Grindelwald Training Log 2021 |
No, I'm not running a Harry Potter race. Grindelwald is a forest in the Swiss Alps where the Eiger Trail Ultramarathon is run.
Training Schedule
| Week | Kilometers Planned | Kilometers Ran/Rode | Events |
|---|---|---|---|
| 53 | 15 | 10 / 10 | |
| 1 | 25 | 21 | Mørketidsløpet |
| 2 | 10 | 10 | (recovery week) |
| 3 | 25 | 28 skiing | |
| 4 | 25 | 13 (+15 skiing) | |
| 5 | 25 | 18 | |
| 6 | 25 | 36 | |
| 7 | 25 | 16 | Maratonkarusellen halvmaraton cancelled |
| 8 | 25 | 27 | |
| 9 | 25 | 21 | |
| 10 | 27 | 28 | |
| 11 | 29 | 28 | |
| 12 | 31 | ? / 7 | |
| 13 | 33 | 9 / 20 | |
| 14 | 35 | 20 / 30 | |
| 15 | 37 | 17 | |
| 16 | 39 | 0 | |
| 17 | 41 | 12 / 48 / 18 rollerblading | Wet Sox vs. Kristiansand Suns cancelled |
| 18 | 43 | 0 / 53 | Wet Sox vs. Sola Aviators cancelled |
| 19 | 45 | 49/22 | |
| 20 | 47 | 47 | |
| 21 | 49 | 56 | Ulriken Opp |
| 22 | 51 | 18 | |
| 23 | 53 | 20 / 13 | Wet Sox vs. Kristiansand Suns cancelled |
| 24 | 55 | 5 | |
| 25 | 57 | 0 | Baseball NM cancelled |
| 26 | 59 | 24 / 10 | |
| 27 | 25 | 0 | |
| 28 | 56 | 51 / 35 | Eiger Trail 51 |
17 July 2021 - Grindelwald - 51 km - Datasport - Pictures
Some impressions:
- There was a bottleneck in line switching from road to trail.
- All the washed out creekbeds from the extreme rain this week.
- First snowfield crossing was early (~1 hr in).
- I think I'm the only one who climbs like a sherpa rather than at a constant pace.
- I do not like poles that people carry. They get far too close with them.
- Grosse Scheidegg was only 8km in.
- I was repeatedly disappointed by the slowness of my pace.
- Cows and beautiful flowers above the trees.
- First cloudwalk was terrifying, and I couldn't even see how far down it was because of the cloud sitting there.
- We were in and out of the clouds all day.
- First down to the barn at Feld was Enjoyable and got me to 20km; at a pace of 5km/hr it was 10 AM.
- The 5km climb to Faulhorn was too much for me and took 2 hours. I think the altitude also exacerbated my asthma.
- Faulhorn was in a cloud, so I got no views up there.
- I drank my first Coca-Cola since the US at the top of Faulhorn. It was delish!
- Downhill throw the rockfields was rough on my knees.
- The many, many snowfields to cross were a challenge. The flat ones weren't bad. The ones on a cliffside were mentally difficult. The downhill ones were a challenge not to fall.
- I fell on some steps and my left calf siezed up. It would be on the edge for many kilometeres after that.
- Running on a rocky ledge on the edge of a cliff for a ways I was glad to be in a cloud.
- Americans I passed as they were going up cheered me on for the flag on my bib.
- I met Chris on this stretch. Just a few years younger than me he works at the US army base in Frankfurt. We compared our many race stories and generally had a good conversation.
- The transition back from rocks to dirt was welcome and not too muddy yet
- In a field at 30 km there was a water stop without a bib scanner. At this point we were mostly below the clouds.
- Here to Schwand was beautiful; and the rolling trails were mostly not too steep up or down
- I saw rockfaces that must be in a thousand geology textbooks
- Back into cow farms began the bad mud
- Schwand was at 37 km and in a barn. I was not happy with my pace, but feeling good about the last 14 km. Little did I know...
- The run down to 40 km was the worst part of the race and took an hour. It was mud and slippery roots and rocks.
- The cliffside trails, slippery as they were, nearly broke me mentally. I was on all fours by the time I reached the waterfall bridge.
- The rest of the run down to Berglaunen was on gravel and asphalt roads. This was tough on the knees, and my right ankle caused me to stop a few times.
- Berglaunen was down at the road
- I had a third helping of Coke - definitely a pick me up!
- The last 7 km from there were asphalt and gravel walking paths - mostly flat
- I really wanted to jump in the river
- I jogged and walked this part, trying to keep a 10 min/km pace
- The farm valleys are pretty
- The many, many wildflowerss all along the race meant that I was a mess of snot for most of the run - dripping out of my nose and down my throat
- The last hill up from the floodplain to the finish was like one last dickpunch on this difficult course
- The beer they gave you after was alcohol free.
