Suunto Blog

Debi Hazelden has broken the record of most half-ironmans in a row. Debi’s on top of her game With 40 runs, bikes and swims under her belt, Debi is going strong – and going quick, averaging just under 5.5 hours. While according to the daily update blog, she’s feeling the physical drain, she’s also full of energy and raring to go. And the pictures? Debi looks as fresh as a high-school track star pacing the 10-minute-per-mile group at the local Turkey Trot. Of course, Debi’s been sneaking a carrot cake every now and then – she deserves it! …but it hasn’t been easy. The biggest challenges up to this point? “Illnesses – Our 7 month old son goes to daycare and has had his first couple of viruses which have been passed onto me! I had Hand Foot and Mouth in the first week and in the 4th week I’ve had a cold. Bad news for John Unfortunately for John, an injury had him sidelined on the advice of a doctor. Says John: "As most of you know, I have encountered a glitch on route to my immediate goal. I have an inflamed VMO muscle for which I am currently receiving treatment. The injury has prevented me from running.” It was the first the right one, then the left one – John’s done some physio and is back to logging KMs, but at well below intended volume, and he’s too far behind to catch up. What can he still do? Help Debi – which he’s doing plenty of, whether it’s beside her on the bike, in the pool, or on the track. The weather’s been all over the place From a high of 43-degrees celsius to wild thunderstorms with 70kmh winds, and one day with nearly ten centimeters of rain, the weather has been a challenge – especially when there’s no putting off your bike or run till the next day. Hey, at least in the pool you’re already wet. She’s had plenty of help A challenge like this is impossible without support – in addition to her core team, local members of the run/bike/swim community have been coming out to keep her company. If you’re in the area, head on down to Centennial Park and look for the white RV! The swim is easy "It’s definitely a surprise we look forward to the swim each day,” says Debi. “It’s not usually our favourite discipline. it’s like a recovery session for the body with no effort.” Ryder – and several others – joined Debi for the record-breaking day. Don’t worry, Ryder has baby sitters – and a stroller One of the most remarkable things? John and Debi are doing this less than a year after having their first baby. Ryder is logging plenty of distance on his personal Suunto as he gets pushed around on his stroller during the ‘run’ portion of the race. Only 60 more to go With the world record already in the bag, some of the pressure is off – but the work’s not done yet. The goal is 100, and Debi’s less than half-way done. There’s sure to be more drama – follow along on their Facebook page and stay tuned here for more in-depth updates!

Let’s talk about mountains. What do they represent for you? I grew up in Barcelona and when I was 18 I decided to live in the mountains. Since then, I have had a constant connection with them and they have been my school in life. The mountains showed me how to feel free; they showed me their power and taught me to find mine. In difficult moments, when I’ve been injured and frustrated, they’ve showed me that they are always there with the same intensity and energy. The mountains have become a constant in my life. Constantly liberating me in my best moments and sheltering me in the worst. They have been a continuous source to help me learn more about myself. Are you always in a constant state of training? Mostly yes. My life is organized around training: where I live, my social life, and my work. Sometimes I wish it was not like this and I could think less about training, but knowing that I have races on the calendar or that I want to be in the best shape, my mind stays connected to training and it never switches off completely. There are periods of the year that I take it much more slowly. I also need to feel that slowness in sometimes, like I’m disconnecting and taking it easy, even if it’s not always true. What are your most essential tools for the winter season? I mainly use the Atomic Backland UL 65 because it is the ski that I’m most comfortable with. I love feeling light on the up and with the Backland UL 65 I also feel very comfortable on the down (if there’s not too much powder, of course!) I use these skis almost every day from the beginning of November to the end of April! In one winter I use four pairs of Backland UL 65 skis:- One pair for training- One pair for competing in individual and teams races- One special pair for the vertical races- One pair that I use for both training and competing.- Plus four pairs of Backland UL 65 skins. “I like to combine ski mountaineering with cross-country and alpine skiing because they are great ways to cross train.” I couldn’t train without my Suunto watches. I use mainly the Suunto Ambit3 Sport or the Spartan. My skimo program was created with four essentials: chrono, heart beat, altitude gain, and distance. I have been using Suunto watches for eight years now, and I always have it with me no matter the sport or the kind of training, because they always provide useful information!  What does confidence mean to you? Confidence is about trusting in yourself, trusting in your inner power, and knowing what you are capable of; it is accepting yourself as you are and taking the best of it, knowing that you are always in the right place doing the right thing. Confidence brings you so many positive emotions, which in return help you to see life in a positive way. What is the significance of your mountain community? I’ve found a beautiful community that is based on the experiences and sharing of the mountains. Within the mountain community I’ve found my many of my best friends and my second family. #sheskis is a movement connecting skiers around the world. Skiing more confidently than we thought we could and crashing more than we should. We are a community of skiers, united by our love for skiing.    READ MORE Greg Hill's mountain rules 7 tips to keep a balanced training load

