Qatar has only 7 days of public holidays in a year, so three
day EID Islamic holidays are always well awaited and it’s almost mandatory to
leave to country and escape from the desert and overheated city on Doha…at
least for few days. This time we wanted to break the rule and stay home
kiteboarding, but wind gods were not in our favor, so we had to leave!! And for
four days it was easy choice…green mountains and crystal blue wadis of the
Sultanate of Oman just an hour flight from Doha!
We didn’t have much of a plan, but we booked the all mighty 7-seater
4x4 Toyota Land Cruiser to get us wherever we wish to go. Luckily we got also a
roof rack to put our baggage, because without that we would probably be like
sardines in a can! We stocked ourselves with everything important in Muscat
airport duty free and nearby Carrefour and off we went into the night. First we chose a safe bet, Wadi Bani Awf and Snake canyon.
Deep and colorful wadi in the heart of Jabal Shams mountains with a beautiful
village of Bilad Sayd and with the thin and deep Snake gorge was sure fun a
next day and a half!
We woke up in the pass just above the valley and
after a breakfast in the sky we descended. We had to admit that all the Arabs
have a reason to have at least one Land Cruiser in their car fleet, because the
ride down on the super steep, bumpy and rocky dirt road was like in pillows.
Pure comfort! First we decided to do a short route of the trek though the
bottom of the Snake Gorge.
In comparison with the long route you don’t need
a rope here and was supposed to be easy walk. In actually was, but just because
there was hardly any water! I can’t imagine going here if the water is high a
flowing as constant stream…that would definitely be more scary, you wouldn’t
be able to stop, explore ahead and climb down to the next pool…you would be
washed downstream no matter what! But I guess that’s the real spirit of
canyoning. But we were more than happy like this J
It took us almost the whole day so after the walk back up the hill, we crashed for the night right where we started. On the way back we wanted to do a quick Via Ferrata above the Snake Gorge and slide couple of tyrolean traverses from one side to another, but it was closed for maintenance :( Next time!
The next day we took a pleasure hike to village
picturesque village of Bilad Sayt and on the way back we did a easy route in La
Gorgette, famous Oman climbing area. Unfortunately all the routes were quite
difficult for beginners and we didn’t have climbing shoes, so everyone just
tried once and we headed back up to the pass and onto the Omani plains down
south.
We stopped in Nizwa for a lunch and continued to Wahiba
Sands, the real sandy desert. We reached just after it got dark, so we chose to
get a typical Arabic tent in one desert camp we found on after we drove 10k
inside. It was a great choice, because we were covered from the wind and had a
clean carpet to drink play some cards. And sleeping on soft mattresses was a
welcomed change from wadi rocky grounds!
Obviously nobody woke up to watch the sunrise above the
dunes, so we just headed to play in the sand for a while after breakfast. Great
experience for those who have seen only the Qatari one! Finally they’ve seen
the real one J
Covered with sand we went straight to Wadi Bani Khalid for a
shover. I think I’ve never seen so much fresh water in the whole Middle East.
Crystal clear and deep pools were just like a paradise. And locals liked their
paradise too, because it was quite packed…who wouldn’t right? J We played, swam, were jumping until we were full, refreshed and ready for some
more adventure.
So then we headed further south to Ras Al-Had to
watch sea turtles to lay eggs on the beach. Because it was a breeding season
the official tickets were sold out, but we managed to sneak to a one additional
tour and got inside the national park. It was amazing to see the turtle land on
the beach, slowly crawl up to 100m from the coast, dig a hole, lay eggs, dig
another hole next to it to confuse egg hungry predators and crawl back to the
sea. It takes up to 1-2 hours for the turtle. But out of those hundreds of
small turtles who get born only few percent survives to adulthood…but I guess
this is how it is meant to be! After the tour we crashed on the main village
beach, and got lucky enough to see one turtle just digging hole 20 meter from
our car J
The last day we stopped in wadi Ash Shab,
another beautiful wadi full of water and trees. We hiked up to the end and swam
into a cave. We drank our last beers sitting in a sandy pool and unfortunately
had to start thinking about heading back. We managed to stop for a minute to
see Bimmah sinkhole and Sultan’s palace in Muscat, but that was really it!
Short trip, but intense and to remember!
