Goal Setting

I've always had a passion for goal setting, even as a young child. For me, there's nothing like the satisfaction of crossing something really difficult off my list. In the last few days, I've had more than a few friends ask me about my goal setting methods, so I thought I'd make it the subject of my post today.

I want to clarify first, that goals don't have to be about physical achievement alone. My own yearly list is a spattering of spiritual, physical and intellectual goals, as well as goals we've set as a family unit. I know every person is different, but for me, achieving my goals has more to do with proper planning/preparation and less to do with the difficulty of the goal. I set large, yearly goals with smaller benchmarks to keep me on track. In addition, I also set weekly goals aimed at reaching the next benchmark. When I set a goal, I follow the 'SMART' method (I'm not sure of the original author):
S- Specific
M- Measurable
A- Attainable
R- Realistic
T- Timely (include a specific deadline)

For the most part, it's been a bit of a trial and error process. Saying that you'd like to eat healthier is well intentioned, but how do you know when your goal has been met? To make the goal more specific, your smaller weekly goals can include something like, this: In bed by 9pm, replace all sugary drinks with water etc. This specificity makes it much easier to measure your success; either you were in bed by 9pm, or you weren't. Simple.

Attainable goals can be hard to decipher, and this is the area where some of my friends have experienced frustration. This is where your imagination comes into play, and some reflection and meditation may be in order. Remember, that if you're setting a large goal, it will be necessary to set smaller milestone goals to get you there one step at a time. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish if you take it one step at a time. It can also be very encouraging to have evidence of your progress. Inexperience can be intimidating, but remember that those with experience are usually very willing and excited to share their knowledge. Never be afraid to ask for help and opinions.

As you get into the habit of setting and attaining goals, you will discover that you are capable of more than you ever imagined, but you will also find your limitations. Don't let that be a discouragement, but a nudge in a different direction. Make sure the goal is realistic, based on your finances/family responsibilities and take into account any physical restrictions. Personally, as a rule of thumb, I think of something really hard that I should be able to achieve if I work my derriere off, and then up the ante again until I have one foot in crazy. But that's just me.

All of your goals should have a specific timetable, even if it's purely a new year's resolution. You need to have a deadline that will keep you from hitting the snooze bar at 5am. Believe me, if you're not fully committed, that bed gets comfier with each day that passes in those dreadful first two weeks. And they ARE dreadful. Tell yourself before you go to bed that your workout is non-negotiable, I've even been known to lay in bed at night and repeat, "I will wake up with my alarm, I WILL wake up..."

Establish a routine until it becomes habit. Right after I had an emergency delivery with my third child, my body was a mess. Some days, working out was just impossibly painful. On the days that I needed to rest, I still went through the motions of getting my workout gear together and going to the gym, but I would sit in the sauna or hot tub instead of working out. I knew that I had to keep the habit of going to the gym or it would be easy to falter.

On failure... there will be goals that you do not reach. Let yourself be upset. Learn from your mistakes, but never let them drag you down. If you're looking for a reason to quit, you'll easily find one and no one will stop you. Take control. Focus on the positives instead of dwelling on the negatives. Use failures as fuel for your next endeavor or even another try at the same goal. Remember to be somewhat flexible. Life happens. Injuries happen. Family emergencies happen. This is not failure, but merely postponement. If you set your lifetime goals higher, then putting off a race to take care of responsibilities is not a setback, but a step in a more eternal direction.

I do not profess to be any kind of a professional, but hopefully these few tips should get you started in the right direction for the new year! Give yourself the chance to be surprised by your own strength.

Winter Trailrunning Training

One of my favorite training activities is trailrunning on snow. In freezing weather it's probably one of the most directly sport-specific ways to train for an event like Elbrus Race. Footing on the snow can be difficult with reduced traction on ice or deep loose snow. Running up and down hills in these conditions is great training.

From my own experience Winter trailrunning will be done at a somewhat slower pace than on smoother gravel or dirt trails. That depends on the surface of course. Some of my fastest Quandary (Colorado Fourteener) ascents were done on mostly firmly packed snow. Something that you can do on snow that you can't do on more solid surfaces is churning uphill with your feet cranking away in circles while you barely move up a steep slope. It feels a lot like riding a mountain bike uphill with your feet spinning at a 100 rpm cadence while barely making forward progress.

