I will remember TransGranCanaria 2015 for being one of the toughest day I had since I started this ultra-running faff.

But before I bore you with how tough and brutal it was let's backtrack a couple of weeks -

Laureda and I had decided that it would be great if this year we could experience the island a bit more than last year when we came a couple of days before the race and left straight after.

This left us with little time to visit and enjoy what the island have to offer. So this time we arrived two weeks before TGC. The plan was simple. Train and visit as many mountains as possible within the first week and try to be sensible by not doing too much the second week.

We stayed in Tejeda, a beautiful village sitting on a side of the mountains. Tejeda is not only charming and very welcoming but is on the way of tons of trails. The trail networks is pretty impressive in this area (as it is a national park) and arguably the most beautiful part of the island.

 

We settled pretty quickly in Tejeda, quickly establishing our daily habits of running, eating cakes and chilling out in the sun. The views from the villa we rented were simply amazing and we could not get enough of these.

 

The day before the race we made our way to Mas Palomas on the south coast of the Island. The contrast between this place and Tejeda was shocking! Mas Palomas is really ugly, with lots of concrete resort hotels sitting one beside each other. The hotels are full of overweight people awaiting the next buffet to stuff their face.

Anyway, the only reason we stayed in Mas Palomas was because the race finish and checking was there. At 5pm we went to pick my bib number Laureda wasn’t running this year – she waited too long to sign-up and when she tried the race was already full). We did our usual stroll in the expo looking at gears before heading back up to the hotel.

 

Race Day

 

The problem with a 11pm start is how to keep busy during the day. I tried to sleep as much as I could but I always had a hard time napping  during the day – especially that I had a good night of sleep. So I read, got my stuff ready and watched movie.

At 8.30pm Laureda drove me to the start line on the other side of the island. The night wasn’t as fresh as last year and the moon was lighting the mountains while the excitement and nervousness of an imminent start was building up.

The day before I found out that anyone who can break 20 hours will get a replica of the winner’s trophy. This had become my new objective. An ambitious one but one that I could not get out of my head.

 

Start in Agaete to Fontanales (0 to 42kms)

 

The usual countdown launched all of us on this epic journey. The start was unusually slow compared to other races where everybody seems to compete in a 100m sprint. I took this opportunity to make my way up the field before we start the longest, biggest climb of the race with a continuous 1450m ascent. I ran the uphill a lot more than usual and found myself catching up with Nikki Kimball. I tucked behind her hoping I haven’t started too fast. I did not feel like I was working too hard but I was conscious that I was moving faster than my usual speed on this kind of gradients. After all if I wanted to get the sub 20 hours trophy I was going to have to take risk and go faster than the previous year (when I ran 21h50)

Just when I thought the climb would never end, we start the long and technical descent towards Artenara. I had forgotten (or unconsciously erased from my memory) how gnarly, steep, rocky and sandy was this descent. It was also very twisty and made it hard on the body to constantly break and re-accelerate.

Last year I had reached Fontanales in almost 8 hours. This year I needed to get there in 7 (or less) if I wanted a chance to go sub 20. I finally arrived in Fontanales at 5.55am – more than an hour before sunrise. Fontanales is kind of a stepping stone as this is where the 83k race starts. I took my time at this CP and tried eating and drinking as I have been skipping the previous ones pretty quickly. I eat a few of the Overstims bar provided at the food station but rapidly felt nauseous.

 

Fontanales to Teror (42 to 57kms)

 

I carried on in direction of Teror telling myself to avoid the chewy stuff and surviving on Cliff blocks and coke. That’s when and where I started feeling very tired. I didn’t know whether it was down to the lack of proper food or simply the direct result of starting faster but I felt like I was running out of gas and was going to be in trouble shortly.