It takes a while until you relax completely and start to
fully enjoy your holidays, but after a day or two you are in the travelling
mood. And speaking for myself, I wanted to continue further and more. One day I
will ;)
“Damn!! Wikipedia let me down this time” I thought when
opening the computer after I finished the second edition of the Sabah 100k
Ultra Trail Marathon in Borneo. There was a lot of things going through my mind
in last few hours, but none of it counted with the definition “An ultramarathon
is any sporting event involving running and walking longer
than the traditional marathon length of 42.195 km” But let’s start from the beginning J
By coincidence I entered the 2011 edition one year ago, by even bigger coincidence I won that race and as a consequence I had a free entry for 2012 edition, so I kind of had to come this year also. But that was not a problem because I wanted to come! I felt more experienced, stronger, faster and prepared. I was looking forward to be running again though all that beautiful landscapes along rivers, in the jungle, crossing hanging bridges and small villages and I was ready to learn from the past and give everything in those couple of steeper ascents I knew I had problem last time. I was ready to enjoy even more than I did last time J
Few months before the race day when the course was
announced, because I was really busy I barely noticed that there had been a
major route change due to some landslides and that the course became “a bit”
hillier! “Yeah…second part will be tough with these three climbs, but should be
OK” I chat in a good mood with my friend Ford at the prerace briefing. “If it
doesn’t rain…everything gonna be fine!” we closed the discussion and went to
sleep. I fell asleep still with a sweet smile of someone who doesn’t have a
clue!!
The next day, on a beautiful and fresh mountain morning below the majestic Mt. Kinabalu, it didn’t rain, but while watching the opposing mountain side with a road winding up, I finally realized how serious some of the local climbs can be. The initial worries were quickly forgotten in the prerace rush and when many racers recognized me and wanted to take a picture. Btw: Having my race video from 2011 being played on a big screen in the briefing room with people pointing at me standing aside saying “Look…it’s him!”...simply nice J
“BANG!!” And all 350 (140 from 100k category)
runners were on the go. My strategy was a bit different this time. I knew that
last time I lost a lot of time not running up the hills and running downhill
slowly, so I wanted to change that. And I did! I started in the lead of the
whole field for a short while going my planned pace, which was “This is a pace
to achieve some good result. I will go like this as far as I can. I can always
slow down later J” I’m not sure if this a good ultra marathon
strategy, but it works for me! Soon I was passed by few 25k and 50k runners
along with two 100k ones. “No problem” I said to myself, because the second
part of the race strategy was “When I get to the half, I’ll see what I can do
next”. And with Ford we watched them run away.
The course gradually climbed to its highest
point among the cabbage fields right below the Mt.Kinabalu around kilometer 15.
There I was in my realm. Running sky high on a thin technical trail winding
between the fields and farmer huts with a towering mountain on one side and a bottomless
valley on the other was like from another world. Without thinking I speeded up,
left Ford behind and enjoyed the flight not paying attention to countless small
but steep ascents and descents along the way.
Runner’s mental state is very fragile and any even the
smallest disturbance on annoyance can shatter it into pieces, which are really
hard to stick together again. And with your mind goes down your body, your
performance and speed! And such small stone fell into my mind just before
kilometer 30 and it started an avalanche.
Almost at the bottom on one particularly steep descent,
which I blasted down still in the spree from the fields, I overlooked the next
marker, stopped and looked back if I had not missed any turn. “Man you are
wrong!! There was turn for 100k runners at the last checkpoint. I’m doing
25k!!” a runner behind me shouted. In such moment, when you are set for running
only, you are not ready to perform any logical thinking which would say that it
is impossible to miss a big signboard with such information, so I cursed the markings
and started climbing back up. Obviously in couple of minutes I met Ford and all
the other runners coming the same way!! This time I cursed myself for being
stupid and started running back again. But it was not the same happy run
anymore.
By the time we reached CP3 at 30km I was sixth
and running slower feeling every steep descent taking toll on my muscles and
tearing more pieces from my shattering mind. On the route profile the almost
10km descent to CP4 looked mild. In reality it was a strenuous steep slope on a
wide gravel road with a view of the opposing same steep climb. When I reached
bottom at 38km, thoughts about the course and meaning of such race were
bubbling in my head and when I started climbing the same thing up again, they
reached the boiling point!!
I like running. I don’t like jogging or walking, because I
like to run! I like to feel the speed, the movement, the freedom only running
gives! “THIS IS NOT A RUN!! THIS IS NOT A MARATHON!!” I screamed though the
forest while slowly walking up the hill like I had 50 kilo backpack on me!
