Salomon 4 Trails 2013

We booked this race as an alternative to Transalpine, as we’d done it last year (Andy’s third year) and this seemed like a more sensible amount of running, but still getting in the mountain trails that we loved about TA.  So after convincing (he may say nagging) Andy to enter, he finally agreed and I signed us up quicker than Usain Bolt.   However, after a week or so Andy admitted that this would be great training for Transalpine and it would almost be a shame not to enter…….and so without being told twice I promptly signed us up for TA as well.  Now we had our years races planned out, we could set about the task of training for them.  Some of you will know that we entered TA last year but only completed 6 of the 8 days due to insufficient training (on my part) so this year its all about training hard (and efficiently) without getting injured.  And Salomon 4 Trails was essentially a training camp for Transalpine. In the lead up to this event I felt my training had gone well, no injuries, hitting all my sessions and my last few long runs had felt pretty good.  I was ready.  

So after a surprise visit to Frankfurt to watch my sister in the Ironman (surprise to her, not us obviously, we knew where we were going) we headed daaahn saaaaf to the mountains.  The excitement started to build as we approached mountain territory and I couldn’t wait to get started.  After a very efficient registration process and a day relaxing by a lake we were good to go.  Race day dawned and breakfast was a quiet affair with only Andy and I in the breakfast room.  We headed down to the start where the square was now thick with runners, stretching, drinking coffee, applying Vaseline or all of the above at once.  The race is run by the same company as Transalpine so its exactly the same format, fill your gel bottle, get your kit checked then into the pens for the daily blast of “Highway to Hell” before the off.  This event doesn’t make you run as a pair so we had agreed to run days 1 & 4 together with the middle two days being run solo.  This is mainly because my descending is not that great and Andy always has to wait for me so it’s a nice opportunity for him to be able to run at his own pace.  And if I hadn’t agreed to this then he basically wouldn’t have let me sign us up for Transalpine……..

Day 1 Garmisch-Partenkirchen – Ehrwald

Distance – 36.4km

Ascent – 2,410

Descent – 2,113

Time – 6:38

Energy – 7/10

Leg soreness – 0/10

Nausea level – 0/10

Enjoyment – 7/10

Number of retches when taking gel – 0

Finish relief – 5/10

Day 1 was a bit of a b*tch with 6 climbs and descents over the 36km route.  Most of the days will feature  1,2 or possibly 3 climbs but this stage had us going up and down like yo-yo’s.  Some of the ups were ridiculous, tip of toes type climbing that went on and on around the corner, just when you thought it was over.  The weather was lovely, if a little hot but I’d take that over rain any day.  The first aid station was not where it was supposed to be, for reasons I still don’t know, so after 2 of the climbs and approaching middle of the day heat (we set off at 10am this morning) with only 1 bottle of water and no more gel left, things started to get a little laboured.  Thankfully the mountain villages or sometimes even just a property have these water troughs with what I hope is fresh water running into them, so we all flung ourselves on this like we’d been in the Sahara for a week and drank our fill. 

I was doing well on the downhill’s and staying with Andy and actually passing people, which was unheard of last year.  In fact, I had traffic jams of walkers behind me most of the time.  The views were lovely as we had the Zugspitze as our focal point for the whole day.  Andy’s challenge to me was to pass 10 people on the descent into town which I did with km’s to spare ;-)

We ran in together in a time of 6.38 and stuck our legs straight into the towns fountain for some recovery. 

A fairly uneventful day and to be honest I have trouble remembering details of the first stage other than it was hot, scenic and harder than I thought it would be! 

 

Day 2 Ehrwald – Imst

Distance – 45.3km

Ascent – 2,723

Descent – 2,940

Time – 9.15

Energy – 6/10

Leg soreness – 5/10

Nausea level – 1/10

Enjoyment – 6/10

Number of retches when taking gel – 0

Finish relief – 8/10

Day 2 has 2 big climbs and descents.  Andy and I agreed to do the first climb together, then he was going to go off on his own.  The first climb was going ok, passed the aid station with no incident and carried on up.  Then we turned a corner and were face with……The Ice Wall.  Literally, an almost sheer mountain face covered in snow.  With nothing but fresh air below you if you slipped.  Ok, maybe it wasn’t quite that dramatic but it looked like it at the time.  Most people had poles so were tripping up it with a bit of purchase, but us Brits don’t bother with such aids so we just dig our toes into the snow and hoped that if you slipped, you wouldn’t go too far.  This was probably the most frightening part of any race I’ve done and I did not enjoy it one bit.  I was very glad when I reached the top and saw there was no snow on the other side, which was our descent.  I was even more pleased when I heard at dinner that night that towards the back of the field it got so slippery and treacherous that they had to pull people up by rope………

So a quick snap at the top and I wave Andy goodbye and see how long it will take him to disappear out of sight.  Turns out, not that long.  The first part of the descent is very rocky so I take my time but it soon turns into soft sandy shale so  its easy to dig your heels in and do a kind of slide/run down.  My shoes were full of stones but it was an Ok descent.  I even passed people on this too, truly amazing!  The second climb was a killer and the thing with this race is that when you think you’re at the top, you’re not.  I walked up stuck behind a girl who was taking her sweet time and now and then I’d manage to pass her but when I stopped to have a drink or a gel she would get in front again.  And behind me was a guy who was struggling more than I was who seemed to take a break when I did.  Which was fine, until he took a gel and spent the next 3 minutes retching all over the place.  This happened 3 times on this climb and I was very glad when we got to what I thought was the top so I could leave him.  But, as I said, this was not the top at all.  I knew what elevation we were going up to and I knew from my Garmin what elevation I was at and was very pleased to see we were within 12m of our max elevation.  But then we went down hill.  And then, around the corner looms another peak.  This was a theme for the rest of the race so in the end I just resigned myself to never thinking I was nearly there and always assuming there was more to do.  You certainly get value for money in this race! 