I usually wear spiked running shoes. I've added 3/8" #6 hex head sheet metal screws to the bottom of some Hoka One One Mafate WP (waterproof) and a pair of Hoka One One Stinson Evo. The former have about 50 miles on them, and the latter had about 240 miles on them when I spiked them. I have a pair of Salomon Spikecross CS that are a more traditional style running shoe with solid lugs and embedded carbon steel spikes. These shoes have been pretty good in the dry snow of Quandary and up the Gulch Road, but the last time I did Mount Royal in melting slush they leaked horribly and I don't know if that was coming in through the top or through leaking seams that need to be sealed. I also use a pair of Pearl Izumi Trail N2 that are not spiked. If the traction and ice is an issue I can wear microspikes with them.

I have a few different layering systems I use, including Windpro front tights and looser pants style tights, normally without baselayers unless it's below zero. On top I normally wear a baselayer top, possibly two thin ones, and a hybrid fleece/softshell jacket. I wear a thin running beanie with a baseball cap on my head and on my hands I wear shell gloves, fleece running gloves, or insulated bike gloves depending on the temperature and wind.

I have been running in the winter for about five years now, almost all at altitude in Summit County Colorado, near the ski resorts of Keystone and Breckenridge as well as the Fourteeners in the area, Grays, Torreys, and Quandary. It's an excellent way to get in shape for high peaks and I'm sure it was instrumental in my one-day climb of Orizaba with Todd, and my successful completion of the Elbrus Race 2013 Qualifier and Race, in spite of the stormy conditions.

Hurts So Good!

I knew the first few weeks of training were going to be a bit of trial and error, but necessary to evaluate my limitations. After another week or so, I think I have a little bit better understanding- but it did come with a cost. Minus the two days I was down sick (very grateful it wasn't a whole week, like others with the same flu!) training was mostly treadmill and strength training.

Saturday, I took a hike up Big Baldy, a 3.5 mile hike (5.6 km.) with 1000 ft. (304 m.) of vertical gain per mile. It's a nice little mountain located on the west side of Mount Timpanogos and a jumping off point for the Everest Ridge route that's particularly popular in winter here (Utah). While the distance wasn't trying, the challenge for me was the elevation gain. I greatly underestimated how weak I was from being sick; it took me two full days to recover. What I'm observing is that my recovery isn't as quick as it was before I got sick- something I'll have to take into consideration from now on. That judgement lapse aside, it's hard to have a bad day in the mountains! The view was amazing and well worth the effort. While the distance is shorter than the Elbrus Race, this trail will work well while I'm getting back into shape.

To change things up this week, I've returned to one of my old favorites: bleachers! As a bobsledder, I would get giddy thinking about running bleachers in the summer. I just LOVED the challenge; sweat dripping down your body, muscles pumped and music booming in your ears. I love the solitude of an empty stadium, full of promise and potential victory for those who are willing to put in the effort. To me, it's inspiring. There are tons of workouts possible when running bleachers, everything from sprints and plyometrics to long slow endurance training. Some I've picked off websites and added to and some I've been doing for so long, I hardly remember who I learned them from. You can cut down the warm-up time if needed, my warm-up's are a bit longer, since it takes me longer than average to get warm.

Here's one of my favorite plyo workouts to get the quads and glutes burning:
- 10-15 minute warm-up jog or speed walk
- 5 minutes easy bleacher jog (up and down)
- Jump up each step, one at a time with two feet together until you reach the top. If you want to kick it up a notch, drop your rear with each landing into a formal squat. Keep an eye on your knees and don't let them go over your toes.
- Side squats across the top to the next section of steps
- Easy jog back down
- Side shuffle back to your starting point
- Repeat

For endurance and base strength, here's the workout I did this morning (remember, I'm a beginner right now, so feel free to ramp it up):
- 10-15 minute warm-up jog or speed walk
- 5 minutes easy bleacher jog
- Walking lunges up each step until you reach the top, concentrating on getting that perfect angle to engage the glutes. If the steps are too small, you may want to skip a step to get the right angle. Keep chest up and resist using momentum- allow your legs to do all the work. 
- Jog across to the next set of stairs
- Sprint down, concentrating on keeping abs tight and body centered. Think, 'fast feet'. If you have balance issues or are feeling extra fatigued, use your common sense with the speed.
- Repeat

With so many plyometric exercises available, there are a ton of variables that can be worked into a good bleacher workout. Today, I followed my workout with some more treadmill time, half a protein shake, tuna and a lot of water. With recovery being my biggest enemy, it's vital that I give my body all the advantage I can.

