My Transvulcania 2018

I have run 3 times Half Marathon and another 3 the Marathon. This year I run again the Marathon, so this was my seventh time on Transvulcania.

Trying to forget numbers on my birth date, every year I tried to run faster. And I had got it every time in the last six years. 2018 was a new opportunity to run faster again. As in 2017 I ran Transvulcania Marathon in 4h and 57 minutes, this year I had very clear what I wanted to do: run 7 minutes faster, so I should arrive to Tazacorte in less than 4h 50 minutes…

Me…, with my mind very clear, fixed the idea of what I had to do, started running quite fast, very sure of myself.  Oh God!

The start line in Refugio de El Pilar, was frozen, shivering while waiting the count down. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Go… Everything was perfect, I started running very fast. It lasted during the race was under the clouds, rain and mud.  I felt comfortable. My run was going perfect, faster than 2017. But when the trail went farther, and we got  higher than clouds, I felt hot. In that moment I felt how important is sleeping enough before a race. After 4 days not sleeping well, I felt sleepy.  Instead of enjoy running I started looking around to find a good place to lay and sleep,  I needed a “siesta” urgently. So I started loosing minutes so when I got to Roque de Los Muchachos I had lost 21 minutes over 2017 time. I gave up. Arriving to Tazacorte in less than 4:50 was impossible. So plans changed. I decided to stop in El Roque. Of course I couldn’t sleep there, but I tried, I really tried to. I felt like Ulises enjoying the beauty and charms of Calypso. I spent one hour and a half resting, trying to sleep and simply enjoying the pleasure of doing nothing

After one and a half hours trying to decide whether it was worthy keeping running to Tazacorte or not, it was my sister who pushed me down the hill, she didn’t want to go alone. So… I left Calypso and started running again. This was a very good decision. I enjoyed Transvulcania in a way I didn’t know it before. I saw landscapes that I didn’t realize they were there in the last 3 years, I met old friends and enjoyed the fantastic people of La Palma. I had also time to take  some pictures. It’s not landscape, it’s not runners, it’s not how hard it is, it is La Palma people who make Transvulcania so special.

After all this sleepy time,  we got to Tazacorte and we realized that my sister had gone down hill so fast that she got the 3rd position in Podium (for La Palma runners), another nice prize for that day.

Transvulcania is a race where all the family can do something. The families of runners spend the day following runners along the island. There are free buses for families so it is quite easy to do it.  If you are a runner in Transvulcania, you will be surprised finding people in places where you would never expect. I have to thank my family their effort following the race every moment.

Finally, a swim in Tazacorte and some more sleeping in the beach before eating some fish with family next to the beach. A very nice way of spending a day.

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One Reply to “My Transvulcania 2018”

  1. Que lindo mensaje David me alegro mucho que puedas disfrutar de esa experiencia. Yo estuve allí de corazón. Un abrazo y nuestra alegría para compartir contigo y los tuyos.

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