Anyone wanna watch me crash and burn? Barefoot 100 attempt coming up

Blind Boy

Blind Boy

Barefooters
Jun 19, 2010
635
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#1
Of all the stupid stuff I've done in my life, and the list is rather impressive, this might be the worst yet. The important stuff:

When? April 14

Where? Stockholm, Sweden. http://new.tec100.se/ (English info, very brief, is available as a pdf on the site)

Why and, more importantly, what was I thinking? I don't understand the question. Isn't the next logical step after running half-marathon-ish distances for fun in training to run a 100 miler?

If you want the serious version, go read my blog, the link is in my profile. I don't recommend doing that though. It's waaaaaay too serious. Go ahead and mock me here instead. :party: Basically, I'm fat and not very fit and I think I can run 100 miles barefoot. There's a lot to pick on here. :p
 
#2
BB, my one word of advice:

BB, my one word of advice: stay awake. When I read Jason's story about his 100 miler, I was amazed to learn that you can actually fall asleep, not only on your feet, but while moving!

I know that's not very inspiring. Sorry! I wish you the best in it. Without a doubt, whatever happens it'll be memorable!
 
#3
Again, I'm SO glad you're

Again, I'm SO glad you're back!

Barefoot. 100 miles. Hmmmmm.

You do know that once you announce publicly that you're going to do something, that means you now have to, right?

The picture of the other guys doing it on that site shows two guys doing it in VFFs. But they're not as hard-core as you, BB! This will be fun.

bild.jpg
 
#4
Mark: Sleeping while moving

Mark: Sleeping while moving is a tactic that many of the best 48 hour runners use intentionally to never stop moving. Not a good idea on this course though, I think, since it's quite rooty in places. ;) I plan on using disgusting amounts of caffeine during the night along with a headlamp that's seriously overkill for the speeds I run at to stay awake. I hope it'll work.



TJ: That picture is from a training run on the course about a month ago and yes, we all know know shoes, no matter how minimal, are for weaklings. ;) Seriously though, I do believe I'm the only one crazy enough to try it barefoot but there are, obviously, a handful of minimal runners who've also signed up. I think a couple of them are doing the 50 miler though but I know at least one person who's signed up for the 100 who'll most likely run it in aqua socks.

As for announcing it in public, well, that's the reason I decided to do it. I need people to know I'm doing this to keep from chickening out because, honestly, I'm freaking out over here. It's also why I haven't said anything until now. I signed up in November.



As for it being fun, well, I have a feeling that'll depend on how much I'll be able to run in the next couple of months. The training so far has not been going well. For most of the summer 2011 I was able to consistently run 30-40 mpw but in mid-October I got sick and couldn't run at all for a few weeks and then it took some time to get back into it. I'm still not back where I was before getting sick, either in terms of mileage or how fast I am. I'm getting close now though. The next step is a three hour treadmill run, should be good for building mental toughness at least, if nothing else.
 
#5
Maybe you can get a virtual

Maybe you can get a virtual reality-type screen with the terrain you will be covering and watch it to help get you mentally prepared for it while running on the dreadmill. Dreaming. I know.
 
#7
Schweet!Good luck! Look

Schweet!

Good luck! Look forward to following your progress.
 
#10
TJ, I think I'll get tired of

TJ, I think I'll get tired of that course anyway during the race, it's 16 laps of the same loop, so even if your idea was possible I have a feelinng it wouldn't work. Would be cool though.



palouse: What motivates me? I really don't know. I've always been drawn to the longer events, I guess. I've been eyeing this race for a couple of years now and I signed up but dropped out last year due to some issues I had last winter. I was only going to run 50k that time and maybe decide to go longer on race day but that option is gone now. The 50k that is. My main motivation for signing up is curiosity. I want to find my limits. I have a feeling at the moment that my limit isn't even close to 100 miles yet but I plan on changing that.



Mitch: I hope so too. Theoretically, with the holidays done I have more time to run with less pesky relatives and other unimportant stuff in the way now. The reality of it right now is a bit different though. I had planned on running for three hours today but I chickened out after 2.5 and now I seem to have caught whatever biohazard of a virus that my daughters so kindly brought home from daycare. It seems the coming week will be spent doing as little as I possibly can.



