RUNCATION - DAY 01
So I ended up in Greece. In Litochoro, at the foot of Mount Olymp. How the hell did that happen?! Well, this week is basically the last chance to do some extended training for Western States. After that it’s already time to recover and solidify the work of the last months. That’s why I went on another Runcation to do nothing else but running, eating and sleeping. And to blank out, that the aftermath of my Covid infection is still a thing. I committed to work with what I’ve got, so let’s not complain but do some running instead.
Why Greece? 3 reasons. First, it’s almost as hot as in the Canyon. Today we had 30 degree and it’s gonna get even warmer this week. That’s good heat training, something that I neglected due to my Covid training hiatus. Second, there’s unbelievably many trail running options here in Litochoro. From forest paths over endless climbs (in fact Mount Olymp is 3000m high, starting from sea level) to high altitude stone deserts, you get it all. Third, here in Greece I can meet up with my coach Karim who I haven’t seen since last year’s CCC. Long story short: I’m glad I am here.
Had a quick travel shakeout run today at one of the most beautiful tracks I’ve ever seen. I’ll be hitting the mountains with Karim tomorrow. Thats the plan. I will keep you posted.
RUNCATION - DAY 02
Here we go, second day of my Runcation. Contrary to my quick and easy shakeout run yesterday, I did some more serious work today and hit the trails for 21k and 1300 D+. A powerful and challenging workout with absolutely stunning views. I had the great pleasure of running together with my coach Karim, who showed me around the lower and middle part of Mount Olymp. We partly ran on the route of the Olympus Marathon, a famous race over here, that has been around for a long time. In fact the course is very demanding, varied and absolutely beautiful. It definitely does not need to hide behind other European races like Lavaredo, Eiger or Transvulcania.
So what did I learn today? Most of all to listen. To mentally step back every once in a while and recognize what’s actually going on with my body. Today it was a play with the climbs, the excitement about the beauty of nature, good talks and the heat. If I wouldn’t have paid attention, my heart rate would have exploded. So I used those "body checks" to adjust the effort accordingly and to remind me of drinking and fueling when necessary. Right now I cannot imagine doing this "play" for 25+ hours at Western States, but I guess, in essence, it will be quite similar.
Speaking of the heat: It was intense, but I welcomed it with open arms. That’s one of the reasons why I came to Greece for this Runcation. I’ve been sensitive to heat basically all my (running) life, but I never looked into what it actually does to my body. Also I never tried to train to adapt to it. I doubt that I will become a desert runner any time soon, but what I can work on is to stop regarding the heat as something bad or threatening. It’s not. It’s a challenge. Just like a long climb, a technical downhill or freezing hands on top of a mountain.
Looking forward to tomorrow.
RUNCATION - DAY 03
Third day of my Runcation in Greece brought me to the alpine regions of the Olympus National Park. I started my run at about 1100m and went all the way up to 2550m. What I found there was an overwhelmingly beautiful rocky landscape with breathtaking views to the ocean on one side and Mount Olymp on the other. For some moments it felt like time was standing still. A sensation that usually confirms, that you are doing the right thing.
Most of the paths above 2000m were still covered in snow and it was kinda exhausting to cross or detour snowfields and big piles thereof. But in the end it paid off threefold, because I literally met no one the whole day (except for a three-person mountain patrol fixing the passage to the Plateau of the Muses). I was all alone up there. And it was great.
Back to planet earth, here’s a couple of questions the 3 people reading my stories ask frequently:
ARE YOU TRAVELLING ALONE? WHERE IS LISA?
Yes, I went on this Runcation all by myself. Lisa didn’t have enough holidays left to join me. After all, we’re flying to California very soon and we’ve also settled our trip to Chamonix for her CCC A-race. But I do miss her terribly!
WHAT DO YOU DO ALL DAY WHEN YOU’RE NOT RUNNING?
Well, the so-called "rest of the day" is kind of the "secret sauce" of any Runcation! The fewer other things you do, the quicker you recover. This means that, besides running, I am doing basically nothing but eating, sleeping and strolling through Litochoro to grab a coffee and say "hi" to the local stray cats and dogs. For an "always on" person like me, this lifestyle is a rarity. I guess that’s why I enjoy it very much.
HOW’S THE WEATHER?
Wonderful. That’s one of the reasons why I came here. During the day it’s usually between 28 and 30 degree with low humidity and 14 hours of sunshine. Running around Olympus National Park feels a bit like running on La Palma or Gran Canaria. It’s definitely good heat training and hanging out in Litochoro has a strong summer vacation vibe.
