Transalpine Run (TAR) - Stage 1

It was a rough lead up this week. The start to this event was day 5 of a stinking head cold = poor sleeps and feeling crap.

So, sandbagging excuse out of the way, Anya and I (team Intrepid) along with pals Anne and Pauline (team Loomi) lined up for an 8am start in Lech and heading over to Bludenz.

Picture a big razzmatazz start with pumping music and hype and we all run off to the sound of “Highway to hell”.

Elevation at the start was just over 1400m and we found ourselves struggling with breathing over the first few, very runnable kms. Could be the choked pipes but the altitude contributed, for sure. The route was a deviation from planned as it had been bad snowing up high yesterday and some parts were apparently treacherous. As it turned out, it was a glorious day. A wee bit chilly at the start but soon warmed up.

Once into the climbing the heart rate settled and the groove came, for a little while, anyway.

The groove left again on the 2nd part of a long descent, almost 4km and technical in sections.

Weather was roasty toasty, climbs were steep and technical in parts, as were the descents, views were mighty.

Grumpiness was kept to a minimum.

We’re in the “Senior master mixed” category and there was a bit of toing and froing with some peeps who we guessed were similar. Turns out they are and took the win. We came in 4 mins after them and made 3rd so, 1,2 and 3 are close (so far). Not that we’re competing ‘cos this is a holiday! Yay!

Numbers for today: 39km, 1362 m ascent, 2244m descent.

Tomorrow will be hard!