The Blog of Author and Athlete David Glover

…..a quick break from writing more about hiking the Swiss Alps…..

Photo: Wow, the cows are big in Switzerland (Photo by: Dave Tipler)

Well, I did it. I committed. I signed up for a half iron triathlon next month: Patriots Half on September 6th in Williamsburg, VA. The event is run by my good friends at Set Up Events. I’m excited to visit Williamsburg plus Krista Schultz (my girlfriend) will be racing the international on Sunday so we get to finally race together…or at least at the same venue.

The race will be fun. Truthfully, I will not be 100% race ready as my training has been “off” for a number of reasons - leg injury, motivation, hiking in the Swiss Alps….but that’s OK, as this is just a quick “check in” on the path to something bigger…

And, if you’re curious about the Swiss Alps, here are the first 3 days of my 6 day hike:
Hiking the Swiss Alps Days 1-2: Zermatt and the Matterhorn
Hiking the Swiss Alps Day 3: Kandersteg to Gspaltenhornhütte

Live live richly and boldly!

David
—-

David B. Glover
Professional Triathlete, Coach and Race Director
Author of Full Time and Sub-Nine
Personal Web: www.davidglover.net
Business Web: www.enduranceworks.net

© 2008 David B. Glover

Photo: Looking down on the Oeschinensee near Kandersteg

When Dave had asked the girl at the visitors center in Kandersteg about our planned hiked from Kandersteg (where we were) to Gspaltenhornhütte (another Swiss Alpine Club mountain hut), she laughed and stated that it was not possible to make the hike in one day. We did the make the hike in one day - 8.5 hours of mostly climbing.

We checked out of Hotel Ericka before breakfast was served at 8 am so that we could make an early start up the mountain. We opted to ride the Sesselbahn (chairlift) up to the Oeschinensee to bypass the initial 1+ hour climb.

Photo: Me riding the Sesselbahn up from Kandersteg

The hike above the Oeschinensee was beautiful as shown by the picture below. We met a Swiss mountain man and his wife. When Dave asked him how long it would take us to reach Blümlisalphütte, the first hut that we would pass on the way to Gspaltenhornhütte, he shrugged and said that he had made the trip in 2 hours wearing trail running shoes and a light pack but it also depended on trail conditions. Carrying full packs, we would not be that fast.

Photo: Me above the Oeschinensee

Along the way, we met Andrea and Clara - two Swiss women who were hiking in the mountains for the weekend. We later discovered that most of the travelers up in the mountains away from the tourist infested towns were Swiss, Germans, French and Italians who came up to the mountains to hike and climb for the weekend. There were very few amenities on the mountains and the huts were unreachable by any vehicle except for helicopters, which could be seen traversing the skies for rescues and supply delivery.

Photo: Me, Dave and two Swiss women at Blümlisalphütte

The climb down from the Blümlisalphütte was one of the steeper climbs that we descended. We passed many folks going up who were resting along the way. Even though we were going down hill, the descent was technically difficult made more so by our heavy packs which affected our center of gravity. The trail was quite slippery from water run off. When Dave and I both slipped at times during our trip, we went down quickly and suddenly.

Photo: Climbing down from Blümlisalphütte - very steep!

We did not see very many animals except for sheep and cows in areas where there was grass. “Ding! ding!” was the familiar sound of the animals, as each had its own bell.

Photo: Friendly mountain sheep

The trails were well-marked with the yellow directional signs at cross junctions. Along the trail itself, stones were painted with white / red / white stripes to mark the correct trail as well as piles of stones such as this one:

Photo: The cairns help mark the trails
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Photo: The Matterhorn as viewed during the hike up from Zermatt

My friend, Dave Tipler, and I spent a week traipsing through the Swiss Alps the end of July. Dave was in Darmstadt, Germany for business, and I was in Roth, Germany for the Quelle Challenge. The timing worked out perfectly!

On Wednesday, July 16, I took the train from Roth (near Nurembourg) to meet Dave in Darmstatdt (near Frankfurt) and we drove down to Randa near Zermatt at the base of the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps.

To get to Zermatt, we took a car train from Kandersteg to Goppenstein via the Lötchberg Tunnel. The train was able to carry tourist buses in addition to dozens of cars at a time.

Photo: Lötchberg Tunnel Car Train

On Thursday morning, we caught the train from Täsch to Zermatt (tourists and hikers were not allowed to drive to Zermatt) and our hiking adventures began!

