Thank You For A Lovely 2014

by klcovansky on 31 December, 2014

Even though we’ve run fewer races this year than we did last year (seven competitions in 2014 compared to eight in 2013), this summer and fall saw us at the starting line of two 100+ km races, both of them in Italy: The North Face^® Lavaredo Ultra Trail in Cortina and Morenic Trail in Andrate. It’s also been a year of extremes with Jakob and Jakob’s first ever DNF as opposed to the first ultra any one of us has finished solo. I’ve always considered myself blessed by the fact that I’ve mostly had an injury-free career as a runner, with a bad case of runner’s knee prior to Edinburgh marathon a few years ago as the only exception. But this year has also seen me battling plantar fasciitis since early April, leading to the longest running sabbatical I have ever had since I started running: four full weeks in the middle of the summer. Did it help? Not. One. Bit. Finally, I started taping my heel with regular sports tape and moved indoors to do my running on the softer treadmills of the gym. Excruciatingly boring, but – as I have always maintained – good mental training. Nevertheless, the last 12 months have been lovely and full of running-related good fun. Oh! I also ran my first ever race with my brother! Which was his debut race as well! And I ran my first run as a balloon boy! How could I forget? A year full of firsts, then. Do at least one thing a day that scares you, someone once said. You know what’s scaring me at the moment? Actually managing to get a starting number to Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® this summer. Yep, dad, Jakob and I have submitted our applications to the crazy race week in Chamonix. Jakob and dad will try to win spots in the Orsières – Champex – Chamonix, also known as the OCC, featuring 3300+ vertical metres and 53 horisontal kilometres, while I have set my sight on the Beast: UTMB. 14^th January we will know for sure. So keep you fingers crossed. The rest of next year’s races all depend on whether or not we get to fly to Chamonix in August, but the preliminary plans include a spring marathon somewhere in Europe, a brandnew Ecotrail in Oslo in May and a precipitous skyrace in Tromsø in August.

Meanwhile, please allow us to wish all of you, our faithful and beautiful readers, a prosperous and happy new 2015, full of exciting challenges! Here are some pics from our exploits in 2014.