http://www.inferno.ch/index.php?page=285

Has anyone signed up for this ? It's based on the Shilthorn in Mürren.

I cant wait to do it and have been doing plenty of steep hill repeats to get used to the elevation.

The incline is pretty intense but it should be fun anyway.

Some reviews:
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=324409
http://endurazone.blogspot.com/2007/...itzerland.html

Hiked from Mürren to the Schilthorn Hut today, called it a day about a kilometer after the hut because of heavy clouds, hence no views. It is STEEP. Saw maybe half a dozen runners so many must be preparing for it.

At least unlike Sierre-Zinal you do not demolish your knees running down

I would like to - but I will be attending a MATCHES in a Schindelligi church at the time

I'd like to do that, just not quite at my peak this year.

Just learned of the race while visiting Mürren this week. Ran the Mürren-Schilthorn stretch on Tuesday and enjoyed it so much I did it again on Wednesday and Thursday. Recommended - but take care near very the top! I would not overtake in the last 500m. May enter next year as I can't come back again this month.

I'm doing the half as well. First time.

The weather should be great from an "admire the scenery" point of view but probably far too hot for running well.

That is indeed a trade-off, but with weather as forecasted, you could wear really light and carry nothing, that's a slight advantage, plus you warm up sooner.

I will be hiking in Bernese Oeberland as well, and I will look forward to the race reports Have fun!

This was certainly an interesting race. I thought having a few half and full distance marathons would help me fly through this, boy was i wrong.

I experienced the most agonizing calf cramps from 16k's on, meaning i could only hobble along for the rest of it. The spasms were so bad that it looked like there was some creature moving around in my calf muscles

I guess i didn't stretch enough or lacked sufficient hill training. Advice on this would be most welcome ( Kate, TT, Peter ?)

The weather was perfect, the organization was excellent and it was extremely satisfying arriving at the top after 4 hours of mostly feeling like crap !

Pics are on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...1&l=22598dfce4

Ill probably do it again next year though

Congratulations for completing this very tough race!

My 2 rappen's worth limited experience with cramps (I'm aware that every case is different...) :
I've had (nasty) cramps in almost every race I entered in my life (all endurance sports alike) except the few for which I was sufficiently trained. By sufficiently, I mean that I had trained my muscles to work at an intensity level similar to race conditions. Otherwise, being reasonably fit, I found that I could push my body far beyond what the individual specific muscles were used to enduring, leading to agonising cramps after a couple of hours. No amount of stretching, water, potassium or whatnot seemed to make any difference. But high-intensity training did

Concur - and once they have arrived - all you can do is carry on between spasms. As soon as you feel one coming on - stop, walk, take on fluids. If you don't you will make it worse.

The only way to get fit for the hills is to run them. I am well known for my "flat" runs

Well done though.

Top tip: if possible, run a few Uetlibergs with S74

Congrats on your run, I am sure you dreamed about it, and you made it

When you say "with" you mean - you start together - and as soon as you hit an incline you see this blur disappear into the distance!!

I honestly don't know what you guys are talking about

The only thing I'm good at is getting cramps, so the reason you can no longer see "this blur" is probably because he's crawling on the ground stretching both legs at the same time

BTW I wish I could tell you guys what I do right, I never get cramps. I remember I had done the Zugerberg the day after my Inferno HM last year, as recovery run

What I do get is a dull ache and a feeling of leaden calves during the first 30-45 mins, but after that they work without complaint for several hours.

I do do a very thorough stretch once a week, not sure if that has a role.

I didn't get cramps but I know I would have if I had run faster which was annoying as I felt I had a lot more steam otherwise.

The weather was superb and it was great to be able to pitch the tent twenty meters from the start of the race even though the campsite was a bit noisy.

I really enjoyed the Inferno - it was brilliantly organised and I definitely want to do it again.

Congrats!!

Just checked up your time, it is a few seconds away from mine of last year, not sure if that makes you happy or sad

My understanding of the sport is that the Inferno HM is a good estimate of your flat city full-marathon time. If my info is correct Tom's city mara was slower by about 15 mins, and he says he could have done the Inferno even faster, which kind of doesn't fall neatly in my equation

I can explain the anomaly partially by the fact that he is on the thinner side, that makes you perform relatively better on uphills for a given level of fitness, but still the gap is too much.

Graham, I honestly think your performance in this particular race was an exception, your true ability is 30-45 mins faster at your current moderate level of training. Don't worry, most amateur endurance athletes peak in their mid-thirties and can retain almost the same level well into their 50s and even 60s if they keep active; you are young, so you have lot of potential .

I'm happy that I beat your time but sad that I didn't beat you by more!

My two cents worth:

I didn't do any training for this as such (intervals etc) - instead, a twenty minute run at lunchtime (with slopes, never flat) a few days a week. I always tried to do something for at least two hours at the weekend but this was always with hills. Sometimes it's up to 5-6 hours.

I spent the last two weeks, one week before the race in Provence and ran up
a hill before breakfast on a few mornings and on other days I hiked up hills with about 20Kg on my back (child + water/lunch etc).

I tried speed work and formal intervals a couple of years ago and seemed to injure myself a fair bit. I also ran on tarmac.

I then stopped doing that and now just run mainly off-road but always with hills. The variations in terrain (up, down, flattish, rough, rougher etc) do, IMO, prevent injury and at the last Zurich marathon, I ran faster than I had before but more importantly, I found it much, much easier.

In every photo of the Inferno which I am in, I've got a huge grin on my face and I really did enjoy the whole thing.

The next day I didn't ache at all, did a bit more running and also hiked up 1500m with 15Kg on my back.

Anyway, to sum up, my times may be pretty crap but, they are improving, I'm getting fitter and, most importantly, I'm really enjoying myself which is the most important thing.

It is indeed amazing how much one can keep improving, without getting into any formal training regime. It has been about 7 months since I stopped running (I do do those 20-30 mins evening jogs 1-2 times a week, and then weekends are for those huge hill hikes with pack, the rest of the days I climb indoors or do nothing). I noticed that when I came back to running (with dodgyken) a few weeks back, my running had hardly deteriorated.

I think hill-work does make a difference for a race such as Inferno. Another key thing is altitude effects. Because you spent some time at heights you were somewhat acclimatized, something which, I think Grimmus missed,, and over 2500m, it can make a significant difference.

Congratulations. Reading this is making me depressed, because I realize how much more I need to do.

BTW how did you guess you were faster All I remembered, and said, was our times were within a few secs of each other, I thought I had been faster.

I checked up my own time now, and realize that you were indeed quicker, by 31 secs to be precise.