Emelie Forsberg is not originally from the mountains – she’s from the hills. She was born in a hilly area on the east coast of Sweden called Höga Kusten. “There are no mountains, but the terrain is really playful with 300-meter-high hills,” Emelie says. Still she has become one of the world’s top mountain runners and ski mountaineers. How to do that? Do you actually need mountains to train for the climbs? Actually, not at all! If you have an uphill that is just 100 or 200 meters high – or even only 30 meters high – that’s ok. You just need to do more repetitions. But if you like mountains, I think it is important to also go to the mountains to train in the long climbs. Do you prefer more mellow or steep ascents? I like them both, because they are so different. I am quite powerful so the steeper climbs normally are a little better for me. But I have improved on the less intense climbs, too. When setting a skin track, do you head straight up or…? I did go really steep in the beginning! I was strong but didn’t really have the proper technique then. But now I like to set the track in a more mellow, comfortable angle. How do you pace yourself in the long uphills? First of all, I listen to my body because I think it is interesting to learn about my body. In training I always have my heart rate and analyse the data afterwards. That also helps me to understand my performance. But in some races, that are not so technical, I may have a more mathematical approach and use heart rate also while racing. I can just look at my heart rate I say: “No, this is not enough. I need to speed up!” Is training for uphill running and skimo the same? It’s more or less the same interval training that works for both. Maybe I train little shorter intervals in the winter. But all intervals are important for me; from one minute efforts, where I can really feel the lactic acid coming, to more manageable four minute efforts and up to ten minutes where it is like race pace. Interval training can be super fun. When you feel that you are in a good running form does that mean you are fast on skis, too? If I am in good shape for running, I think it is easier to transition to skiing. Going from skiing to running feels harder. Tips for increasing uphill speed? My tips are really basic, and more mental than physical: You need to like what you are doing and have continuation in what you are doing. Not to train super hard one week and then have three weeks without any training. Even if you only have time to run for ten minutes one day, go for that! It’s going to make you want to go out the other day, too. And try to make training a pleasure. For me interval training has really worked. It’s an easy way to improve because the sessions are manageable. The workout can be like one, one and a half hours, and you really feel like you have done something really good when you finish.   READ MORE World Vertical Week 2017 7 tips to keep a balanced training load How to run a sub-3h marathon

It’s not suppose to hurt your ears When I was a kid I dreamed about diving, but my ears and sinuses screamed in pain – but when you take a Scuba class you learn to equalize naturally. Diving should never be painful. Your ears hurt because of the effects of pressure – the volume of air spaces within your body are compressed by water pressure over your head. You need to adjust that change with equalization. You’re not breathing what you breath on land Most people mistakenly assume there’s an oxygen tank on your back. You’re not breathing oxgygen, you’re breathing what you’d breath on land, and that's 21% percent oxygen, 79% nitrogen and a few trace gasses – but it’s dried, filtered clean, and compressed. Technical divers may use exotic gasses like helium to conduct dives at much deeper levels, but recreational divers just breath, well, normal air. How long can I stay under water, really? That’s a tough questions! There’s a lot of factors that limit your dive. Important ones being how much air is in your tank and how deep you go. Recreational divers generally can ascend to the surface at any time during their dive with no need for de-compression stops on the way. Uhhh, what are decompression stops? Technical divers have an artificial ‘ceiling’ over their heads (or sometimes a real one). Artificial ceilings are created when you go deep or very long, and your body needs to time climatize and release gasses that have accumulated in the body. If you go higher, faster, you could get injured – it’s called decompression sickness (colloquially known as 'the bends’) and trust me, you don’t want to deal with it – symptoms include joint pain, headaches, neurological damage, even paralysis. But let me be clear: this is totally, 100% avoidable. How safe is diving? Statistically, diving is incredibly safe if you’re following the rules and know what’s going on. You’re more likely to suffer a fatal bowling injury! But you need to follow the sea conditions and weather, and follow the basic safety rules you learned in dive class. Will my whole body wrinkle up like my fingers after too long in the pool? Ha! That’s great, but no. You won’t come out looking like a prune. What’s a dive algorithm? A dive algorithm is a complex mathematical formula that attempts to simulate how the human body deals with the inert gas in scuba diving on descent and during the dive. It predicts how the body will off-gas that same inert gas to allow us to find the proper schedule for a safe ascent back to the surface. See the above statement about ‘decompression stops’. Give us a sample dive profile? A ‘dive profile’ is basically a map of how deep you go when (and for how long) during a dive. A rec-diver going to 30m of depth has only of 20min of bottom time before they ascend back to the surface with no safety stops. Alternatively, tech divers will spends hours at 30m, using rebreathers and different gasses to complete that dive, and they’ll have a number of decompression stops to come back to the surface. Are there any long-term effects? The current algorithms keep us in the safe envelope of exposure. I’ve got 7,000 dives, and sometimes am on projects that extend for months, diving every single day. Researchers are still looking at us (by that I mean people like me!) to see if there’s any long term effects. Decompression stress – the same thing that astronauts deal with, just on lesser levels – is of great interest to physiologists – there’s a lot of questions about how that stress expresses itself on bones or tissue over very long periods of time. But I’m 52 years old, and can still swim circles around most 20 year olds, so I’m not too worried for the long run! Stay tuned for more articles about the science of diving. READ MORE Explore a frozen world with Jill Heinerth How deep can we go?

