Posts Tagged ‘adventure’

Ultra marathons and barefoot trail running

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

Ultramarathoner Scott Jurek and Tarahumara runner
Photo credit: not sure, I think here

My new interest. Well, an interest maybe, but that’s about where it ends. I do run, but typically only 3 miles at a time. Hardly even a 5K, never mind an ultra marathon. Though I do love the idea of being able to run long distance, it is just so raw and primal and is truly the way we were meant to get around. But is it really possible for anyone to run 100 miles at a time?

I’ve been reading the book Born to Run and it’s just amazing. I’d heard of Dean Karnazes and ultra marathoning in the past, but sort of just figured he was some super human guy and there were only a few crazies out there who did this sort of running. But after flying through the first half of this book in just a few days, I’m wondering if it really is true that anyone is capable of running great distances. Not only does the book thus far tell the interesting story of the Tarahumara natives of Mexico who regularly run distances of 100+ miles, but there are a few profiles of other some interesting people who actually do this sort of running regularly too.

The most I’ve ever run at a time is when I did a half marathon three years ago, and that took 3 months of training to be able to complete. And for me that was tough, as I’ve never been a runner and never found running that enjoyable. But maybe there is something to it, a technique that most people just can’t figure out. I know that since I’ve started running semi regularly, I’ve been able to adjust my technique to a point where I can do it a bit easier, though conditioning is still my issue.

Maybe I’ll try it barefoot or with sandals like the Tarahumara. I’ll get on it right after my calf heals from when I pulled it running last week…

Day trip to Gibraltar from Spain

Sunday, June 14th, 2009
View of Rock of Gibraltar from Spain

View of Rock of Gibraltar from Spain

After a relaxing two days in Tarifa, (well mostly relaxing, with the exception of my day trip to Tangier), I had one last day and night before an early morning flight out of Málaga. All along I had really been hoping to make it to Gibraltar, but I wasn’t sure how it would work out. But of course as so often happens in travel, everything fell into place perfectly for me to make the run over into Gibraltar on my way out.

I woke up early and caught one of the first buses out of Tarifa. I am writing this a while after the trip, if I recall I think I took the wrong bus. The idea was to catch a bus going direct to La Linea de la Concepcion, but I’m […]

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Long Walks and Inspiration

Thursday, June 4th, 2009

A few weeks ago I came across this video on YouTube, which I’ve posted below. It’s a video made by a guy named Christoph Rehage from Germany who had the goal to walk from Beijing to Germany. From the looks of his blog, The Longest Way, it looks like currently he is not walking, but is at university. Also, it doesn’t appear that he has completed the entire trip just yet, but walking over 4000KM is quite a feat none the less.

Here on Idealist Cafe I would like to start profiling inspirational blogs and websites, so if you have one or know of one, feel post in the comments or email me. I would love to hear about any journeys or adventures that are outside of the box and are inspirational. They don’t have to necessarily be about pushing physical limits, as I am also […]

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Bicycle trip from San Diego to Phoenix

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

update: I’ve written a more detailed post here. Check it out!

I just got back from my latest adventure this weekend. This one was something totally different from anything I had ever done before. A co-worker of mine had decided a while back that he was going to quit work and move back east. But he was going to ride his bike back. Immediately I liked the idea, but I wasn’t ready to ride across the whole country, nor was I in a position to quit my job. So I decided that I would take one week off and ride with him.

As it turned out, we spent a few weeks training before his trip was to begin, though didn’t get into the shape that we wanted. The most we had ridden was 32 miles in training, and he was hoping to average 50 a day […]

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Day Hike of Mt Whitney – Highest Mountain in United States

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

Interested in my How to Hike Mt Whitney in One Day eBook?

Well, at around 14,500 feet, Mt Whitney is not technically the highest mountain in the United States, however it is the highest in the lower 48 states. If you have browsed this site at all, you will have seen on my inspiration page I say that “nothing helps your inspiration more than getting outside, breathing some fresh air, planting your feet firmly on the ground, and being amazed by nature.” As an avid hiker who has now climbed Mt Whitney, I can certainly attest to that.

I want to share with you my experience of successfully day hiking Mount Whitney about a month ago. It was an amazing and exhausting experience, and the scenery was breathtaking and certainly inspiring. The entire hike was around 22 miles with an overall elevation gain of over 6000 feet, and […]

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