Cursa DIR Diagonal - 10k

 After about a week of a mild summer cold and thus not really the best preparation today another 10k. The start was a bit further up Diagonal than the previous 10k over a month ago but also we would leave it earlier to only turn back onto it for the last few kilometers.

This time too I ran down to the start area as part of my warm up. This time no injuries or other reasons to hold back but also knowing that my lungs and condition would likely be to up to full capacity yet.

At 8h30 we were counted down for the start and I tried to quickly settle into a good pace. The good thing of the Diagonal is that it is very wide so almost immediately you have room to run. After a first kilometer in 4m06 and a second in 4m00 I guessed I probably went out to fast, but without much pace training lately that is understandable. Up to 5k in 21m20 I was feeling ok, but from there on I could no longer sustain pace below 4m30 and finished seconds over the 45m barrier in 45m06. Still quite ok considering having had the health issues. From here on it is back to mountain training for the next Trail Race probably in October.

La Directa Tibidabo - 5k

 Eventhough I have not completely recovered yet from the marathon 2 weeks ago, running a short race that passes through the street where we live and is much like the route I do for mountain training almost every weekend was ofcourse something I couldn't resist. I knew that I would likely start well and struggle near the end since the climb as soon as it hits the trails is steep up, but doing such a short race from time to time is great fun. I had some lower back pain during the past week and eventhough I have done some run training I was not sure how I would feel this morning and went out early to do a long warmup and test some higher pace accelerations before huddling up in the start area. 

I knew that it would be good to go out hard to have some space when we hit the trails, so I line up up front and at 9am we start at the beginning of the street where we live and in minutes I pass and greet Montse who was standing nearby our door. 

The first kilometer I run in 4m18 and the second with already more climbing but still in the city in 5m00. During the 3rd kilometer we leave the city and enter Collserola and start the steep climb to the top of the Tibidabo over a track I know very well, since most of my training is done there. Since I had been running on the edge of my aerobic capacity from the very start maintaining run pace uphill soon becomes impossible and I powerhike the steep parts. The very last part near the top I was still ok, but breathing heavily. When reaching the small square at the top I sprint the last meters and finish in 34m37s. in a 26th place which I am very happy with. I might do some 10k in the coming weeks. As always many thanks to the organization and very likely until next year!!

Trail Vall de Ribes Marató - 42k - 3400D+

 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.

Go here for the race video

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 highest point of the race, Mount Taga, well visible in the distance

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. 

somewhere on the first uphill

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 second aid station "Saltor" after 12km

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. 

The third aid station "La Tuta" at 16,2km

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 fourth aid station in a small village called Ogassa after 23,6km

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 fifth aid station at Coll del Pal after 30,4km

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. 

The highest point of the race, Mount Taga (2040m)

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.

Cursa el Corte Inglés - 10k

 After a week of rest and massage to try and fix a muscle in the groin area I wasn't very sure about running a 10k today, but on the other hand I thought that doing one might also give me an idea of what I could expect for the longer mountain race next week. So after a very cold and rainy Saturday, both Jordi and I jogged down to the starting area in front of "el Corte Inglés" en Diagonal. The weather this Sunday was much better, somewhat windy and certainly not warm, but at least no rain. Due to Covid they decided to change the route so the start would have more space for all runners. The new route looked to be very fast even though I was going to go at easy pace. Jordi did want to go for sub 45 minutes. After an easy warmup we split up when entering our starting boxes, since Jordi did not have an official time below 50 minutes yet and they wouldn't allow me in his box for some reason. 

At 9 am we started to run and very soon Jordi passed me. Not easy to start slow for me, but I definitely wanted to finish without stressing the pectineus muscle that somehow got irritated and somewhat inflamed a bit over a week ago. The first 2k I was just above 45m pace in 9m10 and after I slowly gained on that schedule without much effort passing 5k around 21m45. From there on I was holding back and just maintain a decent pace until the finish line. I was more than happy to finish under 45 minutes without any issues. So now it was just a matter of some easy runs and stretching and foam rolling muscles preparing for the next race.

Jordi was also very happy breaking 42 minutes. With more specific training sub 40m is possible for him, but that will probably be in autumn.

2022 Training

 I never really completed the post on the half marathon of Collserola. I started that race with inflammation in the insertion of the hamstrings and though I was able to finish, after the race it got worse and I took some weeks of to heal. During Christmas other things had priority and it was not until the end of January I started running and doing weight training again in a serious way.

