Message from Frank Tschöpe

Day 1 Hesteyri to Kjaransvik: (live tracking on www.franktschoepe.com News)

After the flight from Reykjavik to Isafj�rdur I managed to get 2 bottles of fuel for free (you can get as many as you want directly at all the airports!!!), tent pegs and a moskito net (there are no moskitos in Iceland though, but there are very small flies, so I am prepared). Then I added 2 beer (first day luxury for me) and also bought some hot dogs, meat and dog food (these items are not for me, but for the arctic foxes!) I am very sure that I will easily attract them with these delicious meat variations! Interesting to see what will be the most popular for them! It will be like Christmas day, much easier than catching birds or looking for dead fish at the beaches!

After the boat tour from Isafj�rdur to Hesteyri (1h10) I started right away with me 42kg backpack! It is tough after the ultra run yesterday, still with a pulled muscle, so I walked slowly and safety first! Very early I heard that one hiker slipped down the steeper snow slope down the pass and I watched the rescue team with a huge, orange helicopter! This Icelandic rescue team did great work - here I feel much safer than in other countries!

Fortunately I had the steeper passage up to pass as an uphill snow slope, so it was easy to find the best way and no problem at all! Downhill it could be a problem if you dont find the easiest slope! And of course there is very often fog! Even today it was foggy, but I managed to see the stone markers all the time! Nearly at the beach of Kjaransvik I saw the first artic fox! But that one was cautious and kept in 30m distance from me! I tried to imatate birds, but the fox looked only curiously at me! So no photos yet, also as it was foggy! The fox was a brown one with a white tail!

Now after 6h30min I am totally exhausted (I had only one beer during the hike, nothing else) and I am happy to eat and sleep! Today is "eat as much as you can" to reduce the weight of my backpack!

Hearing the waves from the sea, which is only a few meters away!

So far from northern Iceland! One thing is for sure: Each day I will reach my planned destination before darkness! :-)

And I met several germans here! One couple just came from Jan Mayen, 3 rough days on a stormy sea with a boat! They were all sea-sick!

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Interesting facts on Iceland

1. Not only the pavements on the main roads in Reykjavik are heated the whole year, but also the seats at the bus stations!

2. For domestic travels by plane, there is NO security check at all! I think it is mainly because most passengers are Icelandic and they trust each other! But I like this too! :-)

3. Polar foxes and ptarmigan change their color at the same time, as they both dont want to be seen! They are usually white till May/June! So this time I will photograph brown polar foxes! Maybe I will try to attract them with tasty hot dogs!

4. Standard of living is much higher here than in Switzerland! Mainly because of the outdoor swimming pools and hot pots!

5. Weather is often very rainy and poor! You usually have high pressure on Greeland and low pressure on Iceland! I will expect much rain this week on Hornstrandir! :-(

Report Iceland Ultra

Just some quick notes! Yesterday I started at the Laugavegur Ultra (google!) and I was aware from the beginning that without any running training and still with a pulles muscle on my lower leg, it would be a very difficult day. But I anyway tried it..

So I started very slowly in rain and wind and was very happy that I put on my long trousers! The weather was very poor with fog on the tops! The snow patches were more or less OK, but there was a 50m section with icecold meltung! snow-water, which was 30-40cm deep! Brrr, this was even worse than the coming river crossings! At Hraftinusker I already lost about 10min compared to my better times on this course! Weather was still poor, maybe 0-3 degrees and wind!

Alftavatn I reached after about 2h45! I was thinking to give up at this point, as the problems with my pulled calf got worse, but then I continued to Emstrur! This time I enjoyed the ice-cold river crossings ( maybe each 3-5km there is one), as it was very good for my legs! It takes about 5min until you feel your feet again after these ice-cold rivers! Later in the run I even walked some passages! At least the weather improved with the rain and wind stopping!

I finished in 7h16 and this year I was just happy to reach the finish, though it was a very poor time! Usually I try to run in 5h30! The best time yesterday was an incredible new course record of 4h07 by an Icelandic ultra-strong runner! Unbelievable performance!

Finally there are hot showers, a sauna and a nice buffet at the finish! As always a great experience, well organised and a course with some of the most beautiful scenery on earth! It is always a pleasure and adventure to run the Laugavegur Ultra!

Tomorrow I will start my 6day hike in Hornstrandir! A tough one for me as I am still limping! :-(

Von meinem iPad gesendet

Laugavegur Ultra Live Coverage!

Betreff: Laugavegur Ultra Live Coverage!

Hi friends, tomorrow I will run my favorite trail run in the world, the 55km Laugavegur ulta in Iceland! You will see my progress on my homepage, as I plan to send GPS coordinates each 15min automatically

For this live coverage please visit the NEWS-section of my new website

www.franktschoepe.com

(By the way, I will improve the website further after my holiday, but currently no time for this)

As of an injury I could not do any running training after the Mustang Trail Run. But I kept fit with swimming and cycling during the last 3 months! The weather forecast is very poor and with this you might watch "Failure Live" this time! But I will try my best and hope to finish somehow and at the same time staying fit for my planned hike on Hornstrandir, which will start the day after on Sunday afternoon! Tomorrow I will run tactically and start extremely slow. Also I will try to keep my energy on the snow patches close to Hraftinusker! Hopefully I will still feel OK after 30km! It is a very demanding course, not comparable to the easier mountain runs in Switzerland!

Please send this mail also to friends and colleages, that might be interested in awe-inspiring landscape photography or in trailrunning!

All the best and greetings from the northern lattitudes Frank

To all trailrunners: The Laugavegur Ultra is the run you should go for! Watch my Iceland galleries and then you know why!

Von meinem iPad gesendet

Message from Frank Tschöpe

Reykjavik

I am in Reykjavik now and am busy for organisational matters! Tomorrow I have to get up very early at 4am for the bus that drives us to the start of the Laugavegur ultra! My tactics is just to start very slow and try to reach the finish somehow! As I have not trained at all since the Mustang Trail Run it will be a new experience for me to run such a long and difficult trailrun in the highlands of Iceland! Unfortunately the weather forecast is very poor with some rain and temperatures of about 5 degrees! During my planned hike on Hornstrandir after the ultra run that will start on Sunday I will have more time for this blog!

All the best Frank

Today is organising, relaxing, swimming, enjoying the hot pots in Reykjavik! :-)

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Frustrating running season 2014

I am used to be a very strong trailrunner, but this year totally went wrong! I did a mistake in doing interval training too early and got injured at my cave in April. Since then I was not able to train - only cycling and swimming was possible! I had to even walk my favorite Stockholm marathon in 5h35, which was even tougher than running it in 3h. Then I missed the Zermatt ultra on 5.7.2014 and I will likely struggle at the Laugavegur ultra on 12.7.2014. But here I will definitely participate, though I did not train since April. But it is my favorite run and I love the scenery and also the event. It will be tough for me running it slowly, as I used to be running among the Top10. This year I should be happy if I am able to finish below 7 hours. 

Afterwards I will go for a 6 day hike on Hornstrandir to photograph the tame arctic foxes there. I have been there before, but meanwhile I improved my camera and this time my goal is a beautiful "Arctic Fox Calendar". Hope to be lucky with the light and the foxes.

I will post a blog via Satellite Messenger from Hornstrandir, starting next Sunday, 13.7.2014.

All the best

Frank

This is a test-blog sent by E-Mail

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