Selected to the Asics Beat the Sun Team Americas

First off, Thank you Thank you Thank you to everyone who voted for me.  I would not be going on this extreme adventure sponsored by Asics in Mont Blanc France if it wasn't for the nearly 10 thousand of you who voted for me.  So much love and support! I will do everything I can to ensure I represent and kick ass for Team America's.  

The Story -

Back in February I applied to a little race called Asics Beat the Sun.  The race requires you to traverse Mont Blanc (highest peak in the Swiss Alps) before the sun sets over the mountain.. roughly 15 1/2 hours to run 150 km. It takes place on the longest day of the year on June 21st. In addition, there would be other teams repping Asia, Europe, Africa.  The second goal after beating the sun is finishing as first team.  Though this race is all about a race against nature!  I loved that concept and it didn't hurt that Asics would sponsor me for everything.. travel, hotels, food, gear, etc.  Being the adventurer/thrill-seeker I am and wanting to race the toughest most difficult endurance races in the world I submitted the application thinking I would never in a million years be selected, but I might as well try.  Though I don't specialize in Ultra Trail Running (most all my training is for Ironman racing) I do have solid running race and ultra marathon results to put me in that elite amateur category.

And well whatdoya know, I was selected by Asics and their partners in early May as a semi-finalist. 52 semi-finalists in the world of 60,000 applicants were chosen.  To be selected as a member of the official team I would need to gather as many public votes (via the Asics website) as possible as well as prove to Asics and their partners I was worthy.  To my surprise, more than enough people chose to vote for me, thousands and thousands of people.  I was selected to the Team Americas (covering North America & South America) last week. 24 people in the world of the final 52 were chosen for this adventure with Asics.  I will be on a team of Professional runners including Ryan Hall and Deena Kastor among others as well as few other Amateur trail runners.

This is a massive event for Asics and the running community. There will be 50-­60 international journalists at ‘ASICS Beat The Sun’, ranging from broadcast media, national newspapers, core running titles and lifestyle media.  The entire event will broadcast live on the Asics website and other media outlets.

Home base will be in Chamonix France.  Chamonix is a trail runners paradise.  The 152 km run around Mont Blanc will take us through Italy and Switzerland as well.  For a more detailed explanation of this crazy race against Nature view the video from the 2014 and 2015 races. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJt7-XLWV50

Before being selected to the Team I was fortunate enough to train in the rugged mountains of Banff Calgary.  I punished myself running up and down the steepest routes I could find and trying to get a bit of exposure to altitude.  It took me a solid 10 days to recover from that training. I would have done the same exact training whether I was selected or not.. I do have triathlon races coming up this year.  2 weeks following that training I raced a short 2 hour Duathlon. I happened to win that race, though I had a terrible run off the bike, simply due to not training too much due to pulled calf muscle.  I was super lucky to finished that race without injury.  

So how do I prepare for this ultra trail race around one of the toughest most challenging ultra trail running courses in the world in effort to beat the sun.. I continue to do what I always do - TRAIN.  Asics basically gave me 3 weeks notice that I made the Team prior leaving to Chamonix, France. If I'm not fit enough now, I wont be that much fitter in 3 weeks.  I will do a bit less cycling, a bit less swimmin and more running than normal, but other than that I continue to swim, bike, run, strength train and stretch.  Cycling will be less power focused, swimming will need more kick drills and in order to put in more running mileage I'll need to start running in the morning as well as the afternoon or evening. The most significant change will be to my diet as I need to ensure I am as lean as possible to conquer the challenges of running around Mont Blanc.

More updates about this event to come.. GO Team Asics America's!!!