Why in the world would anyone want to do a Marathon in the Andes of Peru at insane elevation? So one day he can talk about it…

For years I was content with the local 10K races that come around what seems to be every month and eventually I graduated to the yearly Marathon challenge. However, from time to time I have visions of grandeur and I question my limits. It was during that type of moment I came across the Inca Trail Marathon.

Who: 45 international runners
What: 27.5 mile Marathon
When: June 16, 2005
Where: The Andes of Peru
Why: (see below for that one)

With out giving too much thought on the training, the cost and the vacation time needed I signed up and took on the challenge to do this race.

Now to many people including my friends and family, the thought of running a marathon is crazy enough. However, to run a marathon in the Andes of Peru at 14,000 feet elevation is f#*^ing nuts. That exact sentiment would be the largest reason why I took on this challenge. Staring down the barrel of turning 30 was another. These races was exactly what I needed and fulfilled my need for another notch on my “your nuts dude” belt. However, there were also sentimental reasons to all this madness. My father immigrated to the United States from Peru in the mid 60’s and I often traveled to his home town of “Cajatambo” located in the high Andes. What an opportunity to pay homage to the land of my forefathers. In my book it was something that had to be done.

So that was basically it. I contacted Andes Adventures in Santa Monica and secured my spot among 44 other runners for the 10th Annual Inca Trail Run. I had nine months to train from street to trail running, which I really had no experience in. Of course I had already planned on running the 20th Los Angeles Marathon in March, so I used that race as one of the training runs for Peru in June. Once L.A. was out of the way, I took a week off bought some additional gear and hit the mountains.

—The Gear—

When running trails you can reuse the basic running gear you already own. Drifit shirts, shorts and sunglasses are always needed. However, this race presented some new interesting challenges. The Inca Trail isn’t like the well staffed Wilshire Blvd route at mile 23 where there is a water stop each mile and crowds cheering you on with U2 music blaring in the background. It’s quiet, beautiful and descents that make the hills of San Francisco look like a speed bumps. Oh yeah one more thing, there is only two aid stations. So this is where the new gear comes into play:

Camelbak: Hold 2 liters of water with room for gu packs, electrolytes, change of shirt and headlamp. Very important when you only have two pit stops.

HeadLamp: The race starts at predawn, requiring some head gear if you want to see where you are going.

Trail Shoes and socks: Mizuno Wave Ascend. I found to be a great pair of trail shoes.

As for the rest of the gear I was already covered.
- Garmin GPS watch
- Electrolytes
- Running Hat
- Gu Packs

—The Training—

The weekdays consisted of typical street runs, however accompanied with the new gear. Getting acclimated to the Camelbak and the extra weight was crucial. I followed my typically training program with some modifications. Didn’t want to peak early however I knew I would need to increase the weekly distance and increase my endurance levels. The Inca Trail doesn’t offer a bus back to downtown Los Angeles if you decide to the throw in the towel. Once your going there is no turning back.

As for the weekends I had to get some altitude. That is where Big Bear Mountain came into play. Snow season had just finished and the mountain trails where reappearing under the receding snow. This would prove to be instrumental in my training. Unlike street running where you can at times run on auto pilot while you are in the “zone”, the Inca Trail requires you to be mentally on the top of your game. The rocky trails can be quite dangerous over the 27.5 miler. The concept of rolling ankles near cliffs forces you to plan and mentally picture your footing 3 to 5 steps ahead. Big bear luckily offers a number of rocky trails that pushed me to new levels and aided in the development of this technique. Of course I had a number of close calls and strained ankles that made the reality of what I was taking on very clear. Training with out a running partner made my cell phone a necessity for every run, just incase.

Now being a novice to Big Bear trails, my Garmin GPS proved to be more than helpful. From time to time you hear about hikers getting lost in the woods. During fast downhill descents, sometimes you can miss the trail that takes you back to the lake where your car is parked. Especially, as you increase your mileage each week going deeper and higher into the mountain. As you can imagine I became very familiar with the Garmin map functionality. Of course the hikers I came across were helpful and the look of disbelief on their faces that some guy was running their hiking trails was especially motivating.

Following my normal cross training mantra I was able to get some additional altitude exposure with snowboarding at Mammoth, followed up with a 20 mile run. Spin classes adding the usual non-impact, rapid muscle fire workouts I like to incorporate into my running.

So there you have it. The race, the gear, the training and the challenge.