Further I got more serious my thoughts became. “I’m doing this for fun right?
And this is no fun at all. I’m just destroying my body for nothing!” After some
more sluggish climbing my stream of despair reached its very bottom. “I don’t
have to do this! There is absolutely no gain from it. The second half is even
worse. No piece of flat ground to run at all!! Only walking up and down again
because everything is impossibly steep! And even if I win the free entry for
next year, I don’t want to come to do this again. Finish!! I QUIT!!” and I was
90% decided to stop and drop out from the race when I reach 50km checkpoint.
But sometimes things are not as easy as they seem J
I was still going on the sixth position in that
time. I thought I was, because I didn’t pass any of the runners who passed me
before. “Hi there! What are you doing here?” I asked in awe the guy coming
suddenly from behind who was the first to pass me at the beginning of the race
with his buddy. “Yeah shame!! We got lost”. “We???” I thought realizing that
the second guy had to be also behind me. So I was going on fourth then. I
thought I was, because to my further surprise when in ten minutes I reached CP5
at 46k I was third! “Ford got lost too?” I couldn’t believe my eyes. And the
crown was put on top of it when in another 25 minutes at CP6 at 50k I was
second!! All guys got lost except one I saw around 20 minutes ahead.
“Yee…gogo…you are the winner…you are my favorite!!”
I’ve heard an older lady shouting when I was entering the CP6. I don’t know if
she really knew me, but in that time I believed she did and together with the
fact that I was second I sat down, opened my drop bag with the gear for the
second half and realized “I just cannot give up now!!! It just wouldn’t be fair
from me and to the others!” And I was off again within a minute. And once I was
on the following super steep and long descent to the next valley I relieved
“Giving up from such reasons is actually not an option at all!! I would be
cowardish and not within a spirit of racing! And I’m not like that!!”
After 5 hours and 50 minutes I was on the run
again and there was no turning back this time. So I had to start racing…again!!
And that I know definitely better than giving up J But because my legs were in pain and I was pretty tired, I had to pull some
aces from the sleeve to have chance to defend my second position and maybe even
close down on the first runner. “I don’t like to do it, but once I have it…I’ll
give it a try” and I swallowed a painkiller pill I prepared for the cases of
emergency. I guess there is a reason why some racers use it, because it helped
and together with the new impulse after starting the second half I pretty
quickly descended into a valley which looked like the deepest in the world.
When the slope finished, I virtually landed on a small
wooden bridge, “recovered” on ten meters of flat surface and started climbing
the same 30% slope back up on the other side! Simply insane!! And like this it
went with small variance basically until the end of the race. Wherever there
was a flatter bit I tried to run. But in condition like I was in, it took me around
500 meters to get the legs moving and switch from stumbling giant stride to a
slow run. But by the time another impossible ascent or descent came, which I
had to walk through, so after that I could start again!! Frustrating,
exhausting, annoying, boring!!
One small upside was around kilometer 70 though. After
climbing up another skyscraper trail I ended up on only mild sloped forest
track cut into the side of the hill top. I decided to pull my last ace in the
sleeve and put some trance beats on! And because that bit was almost 5
kilometers long I built up quite a pace. Suddenly everything worked as it
should! Enjoying the run though the forest, waving arms in the rhythm of the
music and suppressing by my speed the pain of fatigued muscles and falling off
big toes nails! I even started to think “If I manage to run like this, I can
catch him”. My appetite lasted until I landed on another bridge after CP9. “Does
anybody think this is normal!!!” I shouted into the void of the late afternoon,
lost in between towering mountains. Pure despair! I managed to run a couple of
bits more before the CP10, but there I was out of my second breath completely.
“I took him down from 40 to 25 minutes” I said
to the marshals. “If I can run now I still have a chance”, but I simply couldn’t.