There’s about 67,000 feet (over 20,000m) of ascent Which you cover over the course of two and a half days– if you can keep going that long, of course. And for better or worse, the course isn’t an A-to-B – it’s a loop that you do 5 times. Thus, the ‘Barkley Marathons’. Gary at the yellow gate that marks the start and the finish of the Barkley Marathons course. The race is one hundred and thirty something miles No one knows for sure – the route evolves every year at the whim of the race organizer​. If there are no finishers the course stays the same, if there is a finisher the course is made more difficult by adding another checkpoint that involves an additional climb and descent. Most think the loop, done 5 times, is a bit longer than an actual marathon​ ​, and there’s no question the terrain is absolutely brutal. Only 14 people have finished the race in nearly​ thirty years​ And what’s worse – every time there’s a finisher, they make the course harder​ but not necessarily​ and longer. Oh, there’s no trail markers A huge part of the challenge is to navigate the race course. To prove you’ve completed the whole course, you tear a page out of books you find hidden at various points along the race route. After every lap, the organizer will count your pages. You have no idea when the race will start Anytime between midnight Friday and noon on​ Saturday​! So it’s tough to plan your rest before the race. The race takes two and a half days. How do you train? You go up I live in Vancouver, BC, and we’ve got three peaks right in town, each of them claiming about 3,000 feet of prominence. I do a couple laps at a time for 20k vert training session about once every seven days – that takes about twelve hours. The other days of the week I go out for a few thousand a day. ​In the final three weeks of training I'll likely do a 15,000ft workout, and maybe 2x 20,000ft. The 20k workout can take up to 12hrs. Other than that I do at least one near daily lap and attempt to get my overall weekly vertical up to at least 30k ft​. What’s in the pack for a 20k climb? The way the race is set up, racers can return to​ a campground​ (where their cars are parked) at the start line at the finish of every loop. So that’s how I do my training – I can access my vehicle twice​ during a long training session​ a​ ​day. I’ll bring a water for three hours, food for 12 hours, and gear like a waterproof breathable kit, shirt, gloves, micro spikes for snow. I need 250 calories an hour ​Running is a calorie deficient sport and you can only digest so many calories while moving. 250 per hour is the formula for success. ​With that, you should be able to move forward, so that’s what I’ll do during the race. After​ each lap​ (about 8 - 10 hours, I’ll ​quickly down about 500 calories ​go for a full meal, then reset, then get going again. Liquid intake is totally dependent on weather – if it’s hot, more water. Cold, less. You need two pairs of shoes I do most hundred-milers in one pair of shoes, but the brush and briars on the Barkley is so brutal that it just​ can tear​ shoes apart. ​​ Navigation skills are crucial to success in The Barkley. And you absolutely need a compass Having a map, compass, and the skills to use them is an absolute necessity. It also helps if you have a course veteran to glean knowledge from. Getting lost can mean the difference between finishing and not finishing. You have 60 hours, and clock doesn’t stop if you get lost. I love the weekly vertical totals on my Suunto My goal is to get as much vertical as possible. It’s the only way to prepare for this event. The watch shows you your daily and weekly vertical totals. My workout ENDS when I get as much vertical as I need – so my watch makes it easy. The weekly graph that is a great reference point I can’t get away from. It’s a daily reminder that if I don’t get out of my door, I’m not getting my vertical in, and I’m not training hard enough! Stay tuned during Suunto Vertical Week 2017, as Gary plans to put up​ over 60k vertical in just a two week stretch – and make sure to check out the Barkley Marathons documentary, now showing on Netflix.    All images: © Matt Trappe / Trappephoto.com

World Vertical Week will be held globally on February 27 – March 5. You can climb where ever and choose whichever human powered sport you want. Last year the biggest average ascents per Move were climbed in Switzerland, Austria and France. Ski touring and mountaineering led the highest average ascents for individual sports. Which countries and sports will lead the way this year? The only thing you need to do to participate is to make sure your country information in your Suunto App settings is correct. After that your ascent will automatically be calculated in your home country’s total figure. By the end of the week we’ll find out where in the world the real climbers live. Have fun! #VERTICALWEEK PHOTO CONTEST Share your Vertical Week experiences on Instagram or Facebook with #VerticalWeek for a chance to win a Suunto Spartan Ultra GPS watch. (Terms and conditions apply. Read them here.)   Read more How to enjoy the outdoors with your partner: a chat with Emelie Forsberg and Kilian Jornet Greg Hill's mountain rules 7 tips to accelerating your uphill speed