The Dog Sprained My Ankle

I had a run-in with a loose, unleashed dog a couple days ago in metro Seattle Washington. I was there for a few things, primarily to get the Russian Visa taken care of. That's a whole different story. I was going to do a short trail run in the hills, but the trailhead was way overparked. I decided to just park about 2 miles away and maybe run to the trailhead on the rec paths. Here those paths zig and zag on the sidwalks.

 Passing a parked car a dog ran from the street and homed in on my legs. It spun around my feet and planted itself firmly between my legs and down I went. I rolled my left ankle really badly. Bad enough I couldn't stand. The owner asked if he could help. It was obvious he wasn't a surgeon. It was obvious he had no resources. I declined his offer and said I'd just crawl home. He shrugged and left.

Two days later it's pretty stiff and sore. It gives me a little trouble sleeping. But I'm hoping that I can start work on the Stairmaster Stepmill when I return to Utah in a couple days. In the meantime, it's tough eating for healing while not gaining weight and not training.

Post by Seven Summits Body.

Team Seven Summits Quest Logo Wear

We have an official logo now for the Team Seven Summits Quest Elbrus Race 2013. After designing, it was put up on Cafepress for sale to anyone who wants to share in the excitement. Here's the link to buy it [CLICK HERE]

Official Team Seven Summits Quest Logo

I think it would be especially fun if anyone who does buy one takes a pic, even a selfie, and puts it up on Instagram with the hashtag #ElbrusRace2013 and it will appear on a tab on my Seven Summits Body Facebook Page [HERE]

As a trivia note, my youngest sister was instrumental in developing the English version of the Elbrus Race tagline "You can't race any higher in Europe".

We've ordered team shirts for ourselves and I'll post pics as soon as they're here.

Elbrus Race 2013 Course Map

I've borrowed a photo from the official website of the Elbrus Race 2013. If you go to that link you'll see their little video of a flash map view of the course. I added a few lines and words to the photo to make it easier to see. The barrels aren't visible in this image but they should be on the edge of the black scree hidden from view in the center. Maybe a bit more to the right but it's hard to tell.

Elbrus Race 2013 - route in orange

The first part of the route goes up the snowcat route to the Pastukhova rocks a little below 5,000 meters. This is normally where normal route climbers go for an acclimatization hike a day or two before summit day. It's a fun little walk, and almost every time I've done it I've been in trail running shoes. This is also the end point for the Qualifier, two days before the race. I made the qualifier in 2010 in spite of serious major dysentery.

The route continues up to a little over 5,000 meters toward the East summit, then cuts over to the saddle where it traverses until you get to the ridge line where you turn to ascend to the West summit. This traverse area is actually one of the most dangerous sections of the trail. If you are descending in poor weather conditions it's really easy to get lost and end up going too far down into an area of crevasses and steeper ice and cliffs. Be careful. It's normally well wanded though.

The orange line represents the Classic Race - 4.6 miles and 6,300' of elevation gain. That's 7.4 km and 1900 meters.

My Elbrus Ebook from 2012

I wrote about my failed attempt on Elbrus in 2012 in Elbrus, My Waterloo, available on Amazon Kindle. After the Elbrus Race 2013 is over I'll be adding in chapters from both trips in 2010, and this year at the race. I'll then publish it in print and on B&N. Look forward to the whole story, coming this Fall.