And with the nightfall I conceded to all my race ambitions, calmed down and
just moved forward across more ridiculous climbs and descents. But I were still
moving ok speed in comparison to the others somewhere behind, because at the
last checkpoint 4k before the finish I was still second. I was expecting some
drama like last year when I was caught 1k before the finish and had to sprint
for the win, but nothing happened. And I was there J
I actually don’t remember much how I felt when I crossed the
finish line after 13 hours and 41 minutes of continuous movement though the
bestial Sabah terrain. But for sure I was happy J Happy that it was over, that I finished second in
international competition of experienced ultra runners, happy that I survived,
but the biggest happiness was that I didn’t give up! I don’t know when I
finally learn that giving up if you still can go and have a way to finish is
the biggest of defeats! It feels easy at the beginning, but its weight will
fall on you hard sooner that you think and you will regret big time! It’s just
not a way!! I was lucky this time J
I was thinking that the correct definition of an Ultra
Marathon includes only running, but as Wikipedia says, walking 100k is also an
Ultra!! So I guess the organizers are right, although they should better call
their race “Sabah 100k Ultra Trail Marathon – The Kneecracker J”
I won a free entry for 2013 edition, still a lot of time, but
I think I would be up for another Highlander Challenge J Funny how you quickly forget
and collect all your shattered pieces after it over!! By then…see you in the
trails!
Kiteboarding is an amazing sport. With its
unlimited range of things you can do when you are tight up to a kite and
sliding your board though the water or air it’s really a sport for almost
anyone and everyone finds its own style of kiting. This is when we are talking
about you and kite only. But there is the third and essential element which
makes all of this possible…the wind, the sea and the environment around in
general!! And to be honest, there are better and worse places when you can go
kiting.
So what are the perfect conditions then? Empty
one meter deep crystal clear lagoon with absolutely flat water and constant
steady cross-onshore 20 knots wind. Kiting in such conditions makes you forget
about the surroundings and concentrate on just riding, jumping and tricks…and
each session will be pure unforgettable pleasure. But as it is always…nothing
is perfect J
I have been kiting in many places. I learned in Dubai on a
crowded deep beach with straight onshore wind blowing all beginners right back
to the shore. Far from perfect. Then we were going to 200km far shallow empty
beach, but wind in UAE in general is weak so many times we didn’t even inflated
the kites. Far from perfect. I also went for a week trip to Hurghada in Egypt,
which was supposed to be great spot, but there was no wind for a whole week.
There is plenty of wind usually…just a bad luck. Far from perfect anyway.
Then I moved to Qatar. Kiting on shallow lagoons
with small waves in 16 knots wind with little gusts is actually very good. Pity
that the wind is unpredictable and if there will be one week of wind and one
month of nothing! Almost perfect. But then you hear the other talking about amazing places around the world and feel like you just give it a try. So I went to southern Spain kiting on open sea with big broken waves and medium gusty wind. Getting used to the new conditions took me almost whole trip! Average.
On the
way back we stopped in southern France to kite in 35knots on lagoons with
pretty gusty wind and small waves. Not being that tired and having more time
for finding the right lagoon, I think would have been great.
And because my dream of kiting in a perfect sport still
lived, with Jitka we used August Islamic holidays and went for a week trip to
Sri Lanka to kite on mirror flat water with steady strong wind. That is what we
have been told!
Kalpitiya is a village in the middle of nowhere 3 hours
drive north of Colombo. During the summer monsoon season the strong winds blow
from the west into many closed lagoons along the shore. Because there is little
tourism the accommodation options are limited, so we paid pretty high money for
staying right on the beach in a bamboo wooden kind of kite camp resort.
Shortly said…if you expect too much, you often
get disappointed!! And it started right when we came and they put us into the
room behind the kitchen and toilet and the first night when we heard through
thin wooden wall everything from the last guy finishing his beer and going to
pee to the first cook to start preparing the breakfast and going to pee. Then
we moved to a semi protected space in the first floor of the kite centre, where
wind was blowing in though curtains and holes in the wooden walls. After
everyday breakfast of toast bread, marmalade and egg, not even a shower corner
built from palm leaves and shower tube hanging from a palm tree in the middle
could surprise us! All of that luxury for only 55 USD per person per day…fair
deal! I was kind of expecting that…Jitka a bit less!!
All of this would be no problem for me if I
could waste myself kiting and die in the bed after whatever dinner they serve.
The first two days was almost like this. We launched from the hotel 5x5 meter
launch spot with wind often dropping to zero and landing your kite on a bush
and rode one kilometer to the other side of the lagoon onto the sand bank. The
only tiny flat spots just behind the sand bank were always occupied with others
or school so I was riding outside in small waves and only little gusty wind.
But I had fun for sure and managed to learn some new tricks. Jitka had less fun
because she was struggling with her 7m in wind on the low end. Swimming murky
water didn’t help her at all!
