Jun 29, 2011

Apuseni Maraton 2011 !

Another Marathon passed. This weekend I ran the first edition of Apuseni Marathon. I didn`t know what to expect but it all turned out to be perfect. The organization of the even was spotless and everything except the weather was ideal for a good run.
My race day didn`t start very good, as I was feeling a bit nervous. The race started very fast, with the guys from the half-marathon setting a fast pace. Me, Daniel, Adi, Alex and our new found friend Aida, one night before the race, we ran a bit of the first part so I knew what to expect ( 7km of fast climbing). I stayed in touch with the second group (Balan Silviu and Zsolt Kovacs). But after 4km I started to feel bad, my foot were weak and it seemed that I won`t finish in this manner. I lost some time in the last part of the uphill and got passed by some runners, including Daniel who was running fast for the half-marathon.
After the first refreshment point and the end of the climb, we had around 13 km of downhill. The first part was difficult because we had to run on a small path, but then we entered a forest road. The wake up call for my body came after 10-11 km, close to where the marathon and half-marathon tracks were splitting. I saw Balan in front of me (300m) and I started pushing.

I kept on pushing and the road kept on going downhill. We entered a village and I saw Balan who turned back because he was not certain if he is on the right track. We ran together for around 7 km until the big climb started. During this time, in the village I had a Deja-Vu feeling, because I recognized the places where me and Cosmin Georgescu got lost some years ago! The climb started also on the road, and it was not very steep, but I lost some time because I stayed a bit to much in the refreshment point. There was a small part where you had to climb and I didn`t look at the markings and went up and up, until I realized that I am not on the path anymore. I climbed extra around 20-25 m but it was more difficult to go back down on the wet rock. I was loosing hope to ever catching the guys that passed me. The climb entered the forest and a big rain came, along with small ice. It had the effect of refreshing me. I then saw Lucian Clinciu, who is a good runner, and I started going after him. I passed him and until the next control point I passed another 2 runners.

I had only Balan in my mind and I started seeing him when we reached 8 km until the finish. He was running with Bogdan Sulica at that moment. I reduced the gap to less then 100 m, but they saw me and ran very very fast on the last downhill. I ran for around 2km on the last climb with the idea that I have to preserve my rank. The last refreshment point was 3 km before the finish. There I met my friend Ioana Mica who shouted very loud at me, also telling me that if I push hard enough I will catch the guys in front of me. The adrenaline rush came into my body as I threw my water bottle and my windstopper and started running real fast.Thank you Ioana and the guys from the last refreshment point! I saw Bogdan Sulica, and stop for some meters to catch my breath and then started fast again. I passed him and he couldn`t keep my pace, but Balan was to far away for me to catch !Next time!
My time was 04:01:16 and I was 4th in 16-29 category and 9th overall.


Overall it was a great experience, nice tracks, great organization, nice people in every control/refreshment point. I knew the Apuseni Mountains are beautiful, but now I am certain.


P.S. My friends also  had good results: Daniel was 2th in the 30-39 category of the half-marathon, Aida was 3rd in her category also, and Adi improved his time in a marathon by far! Congrats!
And I can`t forget my friend Bogya Tamas who won the marathon!Good one friend but I won`t be so forgiving next time !



Results Apuseni Maraton 2011 
P.S.2: You still owe me the "extra part" of the starting kit !

Jun 20, 2011

Next Stop: Apuseni Marathon

Yesterday I completed my last training cycle before my next goal in mountain running: Apuseni Marathon . Unlike EcoMarathon, this area will be unknown for me. I know the Apuseni Mountains since I was there is a training camp some years ago but I have never been on the tracks of the marathon. So probably it will be difficult but also I hope it will be nice to run into the unknown. I hope for a good participation for but also for my friends Dan, Adi and Tamas!



See you there!

P.S. Run fast get home early!

Jun 5, 2011

Comarnic - Timisul de Jos - over Bucegi Mountains

If someone asked me if I can run a Marathon 2 years ago I would have laughed. I already ran 2 mountain marathons and my plan is to continue doing it.Yesterday morning, me, Dan and Adi went for something bigger than a marathon (ultramarathon?). This run started with a joke of mine, coming home from EcoMarathon I sayd to Dan: "How would it be if we ran from Comarnic to Predeal?". I never thought we would ever do it.But we did it!
Yesterday morning we started running from Comarnic and the plan was to reach Timisul de Sus (farther then Predeal). The first 40 km passed very fast, the weather was nice and we had a nice companion (a small dog that followed us for 50km). We had everything on the run: sun, great views, snow, fog, rocks, rain,mud and the last part of the run was like a jungle.


The course was:
Comarnic - Cota 1000 - Vf. Paduchiosul - Cab. Piatra Arsa - Cab. Babele - Vf. Omu - Cabana Malesti - Pichetul Rosu - Diham - Trei Brazi - Poiana Secuilor - Timisul de Sus.
After Malesti, Adi started feeling bad and I started feeling very good, don`t know how was that exactly because we were running for more then 40km. A bad rain started and that made me feel not very good. The last kilometers were very bad, with a lot of fallen trees and steep slopes. But I pushed my body to it`s limits and when I saw the end I felt like I owe the world. I have to thank Adi and Dan and let them know we make a hell of a team! There are so stories from the trip that I need more then one posts on my blog to write them all.We used to Gps watches to record our run:
Track 1
Track 2 
A total of 63 km with 3500 meters climb!
 

Jun 1, 2011

Few Words

The biggest goal for this spring in orienteering was the Team`s National Championships. My morale before this was high and I was feeling confident. Before the two team stages we had the Night-O Champs. I had a mixed performance, with good running speed but with some major mistakes.I am not good in Night-O and will probably never be. The bad part is that around control 16th, in the green, I hit my foot very hard in a rock and I had to walk the last controls to the finish because my big toe from the left foot was hurting real bad.

Night-O Map
Results

The next day we had the middle distance (first stage for the teams). I started really bad and did a huge mistake in the first control ( I was distracted to the start by the flags for the kids that were looking the same as the ones from the start to the K start).After that I tried to push to recover for the lost time but no matter how hard I was pushing my body was saying NO! I just was not able to run (maybe it was because if the heat or I was just very very tired). I did some other small mistakes but my time was really bad and I finished with a very bad result not only for me but for the team also.

Middle Distance Map
Results

For the last day we had the Long Distance, and this time it was 85% forest (not like in the middle where we had mostly open areas). If last year I was better in Middle Distance, it seems this year things changed. My morale was down before the start. I started very easy to the first control knowing what happened to me in the days before. I did only 2 mistakes (7&8 control ) and one small to the end, where I was very tired. This time my speed was better and my result the same. But because of the Horror Middle Distance, this was not enough for a team`s medal...

Long Distance Map
Results