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Friday, June 24, 2011

2011 Race Prep


With the Classic just a few weeks away, if you are planning to do the race, you should be mostly prepared by now.  Your physical training should be done and you should rest as much as possible the last couple weeks.  Short runs and hikes and very mild exercise should be your goal.  Aim for as little stress as possible. 

I’m not the race director so I don’t know the exact number of entries but based on the number of requests for information I’ve received, it looks there are an unprecedented number of rookies that are interested. 

Use the remaining couple of weeks before the race to prepare yourself mentally.  The anticipation is bound to be intense but you can use and direct the nervous anxiety to prepare yourself.  Accept who you are and where you are at this point in your life.  Center yourself.  This may sound a little dramatic and new age-ish but if you don’t think about it now, you will in the middle of the race as doubts fill your mind and you question why you started.  There’s nothing like a hundred or so miles of true wilderness to amplify your personality flaws. 

Anyway, back to centering yourself.  Meditation, yoga and tai chi are all excellent ways to center your mind and keep your body limber.  Spend part of your meditation time clearing and slowing your mind by focusing only on your breathing.  The rest of the time visualize yourself in the race overcoming difficulties.  It’s most helpful to imagine the feelings and emotions you will encounter.  For example:  imagine how cold and tired you will be and the despair that comes along with it.  Then spend several minutes feeling how satisfied, competent and proud you are when you continue hiking through the cold, exhaustion and feelings of hopelessness. 

Most of all visualize yourself as confident, competent and making intelligent, safe choices. You don't have anything to prove, just enjoy the experience and the journey.  

Saturday, June 11, 2011

2011 Hot Springs Race

Thank you to spruceboy who originally posted the results of the Hot Springs 100 in a comment.  Here are the results again along with a couple links to some news articles about the race.  Congratulations to everyone who did the race! 


Traveling entirely overland from Chena Hot Springs to Circle Hot Springs,
 Gerry Hovda's time of 21hours and 13 minutes broke the old record of 23:35.
The river was very low, the paddlers couldn't catch him.
 
21 hours: 13 minutes   Gerry Hovda    “Wildermeister”
 
23:30     James Binkley, Jeff Levison,  Peter Calvin
 
24:23     Andrew Harrington, Bob Gillis
 
28:16     Mark Ross
 
28:28     Tom Moran,  Jay Cable
 
31:30     Mike Roylance, Jeff Garrder
 
32:18     Scott Jerome, Joel Pierson
 
34:15     Ed  Plumb, Mark Plumb
 
35:07     Joe Meyer, Jason Reppert
 
40:26     Ryan Clairmont, Matt Rogers
 
41:08     Riley Troyer
 
41:41     Eric Troyer
 
51:45     Andrew Bishop, Zachary Keskinen
 
51:53     Dan Bishop, Wayne Livingston

Sunday, June 5, 2011

2002 Pictures Part Four

Hiking difficult moraine past dark.


  

Early morning after a couple hours of sleep on the ground. Removable blow-up seats from Alpacka rafts make great pillows. 



The joy of navigating unstable moraine on brutalized ankles is difficult to describe.


Hiking along a glacial lake near Skolai Pass. 




This picture shows the rest of the lake we need to circumvent.  To get an idea of the scale of the place, notice the person standing next to the water on a small outcrop of rock.  The mountain pass in the middle of the picture, just to the lower left of the snow, is the beginning of the Goat Trail.  The pass is several miles away, about 2000 feet higher in elevation, and across a good sized, waist deep glacial river.



Crossing the river. 



On top of the pass with the lake and river in the background.   




The origins of the Chitistone River and the beginning of the Goat Trail.