So the new top was reached and to my horror the first part of the descent jutted out on a tiny path that was hanging over the edge of the mountain with nothing but blue sky below.  And, to make it worse, the surface was hard, slippery shale.  Again, those with poles seemed to fair better than me and the big orange “dangerous section” sign the race organisers had thoughtfully put up did not make me feel that comfortable.  In fact, I must have looked very uncomfortable as they had a mountain guide in this section who asked me “alles gut??” “NEIN!” all was not good.  So he came and peeled me off the rock I was clinging to and kindly walked me round the death path to safety.  I didn’t dare look but I’m sure the views were spectacular……….I was quickly picked up by mountain guide number two who had obviously witnessed my paralysis and though he too kindly helped my on my way, I’m sure he had a good old laugh with mountain guide one after I’d gone.  I didn’t care though, I was so relived to be off that section and it genuinely took me 10 mins to feel calm again. 

But, I survived and set about the task of getting 1,500m down in 11km.  Luckily for me, a lot of this was on forest roads so I stuck my iPod in and gritted my teeth to the increasing pain.

I finished only 30 mins after Andy, it turned out he was a lot quicker on the descents but any time he had on me was negated by his frequent and lengthy rest breaks on the second climb. 

Tonight we got a massage which seemed to help, and an early night ready for day 3!

  

Going it alone


  

Beautiful views but we had to earn them!

 



Day 3 Imst - Landeck

Distance – 33.6km

Ascent 1,884

Descent 1,804

Time 6.15

Energy – 4/10

Leg soreness – 9/10

Nausea level – 5/10

Enjoyment – 4.5/10

Number of retches when taking gel – 0

Finish relief – 9/10

Pigs – 2

So this was the “easy” day.  20 miles, one big up, one big down.  No fuss.  It was also the hardest day to start in terms of only being half way through the event when you set off.  Again, Andy and I decided we climb the same speed so we set off together with him leaving me when we got to the top.  Another day of false summits but the climb up was actually pretty enjoyable.  It wasn’t too steep in most places so you could enjoy the scenery, which was very green and lush.  As we neared to top(s) it became more rugged and rocky and steeper but really amazing views all around.  I felt pretty lucky to be up there looking at them.  As planned, Andy disappeared off into the sunset, leaving me to pick my way gingerly down the hill.  This was another big descent, 1,800m in 11km.  I really struggled here and had to walk more than I was running.  My quads when I descend for a long time become extremely painful, it must be the way I’m breaking but if you don’t break you’ll land on your face, or off the side of the hill.  But its agony.  I’m counting down the meters I’m dropping and its pretty disheartening to see the town you’re running to way down below, looking like a model village.  I break the time up by doing some filming, but by the end of the week I realise that I don’t have any footage of me actually running!  All 15 or so videos, I’m walking! 

I am being passed at a rate of knots and see girls I’ve not seen before coming by me so this must be bad!  Eventually at 6km to go I get passed by the girl I got stuck behind on the climb the day before.  We were each others “always see” person, we obviously ran a similar pace so saw each other every day.  She said “come on, we’re so close!” so I started running behind her.  We started chatting and her English was excellent (thanks to 16 years living in Hong Kong!) and it was a great distraction and I barely noticed the descent after that.  We reached the town and finished together, which was nice.  Andy was waiting for me, again coming in 30 mins before me.  It was a  6.15 day so relatively early which meant we got a nice bit of recovery time before the pasta party. 




Working hard

 

 
 




Sure beats the view from my office window





Day 4 Landeck - Samnaun

Distance – 48km

Ascent – 2,840

Descent – 1,820

Time – 10.15



Energy – 3/10

Leg soreness – 11/10

Nausea level – 8/10

Enjoyment – 4/10

Number of retches when taking gel – 7

Finish relief – 25/10

Pigs – 0

Killer cows - 2

So the final day was full of mixed feelings.  Relief that this was the last day, awful nausea at breakfast that lasted most of the morning, and the knowledge that this was the longest, hardest day that they’d made even longer due to a rock fall.  The first 4 hours were climbing.  Lots of climbing.  Some on road, some ridiculously steep, some where I got chased by a cow.  Most of which I felt sick for.  Its not easy getting up at 5am after very little sleep and having to try and cram down bread, cheese and spam before running.  I knew it was important to keep on top of nutrition as I’d not eaten much at breakfast and the climbs were going to take it out of me, and I needed something for the downs.  So I tried to take a gel fairly regularly, but sadly they just didn’t want to go down and I spent a lot of time retching at the side of the road.  Thankfully they did all stay down and got me up one of the steepest climbs of the race to the first checkpoint.  I am desperately trying to forget the rest of this day as it was quite possibly the hardest single thing I’ve done.  The climbing seemed to go on forever and I think its clear just how hard this stage was by the amount of time we were out there.  Andy had decided to take poles with him today and used them on the ups and I stole them for the downs as I needed something else to help me brake as my legs were totally gone.  They did seem to work though I was still painfully slow down the hills.  Then I got sore arms from using them as brakes so not sure what the solutions is.  I definitely need to find a way to stop this crippling quad pain when I descend.   Thankfully I had the poles when we came to the snowy descent, similar to the Ice Wall of day 2 but not so much of a risk of death.  I was skiing down the tracks of those that had gone before me and was possibly the most fun part of the whole event!  Until we realised that the reflection of all that snow had caused pretty bad sunburn to the backs of our legs which by hour 8 was beginning to smart! 




