England

Last year, I had the Marrakech International Marathon that kept me motivated to run through the darkest of winter months. Today, I decided to again seal my fate and register for South Devon Ultra on 1st of February next year. Taking advantage of the SAS late-summer sale, I was able to book all four flights for a total of 1,653 SEK. Thus, all that now remains is to figure out a way to get in shape for the 1,716 meters of climbing and 55 km of running over jagged rocks and tidal mud flats that this epic race entails.

Yesterday, I wrapped up the running week with 16 kilometres around Bräntberget which again had me questioning those altitude calculations but now in the opposite direction. According to official data, Bräntberget has a climb of 47 meters which is more than double what the Suunto app claims so it could be that I am in fact doing quite okay. In any case, I should be careful with the uphill running until my Achilles tendons have fully recovered. In fact, I better leave the climbing to Seth James DeMoor who finished at an incredible second place at the Pikes Peak Ascent on Saturday, running 21k with 2,367 meters of ascent in a little over two hours. Likewise on Saturday, Elmina Saksi, another online star who I am following, won Jönköping Marathon on 3 hours and 5 minutes. I can barely imagine what an effort it would take to do either of those things.