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trans sierra express

Or how to run across the Sierra Nevada and beat the car!

This summer I thought about the following challenge: I bet that I could cross the Sierra Nevada range running and go faster than a car which would have to drive around it! And I won (kind of)!

I decided that the race would start from Cedar Grove / Road’s End on the west side of the Sierra Nevada and end on the East Side at Onion Valley Campground. By foot (running) it’s a 22 miles trail run (with 7,000 ft of climbing eastbound, less westbound). By car, it’s a 354 miles ride taking 7 hours according to Google maps (not counting pit stops, see the map embedded below). I thought I could beat that both ways so I got started with preparations.

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BOOK COVER

born to run

I usually don’t read books about running. A little while ago I had read a book about running by Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running… and I found myself disgusted by his self-importance, exhibitionism, and vanity. I never read a Murakami book again! In other words, I don’t care why one of my favorite writers ran or had a snotty nose or slept on the right side of the bed. Not interesting. I just like running! However…

Because I run barefoot, I usually end up recommending that people read Born to Run by Christopher McDougall although until recently I never read it. It was something to offer as support for the cause of barefoot and natural running. I never read it because I felt I didn’t have to be convinced of anything while at the same time it was on my reading list… I never got around to it until luckily the book was given to me as a present. It made it to the top of the pile pretty fast: I was very curious about the Tarahumara tribe and the journey of the writer. And a question I had: how can someone write so much about running?

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injury

injury recovery

I can’t remember the last time I got hurt running. I’ve been injury-free for years, the only hurt came from bike crashes. It’s easier to recover from blunt trauma than from an overuse injury. An overuse injury is a cumulative trauma disorder, tissue (or bone) damage that results from repetitive demand over time. I hurt my right calf muscle/tendon almost two weeks ago and I’ve learned a lot in the healing of such an injury.

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crazy wisdom poster

CRAZY WISDOM – THE MOVIE

Earth, water, fire, and all the elements,
The animate and the inanimate, the trees and greenery and so on,
All partake of the nature of self-existing equanimity,
Which is quite simply what the Great Wrathful One is.
In the spontaneous wisdom of the trikaya
I take refuge with body, speech and mind.
In order to free those who suffer at the hands of the three lords of materialism
And are afraid of external phenomena, which are their own projections.
I take this vow in meditation.
The Saddhana of Mahamudra (excpt)

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ultra bare foot shoes

ULTRA RUNNING BAREFOOT

After signing up for the  North Face Endurance Challenge San Francisco  (50mi) I realized I wanted to also sign up for the  Ultra Trail Marathon du Mont-Blanc  (100mi) in 2012. While the NFEC is in December 2011 in San Francisco I need to accumulate 5 points to qualify for the UTMB. This means that I need to run (and finish!) the NFEC and probably a 100km run (62mi) or a 100mi run (not quite ready for that yet – UTMB will probably be my first one).

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