Smiles because we've done the last climb of the race

 

It took forever to get to the last aid station and this was down a long, steep forest road that was runnable, but only just.  We were both low on food so needed to get there soon and overtook a number of people on this section.  We eventually arrived, fed ourselves and I said goodbye to the lovely women running it as this was the last time we’d see them.  Only 8km to go.  Time on the clock was about 8h.45 and we still had a way to go.  The last 8km were a slow drag up hill which got steeper as we got towards the finish.  We decided the quickest way was to run and broke it up into sections of run 10mins then rest.  I don’t think I’ve ever struggled to run more than I did there.  But we chipped along as best we could, just desperate for this to be over and passed more people here than we had all day.  According to Andy’s parents who had been following us online back home, we were fastest there that anywhere else and made up a lot of places.  It certainly didn’t feel like we were moving fast but at least we were moving!  Each step took us closer to the finish and that couldn’t come soon enough.  But then we hit the last 4km which was all uphill again.  We walked for a bit and ran where we could and were told by a couple of finishers that we had “about” 2km to go.  Brilliant, we thought.  But then 10 mins later we saw the 3km to go sign and almost cried.  The last section of this race was pretty dire, unattractive road in a fairly empty area and through what looked like a quarry road at one point.  It was laughable really, all that time running through stunning landscapes with amazing views and we finish walking up a hill in no mans land!  We ran the last 500m or so as we were determined NOT to finish this by walking over the line and it was nice to see that the finish was still there and they hadn’t all packed up and gone home.  Phew, that was a tough stage with 10.18 on the clock but so pleased to have made it.




Done.

 

 Sadly we didn’t make it to the awards party as there was some trouble with Andy’s bag which was a real shame but we had got what we wanted out of this “training camp” which was to get round uninjured and take some of that fitness with us into our training for the next spell in the mountains.

During that last day I said that I didn’t want to race Transalpine, but now I’ve been back nearly a week I cant wait to get back out there.  There really is nothing nicer than running in that kind of terrain and though this race kicked my arse, it was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve had and I’m pretty proud of myself to have got round it.  100miles along and 10k of ascent in 4 days is a pretty tough event – tougher than anything I’ve done before.  I remember being chuffed when I finished my first Ironman, thinking that was pretty hard but this event is far, far harder.  And for any of my triathlete friends that may disagree with that, please come and do this next year and you can see for yourselves! 

So now for a rest and recovery before the training into transalpine starts proper.  But this has given me a lot of confidence going into the next event so as long as I can keep myself injury free I should be in fine form come September.     




I can't wait to come back.......

 

The Brecons beckon

This Saturday is round 2 of the Might Contain Nuts series that Andy and I entered with our friend and team mate Chris "Jenks" Jenkins.  Its a 40 mile potter over the mountains of the Brecon Beacons National Park and is set to be a toughie with finish times ranging from 6.5hrs (for the winners) to 22 hrs (the stragglers).  I would pitch myself somewhere between the two and estimate a finish time of around 9-10 hours.  On a good day.  But I don't think Saturday will be a good day coming off the back of a head cold that is insisting on hanging around and has already cost me a weeks training.  

For those that have read my previous blog you will remember that I had invested a fair bit of time and money into developing a specific training plan for 4 Trails and Transalpine.  Sadly, a 40 mile run with a taper and recovery period meaning yet another weeks training gone by the wayside isn't really fitting in.  So after some deliberation and with a twinge of disappointment I decided to give the 40 miler a swerve and focus on getting my training right for 4 trails.  I will still head up to the Brecons with the boys for our planned weekend of jelly babies and banter and I will start the race as planned and simply leave them to make my way back after a couple of hours.*  So really I get the best of both worlds - running with team 'Single Leg Sqwhat??!'  and not being too frazzled after it to do any structured training the following week.  A perfect compromise methinks. 

* I say hours but me, alone in the wilderness that is the Brecon Beacons, it could be more like a couple of days.  If no one hears from me by Monday, ring mountain rescue as I will probably have run out of Mrs Crimbles by then.

2013 pre race planning

After lots of cajoling (read nagging) and hours spent wistfully looking at their website,  Andy finally agreed to let me enter us for the Salomon 4 Trails event in July.  For those that are not familiar with it, its basically the lil' sister of Transalpine with only 4 stages instead of 8.  Its run by the same company with the same fantastic locations and organisation so we knew we would be getting value for money and a good experience in the Alps.  We didn't have much in the diary for our 2013 season other than the  Might Contain Nuts Welsh series so I was keen to get some more events lined up and my eye had been on 4 trails since Transalpine last September.  So I was a happy girl.  :-)

Made happier still when Andy "I don't think I'd ever do another Transalpine" Bruce announced that as 4 Trails was such good training it would be a waste NOT do enter Transalpine again this year!  Needing no further encouragement I promptly signed us up (I do that a lot, and not always with Andy's knowledge....), booked the hotels and started thinking about training properly for these events.  Those of you that have read my blog about Translapine 2012 will know that I didn't go into the race as trained as I would have liked so I am keen to make that right this time around.  So this time we have built ourselves structured training plans with threshold, V02 and hill sessions among many others.  Only hitch there was I didn't know what my HR was in any of these zones.  Enter Pete Byworth of Metabolic Solutions.  Pete offers a variety of scientific tests for athletes and Andy and I booked ourselves in for some V02 testing.  In layman's terms, V02 is basically the amount of oxygen you are absorbing into the blood stream in millilitres per minute.  The highest number you record is know as your V02 max.  This number by itself is fairly arbitrary - its mostly genetically predetermined and you are unable to increase this number by more than 10-12%.  What is important about this number is that it gives you accurate HR zones in which to train effectively.  This is what we came to find out and were duly donned with face masks hooked up to various beeping machines and set off on the treadmill.  Slowly at first, a nice gentle walk that increased in tempo up to 11kph.  So far so good.  Then came the increase in incline.  This got progressively less pleasant as the inclined went up by 2 each increment until I was practically sprinting up a hill, breathing into a mask with Andy and Pete shouting at me to "keep it up!".  Finally the data was recorded and the test was over.  And although it only lasted about 18 minutes, it wiped me out!  But, we got some great readings from it that will allow me to structure my workouts much more effectively knowing EXACTLY where my HR should be in any given session.  It also told me that my body is very efficient at burning fat as its main fuel source - excellent for endurance sports. 