This map shows the mountainous terrain around Zermatt and the Matterhorn:

View Larger Map

On our first day, we climbed from Zermatt at 1,620 meters (5,314 feet) in the valley up through Furi and the Schwarzee to the Hörnlihütte SAC (Swiss Alpine Club hut for sleeping and eating) at 3,260 meters (10,696 feet) or roughly a mile higher. The Hörnlihütte which was as close as we could get to the Matterhorn without Alpine gear (crampons, ropes, etc). When we reached the hut, we enjoyed a $12 bowl of Goulash Soup - all the food and supplies are helicoptered in - before hiking another 4 hours down over and up to another hut (Gandegghütte), where we spent the night.

Photo: Dave and I on the climb up to the Hörnlihütte. We’re wearing backpacks and using trekking poles.

The first day was the toughest day for me. We started our hike at 8:40 AM and finished at 7:10 PM, 10.5 hours later. Dave had tried to describe the hiking to me when we met for planning prior to leaving for Europe, but his descriptions fell on ignorant ears and I just didn’t get it. “No worries. I can do anything. I’m a Ironman-distance triathlete,” I had told myself prior to our trip.

I was humbled, and I was pushed outside my comfort zone physically from the steep climbing and mentally from the precarious hiking along narrow, uneven trails, which if one slipped or tripped, would lead to a 1,000 foot slide or even drop down the side of a cliff.

Two hours into our hike, we reached Furi, at the top of one of the Gondolas that came up from Zermatt. We had decided to skip the Gondola in order to warm up our legs to hiking. When we stopped at the restaurant at Furi, I crashed on the picnic table for half an hour from exhaustion. It was going to be a long, challenging day! One moment at a time is a mental strategy that I use for Ironman racing, which I applied this day as well.

I suppose that having a stomach bug the first four days didn’t help me, as I had to visit the WC (water closet or toilet) or find a large group of stones to hide behind every two hours. I don’t think all the other hikers in our hut appreciated me climbing out of the bunk to shuffle across the creaky floor to open the creaky door before heading down the stairs and outside to visit the WC in the middle of the night and back again. Ah, well, you play the cards you are dealt.

Photo: Me at the Hörnlihütte where we stopped for Goulash Soup.

When we finally reached the hut that evening, dinner was already being served. Dave and I sat down and paid $7 each for one of the best beers that I had ever tasted. The food was delicious, too, but my stomach was unsettled, and I had to force feed myself while propping my exhausted head up with my hand. I have never felt as tired even after racing 140.6 miles in an Ironman triathlon!

At the hut, we met a family of four from Ohio. They were the only Americans we met up in the mountains during our trip, although we did see a few American tourists (not hikers) around the towns and villages.

Dave and I had a four person room with two sets of bunk beds to ourselves. In order to get to our room, we had to pass through the room the family from Ohio.

Photo: Hiking from Gandeghütte back to Zermatt. At this point, we were already most of the way down the mountain.

After a relatively sleepless night, we ate breakfast then headed back down the mountain to Zermatt.

Photo: Me chilling out in Zermatt.

Leaving Zermatt, we took the train back to Tasch then drove through the Lötchberg Tunnel to Kandersteg. Dave had originally planned for us to hike back into the mountains that afternoon in order stay in another hut, but we opted to stay in town at Hotel Ericka.

The second day was our shortest day during our trip, as we decided that we needed to an easy day to recover from the first day in preparation for another long, tough hike on day 3.

Photo: Map of our route from Zermatt up to to Hörnlihütte then over to Gandegghütte where we spent the night before heading back down to Zermatt on Day 2.

My adventures in the Swiss Alps will continues in my next blog entry.

More photos are available on my flickr site.

Live live fully and boldly!

David Glover

—-

David B. Glover
Professional Triathlete, Coach and Race Director
Author of Full Time and Sub-Nine
Personal Web: www.davidglover.net
Business Web: www.enduranceworks.net

© 2008 David B. Glover

Yep, that’s me traipsing through the finish line at the Quelle Challenge in Roth, Germany a few days before the actual race. Note the lack of cheering fans and the obvious fact that I’m wearing jeans.

As planned, I completed only the swim and bike and bike on race day then stopped in T2. My own unofficial aqua bike race with me as the only participant.

I had mixed feelings about doing an event that I knew that I was not going to finish. On the one hand, I was already in Germany and had spent the time and money to make the trip. On the other hand, I was racing in the pro category with a low race number based on my original forecast for a fast race. I had a difficult time explaining to other athletes that I was going to do only some of the race and that I really wasn’t in race shape: “Everyone says that,” was the typical response, as they shrugged off my attempts to explain my situation.”

“No, really, I’m just doing the swim and the bike. Don’t expect a fast time from me on race day.”