WHAT’S UP NEXT?
Well, tune in again tomorrow and find out.
RUNCATION - DAY 04
Today was the most relaxed day of my Runcation so far. After breakfast I went to a village called Old Pori to do a short‘ish recovery run on the course of yet another trail race in this region, the Pourlia Trail. I went out with my coach Karim and another one of his athletes and coffee shop owner Giovanni. I still can’t stress enough how beautiful it is to run here. Today we mostly went through the woods with a short visit at a lake and some (rolling) grass hills. Time went by fast, especially since I found my rhythm today.
Finding my rhythm… that’s a good cue. Today’s 2-3/10 effort (Remember my personalized RPE-scale that I unleashed a couple of weeks ago?) kind of felt like a "forever pace". In fact Karim even asked me how long I think I would be able to sustain this effort and I spontaneously but without hesitation answered: "25 hours". Despite the fact, that I’ve never run for 25 hours haha! However my answer was not based on the actual pace, my heartrate, the terrain, my breathing or impact on my muscles. It referred to an overall sensation that connected my physical body feeling, my emotional state and the quality and speed of the thoughts in my head. I think I kind of hit a sweet spot today, that might be the perfect fit for a 100 Mile race. Especially if it’s the first one.
It might not EXACTLY be how I will feel tomorrow, though. I’m stepping up my Runcation game by moving on to a town called Metsovo. There I will participate all 3 races at Ursa Trail. A vertical on Friday, a marathon on Saturday and a half-marathon on Sunday. Although I promised my coach to go out easy at the marathon and half-marathon, I am still excited. Mostly because I haven’t raced in a while, especially not a tripple. But I know it’s going to be great.
RUNCATION - DAY 05
Racing weekend has begun! The prelude to lovely Ursa Trail in Metsovo was the Katara Vertical K (4.7km / 860 D+). My coach Karim gave me green light to go all out today. Because of this, but also because I only raced a vertical once in my fragmentary racing career, I was actually a bit nervous. I met Karim and a couple of his really nice athletes shortly before the race. Last thing he said to me was: "Unleash yourself". And that I did.
The Katara Vertical really deserves his name. 18%ish uphill with literally not one single meter flat or downhill. Just one massive climb through woods, gravel roads, stone meadows, single trails and 100 meters of asphalt just before the finish line. The heat and the steepness hit hard right after the first couple of minutes. I could intensely feel myself throughout the race and I realized that I had missed that a lot.
Funny side note with a deep edge: There is literally no information about this race or its results on the internet. I have no idea if I came in 10th or 100th. In fact I don’t even know how many runners started haha! Absolutely zero chance to compare myself to other runners, which usually happens automatically, even to a "not so competitive" runner like me. Yet still I am very satisfied with how things went. And that’s why I race.
I promised not to put my Covid recovery into the center of these writings, but people keep on asking me about it (thanks for caring, by the way) so here’s a little heads up: Due to the wild mix of normal training fatigue, heat, not sleeping so well and very different characteristics of my workouts this week, I really don’t know where I stand. Today’s race was interesting though. While my heartrate remains 10-15 beats above normal at any given effort, it was capped today slightly above what used to be my lactate threshold. For the nerds among you: I have a max HR of 190, but couldn’t bring it beyond 169 no matter how hard I pushed. In fact the average HR of this race was 160. That’s how I would usually race a flat road marathon. My breathing frequency however was at the absolute maximum. Also noteworthy: My legs were almost fresh when I crossed the finish line. My organism obviously is completely out of control haha! But today I wasn’t worried about it. I like that.
I will use tomorrow’s 40k / 2700 D+ to practice some fueling and pacing strategies and thus take it rather easy. Still looking forward to it very much.
RUNCATION - DAY 06
Day 6, second race. After yesterday’s short but intense Katara Vertical, I got my chance to do some ultra running today. Well, in fact it was not even an ultra, since I only ran 40k / 2800 D+, but the plan was to kind of simulate what I plan to do at Western States. This even worked out to some extent. I ran the first half a little too fast, but then was soon rudely thwarted by some very steep climbs. I mean VERY steep. "Iron chain" sort of steep. The race course had a lot of surprises like this up its sleeve and thus never got boring. Don’t worry, this is not going to be one of those detailed race reports that describes the food of every aid station. So, only one last remark: In the second half of the race I really found my rhythm. A sustainable ultra shuffle that might not have looked very athletic, but at least I could have continued like this for a long time and even had fun along the way. And that’s exactly what I need for Western States.