So armed with this knowledge I have been able to add very specific sessions into my schedule which will do away with junk mileage and make each session I do more effective for me.  The lucky thing is that Andy and I posted relatively similar results (Andy's V02 max is 64.something and mine is 61.4) so we should be able to do these intense sessions together, which is always easier than trying to do them on your own.  I am very excited about the coming weeks and came away from the test with not only a set of very useful results, but a huge confidence boost going into an intense 10 week block of training for 4 Trails. 

  

Transalpine 2012. Stages 5-8

Stage 5 Prettau to Sand in Taufers. 0km (0m asc. 0m desc.)  0hrs00– out of Ranking

It wasn’t until I was cleaning my teeth the next morning, looking at my race kit all laid out ready to go that I made the final decision.  I was out.  I was torn between relief at not having to go out and run, and disappointment that I wasn’t going to complete the race.  Saw our last 2 remaining men off, Chris and Sergio, before getting a lift to the next town.  Jaime went hiking up the mountain in search of the last aid station whilst Andy Christophe and I drank coffee and ate pizza (we were in Italy, afterall).  We whiled away the morning and watched the leaders come in, followed slowly by the rest of the field.  I didn’t want to go to the briefing and photos of the day that night so after dinner we went back to our apartment and watched How I met your Mother in Italian.  Andy and I reflected on our day and agreed we both felt down and disappointed but also agreed that it was the best thing to have done.  Our main goals were to enjoy ourselves and to come out of it uninjured.  Both were in danger of not being reached had we continued.  My running form was so bad it was unrecognisable as running and I spent at least half of the last two days moaning.  When the bad started to outweigh the good, it was time to address it.  We did that and now had to live with our decision.   

Stage 6 Sand in Taufers to St Vigil. 0km (0m asc. 0m desc.)  0hrs00– out of Ranking

After watching our 2 head off for what Andy described as the worst day of both races combined, as well as our lift from the day before, we hung around in the hope of an alternative lift to the next town.  There were so many who had pulled out that it was clear this wouldn’t happen.  Jaime, who had been off since day 3 had made firm friends with the guy on the High5 stand and happily jumped into his van with a “see you later guys!” as we stood in the drizzle and wondered what to do.  Luckily a quick check with the tourist office told us that there was a bus that left in 5 minutes.  On we got.  And 3 buses later we arrived in the next town, St Vigil.  It was a beautiful morning and a good nights sleep with none of the do-I-don’t-I dilemma from the night before had us both in a better mood.  After coffee and tiramisu cake (rude not to) we headed up the mountain for their final 1.5km.  Boy it was steep.  And on road.  It took us almost an hour to get up there with a couple of stops on the way.  Almost on cue the lead men came through making it look easy.  Shortly after, our friend Ceri from stage 4, in 2^nd place.  Turned out he’d had enough of running at his partners slower pace and asked if he could head off alone.  He was told no, but I think he must have resented that so did it anyway!  I don’t think they talked much after that!  

Andy and I agreed to run stages 7 & 8 as these were meant to be the most scenic.  So after dinner I headed back to sort my kit out, feeling like a kid on Christmas eve.  If that wasn’t proof that those 2 days off were the best thing to do, I don’t know what was.  2 days ago I’d been hating the sight of my running shoes and the smell of the gel bottle but now I couldn’t wait to get back out there. 

Stage 7 St Vigil to Niederdorf. 41.8km (1950m asc. 2000m desc.)  6hrs30– 3^rd out of 18 in the out of Ranking category

I felt a bit like an intruder at the start line, there were people who looked pretty beaten up still going and there we were, fresh as daisies ready to roll.  People we’d befriended along the way were pleased to see us in race kit again and not clapping at the side of the road but I still felt a tinge of disappointment that I couldn’t say I’d done the whole lot.  And as I’m sure we’ve all experienced, its easy to forget how bad you felt once you feel good again.  And we were relegated to the C pen, of all places!!  Still, as Sergio and Chris were individual runners, they had to start there too.  Danced a little to excitedly to Highway to Hell to disguise that fact I’d had 2 days off and then we’re running, and it feels amazing!  We are ploughing through the broken, battered field and find ourselves on beautiful trail in the sunshine ahead of the lead mixed and lead womens team.  Its odd running with new people as you get used to seeing the same teams around you.  But we were having a great time so goal number one was back on.  Hardly stopped at the first aid station at 12.5km and had covered the distance in about 1hr 10.  First climb of the day was a long one but just got stuck in, telling the surprised mixed teams that we were out of ranking and watching them visibly relax.  It sure is competitive at the top! Chris passed us at the top of this fist climb, saying he felt light headed and weak.  The he fell over.  He was ok, but sporting a rather large bruise.  The first descent is where any lead we may have had went, and even though I was doing better, it was still nowhere near the calibre of those that were in the lead for a reason.  The nice thing about this descent though is that you can see the lake Wildsee at the bottom.  It’s the most stunning aquamarine colour.  After causing a few traffic jams I made it down there and into the second aid station on its shore, which had a tannoy announcing you and hundreds of people out for their mid day walk wondering what was going on! 

The next climb was a killer and dangerous in parts too.  it was hot now when you weren’t in the shade of the big hill and our over exuberance at the start of the day was beginning to show.  It took an hour to climb and the reward was a rocky descent that moved with each foot step.  The sound of people skidding all over the place was ringing in my ears as they slalomed by me.  one guy offered me his poles, I must have looked really desperate.  I assured him I didn’t need them then instantly regretted it.  It takes me almost as long to go down that it does to go up but with a lot more moaning.  My legs weren’t as bad as they had been but I was still painfully slow.  I’m assured it’s a confidence thing but I’m not sure.  I think it’s a not being able to practice thing, the biggest hill I’ve run on is flat, grassy and over in about 15 seconds. 