On race day, I had a decent swim (57 minutes) then shivered through a cold, wet 112-mile bike ride. After finishing the bike leg, I wandered over to the finish line and saw the top men and women finishers. Two women broke Paul Newby-Fraser’s Ironman-Distance world record at Roth that day: Yvonne Van Vlerken in 8:45:48 and Ericka Csomor in 8:47:05. I saw them both make history. Very impressive!

Live life boldly and richly,

David Glover

—-

David B. Glover
Professional Triathlete, Coach and Race Director
Author of Full Time and Sub-Nine
Personal Web: www.davidglover.net
Business Web: www.enduranceworks.net

© 2008 David B. Glover

I’ll be racing at the Quelle Challenge in Roth tomorrow morning for the fourth year in a row. When I first came to Roth in 2005, I came to experience the legendary atmosphere of what is the largest Ironman-distance field in the world with more than 2,500 individuals and 500 relays competing and more than 100,000 spectators cheering. I was not disappointed in the experience.

I also came to break nine hours again in an Ironman after first going “sub nine” at the inaugural Blue Devil Iron Distance Triathlon in 2007. Because of the fast times posted at Roth including the 7:50 world record set by Luc van Lierde, I mistakenly believed the Challenge would be an easy course. Fast, yes. Easy, no. It took me three tries to break nine hours, which I finally did in 2007 with an 8:51 for 23rd overall with the help of my coach, top German pro triathlete Olaf Sabatschus. You can read about my experiences at least year’s race here.

Photo: Me finishing in 2007 (Photographer: Courtney Johnson)

Tomorrow will be different. My original intent in signing up for the race was to post a faster time than last year. Unfortunately, some earlier recurring leg issues and a bout with over training followed by my stubborn unwillingness to back off leave me in decent (but not great) swimming and biking shape with no run base.

So tomorrow I will swallow my pride and only do the swim and bike. I will forgo the run as my leg is still bothering me and I need to let it heal. I will finish early then spend the rest of the day cheering on my Virginia friends: Shawn, Reid, Jennifer and Mark. I plan to have fun. That’s a good enough reason for me to do the event.

After a spectacular 2007 season with an 8:51 PR at Roth, an overall win at Vineman and another strong finish at Ironman Louisville within a 2-month span, 2008 is turning into a temporary reprieve from Ironman training and racing in order to recharge mentally and physically. It’s taken me a while to get to the point where I am willing to admit that I need a break from the disciplined training and focus, but deep down, I know this is the right thing to do. This is not to say I won’t do 4 hour bike rides with Brady or Krista when they need training partners for their long rides, but rather that I can choose what I want to do instead of what I need to do.

Plus, there are many unique and challenge events outside of triathlon to sample. Next week, I’m heading down to the Swiss Alps with my friend, Dave Tipler, to do a week of hiking in the mountains, and in the fall, I am looking forward to experiencing a few adventure races.

Next year will be here soon enough and I will be back with my passion.

Live life boldly and richly,

David Glover

—-

David B. Glover
Professional Triathlete, Coach and Race Director
Author of Full Time and Sub-Nine
Personal Web: www.davidglover.net
Business Web: www.enduranceworks.net

© 2008 David B. Glover

The Power Of Team: Three Ordinary People and Their Run to Greatness
by Peter Wortham

I had the opportunity and privilege to meet Joel Burrows AKA “Ghost” when we both participated in the Special Operations Force Academy in the last week in April. With an extensive background in endurance events including Ironman-distance triathlons and marathons, Joel was the one participant at the Academy with whom I could most closely identify. Joel earned his nickname “Ghost” by maintaining a low profile during the week - by staying under the radar. Yet, on the final day and night, Ghost took over as the team leader of the 44 participants (our initial group of ten from the week long Academy merged with 34 more participants for the final 24-hour SEAL Adventure Challenge).

Joel had also done something, which still seems incomprehensible to me now: he, along with his then wife, Nancy, and friend, Dave, won outright three of the four “Racing the Planet” Desert Races. The “Racing the Planet” races are a series of seven-day, 250-kilometer (~150-mile) footraces across the world’s largest and most forbidding deserts - the Atacama Desert in Chile, China’s Gobi Desert, the Sahara and finally “The Last Desert” in Antarctica. Each participant had to carry 30 pounds of their own survival gear, clothing and food on their backs, running across sand and rock, climbing dunes and mountains.

I asked Joel afterwards why he chose the Special Operations Force Academy. This is what he had to say:

After 11 Ironman races, more marathons than I can count, and winning outright 3 of the 4 Racing the Planet Desert Races, I was looking for a new challenge. In 2003 I saw a flyer about this camp, and it has been on my mind ever since. Now that I am going through my divorce and am able to choose the events that I want to participate in, I felt this was the time to go after the SEAL camp. I began training in January and only took about 6 days off between then and the start of the camp. I am always looking for the next challenge and really wanted to show up to the camp in the best shape possible. I felt like I achieved that goal.