I was still expecting that super clean steady wind to some,
but instead we got something what I’ve probably never experienced yet. Gusts
ranging from 12 25 knots and lasting for a minute easily!! In conditions like
this even riding on the flat water over lunch time when everyone left to eat,
didn’t save our mood from dropping. There is not much fun on waiting with your
9m kite for enough wind sitting in the water and then once you ride and
airborne being tossed back down in another gust! The last two days the wind
even almost died in the afternoon, so our frustration was complete! Time to
leave this “Kite paradise”
Fortunately we planned also for a three day roundtrip around
Sri Lanka culture sights, which saved the holidays. We hired a van and went
cruising through ancient cities full of spiritual peace. And it definitely
replenished us with some fresh energy and we enjoyed all the dense green jungle
with standalone rocks in the middle, wandering around white Buddhist temples
and ruins and going though busy local market streets or multi-religious
districts of the capital Colombo.
We were leaving…well…torn apart. On the other hand
we were looking forward to go kiting to our desert wind, but on the other hand
we wanted to stay and go explore Sri Lanka more, because we saw a lot of
potential in the parts of the country where we didn’t go…understand it that I’ve
heard about a great kite and surf spot on the east coast J
So the search for the ultimate kite spot is still on!!! But
next time no gambling…straight to Mauritius J
How can someone possibly end up in the race where you have
to run 230km? I guess it is probably not far from how I ended up on the start
line of the Al Andalus Ultimate Trail…
“Hey Jiri…do you want to run with us the Dubai
Marathon?” my new colleagues asked me in December 2008, just two months after I
moved to UAE. It was actually only the 10k race running along the full
marathon, but still…even though I was doing all kind of sports my whole life, I’ve
probably never run 10k in one go, not mentioning my experience with running
itself: “Running just like that? Just for fun? What is that?” So my obvious
answer was of course: “OK…why not!”J The race was in a month so I started to train a bit outside my house in the
desert doing 8k loop three times a week.
And somehow I liked it so I kept running even after the
race. And I kept running more, running faster, running further, running in the
night, running in the day, on the road, in the track…just for fun! More I was
running, more I was enjoying dashing though the moonlit desert, moving in the
rhythm of chillout music, washing away all the day stress, calming down and
filling myself with new fresh energy. I was free…I was out J
Also more I was running, easier it became and stronger I was,
so in the next years I did some more races with twice Dubai Marathon, Abu Dhabi
Adventure Challenge or Borneo 100k Ultramarathon as the highlights. And I was
daring for more! “Man!! This is actually gonna be mostly about running!!” my
friend Milan told me during one of the two pre-race rest days in Manzanil hotel
in Loja. “Man!! I’m afraid you are right!!” I admitted with laugh, but which
died out immediately…because he was damn right!
Al Andalus Ultimate Trail is an extreme race
where in five day stages you have to run in total 230km through Andalusian
foothills which are much bigger and steeper than you might think and when you add
Spanish summer temperatures way above 30°C you are facing a real challenge
comparable with legendary races like Marathon Des Sables! But because I’m not
the only one who likes challenges, 40 other runners stood on the start line of
the first stage on one nice sunny July morning.
Stage 1: 39km, 1330m elevation gain
I knew that this was a different race than 100km or even
100miles at once. AAUT was basically five separate marathons with rest between,
so the strategy had to be different also. And as I understood it, if you want
to post a good result you have to basically run as fast as you can run a
regular marathon, because you assume a complete recovery during the overnight
sleep! OK…a bit slower than that because there are hills…a lot of hills J
And I started just like that with fair pace, trying to
keep up with the lead and using my fast uphill walking the initial steep 10k
ascent to stay in sight of the top ones on 6th place. When I reached
the CheckPoint 1 on the top of the hill I felt great, so I just ran through the
CP without refilling water and started descending. I left behind Jose on 5th
and for a short while moved ahead of Tommy to 4th, just 20m behind
Victor on 3rd. Timo and Argi were somewhere in front.
But after around 10 minutes I felt that my strategy has one
major flaw…and it was running downhill!!! Qatar is flat and soft and together
with riding a bike a lot it somewhat simulates running uphill, so no problem
there. But I do absolutely nothing even close to substitute and train the
movement and muscles for running downhill!! So after those 10 minutes of pretty
steep down slope I started to feel my thighs and I knew that my chase was over.
If I wanted to stay in the race I had to reconsider my pace and ambitions! I
slowed down and soon lost all four front runners from sight completely, but I
was still running and moving forward.