This hell went on for about 40 minutes



The last 7km were flattish/downhill but took their toll.  Clearly though the aches and pains had gone during our two days rest, the deep fatigue was still there.  Andy started tightening up in the last 5km and took longer than it should have with us struggling to maintain 6m/km.  This marathon took us 6hrs 30mins and got our bottoms handed to us by teams that had done every single day.  Still, it was a beautiful day and I’m glad I got to see the lake that Andy has had as his screen saver since 2010. 

Stage 8 Niederdorf to Sexten. 33.4km. (1269m asc. 1104m desc.)  4hrs36 – 5th out of 18 in the out of Ranking category

So the last day finally rolled around and there was such a feeling of relief and pride in the start pen that once again, I felt slightly sorry to be missing out on that.  The fatigue from the first 4 days and the faster pace of yesterday's run had left me more tired than I thought so any feelings of regret I might have had were soon replaced with a renewed feeling of having done the right thing for me.  I felt a bit emotional in the start pen as so many people were so close to achieving their goal and I was incredibly pleased for them.  Our two, Sergio and Chris, although looking like the walking wounded were in great spirits as they waited for Highway to Hell for the last time.  I was the most happy for Chris as he had missed out last year having to pull out halfway through the penultimate day due to injury, so this was a long time coming for him.  We wished them well and set off for the last 33km.

Todays stage was another longish run out for 15km or so before a climb to the Drei Zinnen and the final descent to the finish line.  The run out was taking its toll on a lot of people, myself included.  After about 3km I felt an odd pain on my knee-cap.  I mentioned it to Andy who asked if I wanted to pull out.  We'd already done it once so it made no sense to be running on what could be a potential injury for the sake of it.  I said I'd see how I went to the first check point then decide.  We came to it at about 6km and the pain was coming and going but not too much to worry about so I decided to carry on.  It was a beautiful day and I wanted to be out there.   The second CP was 15km in, just before the climb.  It was 10k to the next one and we had a big climb and descent between the two so we stocked up and started the ascent. 

The views were really magnificent and I was very glad that I carried on.  I was feeling no pain now and was making the most of the last day, knowing my next running experience would be nothing like this.  We finally reached the top and were rewarded with amazing scenery and a close up of the Drei Zinnen. 

The descent was up us all too soon and so it began again, the hobbling down as best I could.  The two descents the day before were making themselves known in my legs and I adopted my pre-break hobble-a-bit-rest-a-bit strategy to get down.  It was late morning and the path was full of hikers out making their way up and down and we gots lots of lovely encouragement from people we encountered.  Our british friends came by us and Kelly said her foot was in agony now the pain killers had worn off (turns out it was a fracture so I'm not surprised!) but even then I couldnt stay with them.  I did however pass 2 lots of people which was a noveltly for me, and the fact they were limping badly will not detract from my achievement ;-p
A man on his way up told us that the sign for the aid station was wrong and that it was only 800m from here.  Brilliant I thought, I have less to do than I expected, and from the aid station it was only 5.9km to the end.  But 1km later and we still hadnt seen the sing for the aid station, which they put out 1km and 500m out, so I thought they must be REALLY out.  But then we saw the 1km to aid station sign and cursed the man for his mis-information!  We finally came to it and only stopped briefly for some coke and a chunk of banana because I didnt think 6km down a gentle hill would require that much energy.  Not for the first time did I make the mistake of assuming normal rules apply out here.  I was getting more and more cooked, literally, as it was now midday and the heat of the sun now we were off the mountain was pretty warm. 

The last 5km or so is on road so for the final time we counted down the km markers, passing a few people, being passed by a few as we neared the town of Sexten where there were already a lot of very happy people.  These last few km were gruelling, so goodness knows how they must have felt for those that had done all 8 days.  Though they probably didnt feel any pain, just relief!  Finally, the last km marker of the race came into view and I must admit to a rather large feeling of relief myself.



A sign we were probably all glad to see

I tried to enjoy the last few hundred meters of this incredible race as were neared the town.  We could hear the finish and see finishers limping around with a medal round their neck and a beer in their hand and knew that in a matter of minutes, that would be us.  The finish chute is a 3 sided square, maybe so you get longer to enjoy it, I dont know but Andy and I ran down there hand in had genuinely enjoying and feeling we deserved the applause and high fives.  After an underarm turn Craig Revel Horwood would have been proud of we were over the line, having completed 154 miles over 8 days.  I have to say, that even though we hadn't run all 8 stages, I was still proud of this achievment. 

The evening was spent relaxing in the sun before the awards party where we got to see Chris finally collect his finishers t-shirt after 2 years of trying, and Sergio proudly getting his.  More beers than was probably good for us and a live perfomance from Marty, composer and performer of the Transalpine theme tunes "Keep on Running" and "Believe in your Fire" rounded the week off nicely.

Team POWERbreahteUK!

I have such fond memories of these 10 days.  I was lucky to be with 5 great people, Sergio, Jaime, Chris, Christophe and of course Andy.  It really was a rollercoaster of a week and I felt I learned a lot, about running but mostly about myself.   I always thought that I was a competitive person and that I cared about where I came in a race, or what people thought of me and my performance.  But in an event like this there is no room or place for ego.  It humbles you and strips you down to your raw self, where only the things that really matter to you remain, and are brought clearly into focus.  This is where I discovered that I didn’t in fact care about the finishers t-shirt, or our position or what people thought…. I only cared about enjoying myself.  As discussed on the mountain side on day 4, we came out for a holiday, to do something we enjoyed and once that stopped happening, it was time to end it.   Yes, I could have carried on, and I would have finished and probably been injured, and ill, and hated running, but that would have been ok because I wouldn’t have been able to run anyway due to the injuries….and that’s not the experience I wanted.  Those 2 days off halfway through meant I enjoyed 90% of the event, as opposed to 50%.  And that’s what I call value for money!!