Even though this section wasn’t so pretty I enjoyed the twist and going through all the little villages. It felt like running through the backyards of villagers in the middle of cactuses. Something strange was also happening: I was getting stiches on both side right and left which made running downhill pretty uncomfortable. I found out later that it actually was my kidneys working harder because of dehydration

 

Teror to Tejeda (57 to 71kms)

 

Having stayed in Tejeda the week before I knew how long and hard was the climb up to Cruz de Tejeda. This was when the wheels came off. I felt like I was moving so slowly. The leaders of the 83k were starting to catch and taking me over one after the other. My stiches were moving from uncomfortable to painful. I was constantly thirsty but could feel that my stomach was not willing to take on a lot of fluid. So I just slowed down and started playing scenarios in my head. I was hoping that Laureda would be at Tejeda and beg me to call it a day as I was looking so tired and it wasn’t reasonable to continue. I was thinking of tons of reasons of why I should stop and why I would not be able to get to the finish.

After what felt like hours I finally got to Cruz de Tejeda and started the long technical downhill to Tejeda. My kidneys were hurting badly limiting the speed I could run. I stopped for a quick wee and felt the familiar burning sensation I get when I am going to pee blood. I looked down and saw what I had predicted. Red pee. Not as red as in La Ronda but red nonetheless. This has become a regular issue for me in races as I don’t nearly drink enough. This must change!

 

Tejeda to Garanon (71 to 82kms)

 

When I reached Tejeda I was immediately disappointed of not seeing Laureda. I thought she must be waiting in Garanon and couldn’t help but feel sad that no one was here to tell me to quit.

I was looking at the checkpoint chairs and some runners sitting there looking destroyed. I thought about sitting but I knew how difficult it would be to get back up and going again. As I left the CP and started walking I saw Laureda jogging in my direction. I immediately broke into running. All the things I had planned to say had vanished and all I could tell her was that I was tired. She was adamant that I looked good and was doing great. All these negatives thought I had was coming from the fact that I wanted this sub 20hours and when I decided to let go I was still tired but more encline to slow down and manage myself a bit better.

The climb to Roque Nublo was much longer than when I did it in training but I could see that everyone was suffering by them. The only consolation was the pretty views and the knowledge that I would be seeing Laureda along the way. Indeed she was waiting for me at Roque Nublo and then quickly made her way to Garanon before I got there. That was the first time Laureda was crewing for me – and the 1^st time I had someone to crew me at all for that matter – and her support was incredibly uplifting.

I stayed at Garanon for 15mins eating a soup and drinking (more) coke.

 

 

Garanon to Tunte (82 to 95kms)

 

After a short but very steep climb to Pic de las Nieves (the highest point of the course) we started the long

 

 

Tunte to Arteara (95 to 109kms)

 

Again, another section I had totally erased from my memory. It was hot and smoggy making it hard to breath. My throat and mouth constantly felt dry. I could see a group of runners from the 83k trying to get someone out of chair on the side of the track. When I got closer I saw it was Nerea Martinez who took me over earlier in the race. They were trying to get her going again but looking at her I immediately knew she was done!

I ran out of water and was dreaming about drinking fresh sparkling water...When suddenly I heard my name and saw Laureda bouncing up and down on a rock. She gave me the little water she had left and we ran together down the very technical trail together.

 

 

Arteara to Finish in Mas Palomas (109 to 128kms)

 

Rather than doing a poor job at describing this section I thought I would share what Tom (who I met last year at Brecon Beacons) wrote – which is summarised the last bit way better than I would have said it myself.

 

I left Arteara at 17:15 with about 2 hours of daylight left and 19 km to go. Following an unexpected climb the track was pretty level with a slight downhill. I felt pretty broken and had little incentive to do anything but walk in those last few miles. Then out of nowhere, Michael appeared by my side. A bit of conversation and the kilometres passed by. We walked the climbs and when Mike said run I... ran (albeit pretty slowly). After all  he was on the back end of the 125km course so really I had no excuse to wuss out!

 

 

 

Tom helped me as much as I helped him. We both fed of each other to keep us going and in the end this is what this sport is all about.

 

I crossed the finish line in 20h49m…50 minutes slower than I would have liked. But I did as good as I could with what the day brought me. I was exhausted and the only thing I wanted to do was lying down and sleeping.