After the CP2 at 20k another disturbance came…the
electrolyte. When running in such heat you have to drink something more that
water and keep refilling all the salts and minerals you lose by sweating to not
to cramp and run out of energy. The organizers gave us some super-concentrated
drops of electrolyte to put into our camel bags. But because it was so
concentrated it was very easy to overdose! The taste even in the right amount
was horrible so you can imagine how it tastes if there is too much! Exactly…you
get sick and you want to puke! So the last 15km of the stage I was really not feeling well.
Muscle pain, stomach sickness and the initial disappointment with my performance
were swirling in my head when I was stumbling towards the finish. Running on
the sun in almost 40°C was the smallest of issues. Of course that Jose closed
on me about 3km from the finish, but just in the right moment the finish town
popped into sight from behind the hill and gave me that extra push to get there
5th, 4 minutes in front of him and with time 3:51:29.
When drinking ice cold coke, cooling my feet in a
bucket of water, eating fresh water melon in the shade and watching the next
runners finishing I thought: “It was actually not that bad run! It had to be OK
if I finished 5th” And more I was thinking and pondering about it
when doing a self-massage to my sore legs I realized: “Man…what the hell you
want? You wanted to finish in Top 10 and when you are fifth you are not happy? With
such little training what more do you want? Everyone else things it is good
result, so it has to be! So let’s fight for it! Race is still long and anything
can happen…so let’s enjoy, race and have fun!” And trust me, once you tidy up
in your head (and throw away those damn drops), everything is much easier J
Stage 2: 48km, 1640m elevation gain
The second stage promised to have some single track sections
high in the mountains, which I was really looking forward to. The scenery so
far was amazing. Steep dry hills scattered with white rocks, ancient stone
cottages or villages on the slopes, occasional bunch of green trees breaking up
the silent image of wind playing in the yellow grassy meadows and winding road
cut into all of this. Breathtaking! But it was the road which soon started to
disturb the feeling of running peace. It was just too wide, too flat…too
boring! And when something gets boring, you start focus on something
else...like pain, tiredness, or distance from the finish…which makes the run
definitely less enjoyable!
That’s why I was hoping for the most technical trail
possible where you have to focus on every step, because every movement is
different from the previous one and I feel that all the coordination of legs,
arms and body balance is giving me energy instead of taking. I forget about
everything around and just enjoy the fly J Unfortunately the really technical section in this stage was
just one 5k crossing of a rocky ridge after CP2 at 20k. The four “PROs” were
gone in front so it was again between me and Jose, who was just behind me. We
are equal runners, only our strengths are the opposite. He is good downhill and
slower uphill and me the opposite. So the technical uphill section let me open
a gap and lose him from sight. The run down the goat path from the ridge top,
jumping from boulder to boulder and taking sharp corners on the soft and super
narrow dirt trail was I think the best section of the whole race!
But it was short and soon it was changed again into
wide downhill forest dirt road cut into a mountain side. It was also already in
the second half of the stage so soon I was struggling a bit to keep decent pace
on the long way down to the valley.
“Wait a minute!! I haven’t seen any markings for a while!” I
realized and started looking around. I ran another two or three minutes and
when I haven’t seen any pink tapes hanging on the trees I turned back and ran
to the point where I saw them for the last time. Of course that the well marked
track went to the left and for some reason I turned right!! “No problem. It’s
just 10 minutes lost!” I tried to calm down and continued running. I tried to
focus more on the markings and keep my head up, but soon I was again heavily
stumbling down a steep forest road feeling and also watching pain in every
step. “Not again!!! There should be marking on this intersection!!” I said
helplessly. There wasn’t, so I had to go back again just to see well marked
turn few hundred meters backwards. On the third CP I got confirmation of what I
already knew. Jose didn’t get lost that many times and was ahead. How far? I
didn’t know. I didn’t see him!
The rest if the stage was long, mostly downhill, so I was
running slow and struggling. Close to the CP4 at 40km mark I lost couple of
minutes again on a wrong turn and ran out of water. “Great!!” I though while
walking back. “Jose has to be at least 20 minutes ahead now. That’s going to be
really hard to run him down on the next stages!! If I thought it is going to be
easy to keep ahead, I was terribly wrong!” But still, even with this defeatist
mood I kept moving as fast as I could.