Would I do the event again?  Yes, definitely.  Not because I feel I have unfinished business or something to prove, but because the good bits of the race were REALLY good.  The best running experience I’ve ever had.  Fact.  I would probably train for more than 3 weeks before however, and probably not do an Ironman triathlon 7 weeks out, but these are just more of the things I’ve learned from doing Transalpine.   

I had one of the most incredible experiences out in the mountains and I’m glad I got to share it with Andy.  Or rather, I’m glad he agreed to run with me.  Having done both this and the Western route before, and knowing how much I can moan I’m surprised he asked me to run with him! He has said on our return however, that if he did ever do it again, he probably wouldn’t do it with me.  “No offence” he says.  Pffff……

He was a great running partner, patient, encouraging, helpful, reminding me to eat and helping with recovery at the end of each day.  He didn’t even mind when I shouted at him in some of my darker moments.  Of which there were a few ;-p 

So thank you Andy, for not only encouraging me to enter this fantastic race but for putting up with me whilst I attempted it. 

 

And thank you to the rest of the group, Team Muppets and Team Naïve Enthusiasm for a week full of laughs and banter.  It wont be forgotten in a hurry :-)

Transalpine 2012. Stages 1 -4

I did say that I would be updating my blog at the end of each stage but due to lack of wifi in some of the Alpine accommodations we were in, this wasn’t possible.  In fact, I think we had Internet access in no more than 2 of the places.  So, there was no daily updates which meant not only could those that wanted to follow my progress, couldn’t, it also meant I’ve forgotten a large amount of each stage.  I mean, you’ve seen one mountain, you’ve seen ‘em all , right?

Wrong.  Each one seemed to hold its own charm and beauty, and its own dollop of hell.  So, I will attempt to write what I can remember or at least what I felt were the highlights/low lights of the trip. Bear with……this will be long.  So long in fact, I'm posting as 2 entries. 

So our little group of 6 arrived at the registration tent on Friday afternoon, after a fairly non-eventful journey.  We delighted in our freebies, the best one being a huge 100l bag they give you personalised with your race number, so that the wonderful organisers of Plan B can tell which is your bag and make sure it arrives at your hotel, and with smiles for the camera and some jolly banter we headed off to our first hotel and next, the pasta party and briefing.  There were a lot of very fit looking Europeans, and this made me feel a bit like an imposter.  But – I was eager to enjoy the experience, however long my less than ideal training would allow that to be.  So with our bellies full of pasta and our minds full of the route for the next day, we turned in. 

Stage 1 Ruhpolding to St Johan. 50km (1663m asc. 1667m desc.)  6hrs34 – 21^st mixed team of 76

The morning of stage one was a bit damp, but spirits weren’t as we all diligently filled our gel bottles, got our bags checked and filled into our pens.  They have 3 pens, A, B and C and your start pen depends on your finish time and ranking from the day before.  After the ritual of ‘Keep on Running’ by an ageing rocker called Marty, and a blast of the very apt ‘Highway to Hell’ we were off.  The pace was high as everyone was fresh and excited and we ticked along at 5m/km pace for the first 5-7km.  I mentioned to Andy that this probably wasn’t the best plan as we still had about 340km left to run so we steadied it down to between 5.30 and 6m/km. 

The course took us through some lovely terrain and scenery, the most impressive of the day was running under a rather large waterfall.  A long section along a ridge cut into the side of the mountain with a rather alarming drop to the right and then a very slippery descent thanks to the damp tree roots that weaved all over the paths.  I hit the deck several times and it was here that we discovered my descending ability is not existent.  Poor Andy is actually pretty good at downhills and he had to put up with not only my painful speed but also my whinging.  I was tiring and ready to stop running now.  But sadly we still had 10km to go.  3 more down hill then 7 along the river.  This was pretty boring and I think it may have been an alternative route as Andy didn’t remember doing it when he raced this route before.  It took for ever and I was very glad to cross the line. 21^st mixed team out of 80 in a time of 6.34. A good first day done which was made even better by our host for that evening cleaning and drying 6 pairs of muddy running shoes! She even washed Jamies running kit!!  Refuel on alcohol free beer and pasta and hit the sack, ready to tackle day 2. t

The waterfall day 1

Stage 2 St Johan to Kitzbuhel. 35km (1849m asc. 1742m desc.)  6hrs09– 30^thmixed team of 72

After pulling on clean, dry shoes courtesy of our lovely landlady, we went through the usual routine of filling bottles and getting our bags checked.  Andy and I were in pen B this morning thanks to our ranking on stage 1.  Our clubmate Sergio was running with us today as his team mate Jaime was suffering from an on-going injury and had finished several hours behind Sergio the previous day, though at least an hour can be attributed to him stopping in a café for 2 ‘honey-ccino’s’ (cappuccino with honey in, he helpfully translated for us).   We were all a little amazed he was starting at all to be honest but this was his race and his decision.  (Turned out he wisely pulled out at one of the checkpoint during this stage).  I was a little nervous about Sergio running with us as I was feeling the effects of stage one and wanted to take things a lot slower today.  I thought he’d be better of with our other friends, Chris and Christophe as they were coming in ahead of us but Sergio assured me he wanted an easy day as well.  The route for today went into a single track climb about 3km in so the plan was to run hard to get as far up the field as possible so as not to get stuck in the bottle necks that were bound to form.  Highway to hell started and we were off, running hard.  The plan worked and we powered up through the field and I was very glad when the climb started so I could slow down.  I didn’t, however, expect to slow to a complete stop.  Even though we started in the second pen and ran hard to get a good position, there was still a traffic jam.  The climb was very technical with more exposed, wet tree roots and clearly even those faster people ahead were finding this a slow ascent.  I didn’t mind an impromptu break and took on some gels and water whilst we waited.  Sadly, not everyone wanted to wait and there were several idiots who tried to go off piste to get ahead of the jam.  This resulted in nothing more than entertainment for the rest of us as we watched them struggle through the bushes and boulders.  We got moving again and could see why there was a jam.  The ‘dangerous section’ was hard work with metal ropes attached to the side of the mountain to help you up, or keep you from falling off, I’m not sure which.  Thankfully, our trio all escaped the danger and emerged  smiling the other side

The running along the top section was really rather nice, soft pine-y carpet and if you avoided the wet tree roots you could really get some distance covered.  Of course there was a large descent which wasn’t as bad as the previous days (Sergio even managed a few Kilian Jornet moments) before another climb that gave us spectacular views of the ridge we’d just run along.

