After not finishing my last Ultra, in part because of still recovering from injury, my plan was to not go back to Ultra distances until I felt comfortable finishing a mountain marathon. Today, saturday 30th of April, was a first good test. Having 3400D+ on only 42k means it will likely be very steep quite often.
I arrived in Ribes de Freser on friday afternoon. The initial idea was to spend the whole weekend here, with my wife, but the weather forecast was bad, so we changed plans and she would come on saturday with one of her brothers and parents. After installing myself in my room in Hotel Catalunya I went for my bibnumber and T-shirt. The rest of the evening I spent preparing the backpack and race gear so getting up was going to be quick and easy. I woke up at 5h30 to have breakfast and after I rested until 7 o'clock when it was time to leave the hotel, leave the luggage in the car and start to warm easily.
the start area, that would only fill quicly with runners some 20 minutes before the start
It was not as cold as I expected and it was a morning with mostly clear skies. At 8am we were counted down for the start and with Thunderstruck by AC/DC getting the adrenaline going we first did a 1k in the town before starting what directly was a rather steep climb. I had decided to do the first part without poles since after the first climb there would be a very runnable section.
Up to the first aid station is was only 4k and we get there rather quickly, for me without the need to take anything.
The first aid station "Conivella" after only 4km
running along, still fresh here
Afterwards we run mostly down the at times across mountain fields where not always there is a clear path untill come close to a small town called Bruguera. From there we have a few steep climbs with runnable sections up to the next aid station at Saltor around 12k. Just before this I already unstrapped my poles since the climb afterwards was going to be rather steep. I arrived here in just under 2 hours, already slower than I thought would be possible, but going faster would only mean going much slower in the second half of the race.
The first part of the climb is not too steep and at parts even runnable, but the steep part is really steep. I about 40 minutes I reach the summit of Mount Amand (1851m) and a long downhill starts. Upto the next aid station at la Tuta I am doing ok, but the next part downhill is even steeper and I start to have cramps in just about all my upper leg muscles.
I try to maintain pace and hope they will fade away. The bottom of the valley is very beautiful with a small creek we have to cross several times. My muscles are still hurting a bit, but I can move, and slowly we make it to the next aid station in a village called Ogassa at 23,6k. My time there is 4h11 and I know that making it to the finish on time is not going to be easy. After a quick break to refill, send a message to my family and eat a bit and drink some soupe I am on my way again.
The break inmediately had blocked my muscles again, and I cannot even run the first kilometer. Once out of town the path is muddy and slippery and has some short very steep climbs up and on one of those my inner thigh muscles completely cramp up and I decide to sit down and try to relax them. After a couple of minutes I decide to give it a try and if I have more severe cramps it would be better to call it a day there, but luckily the cramps and pain slowly fade away and I can move at decent pace. From time to time it is raining a bit now so I put on my raincoat. At some point we reach an intermediate summit on our way to Coll del Pal. Here at least I can see there is people near me up front and later I also can look back to the same point to see there is at least 2 runners behind me. In the next long climb of 1000m uphill they slowly catch up with me and together we reach the aid station at Coll del Pal after 6h17m. Visibility is very poor here due to mist and finding the next flag or ribbon indicating the route is not easy. We have 2 more climbs and a long downhill to go to the finishline.
The first climb is the typical never ending one, pretty steep with many points where you seem to reach the summit, but when getting there see you can go higher. Finally we reach Puig Estela (2011m). The mist is very dense, soon after I even turned back to make sure I was going in the right direction, since the next route indicator was just too far away. After an easy part of downhill a typical crest part starts which is basically jumping from rock to rock or in between rocks if that makes for a more safe landing. After a more easy runnable part starts all the way up to the start of the climb of last mountain. This is only some 200 meters up, but without visibility it was much a matter of head down and keep on pushing untill we finally reach the cross at the Taga summit (2040m). After having someone take a picture of me at the summit I start the downhill.
My muscles are still somewhat painfull and also my toes touch the front of my running shoes at times which is not very pleasant, but I keep running. I pass the last aid station without stopping and enter the last part of the course we already did in the beginning, winding through the forest on a narrow steep and slippery trail. I fell down twice here, but without consequences. Just before reaching Ribes de Freser runners from the organization that go with the last runner on the course catch up with me. We have some laughs and after a few more turns, now on more easy terrain I enter the village. Montse is waiting for me on the last stretch and soon after I cross the finish being the last runner, but still just as happy.
Many thanks to the organization and all volunteers. Many thanks to my family for supporting. Since my goal was getting my fitness to a level where I can "comfortably" run a mountain marathon I will repeat a similar distance after summer and work on strength in my legs and doing some longer training runs leading up to that race.
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