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Yesterday, I sweated out 23 pounds of sweat in 3 x 1.5 hour Bikram Yoga classes. I feel awesome today!

In my continuing search for a new challenge, I decided to try three Bikram Yoga classes in one day. If you’re not familiar with Bikram Yoga - also called hot yoga - it’s a series of 26 postures that are performed in a specific sequence in a very hot and humid room. I wrote about the benefits of Birkam for athletes in an earlier blog post.

The challenge for me in doing multiple Bikram classes in one day is not surviving the heat but rather replacing fluids and electrolytes lost by sweating during class. I’m a heavy sweater. During a single class, I will completely soak a full-sized beach towel and leave puddles in the carpet around my mat.

Three classes in one day was an experiment by me on me. Could I take in enough fluids and electrolytes to successfully and safely complete all classes?

In order to to determine sweat volume lost each class, I weighed myself immediately before and after every class. I also wrote down what I drank before, during and after class.

Here is what happened during each class:

Class 1: 9:30AM

• Beginning weight before class: 175 lbs
• Fluid consumed during class: 5 lbs
• Ending weight after class: 170 lbs
• Sweat volume lost during class: 10 lbs

Comments: I brought 3 large water bottles into class with me - 1 of Cytomax and 2 with Emergen-C. I drank all three during class. Normally, I take only 2 bottles in with me. I was still 5 pounds lighter after class even after drinking 5 pounds of fluids during class.
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Image: Triathlete Magazine’s home page with a picture of me crossing the finish line at Vineman

I have always joked that my triathlon career would not be complete until I was on the front cover of either Triathlete Magazine or Inside Triathlon. I think Triathlete Magazine’s home page counts.

I was interviewed for an article previewing the Vineman Full (Ironman distance triathlon) on August 2nd. If the home page photo has changed by the time you read this, I saved a pdf version of the home page that you can download here.

Here’s the link to the full article in the magazine: Previewing the 19th annual Full Vineman

If your curious about my experiences winning last year’s race, please check out my blog article.

Live life boldly,

David Glover

—-

David B. Glover
Professional Triathlete, Coach and Race Director
Author of Full Time and Sub-Nine
Personal Web: www.davidglover.net
Business Web: www.enduranceworks.net

© 2008 David B. Glover

Given the recent heat wave we’ve been experienced in the mid-Atlantic region, I thought I would share my “Staying Hydrated in the Heat” answers that I shared with a reporter earlier this week.

Q: If someone has dark urine could it be because they are dehydrated?

A: Yes, dark-colored urine is a good indicator of dehydration. Urine should be clear, pale yellow like lemonade if fully hydrated.

Another indicator is weight loss during an exercise session or race. Weighing yourself before and after an exercise session (or race) in the heat and taking into account fluid consumed during the session is a good way to determine what your fluid replacement needs are.

Q: If you do become dehydrated what can you do to treat it instantly?

A: Drink fluids to rehydrate as soon as possible. When training and racing for more than an hour and especially in the heat, I would use a sports drink with electrolytes (sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium) to both replace electrolyte loss from sweat in order to mitigate cramping and to replace energy stores. Taking in sodium will also mitigate a condition called hyponatremia, which is essentially water intoxication caused by too low of sodium levels in the blood.

Dehydration could also be accompanied by heat conditions such as heat exhaustion and heat stroke. In that case, it’s necessary to get person out of the heat ASAP, cover with cool towels and seek medical attention.
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Photo: David rappelling off of Cullasaja Falls

Thanks to extreme adventure athlete Jono Senk of Hairy Scary Evolutions, I had the opportunity on Sunday to rappel through the Cullasaja Falls near Highlands, NC.

WOW, what a RUSH!!!!

That’s the best description that I can think of to describe thousands of gallons of deafening, blinding water crashing down on my body, as I attempted to maneuver myself down 200 feet of rope as I bounced off of moss-covered rocks. Because of the water’s tension on the line, which creates a braking affect, I was in little danger of falling down, but I felt like I was fighting for my life - pure survival and intensity!

Image: David in the middle of the cascades

For more waterfall rappelling photos, please visit my flickr album.

Please check out Hairy Scary Evolutions - they provide exhilarating adventures that will take you outside of your self-limiting comfort zones: BIGGER, BADDER, BETTER, BRAVER, BOLDER!!

Live life boldly,

David Glover

—-

David B. Glover
Professional Triathlete, Coach and Race Director
Author of Full Time and Sub-Nine
Personal Web: www.davidglover.net
Business Web: www.enduranceworks.net

© 2008 David B. Glover