The insertion issue was still not fully healed but with specific training for that I managed to both run and have it heal back to normal slowly. Something similar happened with the Pes Anserine, where 3 muscles attach just below the knee. And my right heel, where I had the acute bursitis last year is still not 100%, but I can run and I can accept the extra care it all needs to get ready for the next training each time. I had tried fully stopping, but there was no better healing at that time so I prefer to get out and get in shape and enjoy nature.

My staple run is going up and down the highest hill near home, the Tibidabo of just over 500m. It has a pretty steep single track trail up that mimics training in higher mountains quite well.

Weather has not been always perfect and actually a bit crazy this year.

For work I travel to Bilbao often and my staple run there is climbing the Pagasarri. Above picture is during the days sahara sand dust was blown even up to here in the north of Spain, creating a strange light by the dimming effect and shielding the sunlight.

First week of April temperatures went severely down and in many places snow fell. Though it is a longer run when seeing snow from the Pagasarri, I decided to continue to the Ganekogorta summit. At the top it was rather cold and the snow was still hard, most of all the downhill was a very slippery, wet and muddy experience, but all in all that went quite ok.

Only days after that in Barcelona the temperature was completely the opposite and we are expecting more ups and downs like this during april. The last weekend of april, if all goes well I will run the Vall de Ribes Trail Marathon. After the Ultrapirineu, I decided I first wanted to get ready for just the marathon distance and not do the next ultra untill I can finish one in a decent way. This marathon has a lot of climbing (3400mD+) so just finishing in the given 8h30 would be great

Mitja de Collserola - 21k

 For quite some time now my son Jordi has been including mountain running in his run training. Not as a goal in itself, but he enjoys running hills. Today we tried a first race, though not running together, because he is now much faster than I am. The half marathon of Collserola is a very nice race to try out mountain running. It has a good mix of single and wide tracks and a few sections that are more technical. Also this run is well organized and near where we live, so all good reasons to enroll and wake up a Sunday morning and test the legs a bit.

Ultra Pirineu 2021

 After a busy week I have finally time to share my story of the Ultra Pirineu 2021 with you. As said in previous posts, the preparation for this 100k - 6600D+ race was far from perfect and though I had no pain or serious doubts about my right achilles tendon, I was in it for just running through the mountains for as long as I could without compromising the tendon.

After a short night sleeping at the Bagà Balsareny Campsite I woke up just before 4am, ate some breakfast, and got ready for the 15 minute walk to the start area. I arrived nice and early eventhough there were quite a few runners there already and soon the small square in the center of Bagà, la Plaça Porxada, was full, music was started and at 5h30 am we were shot away. In spite of being in the second starter group we started moving quickly and after some minutes of walking through the narrow main street we entered a bigger square and after a wider street where we could easily run. Ofcourse my goal was to go easy without having too many runners pass me either, since I suspected that at some point some narrow path would create a traffic jam. For at least 30 minutes though we moved with a lot of room and alternated running and walking fast depending on the slope. At some point indeed we made a left turn onto a narrow path and also steep up on a very rocky section and here the whole pack slowed down considerably, but passing was impossible, so it was just a matter of following the run in front of you. It was still pitch dark, though the many headtorches made finding your way easy. The path passes a road twice and in spite of the early hour there is people cheering the runners on and somewhat sooner than expected I arrived at the first aid station, Refugi de Rebost, 10k and 1100 D+ done. The stop here ofcourse was minimal and just after there was a pretty steep section. By now we had spread out more and each runner could move at his own pace. Also at times we can see the horizon now where the black is turning into shades of dark blue. After the steep section the path still goes up but we can walk at a very good pace and enjoy the early morning and the sun slowly coming out just in front of us. About 2km before reaching the highest point of the race all of a sudden we are much more exposed and the temperature drops quickly with the combination of an at times strong breeze and the cold at altitude. We no longer need our headlamps and after not too long we can see the next aid station Niu d'Aguila in the distance. 

