We know that Day 3 is going to be tough with 38 km and 2975 m ascent, split evenly over the two enormous peaks. So Day 2 was meant to be easy, with only 24.7 km of trail and only 1899 m ascent. We had not appreciated that the day would include two rock sections, one down and one up. It was certainly varied terrain. Rich was slipping all over the place tripping over his poles, whilst Malc took on a new Gollum like technique to climbing, highly effective, highly entertaining and highly wearing on the fingers. We heard lots of comments in German, we don’t have a clue what they were saying.
The weather was superb. Low cloud meant the sun barely shone. As we climbed to the top of the first summit it got colder. Typical of the UK in August. Wet under foot, slippy, muddy, damp and misty. Superb conditions for two Brits that tend to overheat in the sun. Not good for many of the Spanish competitors. As we checked out the full wet weather gear, large back packs, woolen hats, gloves, ear muffs, and waterproof trousers, we began to feel a little under dressed in our shorts and T-shirts.
On the whole we ran well today, when we could run we were in pretty good shape. Well until the hail started with 8km to run. It wasn’t the cold that was the issue it was the damage that could have been inflicted on Malc’s head, which was at the time pretty exposed. That was when the blue wooly hat came out and all was right in the world.
Then came the last 5km. This seems to be when the ‘red-mist’ descended again. On the first day it could have been put down the excitement of finishing the first stage. But it happened again today. No one said that Malc had this addiction. He can smell victims ahead and absolutely must reel them in, one-by-one. The sprint for the finish happened again today and once again we were able to pass (at speed) three or four teams.
So we had another very memorable day. We have put the world to rights (many times over) we have progressed international relations, we’ve cracked some of the worst jokes ever, we’ve eaten a lot, we’ve drunk a lot (isotonic), We’ve taken it easy and finished on another high. The emotion of crossing the line after a day like this is unique. What a great day.
Hoof Hearted? 