 Although this was a shorter stage, only 22 miles, due to the step climbs and no doubt a dusting of fatigue (from me, anyway) this stage took us almost as long as the 50km stage the previous day.  I struggled in the last 7ish km and poor Andy and Sergio were forced to walk when I did (which was fairly often, along flat paths).  For some reason though, in the last km we (or possible I) decided to hammer it and overtake a team ahead (not even in our category).  A joy to see the finish line and have a sit down and a hot dog. 

Stage 3 Kitzbuhel to Neurkirchen am Grossvenediger. 46.5km (2258m asc. 2147m desc.)  7hrs56– 45^thmixed team of 71

Sergio chose to go with Chris and Christophe today, I wasn’t offended, more relieved.  He was clearly capable of running faster and whilst Andy had no choice but to run with me, Sergio did.  His partner Jaime was now out of the race and was now supporter extraordinaire.  Not just for us, he seemed to be best friend with most people there!  So the 5 of us lined up ready for what the mountain had in store for us today.  I was feeling really lethargic that morning with no energy thanks to a bad night’s sleep and 53 mile of running in my legs.  I knew today had a climb even the organisers described as brutal at the previous night’s briefing so I was under no illusion that this 29 mile run was going to be pretty.  It stated with a straight up climb of 1,100m ascent in 9km up a slalom ski slope.  Once we got up there the runnable sections were forest service road and in all fairness, pretty boring.  I was suffering now and not enjoying myself.  We were walking through fog so thick that you can barely see the people 3m ahead of you.  After a refuel at the aid station that appeared out of the mist, we were climbing again through a field of cows.  There were a lot of fields of cows in this race and there were very unperturbed by us all.  You know a climb has got pretty ridiculous when you have to pull yourself up by tufts of grass with your hands.  We got chatting to an English couple, Kris and Kelly who knew several people we did in the running community back home.  We whiled away the climb talking about races we’ve done in England before they left us (well, me) in their dust when we finally hit the down hill.  Before long we were climbing again up into the fog.  This gave the impression that we were alone on the hillside, I’m not sure if this was just a point in the race where that sometimes happens as people thin out, or if the obscured view of anything other than Andy’s bum made it seem that way.  Either way, I actually enjoyed it.  As much as I love the banter and chats with other people to help pass the time, it was nice to alone.  We spent the climb talking about the pro’s and cons of pulling out of the race.  It had got to the point where I was almost at capacity for mileage in legs.  I knew it was meant to be tough and that most people were probably feeling that way but I simply wasn’t enjoying being there.    This conversation was the point in which I realised I wasn’t about medals or finishers shirts or bragging rights, I was about having fun and enjoying what I did.  Funnily enough, after a bit of food and a runnable section, I started to feel better.  We ran along the ridge on soft trail with very few people about and I started to enjoy it again.  The weather wasn’t great and it’s a shame we couldn’t see any views but I still look back at this section of running as one of my favourites.  Maybe I was making the most of it as I knew the last 10km were the ‘brutal’ downhill.   


Up on the ridge

One more aid station and straight into the descent.  This was a 1,200m descent in 8km and to give you some idea, the cable car we took to get back up for that evenings dinner took 16 minutes.  I steeled myself and promised Andy that I would do my best.  However, after approximately 200m I was hurting.  I needed frequent stops to relieve my quads, which felt like they had torn.  I’ve had lots of advice about downhill running and how to “just relax your legs” but with the ground being so uneven and rocky, when I tried to do this I started getting out of control and then found slowing down even more painful.  The trouble with this race is that you use your quads for climbing and descending and unsurprisingly, there wasn’t a lot of anything else!  I was forever letting people thunder by me, (how do they go so fast?!) and even had a little cry at one point.  It was so painful and I was dog tired.  the 5km to go sign that usually seemed like a relief just felt like a sick joke.  I walked, I rested, I stumbled, all the while with Andy giving me instruction and encouragement.  We had previously tried me leaning on Andy’s shoulder to take some of the impact off my legs but this just led to Andy getting niggles on the side I was leaning on so clearly wasn’t the way to go.  So he either patiently ran behind me, or ran off and then sat and waited.  My quads were so tight and sore that I couldn’t even kneel with my bum on my heels.  So when I slipped on one of those pesky tree roots and ended up in the kneeling position, it was excruciating.  I thought I had actually torn my quads.  The scream I let out made the poor German guy behind think I’d done something far more serious as Andy struggled to get me to my feet.  It was laughable really, even at the time.  We finally got to the tarmac-ed section and this was much more runnable.  I found my stride again and we were clicking along at sub 5m/km pace, picking off teams as we went.  We were still so high I wondered how we’d get down in the 3km we had left but soon enough we were running down the finish chute with one more day ticked off.  A long day at almost 8 hours but pizza pasta and salad we had back at the top of the mountain was the best tasting ever!