Refugi Niu d'Aliga - 2520m

When I get there I eat and drink and fill up my bottles, but decide not to stay long because of the cold. Standing still is you cool down very quickly and also we would go downhill and be once again protected against the wind. 3 hours and 20 minutes have passed since the start and in the downhill I start to have my first low energy moment. This is quite normal for me, around 3 and 8 hours into a race that happens to me, so I just bear with it and run downhill as fast as I can. I expected this part to be harder, but also the next section that goes through a rather dense forest to be more runnable, for me at least, but it is too irregular and inclined most of the times in order for me to run. I guess this is also because of lack of training, I clearly feel I don't have the same strength, but I do enjoy the experience. Slowly we are approaching a intermediate summit, Penyes Altes de Moixeró, both the uphill before and the downhill after are very rocky and technical, and as such also very slow. At one point we even rappel down a big rocky section. After quite some time of jumping rocks we enter a first mountain meadow and we can run again, but here I start to feel tired already. After another forest section a long meadow section follows and I try to run as much as I can, but also feel I am not advancing very fast. After the meadow we turn onto a wide path until we take a right turn and go steep down into the forest again for some 2km. We end up on a winding path through the low part of a valley and at the end cross a small creek and climb up a few hundred meters to where the third aid station is, Refugi el Serrat de les Esposes. I arrive here on schedule, though it felt like having lost a lot of time. 

It is mid day now, and I take somewhat more time to eat and drink. I also take off my second layer since it is quite sunny and the next uphill is right in front of us and looking very hot. The next section should be easy apart from the first steep climb, but that very uphill takes a long long time. And after I have not too much energy to run at good pace and what should be a less than 1 hour section turns into 1h30 hours. When I arrive at Refugi Cortals de l'Ingla there is not much that I would like to eat, they offer many things, but just nothing seems to be right for me at that moment, so I decide to concentrate on swallowing down gels over the coming hours to get some energy in. The pace up to hear has been slow and the only good thing is that I am at least in good company with a few other runners that go at about the same pace. After the quick stop a long and steep section follows, up to Coll de Pendis. Arriving at the pass is not the highest point and the next section along a mountain ridge is very nice, but slow. It is around 2 p.m. now and both my feet are painful, my left foot hurts below the bump that is the end of the Tibia and my right foot hurts at my big toe and somewhere in the Tallus area on the right. I am running in rather new shoes and also my feet maybe just aren't much used to running long after all the injuries since last year december. Slowly we reach the highest point of the ridge and the downhill at parts is runnable. We are a group of about 6 now and stay together untill just before the next aid station, Refugi de Prat d'Aguiló. This is the last aid station before meeting up with my family in Gosol. 

The weather in a short period of time has changed from rather sunny to very cloudy and it is freezing cold at the next aid station. The people there urge us to put on clothes and after drinking and eating and preparing for the steepest climb of the race I put my self in motion again. The first steps are the hardest and with the strong wind blowing here it is rather cold. After some minutes I start to feel much better and decide to not take out my gloves and other even more warm clothing. The first half of the climb I go alone. Tired, but knowing that I will arrive much later than planned in Gosol I try to keep good pace up. The energy low is not as strong anymore and actually this steep part is very entertaining to do. The views are also amazing. Near the end I am once again in a group of several runners and soon I arrive at the second highest point of the race around 2400m altitude. After a quick moment of enjoying the views I continue. Most people can run here, but for me that is harder and harder, so I alternate running and walking as much as I can. The first part here is almost flat and after while a very long downhill starts. Here I force my self to run, it is slow, but faster than walking. Meanwhile I enjoy de scenery of this valley behind a very well know mountain in this area, el Pedraforca. After what seem an eternity I arrive at the lower part of the valley, but have no idea how long I need to arrive in Gosol, but keep contact with my family and try to give them hints of my progress. After still quite a while some indications say 2km what at my pace could be 30 minutes still, I try to run as much as possible on a very rocky path that leads downhill through the woods straight to the village of Gosol. I arrive there just before 20h, 2 hours behind schedule and only 1 hour before the time limit. Montse is waiting for me at the edge of the village and together we walk to where her brother and parents are waiting for me as well. I sit down a minute on a bench and we talk a bit. Then I enter the aid station, and after a while inside I decide not to continue. All in all I was very happy already with being able to do what I had done so far, with 60km of high mountains and with the night starting and under time pressure the risk of injury for me was just too high, but still very happy and certainly to be repeated some day, though before I will do shorter races until I feel fully ready for such a long run.

As always many thanks to the organization, the volunteers in all the aid stations and to my family for supporting me up to the race and during the race.

Click here to see a video of moments throughout the race.