October Indoor Training - Charles

I was in Utah doing some work at the office and house there this past week. While there I decided to take the opportunity to train inside, since I had easy access to equipment that I don't have access to in Colorado at the moment.

Here's my training log whiteboard from Monday through Wednesday, October 14-16.

Monday: 
Inversion: 2:00
FreeStrider Elliptical: L8 - 6:50 - 1000'
SuperSet: 3 x {
SkiErg: L5 - 1:30 - 209m, 201m, 203m
IceTool Chinup: 2 x 3 (full hang)
Machine Lat Pulldown: 25 @ L6
Incline Chest Press: 25 @ 45 lb (only 2 sets)
Back Hyperextension->Superman Plank: 15, 10 seconds
}
Incline Treadmill: [1096']
4.157 mi - 50:00 - 5% - (4.988 ave.) - [12:02 pace] - 1097.448' - (1317/21.95 vert per hour/minute)

Tuesday:
Inversion: 2:15
FreeStrider Elliptical: L8 - 6:26 - 1000'
SuperSet: 3 x {
Glute Ham Raise: 2 x 5
Roman Chair Ab Situp: 15
}
IceTool Bodyweight Squat: 10/15/20 [left/right]
High Box Squat: 25 @ 155/175 lb
Parallel Box Squat: 5 @ 65/65/115 lb
Stairmaster:
Time: 24:00
Steps/Minute: 80
Feet: 1280.00
Miles: 0.27
VAM: 975.4

Wednesday AM:
Inversion: 2:00
FreeStrider Elliptical: L8 - 9:57 - 1500'
SuperSet: 3 x {
Glute Ham Raise: 6
Roman Chair Twist: 10
Roman Chair Situp: 15
}
Ski Erg: L5 - 3:21 - 500m
Experimenting with various upper body exercises
Jacob's Ladder: 11:00 - 696'

PM:
ITM: [1055']
5.00 mi - 49:57 - 4% - (6.006 ave.) - [9:59 pace] - 1056' - (1268/21.14 vert per hour/minute)

Training Log Whiteboard for Thursday and Friday, October 17-18

Thursday:
Inversion: 2:00
FreeStrider Elliptical: L8 - 10:14 - 1500'
SuperSet: 2 x {
Glute Ham Raise: 7
Roman Chair Twist: 10
Roman Chair Situp: 10
}
Band Goodmorning: 25 ea side with purple band
IceTool Bodyweight Squat:
1-leg from parallel box - 2 x 3 ea leg
with 1 leg on 6" box - 15 ea leg
Parallel Box Squat: 5 @ 115 lb, 5 x 5 @ 65 lb
Stairmaster: Time: 4:00
Steps/Minute: 125
Feet: 333.33
Miles: 0.07
VAM: 1524.0
Incline Treadmill: [204']
.261 mi - 4:01 - 15% - (3.899 ave.) - [15:23 pace] - 206.712' - (3088/51.46 vert per hour/minute)

Friday: 
Inversion: 2:00
FreeStrider Elliptical: L8 - 13:10 - 2000'
Hyper/Superman Plank/GHR/Twist/Situp: 10 ea.
Parallel Box Squat: 6 @ 65 lb
IceTool Chinups: 5
Mahine Lat Pulldowns: 25 @ L6
Leg Extension: 10 ea @ 52.5 lb
Dumbbell Lateral Shoulder: 25 @ 10 lb ea
Romanian Deadift [Narrow]: 10 @ 135 lb

Thursday and Friday I was pretty wasted and unrecovered from all the squats and chinups I worked on. I decided to mix it up a bit and rather than do a little warmup, then weights and finish with an hour of cardio, which wasn't working very well at the time I would do my cardio first, then see if I had the energy for the weights.

