I'm finally back- PDA-Val D'aran

I'm finally back to what seems to have been forgotten. The last two years marked the longest hiatus from racing i've ever had. In 2019 i spent most of the time healing from plantar fasciitis (i still ran (unplanned) Vaarojen marathon in Finland in October 2019 but it was still with moderate pain and only since i was offered a place by a friend who was sick at that moment (Thank you Minttu for that )). 2020 was hard on me on multiple levels not only due to COVID-19. In early 2020 i started to suffer from tension headaches and needed to take a long break from work (as data scientist). Then, Corona came, i lost my job found myself clueless about my future and racing seemed something that i could only dream about that year. Ironically i also ran quite a lot that year since i had more time and needed it. I met a great running partner (Max) and we both conquered quite many mountain tops during the summer of 2020. Things started again to get tough towards the end of 2020 when i had multiple foot injuries (Achilles tendonitis ) but in 2021 i started a new job as well as started to run again. During spring 2021 i needed to take about 2 months break since i had a lower back injury (it actually was from 2020 but only became worse a year later) but with the help of a good physio and a lot of core training i managed to return to slow running after 6 weeks. I was in my lowest fitness lever during that time so it became quite clear in late spring that i wouldn't be able to run UTMB and Lavaredo ultra trail in the summer (Luckily i was able to postpone UTMB to 2022). That left in my racing calendar only PDA-( in Val d'Aran) a 55 km race in the heart of the Pyrenees. A former friend recommended it to me in 2019 and i thought it would be nice to get to run in a new mountain range i've never visited before and i love Spain from my earlier visits so when the race got cancelled in 2020 due to Corona i immediately postponed my entry to 2021. I knew it would be risky and complicated with all the travel restrictions but i also knew that i needed this expirience and this holiday more than ever. I just needed to get away for a while and it didn't even matter to me that i was still not 100% healthy and with poor fitness. I was ready to DNF at any point but the opportunity to be in European Mountains again was invaluable .

I was nervous until last moment that something might go wrong with the travelling or my body (had some achilles tightness in the weeks before the race ) but since this time i cared less about finishing but more about being in the Pyrenees it was easier to relax. Luckily, my brother was keen on joining me as he got some time off between jobs so i knew i would get assistance during the race . Furthermore, there were 3 other Israelies in the race, and it felt super nice to meet them (except one) , especially Tomer who came with us to start line and was a great source of information on the race area. I really hope we get to run again sometimes in Israel or in other races. The town of Vielha which is the capital of the area turned out to be a small, lovely and extremely beautiful place and we both immediately fell in love with it. My only complaint about Spain in general would be vegetarian food that is hard to find but otherwise it wouldn't stop be from visiting again.

The Race

The race started from Beret which is a ski resort at 6:30 AM on 10th of July. I remember how i was excited and nervous waiting for the race to start in the restaurant with my brother and Tomer. Few minutes before the start when i heard to music and the crowd i just nearly cried because i missed that feeling so bad. Especially after such crappy year 2020 i suddenly realised how much i missed the race atmosphere. With masks on our faces the race started with the best possible cheering from the crowd and organization. Spain didn't disappoint .

The race started with unusual trend- going downhill for the first 15 km which is not common at all. I went with full gas to the first aid station , Tredos which involved a lot of crowd cheering for us and i was in a pretty good mood.

From Tredos we started to slowly ascend to Banhs de Tredos , at this point i was pushing gently the uphills and going as fast as possible in the downhills still feeling good. However, it was during this section that i bumped my thumbs in the shoe which made my downhills quite painful but still not disturbing.

I reached the second aid station (Banhs de Tredos) still in good spirits, but at this point i started to worry whether i could actually finish this race since the longest run i had in the past year was about 25 km or 4 hours. Could i still run more than 10 hours ? I knew my head remembered but would my legs ?

