Long runs in Collserola

Between Friday and today, Sunday, I decided to do long runs along the track of the Collserola Mountain Marathon. During my first try I missed a critical trail and headed in a different direction and decided to continue the adventure and just learn about a new part of this beautiful training ground. Since summer has finally arrived both days I left home early to avoid the heat and sunshine.

On both days I started from home and joined the marathon trail near the Tibidabo. It is always nice to have a new day start with a beautiful sunrise.

 The beginning was familiar ground for me since I have run there many times, though it is always a pleasure to run here since it is a more humid and more fairytale kind of forest.

After a long mostly downhill stretch I arrived in the area near Sant Cugat where a famous pine tree, el Pi de Can Xandri is marking the landscape with Montserrat in the background.

Just at this point the trail turns left and goes along a corn field and here I made the mistake the first day. The trail is marked quite well with green arrows, but not here so I missed the right turn more or less half way of the field and continued straight onwards to Sol i Aire and les Planes crossing underneath the highway to join the marathon trail going up on Cami de Can Balasch. Today I took the right turn and if you look carefull enough the green arrows guide you well enough from there onwards.

 Part of the trails are wide and easy to run, but there are also long stretches of stony "canals", very narrow paths that are carved out by rain water over the years. At some point just passed a paved road called, La Carretera de la Arrebasada, some green arrows indicate to go left, the path is hardly to been seen here, but going left through the pine trees somewhat further down the path becomes more clear.

The only other point where I missed the green arrows at first is just passed Can Flo in La Floresta where you have to climb up this steep hill, cross a street and continue the climb a while more to find more green arrows to indicate the way.

Soon after the trail goes winding through a very nice area, with great views of the surroundings and at some point you can see Montserrat again far away, with a faint rainbow on the left in this picture.

 

After entering La Floresta again and running along the edge of this area of houses scattered on the mountain side I crossed the highway high above this time and soon I started the long climb to Castellví along the trail I mentioned earlier, Cami Can Balasch. I will repeat the trail again some day soon and do the full marathon from its original starting point and time it to compare my training pace to the race pace of October last year.