I close todays summary with 3 things no one knows about my Runcation:
I wash my clothes in the sink. Every day. I love to travel light and only brought hand luggage. And obviously I sweat a lot.
I drink coffee from a briki. You may know how Turkish coffee is prepared? That’s it. I don’t do this buy choice, but I already perfected it to a quite tasteful degree.
I miss my family a lot. My wife Lisa and our cats Herold and Tofu. Ok, that was not exactly a secret. But I had to mention it.
I’ll get some rest to be ready for the third race tomorrow. Thanks for reading this!
RUNCATION - DAY 07
Addie Bracy said: "Let the race come to you" …and it came.
Today marks the last day of my Runcation and the third race at Ursa Trail. To be honest, when I woke up after yesterday’s marathon and a really bad night sleep, I didn’t feel like racing at all. Although the challenge seemed to be manageable, 21k with 1100 D+, I still would have rather enjoyed a Freddo Espresso and watch the race, than in fact participate. Hoping that my dizziness and fatigue would disappear at some point in the race, I ran the first 5 kilometers very conservatively and just tried to enjoy the ride.
Half way through the first climb I recognized that my legs were still pretty fresh. I recently started to practice the mental skill of putting the focus on the body parts that "work well" instead of where the aches and pains are. So I made use of my fresh legs and surprised myself by running (instead of hiking) long stretches of the climb. That again let me pass a good dozen of other runners and the race was unexpectedly on. I managed to run the last 10k progressively ever faster, opening up the legs in the downhills, rolling in the flats and running most of the uphills. The last 2 kilometers into town were pure bliss and tangible love for running. Everything in life made sense.
Here’s another good one: Just 1 minute ago I found out, that my heartrate monitor didn’t work today. During the last 5 weeks I’ve been checking my heartrate immediately after every run to look for abnormalities and bad news. The fact, that I unconsciously didn’t do that after todays race makes me really happy. Covid might still be somewhere in my body, but much less in my head anymore.
After the race I left Metsovo and drove to Thessaloniki where I will spend one more day before my flight back to Munich on Tuesday. I’m using my time off tomorrow to profoundly reflect on this Runcation and write a quick recap about the good, the bad and - of course - the ugly.
So long.
RUNCATION GREECE - RECAP
8 runs, 130 kilometers, 8692 meters of altitude gain and 18:43 hours of running. That’s it for the hard facts. I got some real quality workouts into my legs, trained my heat-adaption and could test pacing and fueling strategies. All for the big race in 26 days: The Western States 100.
But what’s most outstanding is how this Runcation changed my mindset towards Western States. After my Covid infection I had to struggle with anger, frustration and self-doubt for weeks. Last week of "nothing but running" rebuilt my self-confidence bit by bit and made me much more at ease. Basically with everything, but most of all with myself. It was the right decision to take the time off and travel to Greece. Biggest thanks again to @myperformancepsychologist for inviting me, suggesting routes, running along and giving me bib numbers for Ursa Trail.
WHY A RUNCATION
After 4 weeks of mediocre and rather cautious training I wanted to do one last big week before starting to consolidating my preparation for @wser. For this I wanted to put myself in a place where nothing else matters but running.
WHY GREECE
It was a suggestion by my coach Karim. The weather would be perfect for heat-adaption, I could train on every ground from forests to alpine territory, get some massive climbs and downhills, drink a lot of Freddo Espresso and meet some of his other athletes. Hardly anyone knows this, but for a while I was planning to fly to Squaw Valley before Western States and do my peak week there. I’m glad I didn’t do this. I got everything I needed in Greece and so much more.
WHAT SURPRISED ME
The running culture in Greece. It’s absolutely vibrant. I’m glad I stepped out of my "Germany / Austria / Switzerland / Italy / France" bubble and learned about the social meaning of running here in Greece. It is very competitive and there’s surely some pressure, especially on the top athletes. But on the other hand running truly unites people over here. Everyone is very much into the essence of this sport and there’s great support for each other. Also the races are very well organized and have exciting and most beautiful courses. So next time you plan to run up a Forststraße at Zugspitz Ultratrail for the 100th time, you might consider racing in Greece instead.
WHAT I’VE LEARNED
A lot actually. But once again that running well is so evenly about your mind as it is about your body. I am not even speaking about getting some extra 10% by mastering self-talk or calming down before a race with some visualization techniques. I am relating to the most basic level: If you’re feeling bad, your running will be bad. On the other hand it is running that helps more than anything else to let go, refocus and regain hope and joy. Bottom line? Run. Just run.
That’s it for a recap. In a word: I am very happy about this Runcation.