Training Log Whiteboard for Saturday October 19

Saturday:
Incline Treadmill: [836']
5.285 mi - 60:00 - 3% - (5.285 ave.) - [11:21 pace] - 837.144' - (837/13.95 vert per hour/minute)
FreeStrider Elliptical: L8 - 32:22 - 5500'
SuperSet: 2 x {
Glute Ham Raise: 10
Twist: 10
Situp: 10
}
SuperSet: 5 x {
Parallel Box Squat: 5 @ 65 lb
IceTool Negative Chins: 3 [pull from standing, then 5 seconds descend to full hang]
}
Sumo Romanian Deadlifts: 5 x 5 @ 135 lb

That seemed to work out okay for me. I then drove back to Colorado where I'll be doing a lot of outdoor training at temps below 20 degrees F in the morning, on snow and ice covered dirt roads and trails. Note the frost on my chin, collar, and earbuds.

Elbrus Race Records

Elbrus Race posted a new article [HERE] about the conclusion of the 2013 event, with the records as they stand. Remember that these aren't sanctioned by a Skyrunning Federation or whatever, though they might be a bit faster than the ones they've established as records.

Todd Gilles and 3rd Place Trophy

RE: Classic Race: Among the athletes, who run Classic route (the route from Barrels refuge till 5000 m) the winner was Valentin Vergiljush (who was the Winner in International Elbrus Race in 2009). The second was Russian Alexander Popov, the third was American Todd Gilles. 

And if you recall, the Polish team talked to me about how my blogs helped them with training and logistics..

RE: Extreme Race: The great result showed also Polish athletes Daniel Choinacki (he became the third in the race) and Blazej Lyjak. 

Polish Racer with 3rd Place Trophy

An interesting statistic from the Extreme Race results of Kilian Jornet and Russian Vitaly Shkel:

showed the great surprise: in the extremely hard fight the both athletes reached the finish line at 5000 m simultaneously, with the result 2 hrs 37 min 06 sec.  The average speed of their climb was 16 vertical meters gain per 1 minute! (16 meter is more or less altitude of standard 5-stores house – so try to walk by ladder to 5 store within 1 minute  and repeat it 173 times!!!)

For our purposes we'll convert that to 960 VAM.

That's a great training goal. Sustain 1000 VAM for 3-4 hours.

Now for the Records, another worthy goal:

There’re actual Elbrus records, set in International Elbrus Rаces:

[Extreme] Andrzej Bargiel (Poland)  from Azau to West Elbrus top showed the result 3 hrs 23 min 37 sec (2010)

[Female Classic] Svetlana Sharipova (Kazakhstan) has established the women's record at the route from the Barrels, which lasts till now: 3 hrs 21 min 29 sec. This is so far the absolute female record in speed climb of the highest point of Europe from the Barrels. (2006)

[Male Classic] Anton Proshenko (Russia)  on Barrels-West top route showing time 2 hrs 28 Min 02 sec! (this is so far the absolute speed record ascent on Mount Elbrus from Barrels). (2012)

Starting From Zero- Jen Hamilton

As a naturally active personality, starting from zero is one of my least favorite things, the other is feeling weak in front of others, so I'm going to pretend no one is reading these posts and we'll get along just fine!

More than one infomercial trainer has touted that the hardest part of getting physically fit is the first day- it's a lie. Anyone can do the first day, or even the first week, it's weeks two and three that will kill your momentum before you can establish the habit. With my glutes still screaming and my legs fatigued from the second week of 2 hour treadmill days at 15% (interspersed with 25 min. stair climber sessions and strength training), I 'treated' myself to a muddy trail run. More for a mental break, I thought I would feel stronger and tougher than I have. I'm embarrassed to admit that even with barely doing the minimal, my body is worn out. While getting outside was a great reminder of why I'm training and I thoroughly enjoyed the vacant trails, it was a bit discouraging to be reminded of my lack of fitness. I felt painfully slow and heavy, so getting rid of 35 extra lbs. from steroid treatments is first on the list of improvements. Challenging trails that used to bring a goofy grin to my face were now taunting me as I drudged slowly with my head down.

