Transvulcania - Where the White Mountains meet the Hawain Islands
It has been just over a week since I completed Transvulcania on the island of La Palma and I am still in a bit of daze. Between the travel (with the kids), lack of sleep, and an effort that took everything I had just to complete the race, you can say I am a bit tired. The whole trip was a wild ride.
Similar to running the Leadville 50 miler back in 2014, Transvulcania was a good, but difficult eye opening experience. I am proud to say that I finished a really hard ultramarathon; my first on the international stage.
Getting There
Before diving in to the trip, you may be asking "Where is La Palma?"
We (Amy, her sister Laura, the kids and I) left Boston the Thursday evening before the race with an overnight flight to Lisbon, Portugal. From there we flew to Grand Canaria and then on to La Palma with a quick plane change in Tenerife. From door to door it took about 21 hours in which I was maybe able to get 2 hours of shut eye total. Not ideal two nights before a race.
After a hectic check in and some rushed dinner, Amy and I drove to bib pickup and finally got back to the hotel around 11pm local time, just 7 hours before the race. After a few hours of sleep, I wolfed down some oatmeal and headed to the race start.
Note to self: Leave a buffer day in the future. You need more sleep.
Faro de Fuencaliente (Fuencaliente Lighthouse) - Race Start
The start of the race was like nothing I have ever experienced in an ultra. As I got off the bus (driving to the start is prohibited) I was confronted with 40+ mph headwinds in a pitch dark setting. As I made my way over to the start, I ran into my friend Patrick (an elite runner) and quickly said hi before merging into the group of 2000 runners. I pushed as far up as I could not wanting to get stuck in traffic on the early miles.
The race started at 6am and we began our 8,000' climb up the volcanoes starting literally at sea level. As we rounded the first corner we were confronted with fireworks. All I could think is "This is pretty cool." I looked back to see the stream of head lamps and smiled.
After a fairly easy first mile on the roads (with a merely 331' climbing), we jumped onto the trail and where we bounced back and forth between running and jogging on the single track.
By the end of the 5th mile, we had already climbed 2350' as we enter the town of Los Canarios. It was just after 7am and everyone was out to cheer us through. It was like being part of the Tour de France as we squeezed through slapping five with every kid we could see.
The Climb up Las Deseadas and Descent into El Pilar
Shortly there after the grind really started. The next 6 miles would bring us over 6000' and included a mixture of crushed lava rock with 40-50 mph wind gusts. Just moving forward at all was difficult. I just pushed on the best I could watching my watch as the elevation increased. With near 7000' of climbing in the first 11 miles, all I could think was "wow" this is like running up Mount Washington 1.5 times at the beginning of an ultra. That is pretty crazy.
Mile 12 began what I like to call the honeymoon section of the course. After a short steep descent, you work your way out to a fire road where you drop 200-300' per mile for the next 6 miles. It is the most run-able part of the course and I was able to even drop a sub 9 minute mile there. By mile 18.6 I was feeling a bit renewed, but in the back of my mind knew the worse had yet to come.
Around mile 15 is also where you drop off the ~half marathoners and pick up the marathoners. One of the cool things about running the ultra was that you went through the finish line for the other distances; first the half marathon and then the marathon before finally finishing the race.
A Long Way to the Top
Just after mile 19, you hit the aid station at El Reventon and the climbing resumes. As you go around the first corner and the climb comes into view, two guys were playing guitars and in thick Spanish accents yelling "Its a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll." I gave them a thumbs up and pushed on by.
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| Running above the Clouds |
As marathoners and a few ultra runners went by I would repeatedly get smacked with their tracking poles. Between this and the built up fatigue of travel and the first 19 miles I was going to a really bad place mentally. The terrain felt like a mishmash of the White Mountains with some lava rock mixed in. We would summit, drop a few hundred feet and repeat. It felt very reminiscent of my Pemi Loop run last July.