Why did I pick this race then? Two reasons. It's the only 100 miler in Scandinavia. That's the main one, it cuts down on travel costs. The other reason is that the course is flat and relatively non-technical even though there are several single-track sections. Case in point, the course record, set in 2010, is 12 hours 32 minutes. The guy who set it is an amazing runner, sure, but it does say something about the course too. From what I've seen in pictures and heard from other minimal runners it should be fairly barefoot friendly. No rocky sections and only a few short stretches of gravel.
 
#13
Jason: I hope you're right. I

Jason: I hope you're right. I think I've said this before though, I'm not sure someone finally completing a 100 barefoot is necessarily positive for barfoot running as a whole. I mean, there's a reason nobody's done it yet and the one who finally does it, I think, will quickly be labelled a freak of nature by the running world as a whole. This doesn't mean I won't give it my best shot though, I'm fine with that title. ;) If the race was today though, I don't think I'd be able to run even one mile. Due to the mother of all colds I get winded just walking from one end of the apartment to the other. It's AWESOME!



Willie: I hope she is. Wanna come and pace me? ;)
 
#14
Blind Boy wrote:Willie: I

Blind Boy said:
Willie: I hope she is. Wanna come and pace me? ;)
Click to expand...

I'm actually more the Michel type, now that I think of it, so, if you want to take the risk! I actually have sort of contacts to Sweden through a customer of mine. Their company is owned by the Nibe group out of Sösdala, wherever that is. Wonder if I can come up with some kind of excuse .... hmmm.... Seriously, Olle, if I could I would! Damng, that'd be so cool :D

Btw, I really dig the Swedish National Hymn, take inspiration from it!
 
#15
Willie, just so you know, a

Willie, just so you know, a return trip Berlin-Stockholm is like 100 euros or less if you're lucky. ;) Berlin because all I know about where you live is that you said something about the Czech Republic in some other thread so I figured it'd be eastern at least.

BTW, it took me a while to figure out who the hell Michel was, he's Emil originally. My 2-year old daugter will probably grow up to be just like him so I think I can handle you. ;) Oh, and that SHOULD be our national hymn. Way better than the overly nationalist mess it really is.
 
#16
Oh, that's interesting. I

Oh, that's interesting. I wonder why the damn Germans changed his name to Michel??? There is a German kid's character called 'Emil', though ('Emil und die Detektive', from Erich Kästner), so maybe they wanted to avoid confusion? good triva question nonetheless :)

And hey, I realized afterward that I'd posted the German version of the Swedish National Hymn, oops!
 
#17
Smallish update. Since I

Smallish update. Since I haven't been able to run since Sunday I've spent a lot of time thinking about running and running this race specifically. I've come to a few conclusions, I think.

First off, I don't think I'll be able to run the entire way (major duh moment) so I'm going to start walking in addition to running. It can't hurt at least and hopefully I'll get my wife to come along.

Second, I've spent a lot of time thinking about gear. More specifically, what to carry stuff in. I think I want a hydration belt with a couple of .5 liter bottles, not that I think I need a liter per lap but I like the safety margin. Also, it needs to have a big enough pocket(s) to fit the mandatory gear: Spare light (smallish hand held probably), headlamp battery, safety blanket and whatever form of energy I decide to use. I'll have Nuun in the bottles since it's simple enough to mix that I think I'll be able to do it after 24+ hours on my feet. I do have a backpack with a bladder but I don't want to have to deal with that during the race. Do any of you have any suggestions to what makes and models could work?

Third, I've tired to wrap my head around running 100 miles again and again and I think I've come up with a coping strategy. You know that myth about bumble-bees being too stupid to realize that they can't fly so they do anyway? Or is that a Sweden only thing? Anyway, I think I'll rely on something similar to get me through. I have no idea what to expect so I won't expect anything. Simple as that.



BTW, my cough has at least lightened up a bit today, so I think I'll get to keep my lungs inside my chest. Also, prescription cough meds are awesome. The effect, that is, not the taste.
 
#19
There's nothing wrong with

There's nothing wrong with the run/walk training method. I understand people who do that increase not only their endurance but their speed. Google Jeff Galloway's Run/Walk training method.
 
#20
Yeah, I know there's nothing

Yeah, I know there's nothing wrong with it, that it's actually a pretty good idea for some people. The problem is, I don't train that way normally. My strategy will be a lot less structured than Galloway's though, more like Jason's, run until I need to start walking, then walk until I can run again. Like I said, I'm a bumble-bee. ;)
 
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