BlahBlahCafe - Jean-Michel Jarre forum

In 2008 in March I wanna do the Vasa ski race and that is a huge thing to say for anyone who can't stand on a pair of skis. But I really feel like doing it. And I hope that it will make it more easy to loose the weight and get some good exersize each week done when thinking about it. The ski race is about 90 km all in all and is the longest ski race ever on this planet!

Is this crazy idea or dream or just cool?

Love Leelene

Way to go Leelene!!

I think that´s a great idea to do!!

I wish I could join you, but I´m afraid of snow... Haha, no I just don´t have the time!

Is Vasa what i think it is?

Anyway, go for it Leelene. 90km is a lot but I don't have much experiences with skiing.

Here comes some pics from the famous race. The first two are from the finishline. The following pics are from the start and one from Evertsberg, the middle station along the way. The last one is a map over the race!













Love Leelene

My brother did it this year. It took him like 11 hours.
All he's got to say about it is "never again"!
But still he's happy about that he really made it.
It is t-o-u-g-h so it is a very wise desition of you to plan it some year
and a half in advance 'cous you will need all the training you can get, Leelene.
But it is never impossible so, good luck to you!

(btw, there is shorter tracks with 30 and 45 kilometers as well...just in case you'll "chicken out". )

Velodynamic wrote:My brother did it this year. It took him like 11 hours.
All he's got to say about it is "never again"!
But still he's happy about that he really made it.
It is t-o-u-g-h so it is a very wise desition of you to plan it some year
and a half in advance 'cous you will need all the training you can get, Leelene.
But it is never impossible so, good luck to you!

(btw, there is shorter tracks with 30 and 45 kilometers as well...just in case you'll "chicken out". )

I know that it is tough, that is why I take long walks almost every day to train. And yes, I will not do it in 2007 but in 2008 so it is a year and a half before I will do it. I know there is these 30 and 45 km Vasa ski races too, but somehow those never feel like a good kick in the butt when I am taking the long walks!

Love Leelene

Respect for those who manage to complete this...

@GeeJee: Yes respect to those who manage it...by the way, your comment made me laugh!

Love Leelene

http://www.vasaloppet.se/wps/VasaCMS/ge ... /en/2.html
Here is the homesite for this event!

Love Leelene

Leelene wrote:@GeeJee: Yes respect to those who manage it...by the way, your comment made me laugh!

Love Leelene

Well, that's mainly because I'm the lamest of all bored people

@GeeJee: You're not boring and I think you could do it if you had the mind set on it like I am at this moment. I sure hope that I stay this focused in a few months and a year and such.

Love Leelene

Well I would get training for it now,a tough regime to get you conditioned for a race like that given your current level of fitness would probably take you at least 18-24 months to get to an acceptable level....

I ran the London Marathon a couple of years ago (Almost 27 miles in distance)and had to train hard for 6 months prior to the actual race,and I'm of good physical shape and have plenty of stamina,as i run a lot ,but nothing prepares you for a full on test of physical stress like that and it was damn hard work,to build up to that point with a lot of physical as well as emotional endurance..I did it for charity as well as my own test of endurance it was knowing that I'm raising money for a good cause that helped me attain that goal,and kept me striving to complete it

Good luck to you,because you'll need it..


Its a good goal to be heading for to help your exercise regime,but skiiing over that distance is a very demanding task but don't expect to be able to succeed without pain and stress,remember that such events take a lot of mental stamina as well as physical...and you have to be prepared for a lot of ups and downs along the way...I would probably take a guess in that not all those people who enter the race will do the full 90Km or are there to do it fully,Like the London Marathon,some people just enter to do half marathon or a couple of mile,not everyone who enters is doing it for the full distance..

Leelene wrote:@GeeJee: You're not boring and I think you could do it if you had the mind set on it like I am at this moment. I sure hope that I stay this focused in a few months and a year and such.

Boring = different from Bored

Anyway - I know, if I focus on it I can do it too, even without problems Not to be arrogant or something, but I can be very fanatic when it comes to such things, and like Equi says, as long as you prepare carefully enough...

Here's my technique...

Cause I really REALLY love to have fun.

I start, as everyone, in the bar/pub/cafeteria/square talking and laughing with everyone - GREAT time, here we go to do something stupid with everyone who is stupid enough to do it - but heaven forbid if anyone says that.

Then everyone goes and I wish good luck... right, like if I look stupid... not that they are, mind you - is just that I wonder.. er... do they know they CAN do this ANYTIME they want? well... I rumble...

As I was saying, sometimes I even wave good bye with a charming wink... "loosers", again, not that they are, there's a lot of fun in exercise, but I don't think there's any in exageration.

In a few sundays I go out with some sporty friends to do some heavy BTT (biking), with really expensive bikes, heart control rist watches, GPS and isotonic drinks... altough I tend to stand out... I'm one that does not take the heart reat control rist watch, and it's easy to ignore the remarks they make in my 4x4 SUV... or 125 cc's desert motor bike.

You see, the part I like is the one where you don't risk your bones, it's the one where you rest them... there are limits, and I knew most of them at age 25 (31 and counting... not sure in which direction though).

The point is, I too arrive in time to what I like best, the "bar/pub/cafeteria/square talking and laughing with everyone" one, and to this date, no one ever looked down on me saying "cheater"... for they know one of my mottos: "work smarter, not harder"... it took me 25 years to earn my right to hang loose, out of experience, not lazyness.

They - my close friends - also know I only like one kind of sports: one that leaves me almost for dead and giving all I have for some rest and sleep, but one that makes me wake up the following morning wanting to do the exact same thing, and that may or may not include tiring yourself till you drop - for me it HAS to include adrenalin or CHI buildup.

That's called having fun, nothing to do with sports, or everything for that matter. I think I could run a marathon, probably, but it's not that I don't have the muscles/cardio, it's that I really don't have the patience... I've done your 4 days with no sleep, two weeks with no food, 1 and a half turn around the world with no money, fighting championships european and world titles, only to rebel... I know what drives a hicker to Everest even after loosing friends or limbs, knowing that will - luckily - stop you from loosing and get you there all the same - sometimes you DO need to risk it all, sometimes it's just plain stupid to risk anything at all.

Those who go to the 8 km Summit know what they want, and it's not "getting there", it's "GETTING there"... if they didn't, they would pay with their lives.

I guess what I'm trying to say, in another long LONG text (exercizing fingers here) is that people don't need an excuse, they need a motive, a reason... a passion. Then they become cats, not sheeps.

Kind Regards,
AMR
http://www.alvaromrocha.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasaloppet
A Wikipedia text about the Vasa Ski Race...


Love Leelene