful day in the deep canyon country
of la Sierra Madre. Wednesday they began to come; a whole bunch of international
runners met at the Rancho Del Oso hotel near Cerocahui and hiked together 8
hours over the mountains and down into the 6,200 foot deep Urique canyon and
arrived at the town of Urique where we encountered all of the other
international runners, numbering over 80, and about 350 Raramuri [Tarahumara
Indian runners]. There were another 70 or so locals, numbering almost 500 total
by the race start.
We celebrated together with food and festivity for a few days until the Sunday
race, then ran all day through the beauty of the Urique canyon, distances of 22,
40 and 50+ miles. We ran in peace together, dancing in rythm to the lovely
heartbeat of our Mother Earth; the heartbeat of freedom.
ALL were winners. The first finisher of the 50 mile "main event", and winning
the great prize money of almost $3,000 dollars [35,000 pesos] and a ton of corn
[food value] was a Tarahumara runner named Miguel Lara, from the mountain
village of Porochi, Urique. Seond place was the Czech Republic star Danel
Oralek, and third place was the legendary German Silva of Mexico. ALL 3 broke
the previous course record of 7:04 set by Miguel in 2011! Miguel won the 2012
race in a time of 6:40. Danel came in in 6:46 and German in 6:51.
It was an incredible day and performance by ALL that participated in any way,
shape or form.
The top 10 men and women finishers received cash prize money and maize [food
vales] with the top 5 each winning a ton [literally] of food per runner along
with cash prizes of almost $3,000, $2,000, $1,500, $800 and $400 dollars [in
pesos] awarded the top 5 men and women. The 6th-10th place runners [men and
women] received 1/2 ton of food and about $250. ALL finishers [180 of them] of
the 50 mile ultra won 5 50 kg sacks of maize [food] payed in vales to purchase
whatever is needed, at community Diconsa markets. Korima [sharing] amongst their
communities.
ALL finishers of the shorter distances also received corn/food prizes of 50/100
kg sacks of corn/food.
On this day, yet another time, peace was created in the deep canyon country of
la Sierra Madre. Run Free!

Separately, there is some nuttiness occurring on the Incline this upcoming weekend.  Yeah, the Incline … that thing that is just over a mile long and gains over 2000 feet with an average grade of 41% and a max of 68%.  At least somebody is going to attempt a full marathon on it (13 laps).  That is 26 miles with 26000+ feet of gain.  Ouch. (not participating in this one … will just be getting back from the Middle East and hence enjoying watching kids soccer)

The time you've all been waiting for is finally drawing near. The INCLINATHON (incline marathon consisting of 13 up/downs) will take place Saturday April 7th. For those truly looking to go the distance, 3am is the recommended starting time. There are really no rules here though so start whenever you want and do as many laps as you want. Yes, you can even run down Barr trail. Thrift store prize categories are as follows:
-1st and 2nd place marathon (no Barr trail)
-1st place team (no Barr trail)
-Best Jackie Chan costume
-Best fall and/or display of blood
-Most unusual cramp
There will also be an Easter egg hunt at around sunrise with gels, body glide, sport beans, easter candy, and fake tattoos. Come out and compete, support, or just witness the madness. Predicted finishing time is 13-15 hours. I'm planning on dropping a bag at the bottom as no one has yet to commit to manning an aid station.

Evening … actually felt pretty good.  10 miles (plus), picking it up over the first five miles (each mile faster), about 36 minutes.  Then 5 x 3 minutes on, 2 minutes off.  I was going to go right into a sixth but that would mean I would be going hard through Tel Aviv Port in the dark … not a good idea with all the people, kids, bikes, etc.  So I waited until after I got through the port and just ran the last part hard (longer than 3 minutes).  Felt good.  A little Achilles bark but good.