A coach years ago told me that my body is capable of so much more than I can fathom and it's important to trust in it's ability to adapt and get stronger. She told me that if I would have faith, I would be amazed at the outcome. But with my body still recovering from an extended illness, my faith in it's abilities has been shaken. I spent the entire run muttering to myself, and it wasn't even an internal monologue, is was audible, crazy person muttering. It can be remarkably frustrating when your body isn't performing how you think it should! After purging all my negativity and concerns into the mountain air, I could only come to one conclusion; Elbrus by choice, or my current condition by default. I'd have to test my new limits to find out where they are.

So, this week's goals are:
1- Put on the blinders. Focus only on the next workout.
2- When getting discouraged, remember to be kind and patient to my healing body.
3- Recovery focus through nutrition (lean proteins, more veggies) and more sleep.

Focusing on these three things goals should take me through the next week of training. Nothing feels better than looking back at how far you've come. Looking forward to that day!

Trail Running in the Snow

This week on Wednesday I did 2 miles, on Thursday I did 4 miles, and the plan was to do at least 6 today, Friday, 11 October. Tonight is our G+ Hangouts-on-Air for #ELBRUSRACECHAT, that we posted pretty heavily on our FACEBOOK PAGE. We have a slew of good questions to answer, and hope to have the YouTube recording and transcripts up pretty quickly after it's done.

Yesterday for Summit County Colorado there was a "Winter Storm Warning" with as much as 20" of snow predicted. At least at the lower elevations, below 11,000' there wasn't all that much snow. Maybe 4". I decided to go out for my run this morning after Angie left for her skating lesson with Todd. I felt like Mr. Pearl Izumi, with a PI windpro hoodie, windpro tights, and Trail N2 shoes.

The lower section of Keystone Gulch Road was pretty bare, with snow only in the shadows. Some of this was quite sloppy muddy wet, and I did some sliding around. About 2 miles up it was covered entirely with snow. There were puddles of muddy slush hidden under the snow surface. The maintenance trucks for Keystone Resort left icy tracks of packed snow. Overall it was a ton of fun. At 3 miles I decided I was good for one more uphill mile, so I went up to 4 miles.

Here's a little Instagram Video I made in Vine showing the surface I was running in, and the surrounding snow-covered trees.

One of my goals today was to work hard on keeping a consistent smooth even pace, up and down. These Strava Stats show that especially on the way uphill I was pretty smooth at 15:00 pacing.

On the way down the snow felt great underfoot and I just cut loose, relatively. I did a couple of pretty fast mile splits, then for the 7th mile I took a little walking break to hydrate and catch my breath. Then I picked the pace back up for the final mile.

Running in the snow is great training for Elbrus Race. It's what you'll be running on in Russia. Eight miles is a good training distance, since the Classic Race is a little over 9 miles round trip. Four miles up and down with about 1000' of elevation gain and loss is good. Training at 9,300' and up is great.

I'm pretty stoked about how fast I did this in slippery wet and cold conditions. Of course, now I have to dry out my shoes ...

Trail Running Training at 3,000 Meters in Colorado

One of my favorite things to do is trail running. I especially love to run at high altitude. Summit County Colorado is perfect with several long trails and gravel or jeep roads over 3,000 meters in elevation.

Snow and Ice on the Gravel Road

Hard work at high elevation can help to make the acclimatization process go much faster, without the days of hanging out at 10,000' camp required by those who live and train at sea level. I attribute our success on Orizaba last March to our training on the Colorado Fourteeners the whole winter previous.

I'm enjoying this transitional season as Fall progresses into Winter with falling leaves, colder temps, and the slow buildup of ice and snow on the roads and trails. I'll have to start wearing spikes before too long. I'm looking forward to it.

-- Charles

Introducing Team Athlete Jen Hamilton

We're happy to announce our newest team member Jen Hamilton. We'll put up a more thorough bio later, but here's a post from our Facebook Page:

Post by Seven Summits Quest.

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.

Elbrus Race course information

There are three different events in the International Elbrus Race.

Speed hiking Colorado 14'ers as training for Elbrus Race 2013

Qualifier:

Run uphill from the Barrels Huts to Pastukhova Rocks, approximately 3600 vertical feet over 2.5 miles averaging 27% grade. This is primarily on glacial snow, with a few cracks depending on the seasonal conditions. Near the Barrels there might be a bit of lava gravel mixed in with the snow.

