HONG KONG...A Dream Come True

Hong Kong by day



Atop the Peak of Hong Kong at night. Special thank you to my friend Charlotte who made my lazy butt hike up. I don't regret the view! 

Many years ago I had come up with the idea that it would be such a great experience to race in China. I've raced all over Europe and a few other countries during my career. One thing you begin to notice is that most countries in Europe are "easy". The English language shares many of the same characters and many of our words are interchangeable with quite a few phrases from each language used Internationally. My ability to speak some Spanish goes a long way when I get lost in say a country like Italy or Switzerland, as there is a high chance that if a person doesn't speak English they more than likely know some Spanish. Or, I've found on many occasions that a French speaker can easily read Spanish and vice versa. Thus, its easy for me to get around and not find myself completely lost in a culture where my eyes are wide open and head bobbling left and right looking at every tree, sign, and person with novel curiosity. I wanted a real challenge for a traveler/adventurer...The confused and lost abroad type experience!

I sought after races in Asia searching for something unique, un-Westernized. I knew zilch in the way of languages in Asia besides hello and thank you in Mandarin and Japanese. Ask me how to spell them using the local characters and I'm lost. I first ventured to Japan for a great racing adventure I got exactly what I wanted. There was no alphabet or familiar languages I could use to build upon in order to help me get around. Only Japanese characters, EVERYWHERE. On the train, bus, street signs. I was lost...and I loved every minute of it...In hindsight!

In 2014 I was offered the opportunity of a lifetime. This new opportunity was to race in Hong Kong or China depending on how technical you want to get. Upon arrival I instantly claimed my prizes of confusion and being lost abroad. The signs had characters that looked more like scribble scrabble or paintings, not letters. Just to inscribe "Hello how are you" in Mandarin or Cantonese (Local Languages of Hong Kong) looked more like a person attempting to start painting a portrait. So unique and precise with the shapes and twists of the finger to carry out the simplest of messages. One thing that has always helped me when I'm confused is FOOD. I learn the foods fast and it helps to branch conversations, as everyone loves a good meal! Once I learned names of some local cuisine like Lo Mai Gai, Dim Sum, Daan Tard and Cha Siu Bao I felt at ease.

Yum?

Definitely YUM!!! I don't even know what it was.

RACE TIME

The whole reason I love competing abroad is for the opportunity to experience a new culture and to really dive into the food, the people, and the way of life in that region. I love seeing how the terrain instantly changes as you go from one coast to another or how the idea of food edibility drifts as you fly from continent to continent. Racing the greats from one country and providing fans and lovers of the sport a chance to see athletes from afar competing with their locals is also a great attraction for me. Going into the race I knew I was in for a tough one as China's top mountain goat along with a few other top Chinese, Norwegian, Australian and various other countries were going to be toeing the line with me ascending the magical Lantau Peak. This remote peak overlooking Hong Kong's Lantau Island and other outlying islands is home to some of the most distinctive terrain rock stairs you've ever seen.

Lots of new experiences for me as I reflect on the race. The race started in the evening just as the sun was starting to set West of China's mainland. I was concerned going into the race as the director was telling the athletes we would need headlamps. I've never worn one and usually when I run at night I'm not running over technical terrain. I had to make a quick decision at that point. Risk not having a light and maybe hurt myself as the course had some technical tid bits. Or, be on the safe side and carry the light? I took a gamble and said to myself, "I think I can get up to the peak and back down to the awards area before the sun drops". That meant I would most likely need to run FAST and break the course record en-route. The gun went off!!

I darted out and found myself in 2nd for a brief period then the course went through a trail reminiscent of a garden in someone's backyard up a steep rocky route in the forest where we had to use our hands a bit and grind over banzai tree roots while milling away low swaying branches. I was able to get a small gap here and the course only got increasingly steeper as we approached a saddle area. There were some sections with hard packed mud.  YES hard packed mud. When I said before that terrain changes as you go from one region to the next, I meant it. This mud was like nothing we come across much in the major mountain races in the USA. It was extremely slick and hard packed, so a nice spill on this terrain would give you a thump you'd feel for a week. Negotiating on these types of trails along with unrelenting, uneven and at times, slick rock stairs added to the challenge.

The course had a few descents followed by steep ascending to give athletes the total 1,000 meters of vertical gain required in all Vertical Kilometer Skyraces (VK). I found having to ascend after descending to be tougher than typical VK courses. I've done other VK's along the way and most of them are up up up with no descending. Quite a bit simpler to negotiate as the athlete does not have to transition which takes a toll on the hamstrings and quadriceps.

As I reached the saddle I took a glimpse back to estimate what I needed to do in terms of pacing. I had nobody in sight. This can be good or bad. Sometimes when nobody is in sight, you went the wrong way. Other times, you maybe are having the race of your life. Then there is this other option. Hong Kong has a sub-tropical climate so even when high in the mountains the forestry is lush and ever green entirely as you reach the peak. In essence, you could be surprised to find that someone is right around the corner because you just couldn't see them even as you near the finish. Most ascent courses in high alpine are open and your competitors are quite visible. More than likely you won't be surprised. To make sure nobody bounced from the shadows of the trees and reeled me in, I made certain to check my back every so many seconds until I knew...VICTORY was a few uneven rock stairs away! I was able to also break the course record along the way!

Podium was well represented Internationally: USA, China, Norway, Australia, Czech Republic

Gear

SHOES: I wore the SCOTT T2 Kinabalu! Very happy I did. The course had some sharp rocks and also some tights turns. The Kinabalu works well for technical terrain and is very light weight to give you the added advantage for ascending steep peaks while hovering over sharp rocks!

WATCH: The Mio Alpha has been a saving grace for me on many occasions in races where I was unsure of the terrain or the course. I can use the Alpha to aid me in avoiding too high of a heart rate too soon in a race. If you are unsure of how hard or how steep a specific point of a race is, just ask your heart. You can easily go from 84% of your maximum heart rate on say a 10% grade to 90% in just a few seconds when the slope changes to 25%! Many athletes make the mistake of trying to hold on to the same intensity for differing gradients. In the long run this hurts your performance. The Mio Alpha has truly helped me become a smarter competitor


If you want to checkout a nice little video recap of the Vertical Kilometer adventure I had in Hong Kong Checkout the video here




A special thank you to Action Asia Events and my friend Michael M. for the invitation. Truly a remarkable experience. Without a doubt I look to return to Hong Kong!