- Saw Chris at the finish and we wished eachother well. He also gave me some good race ideas, including an 80K from Versailles to the Eifel Tower and a wine and cheese run alone the Rhine.
- My toes were all fine after the race, but I slipped and fell in the shower, ripping off a toenail on the drain. Well, not completely off. The base is still attached. Bled alot!
13 July 2021 - Askøy - 35ish km - Blog - Strava
The part of our ride on the island.
Race week is finally here, but it's kind of hard to believe its real since nothing really feels real in this post-breakup numbness I'm currently in. Nevertheless I'm making concrete plans and my flights have only changed a little bit this week. Having a nonstop both ways downgraded to having two layovers both ways was a real nutpunch from Lufthansa. At least my covid passport from Helsenorge is good in Deutschland too since I'll be stopping there on the way now.
3-4 July 2021 - Fonnabu - ~20 km
2 July 2021 - Dronningen - 10 km ride & 4 km hike
Short, painful run this morning. Did a bikeride yesterday. The car is in the shop, so I didn't make it to the marathon Saturday. Wasn't really a good training weekend. Two bad weeks in a row and I'm feeling nervous about the race in a month. Hopefully this week will go better.
8 June 2021 - Totlandsfjellet - 4 km
The baseball games this weekend have been cancelled like all the rest so far, ergo I'm running a marathon here in Bergen. Should be a good warm up for the ultra in a month!
7 June 2021 - Eknes - 16 km
Friday I really hit the wall with my training. I've just exhausted myself and had to take a break. Saturday I spent the whole day (well, five hours of it) playing baseball, which was just fun. Today I did a little hiking, a little gardening, and finished reading a book.
The race in Switzerland is officially on, and I've paid the full race fee. They're a class act too, allowing rescheduling if the rules change between now and then so I have to quarantine. That's unlikely though. Switerland is now admitting the vaccinated from just about everywhere without requiring quarantine.
1 June 2021 - Eknes - 4 km
31 May 2021 - Eknes - 12 km
30 May 2021 - Dronningen - 4 km
Today I took a leisurely hike up Dronningen with Anette and her son. I had chores I was supposed to be doing, but the day was too beautiful to pass up the offer.
29 May 2021 - Ulriken Opp - 4 km + 5 km
My first Ulriken Opp. It was tough, but I made it. The real limitation I felt was cardiovascular rather than muscular, but it was a sprint. Now I want to start training for the Stoltzekleiven Opp in the Fall, but first there's the baseball season and the Eiger 51. I'm thinking about doing the Askøy på langs trail end to end to see if I hit the wall over 30 km. After running down I went for a nice swim in the Store Lungegårdsvann.
28 May 2021 - Askøy - 13 km
26 May 2021 - Osterreidet - 10 km
And then I had baseball practice in the evening. I really wish I could throw better.
24 May 2021 - Husdalsfjellet - 18 km
22 May 2021 - Eldsfjellet - 9 km
Took my first hike up Eldsfjellet to see the new dagsturhytta, Eldsbu, and get a birdseye view of Herdla from Eldsfjellet's Veten.
21 May 2021 - Bergen - 19 km
Ran up Rundemanen for lunch today. It took a long time, but my back was getting sorer sitting in the chair at work. Now it feels better. To cool off afterward I went swimming in the fjord by the office.
20 May 2021 - Askøy - 5 km
Training Update
Back at Wet Sox practice for the first time in a couple months. Sadly our first two games were postponed because of covid and we can't practice indoors with our batting cage. Other than that it was great to be back with the guys for the evening!
18 May 2021 - Bergen - 11 km
Did my first lunch run up into the mountains today during my first day back in the office. I came back from the US about 7 kg heavier, but I think all the biking is really helping me for the hills since there weren't any of those on Hilton Head. Because the Eiger 51 has 3100m of vertical gain it requires around 30 thousand joules of work per kg to climb.
17 May 2021 - Lygra - 2 km
Swimming and grilling and a hike today for just a low key syttende mai.
16 May 2021 - Askøy - 11 km
Just a short morning run down the road to get the day started!
12 May 2021 - Askøy - 14 km
Trailblazing through the woods today which meant a slow pace but I did get some hills in.
11 May 2021 - Askøy - 10 km run & 22 km ride
I've 45 km to run this week and I'm not going to slack on getting it done early. I'm under quarantine, so I can't go to baseball practice. Today I also purchased nonstop tickets to Switzerland in July. I'm counting on not having to quarantine there when I land because Norway isn't (and hasn't been) on Switerland's quarantine list. Hopefully that doesn't change between now and then. The Swiss don't currently exempt the fully vaccinated like me from quarantine, but that could also change between now and then. Having been on the überflat island of Hilton Head I really need to do some hill training as well. There are 3100m uphill to climb in under 13 hours in July!
Got a running start to the week back in Norway.