And not giving up paid off again, because after two
kilometers I saw Jose few hundred meters down the road J Such a relief flooded me that
at the river crossing just in front of the CP4 I slowly took off my shoes,
stood for a while in the cold stream closing my eyes, sat down at the CP, had a
cold coke and relaxed with a cold towel around my neck. “The last section is a
steep uphill. It’s not going to be 20 minutes” I smiled.
And it was way less than that, because with the time 5:34:49
I finished 6th just two minutes behind Jose. The fight was still on!
Stage 3: 39km, 980m elevation gain
This was supposed to be a rest day, but for obvious reasons
it was not J The four leaders set up a fast pace right from the start. Jose stayed with them
and I was slowly falling behind worrying that like this I will have to speed up
too and leave my comfort pace. False alarm, because at 10k they started REALLY
running and immediately shook off Jose back to me J
And like this we were playing “Cat and Mouse” the rest of
the stage! I passed him on the uphill and he passed me back on the downhill.
Exciting, challenging, but also frustrating: “When I will finally get him out
of my sight for good!!” I’m sure we both thought. I felt my chance on the steep
section just after CP3 at 30km. I was usually walking up fast all steep hills,
because I was only a bit slower that other people running, but was saving more
energy. But when I started running uphill I was usually way faster than others.
There I did exactly that and quickly left Jose out of
sight. The following flat section on the ridge was a pure running pleasure in the
cool breeze surrounded by great views and bright colors of white stones, blue
sky and green trees. Unfortunately after every uphill comes downhill. All
pleasure was gone and I had to push myself through my downhill muscle pain to
feed my chances of staying ahead of Jose. “Man!! You are incredible!!” I said
desperately when he caught me just on the bottom of the hill.
I followed him keeping close behind and waiting for a chance
to attack for a win. It came 2km from the finish when we turned from the road onto
a narrow forest trail and it gave me wings. I leaped forward sprinting up the
grassy slope, jumping over big roots and running slalom between trees. That
energy I gained in the forest was enough to get me to the end of the stage
gaining another 2 minutes of my precious lead!
The winner took slightly over 3 hours to finish the
stage. It took 3:32:59 to me, but I was happy. Good time for a trail marathon,
good running, good race J
Stage 4: 67km, 2031m elevation gain
Shortly said: “The stage of truth”. For everyone! The four
leaders were within striking distance from each other. Jose was just 4 minutes
from me. Plenty to fight for. And if there was anything major to gain or lose,
it was going to happen there. Three big climbs and the last 20k on the shadeless
road in the biggest afternoon heat was promising a big challenge. To my
surprise I was not feeling more tired that after the first day. The opposite. I
felt great, relaxed and ready J
The initial off-trail run on the dry river bed
followed by a narrow and overgrown trail across a ridge up to CP1 at 10k was
fun. I almost kept pace with two escapees Argi and Victor trying to open a gap
on Tommy and Timo taking it easy. It was a long stage so everyone had different
strategies. My fifteen minutes of fame on the 3rd position ended
just after CP1 on an asphalt stretch where T&T train passed me and as a
present they brought Jose! Fortunately soon started a beautiful 10k forest path
full of sharp turns and steep slopes along the shores of a blue lake and I was able
to leave Jose behind.
On the top of the second hill at CP3 at 30k I filled my
camel bag with fresh water and ice, put on the music and moved on in a happy
pace overtaking people who started one hour earlier than me. I usually listen
to music only during training and during a race I run without to stay focused
on what is happening inside and around me. I tried to put on some music on the
Stage 3 and it was great. When there is no serious pain, fatigue or technical
track to follow, the music merges with my pace and creates a mood which feels
like a motor delivering speed though an escape to the void of trance beats. But
sometimes it is just not enough, because there is serious pain and fatigue!
Up to the half of the way to CP5 on the top of the
mountain ridge and through a cool forest valley it was beautiful running full
of energy and optimism. Even more joy confidence I got on the hard ascent to the
CP5 at 50k. “Yeah…another photographer!” I thought, rose my hand and smiled for
a picture. “Strange…I haven’t seen this guy yet! And his car looks familiar…WOW!!!
JAAAN…THAT’S YOU!!!” I screamed with joy when I recognized by brother who
managed to come to surprise me one day earlier than I was expecting! He ran a bit
with me, made some more photos and left me again to battle the rising heat.