The cable car between dinner and bed



Stage 4 Neurkirchen am Grossvenediger to Prettau. 43.5 km (21997m asc. 1420m desc.)  7hrs48– 50^thmixed team of 68

Any thoughts of pulling out at this point were soon quashed after being informed that it was a 4hour drive around the mountain range to get to the next town.  Clearly, it would be just as much of a pain to try to arrange transport than to just run it.  Or so I thought.  I’d had a good night sleep, foregoing the briefing and being asleep by 8.30pm so felt better than I had the previous morning.  The “highlight” of this stage was we were climbing to the highest point of the race at 2,665m.  And there was snow at the top.  Sergio had been dropped by Chris and Christophe the day before but was starting with them anyway.  He was happy to run alone though if he needed to.  I don’t think I could have!  The start of this stage was a long flat on roads which was a killer.  It was obvious by now that people were suffering as the drop out rate was getting bigger every day (the final drop out rate was over 50%). Sadly, at 2km it claimed one of our own, Christophe.  He had ITB issues, probably due to hammering the 8km descent the day before.  But, Chris ran on with Sergio and I suspect had a better day because of it.  Christophe wont mind me saying, and even agrees, that he probably started way too hard, and unfortunately paid the price. 

We had a promise of another waterfall and once we hit the forest roads I began to look forward to this.  It could have been that this coincided with the first aid station though…….

Andy was having an unusually quiet day and when prompted, he confessed that he was bored.   He’d done this race twice before, so had already run this route once (it alternates between an Eastern and Western route each year).  I guess when you’re tired and you know whats coming, you probably would be fed up.  I was actually feeling ok on the climb up past the water fall, it was slow going but gave you a chance to take in the scenery of the waterfall.  Am English guy started chatting to us about our Endurancelife kit and he and Andy spent the rest of the climb talking.  I think this helped bring Andy out of his boredom and tried not to be offended when I realised that part of his boredom could have been to do with spending 24/7 with me.  You do have phases when you just need someone else to add a different dimension.   So I swallowed my tears and feeling of rejection (haha!) and ploughed on along the valley.  We lost the Englishman, Ceri, as he was waiting for his partner who was a fair bit slower than him and concentrated on getting the next 12km covered.  This was a bleak moment for me, you could see this runnable forest road stretching on into the distance with people like ants in the distance.  I don’t enjoy seeing where I have to run and the distance ahead of me like that so I really struggled.  Thoughts of pulling out returned with a vengeance and had there been a rescue car I would have got in it in a heartbeat.  There wasn’t one though so we broke the running into run 10 mins, walk 1, which probably equated to about a mile at a time.  Thankfully we arrived at the foot of the mountain and the change in terrain and pace was very welcome.  I knew this was going to be a long climb so got stuck in.  I didn’t mind going up, it was the coming down I was hating.  The climb took an hour, and was pretty hairy in places.  I kept remembering to look back and enjoy the view, as that’s what I was there for after all.  Our English friend Ceri caught up with us again, preferring to run at his own pace then wait for his partner.  I think they were paired up when they arrived at the race so I cant imagine it was much fun running at less that half your normal pace with someone you don’t even know!  So he and Andy chatted their way up about everything and nothing whilst I concentrated on fulfilling my promise to my mother of not falling off the mountain.  I was wondering how I’d be effected by the altitude but I have to say that I didn’t even notice it.  Andy and I put it down to our religious POWERbreathe  training so if anyone wondered about these things or wanted an edge on altitude, this is the tool for you! 

As we neared the top we could hear the whistles and cheers of part of the crew, who were also running the stages and waiting at a point to cheer people on, and up.  We threw a few snow balls and high-fived our way to the summit and enjoyed the views it afforded.  The highest point of the race was done!  Only problem was, we had to get down.  The first part was pretty slippy as it was basically just rocks covered in snow.  I gingerly picked my way down with an increasingly frustrated Andy running ahead then waiting for me.  I really was trying my best but rocky steps fronted with planks for wood that served no purpose other than to trip you up were not helping matters.  This descent went on for ever it seemed before we hit a bit of flat which I was rather annoyed to see a camera man was walking faster than I was running.  One more brief climb before the final couple of km’s which were down hill.  By this point, I simply could not run down them anymore and even walking was agony.  I willed the end to come thoroughly beaten up and in pain and ran the final 1km with a grimace on my face, which Andy kept saying was really a smile because of all the fun I was having!  Another nearly 8 hour day and we didn’t hang around at the finish, well aware that we were the last in our party to come in.  Found our mini bus and headed to our hotel.   I had a couple of real beers so I must have known then that I wasn’t going to start the next day.  I spent hours thinking about it and discussing it with Andy and others in our group and decided to sleep on it.  Andys revelation that stages 5 and 6 were the worst of the race, with 6 being a flat tarmac-ed half marathon then a climb and a horrible descent also put me off and we deliberated about what he would do if I didn’t run.  This changed hourly between him also pulling out and him running with Sergio and Chris, so we decided to sleep on it…….

Transalpine stage 1

Just a few quick words about today as its late (9.25 - woohoo) and I need to get some sleep.  Day 1 was long.  The longest stage of the whole race.  31 miles and 1600m of elevation.  The first 12k are on flat gravel paths, a bit like the Roth marathon, only without the canal.  Or the sun.  It rained in the morning and was pretty cold at the top.  We did OK overall, finishing 21st mixed team out of 76.  I'm not going to lie, there were horrible bits and it was tough.  I fell over more than once (more than 5 times actually) as some of the 20% gradient descents were pretty technical and slippery.  People were hitting the deck left right and centre, it was actually pretty comical in the end. 
Stage 2 tomorrow is only (!) 35km, though more ascent packed into those short miles.  Team POWERbreatheUK is still fighting fit, (touch wood it stays that way) and ready to face another day.

I will be doing a longer write up (maybe even with piccies!) when I get more time but so far it has been eat, get kit ready, sleep, eat, run, wash, eat, get kit ready, sleep and no time for much else.  So off to be now so I can be at my best to face the mountains once more.........