The section from Banhs de Tredos to Comomers turned out to be the hardest but the best part of the race. It was only about 15 km (from km 17 to 32) but mostly steep uphill. In the beginning of the uphill i already started to feel bad and was gasping heavily. Im not sure if it was due to poor fitness, anxiety , or the hot weather but i guess it was all of them that made me feel like i needed to stop. Luckily, i met Tomer midway and seeing that he felt as bad as me kinda made me feel better knowing i was not the only one suffering. I stopped for a while, took some food (baby food as always in races ) , said goodbye to Tomer hoping we would see each other later on the course and continued. This was the point when we entered the most beautiful section of the trail and i stopped few times to admire the view and take pictures. Still, trying to keep up a reasonable pace . The trail was quite technical and required a lot of attention. The views however were compensating for the huge effort.

The final climb of the section was the hardest one. Every single step required a lot of effort since it was passing through large boulders and it felt as if it would never end. Finally after about 2 hours we started to descend and i knew the aid station is only few km away. However, the downhill was so technical and steep that my right toe hurt so bad and i was forced to go slowly and i was so exhausted that i just counted the km to reach the aid station.

I guess it took me about 3 or maybe more hours to reach Colomares but looking back it was the best and the hardest section. I will never forget it. I met a nice runner who said he ran GR11 a year ago and now im extremely jealous cause i know how beautiful and amazing this trail is. You don't get to see wild and breathless views in races that often and im happy that the trail was going through this section although I'm very bad in technical downhills. I think the pictures pretty much speak for themselves. Looking back, i should have let myself to soak the views and enjoy more instead of being stressed about my legs or stomach.

When reaching the aid station in Colomares i took a short break for food but probably not long enough since i started to feel nauseous when climbing the next station. It was not a very long uphill but i felt bad again and gasping heavily so after the climb i took about 10 minutes rest and toilet break and started to feel better while descending. It was long and beautiful descent and i was slow but moving steadily. At this point i knew i was overtaken by many runners and that i'm quite slow but i didn't care anymore. The last downhill however towards Ressec was very painful and at this point i just couldn't run steep downhills without a sharp pain. I think it was the memory of my foot from TDS that made it worse ( i had same problem there ). At the forth station i finally saw my brother and i was almost about to stop the race due to my foot pain. However, knowing i had only 14 km till the end of the race it would probably be a stupid decision. On the other hand, the climbs of the last sections were the hardest. The were long (about 10km in total) and just seemed endless. I felt good climbing , felt strong most of the time and my foot didn't hurt only achilles was cranky . What felt the worse was the steep downhills until the end of the race. The last downhill started about 6 km from the end and usually i would expect to have about 2 km in the city before the finish line, but here it was all downhill till about 500m from the finish line so i was deep in the pain cave. I was angry at myself for not stopping at Resseca and instead just suffering all the way to Vielha. That feeling changed only at the finish line. Seeing the crowd cheering and shouting as if i was the winner was the best feeling i could possibly hope for. This is something that just can't be described in words and must be experienced.

I also met Tomer , Gaby who ran the CDH (100km race) and his wife. Unfortunately they had to drop from their races but they waited for me and it was so great and nice to meet them all . They are extraordinary people and i'm so happy to have met them through this race. I was so relieved to learn that i only lost my toe nail but no further damage and this was the most important thing to me in this race, to finish healthy (relatively ). In the end i've learnt that my body and mind are still far from running races like UTMB but my legs still remember how to run for long hours . Im in poor shape but this was definitely a good start for the racing season. I really don't care how many Corona tests i needed to do , it's still worth the trip to Spain. In the following days we continued to trek and explore the area and the whole time it just felt like i was inside a painting. I just wanted to freeze time. My biggest lesson from this race is to stop worrying about my body and feeling stressed during the race. Remember that the most important thing is to enjoy and expirience the race to the maximum. I seem to forget this too often even when im training . Tomer reminded me this as well with his positive and lively spirit. In the next race i hope to follow this lesson and be happier about myself rather than think about my pain.

I am very happy we got to hike in the area the following days though i could barely walk due to my quads that felt like rocks. So we went back to Colomares and many other trails in the area and i finally got to enjoy them to the fullest. It's been a week since the race and i can't really wait to my next one whether it's a short or long. I already have few in my bucket list but this race just brought my back to life. It reminded me why i run . I love to meet people, to explore mountains and get to know new cultures. I shall never forget it . I can't wait to be back in Spain for trekking and / or racing. I fell in love with Spain even more than before. Furthermore, the Pyrenees totally surprised me with their sharp and wild shape and beauty. I can't wait to be back!!