Finally, I reached the Pico de la Nieve aid station, found a chair and sat down. I was not sure I could continue. I put my head on my hand and decided I would close my eyes. Maybe just 10 minutes could make the difference. As I jolted back awake (yes, this is the first time I have ever taken a nap in a race of any distance), somewhere around 10 minutes had passed. I guzzled down a cup of Power Aid and began the next climb. I was now over 7 hours into this race and over 7500' above sea level.
I started to flash back to my DNF at Big Horn in 2016 where I quit with 16 miles to go after completing nearly all the climbing for the day. On one hand I was mentally done. I didn't know if I could push on. On the other, there way was no way to bail. I was in a non English speaking country with no means to communicate back to Amy. For better for for worse, the grind continued.
Pico de la Cruz and Roque de los Muchachos
The next 5 miles were hell as I climbed up and down the ridge. I ran bits of it, but largely hiked just trying to maintain any forward progress I could. I don't know if it was the lack of sleep, the elevation, or the mixture of the wind and heat (a dry 75), but I just felt awful.
As I began the ascent up to Roque de los Muchachos and surpassed 8000' for the first time I had to take a minute and sit on the side of the trail. As the runners passed, they patted me on the back and what I assume, asked if I was ok (in Spanish). I also got a few offers of agua (water). After a minute, I regained my composure, I got to the aid station, drank and ate a bit and moved on.
The Descent to Puerto de Tazacorte (The Beach)
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| A long way back to the sea |
Throughout the course, the support from the locals was amazing. You could barely go around a corner without seeing someone and hearing them yell "Vamos Chico. Venga Venga. Animo!" In some places you thought, "how did you even get up here?"
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| Switchbacks to the beach |
I had reached the sea (again) and as I crossed the marathon finish I slapped five with everyone I could see.
Los Llanos de Aridane - The Finish
Three miles to go. I knew they would not be easy. The race literature said that there was a 500m climb from the beach to the finish. Something I was not looking forward to.
Shortly after the beach you were routed into a dried up river. All I could think was you got to be kidding. This continued on for a little over a mile on the loose rock, but minimal climbing. Finally you begin a series of switchbacks up from the river climbing nearly 1000' feet over the next mile.
Shortly after this you hit the main road and the finish is finally in view, but it is at least 3/4 of a mile a way. I got it back together and ran the entire way into the finish, where Amy, Laura, and the boys were anxiously awaiting my arrival.
Damn, that is one of the hardest things that I have ever done.
Recap
I am both happy and a bit disappointed with my performance. I know I didn't compete to the best of my abilities and I had to dig a lot deeper then I had intended. I am happy that I made it, but I definitely need to improve my logistics and planning in the future. The course was also significantly more technical then I expected and am really glad I got in all the running at the Middlesex Fells and Blue Hills this Spring or I would have been in for an even bigger world of hurt.
We ended up staying near the race start on the south of the island. La Palma is quite a bit more rustic then some of the other Canary Islands and I think we would have been better off to stay near the finish (which was in a city).
We really struggled trying to navigate around without cell phones and without much ability to speak Spanish. On our next trip, I think we are going to have to pony up an international plan for our phones and make sure we truly do our due diligence in planning before getting there.
I am happy I did the race, but I don't think I'll ever be back for a second try.
Grand Canaria
A couple of days later we flew back to Grand Canaria where we stayed for a few more nights. We hit up beaches and hiked volcanoes and got in a bit of relaxation. All and all we had blast and really enjoyed showing the kids (and ourselves) a bit more of the world.
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| Roque Nublo |
Next
In three weeks I get back on the horse to race North Face Massachusetts at Wachusett Mountain. I am eager to see how I can do rested, after sleeping in my own bed, under circumstances with less challenging logistics.
Transvulcania was my first set of points for Ultra Trail Mont Blanc Festival 2019 where I am hoping to race either the CCC - 100k or OCC - 56k (The North Face will give me the remaining points).
The bigger question is "What do I want to do next?" Over the past year I have really enjoyed the ultra training, but a few of the races have really taken a toll on me. We will have to see how it goes and only time will tell.
- Scot
PS Thanks for all the support on race day.
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| Swing for the Clouds |
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