And then it came down the last 17k of the stage
and I came down with it! It was a bit hot, but the track was just a nice more
or less flat ridge road. I should have been flying, but no…not at all!! I don’t
know what claimed me, but I was walking a lot, feeling muscle pain in every
step...suffering…I even couldn’t hear the music in my ears! And it felt endless
to get to the last CP. “You are almost there…just last 8k to finish…and it’s
mostly downhill!” said the CP marshal thinking that he would encourage me. “NO…this
is exactly what I didn’t want to hear!!” and I prepared to die.
Stumbling down the steep hill reminded me the Borneo 100k
between kilometer 80 and 90…shouting, sighing, almost crying and moving slowly
and heavily step by step down. Only difference was that there it was in the
night, but otherwise everything was like copy & paste…including the very
end!
“It’s just a question of time when Jose catches me
again!!” I kept thinking even though I haven’t seen him since CP1. And there he
was of course!! Around 3k to the finish I saw that red hat devil running strong
downhill after me. “He got me this time” I was sure, so a bit resigned I got on
the top of a small hill, crossed a little 300m long depression and looked back
across my shoulder just to see Jose reaching the other side. “He looked faster…”
I didn’t finish the though when my subconscious racing mind took over and I
sprinted forward without thinking. “Only 3k to go…this is the chance…we’ll hide
behind the hill to attack his confidence…overcome pain possible…now or never!!”
quick instructions blazed through my head while dashing down though trees.
And the rest I knew from Borneo J Pain forgotten in a flood of
adrenaline, sudden absolute focus on the terrain and the route, draining power
from hidden emergency reserves, shouting “BE HERE!!!” when taking turn after
turn still not seeing the finish and finally jumping though the arc with the
fist high in the air!!! The last similarity was that I managed to outrun the
pursuers by several minutes on few kilometers. This time it was with total
7:04:34 by 8 precious minutes…but this time it was not completely over yet J
Stage 5: 37km, 1120m elevation gain
The last beautiful stage of one extraordinary race. I had on
the 5th position around 15 minutes lead over Jose, so I just
followed him closely behind to keep pressure. It was not needed, because just
before CP1 his knee gave up and he had to slow down. And then there was
basically nothing in front of me to worry about and I could just enjoy another
beautiful sunny day in the mountains running and thinking about all that
wonderful time and experience I went through in the last five days.
Before coming to Al Andalus I knew only the big names
like Marathon Des Sables or 4Deserts races. A lot of runners, strong competition,
famous, recognized, beautiful…but expensive, commercial and not that friendly.
I haven’t been to any yet, but my friend Milan told me this about Des Sables.
Before I thought that the recognition of the achievement in such race is what I
wanted, no matter that I would pay some excessive money and possibly face some bad
organizer behavior. After completing a very similar event like Al Andalus I had
to think about some comparisons and during my last kilometers running down
mountain through quarries and orchards back to Loja where we started, I think I
changed my perspective.
In Al Andalus for fair money you get everything you need. Flexible,
enthusiastic and friendly organizers arrange airport pickup, few nights in the
hotel, water and support on the trail, refreshment and recovery after the stage
and all the comfort and background at the overnight camp including some food,
tents, race baggage transport, showers and sometimes even pool! With such
service you can really focus just on why you actually came…focus on running. And
the race itself is a big challenge. Many hills, heat, long distances and no
annoying rest day after the “long” stage J Tough for sure and on the paper maybe even tougher
than its famous brothers!
So you feel well rested after the good night sleep,
you enjoy the race and running though stunning sceneries and when you come back
you go and chat with other competitors in super friendly and relaxed atmosphere,
share experience and tips and at the end of the day you go all together to have
a cold beer!! Isn’t that a runner’s paradise?
I guess it is very, but very close to that! I think that if
there is slightly more participants, but not too many to make it a mass event
to lose that friendly spirit and more real technical sections, this event would
be no brainer to come to every year!
So after 3:42:11, which made my total running time 23:46:08,
I was in the finish of 2012 Al Andalus Ultimate Trail. I finished 5th
out of 41 runners and was full of emotions and happiness! It felt great to see
my brother and father in the finish and all the other people cheering and
supporting the runners. But on the other hand I was happy that it is over. 5
day and 230km of running was just enough!! Definitely the best event I’ve done
so far and if I can, I’d like to come back one day. We’ll see!
Btw: Do I really want to go to Marathon Des Sables
still…when I now know that things can be done a different way too J
