There is no other blog in the www that i follow longer (+- 5 years) then the one from Tim Waggoner (aka “Lucho”). Tim’s view on life and training are special and he presents it in a exciting way.

Now he hooked up with his sponsor Ultimate Direction to make a great clip about his training, lifestyle and philosophy.

Make sure you bookmark his BLOG!

A good amount of swimmers entered the 2,5 kilometer main event which took place on one big loop in front of the main promenade.

Lake Chascomús is a great venue for open water swimming. I don’t know what the deepest part of the lake is but we always had the chance to touch the ground while looping through the lake.

What a great documentation on the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials Training of Jason Lehmkuhle, Andrew Carlson (fellow Brooks Athlete), Matt Gabrielson and Josh Moen of Team USA Minnesota.

Very motivating work by Ideatap Studios.

They call this race “Dakar” for a reason.

I heard tons of stories about this 30 Kilometer race in Lobos. But you just believe that everything is actually true when you are facing all the specialities that people brag about. Today i learned the hard and hot way that everything is true.

Lobos is the head city of the Lobos Partido in the Buenos Aires Province and is located roughly 100 kilometers south-west of Buenos Aires. On the journey to the race venue, on the outskirts of Lobos i got the first impression of the world famous Pampas. Bernardo, Nora and I drove for ages and i couldn’t believe that there was not a single elevation in the landscape. Massive fields left and right. Impressive.

We arrived at the venue in time and picked up all the essentials from the registration. The organizer, Miguel Angel Schiel, was pleased to meet me. He was extremely happy to have a german runner in the race as his father was born in Germany aswell. Everybody from the organizing Asociación de Atletismo Lobense was extremely friendly and supportive. They were pleased to have a foreigner in the race and made that know to everybody with several announcements.

It was still coolish when we started. The route took a short zick-zack way through the town and then one could already see what everybody was talking about – the clay roads. A “kenyan style” road full of dust and little rocks. The plan was to run that road 15k up, turn around, and the same procedure back to Lobos. Easier said than done.

I tried to settle in with a nice, defensive pace. It didn’t really worked out as i had to suffer pretty early on in the race. When the sun came up higher and higher in the sky, i got slower and slower. It was painful as the route had basically 3 corners, thats was it.

Every water station was like a oasis in the dessert. I could not get enough water in me and on my body. I cruised on and suffered a lot, walked a bit and finally was back on the tarmac road of Lobos.

I was happy to see the finish line and to cool down in the pool. This one was tough. What usually would be jogging pace feels like flat out. The sun is burning the energy out.

Nevertheless it was a great experience and the more than friendly and welcoming atmosphere was unreal. I had to give interviews for the local TV and newspapers and had to take lot of pictures with a lot of people.

Thanks very much Lobos. It was a real pleasure!

Lobosnews.com.ar

VERSIÓN ESPAÑOLA

I know it is a pretty random thought but today i asked myself what did i do last year on the same day?

When i came back home i checked this blog to get my memory back. And what did i find out?

I was watching a thrilling Cross Country race in beautiful Iten  about just 365 days ago from today. That brings back distinctive memories and just teaches me how fast life is moving.

And exactly today a year ago i took one of my my favorite shots. It is showing a little girl hiding in the high grass beside the course in Iten and watching the races from secure distance. It was also great to see the picture released in print in the RUNNING 02/2011 Magazine.

There is no better way to start a new year with a positive experience. After the disapointing last race of 2011 i was craving for revenge.

The XXI Cross Urbano Nocturno 5K was the first option in the new year. I did not know what to expect from the race. The Plaza San Martín, a park in downtown Buenos Aires, was the venue and the race was advertised as a “Cross Urbano” competition.

Argentinas capital is as flat as it gets. There are only minor bumps in the landscape. You can not really call them hills. The Plaza San Martín Park is one of the very few spots in the city where you can find some hills. That was the motivation of the organizers to set up a race on a challenging course. The idea, quite similar to the parkrun one, is great. The simple style organizations makes the race unique and fun. A decent crowd showed up to have a go on the 3 loops around the park.

As the course seemed to be a bit complicated and twisty i got a special guide around by Louis. Louis and i warmed up around the loop and he told me that he just ran a 70 minutes half marathon and competed for the Argentian mountain running team in several competitions around Europe. So i was happy as it seemed that there would be at least some good runners at the startline.

After the “Policía” had a final inspection around the course it was a simple “GO” and off we went around the park. As the race started at 21:30 it was very good to breath and the hot day was just about to cool down.

In the middle of the first long downhill stretch Louis showed me and the other “corredores” why he is in the national mountain running team. He can run downhill very, very fast. So we lost contact to him on the first couple of meters. After 3 loops of twisty turns and some nice stair passages i got rid of the other guys myself and pushed to finish in second place behind Louis.

Great fun for some mid-week racing and good to see that I am still able to run fast if the conditions are right.