Back home

Regular readers will know that I have been out of contact for the last couple of weeks – you may even have missed these regular missives (??) – but after the most brilliant time in Mongolia and Beijing I am now back in rainy old Auckland and determined to make up for lost time. What follows is a mega-blog that diaries our time away from a 7in7 training perspective. I have already posted lots of photos on the Flickr page so if you want to see more check these out.

Our 'great big convoy' takes a break to savour the pristime simplicity of our new surroundings

Saturday 18th July: fly from Ulaan Bataar to Moron (yes, it’s a real place name) in the north of Mongolia. From there it’s a very bumpy 4 hour drive in Russian-built jeeps to arrive at stunning Lake Khovsgol, said to contain 2% of all the world’s fresh water!

Ger 17 - our home for the next several days.

Sunday 19th July: I haven’t run for several days except for 45 mins on a treadmill in Ulaan Bataar…. so had a quick trot in the morning. Could definitely feel the effects of altitude, even though it’s only 1650m at the lake. Rest of the day spent familiarising ourselves with the camp surroundings and making new friends amongst the 65+ runners who have come this year.

Heavenly Lake Khovsgol

Monday 20th July: Another short run through the forest with new friends Lisa (Oakland, California) and Dee (ex-pat kiwi now living in Singapore). Strolled around the lake shore with Sal, revelling in the crystal clear light and water, soaking in all the beauty of this place. Later in the day had a quick splash in a kayak – wow, the peace and tranquility of this place is even greater when you paddle a wee way offshore then just lie back and close your eyes.

Strapping ankles on the eve of the race

Tuesday 21st July: The day before the race. Over the last few days I got caught up in event fever and changed my entry from the 42km race to the 100km one. I rationalised that it would be better 7in7 training to do the 100km in ‘slow & steady’ mode than race the marathon hard out. The truth is I just didn’t want to finish the 42k run and then have to listen to all the tall tales of those who did the ‘Big One’…. macho pride before a fall perhaps?

3.45am and ready to run!

Wednesday 22nd July: The 2.45am alarm sounds deathly but we drag ourselves out of bed and have a quick breakfast. Sal has caught event fever too and put in a late entry for the marathon – she came here to spectate and is doing this with no training – what a grunty chick my wife is! The start is at 4am and we do the first half an hour or so with head torches.

Chichee Pass (2290m)

Conditions are ideal for the first several hours - cool and overcast – as we climb two high passes, traverse beautiful meadows and valleys and finally arrive back at camp for the 42km transition. I’ve done the marathon in 5hrs 40mins and am feeling good. It’s here that I learn I’m in 5th place in the 100k race, which amazes and delights me. I set out again with teeth gritted, determined to hold on to this position.

Puzzled locals at 61km mark

The next 58k passes surprisingly quickly, with just one desperate patch around the 65k mark. From 76k to 88k we run on beautiful single track up and down through lakeside forest and stunning views. It’s now hot and I’m dreading the final 12kms of flat, fast track/dirt road along the lake. Knowing I’ve already gone much further than the longest 7in7 track is a boost though and I finally make it home in 13hrs 35mins, just a minute behind one of two strong, young French runners (and almost a full hour behind Mollie, the wonderwoman who smashed the women’s race record).

The final few steps

I’m the 4th male across the line and the first veteran (or so I think until the next day when I’m told that Vets in this race have to be 50). I’m really pleased with how the body has coped and high on the achievement. A cold beer and an even colder dip in the lake round off the perfect day before a deep, deep sleep.

A brutally cold but sublimely refreshing finish

A beautiful people in a beautiful land - thank you Mongolia.

The last days in Mongolia: not surprisingly the day after the race was pretty quiet – until evening arrived and we had an almighty party! On Friday before leaving I just had to get out for a last run in these glorious surroundings so headed out on a 19km out and back to the top of Khirvesteg Pass (the second high point on the race). After a huge downpour the night before and now kissed by bright sunshine the meadows of wild flowers were breathtaking and made a perfect parting gift from this extraordinary land. Later that day we retraced of jeep steps to Moron and flew back to UB.

'Running' the Great Wall

Saturday 25th – Thurs 30th August: Beijing. What a contrast! To go from clean air, huge skies, no people to the modern metropolis of smog and 16 million people. The highlight of our few days in China was undoubtedly the Great Wall – the section we walked was unbelievably steep and the 8kms we covered took almost 4 hours (incl. a photo stop almost every minute!).

Hot running in Tianamen Square

In Beijing I tried one run but after 30 mins the smog had given me a sore throat and by 45 mins my eyes and nose were getting prickly too - so no more of that. It was the hotel gym and treadmill time again!

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This entry was posted on Saturday, August 1st, 2009 at 2:27 pm and is filed under 2009 Blogs, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.