7 May 2021 - HHI - 30 km
One last bikeride around the island before flying back to Norway. I'm going to miss the ease of life here and am also glad to be escaping it. The vapidity of people also wears one down. Sunday I'll be running on Askøy, and island that fits me somwhat better.
4 May 2021 - HHI - 23 km
1 May 2021 - HHI - 38 km
30 April 2021 - HHI - 10 m
29 April 2021 - Alpharetta - 18 km
28 April 2021 - Ocee - 7 miles
Time is flying here in the States, and I'm accomplishing a lot but I'm also accomplishing very little in normal life things. Last week I drove to Atlanta, Knoxville and Nashville. I saw both of the twins and emptied out my storage unit leftover from my hopes of one day returning to the US. Last night I got back to Grandma's after 1AM. America is also making me fat. The boys are playing the first baseball game of the season this weekend without me. Hopefully I can get back on track with less than 3 months to go until the race.
This log has fallen by the wayside as I've traveled to the US to visit my ailing dad, but my training has been going quite well. It's hot here, which makes things a bit more exhausting, but there are no mountains on Hilton Head. Actually that's probably suboptimal for training for the Alps, but oh well.
12 April 2021 - Pinckney Island - 10ish miles
14 March 2021 - 11 km
13 March 2021 - 17 km
6 March 2021 - 6 km
Hit some Nature today, going around Sørafjellet and Brenneklubben.
5 March 2021 - 8 km
Even though I have another baseball practice tonight and my arm is sore from Wednesday, I needed to go for a run this morning. So I ran out to Hetlevik and back. Running helps balance me, and my life feels disappointingly out of my control lately. Everyone keeps asking me if the race in July is still on. I don't know. It doesn't really matter. The point of training for the race is the training not the race. It's a headfake really, to keep me going. Yes, it would be incredibly sweet running 51 kilometers through the alps this summer. The training up to it that keeps me healthy and sane is the real value though.
Baseball practice starts up again today at Wergeland field!
28 February 2021 - 12 km
Today I took a break from an otherwise lazy weekend to run across Askøy from where I'm catsitting for Linda over to the hytta, where the water still doesn't work so great. Jakob, who's lending me the place, seems to think there's still ice somewhere that just needs to melt. After an afternoon of experimenting I'm fairly convinced the trouble lies with the hot water tank. But maybe it's some balance than needs to be struck for ice reduced flow on the intake to the tank. The neighborhood boys where quite interested in my project though, and questioned me på norsk more than I could answer. Good practice though...
24 February 2021 - 10 km
Today's run was a mental exercise. I did three laps around the Store Lungegårdsvann; the same flat ground half through a construction site three times. I wanted to quit or run off somewhere else, but it was the middle of the workday and I was time limited. I need a good way to pack on the miles midweek though, and this is a readily available one from the office.
23 February 2021 - 5 km
21 February 2021 - 5 km
20 February 2021 - 11 km
14 February 2021 - 6 km
13 February 2021 - 6 km
12 February 2021 - 8 km
11 February 2021 - 5 km
10 February 2021 - 11 km
7 February 2021 - 14 km Nordsjøløypa
29 January 2021 - 5 km skiing
Took advantage of my last day with the rented skis this morning to hit a trail on Askøy I'd run the night before. I went out and back on the flattest part rather then doing the loop. It was like bowling without bumpers. On the trail around the lake in Geilo there were banks of snow on the sides but today on Askøy there were dropoffs into rocks. There was nothing to stop by running into, so I had to be master of the pizza slice on the hills I did encounter.
29 January 2021 - 6 km
25 January 2021 - 10 km skiing
24 January 2021 - 3 + 10 km skiing
Rallarvegen
23 January 2021 - 15 km skiing
Today Ane and I took a walk up to Ørnanipo in the rain as it melted the snow. My left ankle remains a problem despite my continued usage of it. It feels better, but it's still far from stable. This is frustrating and I need to do more targeted exercises probably.
15 January 2021 - 5 km
13 January 2021 - Ørnanipo 5 km
Back in Bergen after a dry half marathon in Tromsø I find myself in a winter wonderland. Ergo this morning's run was my first opportunity to try out the new pigger - these are spikes that one attaches to one's shoes via a rubber harness. My last pair lasted me several winters, but I misplaced one at Ane's cabin last year. These new pigger are, sadly, not as good. Yes, they provide good grip on the ice and snow, but the harness is not secure enough and comes off when running downhill. I'm hoping that this is user error which I am able to correct after more usage. If not it's going to be annoying.
9 January 2021 - 21.1 km
I successfully entered the lottery for a place in this year's Eiger Trail Ultramarathon (51 km) through the Grindelwald in the Swiss Alps this summer. Should the race be cancelled like so many were last year, the registration is also transferable to 2022. Ergo there is no risk. While this is my main goal race for the next six and a half months, I also plan to play baseball again this year so training for that will also be logged here.
