COLLBAIX TRAIL Sunday, February 29, after 2 years without being able to compete in the race, due to Covid, the Collbaix Trail is back, a race through my favourite little mountain, the Collbaix.
My alarm goes off at 7:45am. I’m pretty sleepy and not in the mood, just thinking about how cold it must be out there. I shake off the laziness and get dressed, have “bread with Nutella” for breakfast, my favourite before racing.
Before going out, I feel pain towards my ribs, between stabs and flatulence. I doubt whether to go out, but I think: let’s go, if you can compete it will be great and if not it will be a training session.
9:30 a.m. start line, cold, but with a radiant day. They give the starting shot, and I go out at the front with a high pace, but controlling my breathing and pace to avoid flatulence.
We leave on a track with a slight rise, we continue flat and a little downhill, and before doing the first km, we climb an uphill path until we reach a track with a short but steep descent of about 200 m, continuing for a very cool trail. I’m feeling good, and I’m at a good pace with those at the front of the race. We head towards the Collbaix, passing through new trails that the VEC club, organizers of the race, had prepared for us. Now, at km 3, the climb to the Collbaix begins on the Magic Line. Luckily, I know it perfectly; it’s one of my favourite trails. I am still in the first women’s position and I feel good; it always helps to know the terrain and know what slope you will face and how long you have until you reach the top. Once at the top of the Collbaix, with the pulsations at full capacity, it’s time to recover by taking advantage of the flat and descent that takes us to the Zegama trail (almost all the Collbaix trails have a name), a very technical and very straight descent, with the aggravating fact that there are still remnants of snow and ice. I run cautiously but trying to go as fast as possible. Despite not seeing the second female, you can never relax. Once at the bottom of everything, it’s time to face the second climb to the Collbaix through a new trail that I’ve never done. It’s being a very cool race, all along the trail and hardly stepping on the track Despite suffering a bit, I’m having fun! We reach the pass, find the second refreshment point, I stop, drink some water and continue, which now yes, there are only about 3 and a half km left, and it’s all downhill. We take the path of the boulders, one of the most well-known by the people of the area, quite technical, due to the amount of stones there. I also know this one almost perfectly, from the many times I’ve gone up and down it. And that is because today, I’m in my area, that of Collbaix.
Happy with how I’m doing and without relaxing, I go down as fast as I can, until I reach the track that already takes us to the finish line. I’ve already got it! First girl with a time of 1h 11′. Very happy with the sensations, after some time without running a race on foot, and delighted with the result, finishing first female in the general and local and obtaining a 12th position out of the 125 runners who contested it.
Let’s keep adding up!