Everyone has to do the Qualifier, this year on September 18 at 11:00 AM. There is a two hour cutoff for the ascent, and everyone must be back to the huts by 4:00 PM or be disqualified. After you qualify, you are eligible to run either of the two following events.

Extreme:

Run uphill from Azau, the lift station in the valley, up to the West, highest summit of Elbrus. Up to the Barrels Huts is generally on a rough dirt road frequented by military cargo vehicles. Above Mir Tram Station the road becomes much rougher dirt and rock, and then at the Barrels transitions to glacial snow and ice. You are allowed to leave a bag of clothes, shoes, and gear at the Barrels so that you can change into glacier running mode.

The course is roughly 10,700' over 7.6 miles and averaging 26.5% grade. This is a very tough race. It starts at the lift station at 6:00 AM. You have until noon to summit, then must be back at the huts by 4:00 PM.

Classic:

Run uphill from the Barrels Huts to the West summit of Elbrus with 6,400' of elevation gain over 4.6 miles and averaging 26% grade. Except possibly a short section in the beginning, the course is all on glacial snow and ice. The race starts at 7:00 AM and you have until noon to summit, and must be back to the Barrels by 4:00 PM.

The chart above 

shows the results from 2010 for the top male and female finishers, plus the Top Ten of all finishers. There is no data from 2011 when there was no race, or from 2012 when the race was called off shortly after the first few finishers had hit the summit, due to increasingly bad weather.

When you run in an event like this you normally don't carry the usual emergency and cold weather gear that you would in a normal summit attempt on a 5,000 meter peak. That means you are much more dependent on the weather holding out for the duration of the event, though in this case that's only about nine hours.

The chart also shows the absolute minimum speeds to achieve the cutoff times for the Qualifier and Classic events, if just finishing is your only goal.

I'll share some training considerations based on this chart in an upcoming post. Stay tuned. Subscribe.

Introduction to Elbrus Race 2013

Elbrus Race: You can't race any higher in Europe. [CLICK HERE]

This race has been held on and off since 1989 and is historically the oldest race on Elbrus. History quoted in part below (multiple SIC not denoted in text).

Vladimir Balyberdin was the first who had understood the annual Elbrus speed climb Championship perspectives. In 1989 he organized  the first Elbrus race — from Priut 11 till the col. September was choosed with a special reson – it is the best season here. There is no ice on the route usually in September, and the whole way to the tops is oftrn safer than in other seasons. Next race was in 1990. Anatoly Boukreev was a legend of that races — he won in 1990 — and his result was 1 hour 47 min (Priut 11 — East top).

There is another race in May, sanctioned by the International Skyrunning Association, with events like the Vertical Km and marathon races. The one in September isn't sanctioned, but from statistics I've seen seems to have faster times for the main events, though I don't know if it's apples to apples or apples to oranges, as there is more softer snow typically in May, and they may not begin at the exact same point at the Barrels Huts.

Elbrus Race 2010 myself as #24 and the first American entrant in many years

I entered the Elbrus Race 2010 event, and passed the qualifier, but became sick from bad water and was pulled from the main event, the Classic Race on the morning of race day by the event doctor.

In 2011 the area was closed to outsiders because of terrorist activity including bombing. In 2012 I wanted to attend, but there were logistical issues that prevented me from going the week of the race. In any event the race was called for weather shortly after the first runner passed the finish line. I also had issues with cold and wind when I went a little over a week later, and was not able to summit.

When my friend Todd Gilles, a professional figure skater, and I started climbing Colorado 14'ers in winter I thought maybe we had the potential to form a team for Elbrus. We also did a very quick ascent with no acclimatization on Orizaba, the highest volcano in North America and highest peak in Mexico at 18,500' - almost identical to Elbrus in height.

Todd Gilles and Charles Miske High-5 on the summit of Orizaba 5 March 2013

Recently we formed a team and entered the competition. We have begun training in Colorado with various trail running and climbing activities, and will be ramping up the training a few notches over the next couple months and sharing that with you here.

We'll also be sharing some information specific to Elbrus Race 2013, with stats and figures for elevation, distances, and previous winning times. Stay tuned. Subscribe.