Grossglockner Ultra Trail – Conquering the Austrian Alps in our first trail relay

Grossglockner Ultra Trail is a race that goes around Austria’s highest peak, Grossglockner (3798m), through the National Park Hohe Tauern. And it’s one of the few trail events that have a long distance team relay race. Of course that’s what Andrei and I went for. 

It’s a relatively “young” race, the 2019 edition being the 5th one so far.

We signed up for the 110k race, the longest one, but split in two: Andrei would do the first leg, 60k with 4500m elevation, while I’d do the second, 50k with about 2000m elevation. The 50k segment was exactly the route of the official Kalser Tauern Trail race of the event. 

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Small tweaks that helped me improve my running performance

I’ve learned a lot since I started running. How to train for a marathon, how be faster on uphills, how to survive when you’re injured and can’t run, what to eat before a race, or during a race, how to convince my mom that it’s safe to run in the mountains, what’s the best recovery, and how to shop for fluorescent shoes are just some examples. But these are the big lessons, the foundations.

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Hercules Marathon – Running memories of a legendary autumn

Isn’t it funny how life gives you an answer right when you need it the most? This year’s Hercules Marathon race in the rusty autumnal hills of Valea Cernei, Romania, was exactly the feeling I had been missing and was looking for.

I’d been feeling tired and not so motivated after my previous race, Maraton Pirineu, in Spain. Actually, this sensation that I don’t really want to train and compete had been going on since after Marathon 3200, in July. I felt like turning the engines a bit off after that one and took a few weeks off from training.

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