Races

Started at the back of the pack and climbed the rankings between each checkpoint. The start was easy with some queueing (otherwise I probably would have been leading), but that gave me loads of energy for sprinting down the last 10km! An the mountains and landscape were beautiful of course! ⛰️ Paternsattel - Forcella Lavaredo (2,454 m) • ⛰️ Im Gemärk - Passo Cimabanche (1,530 m) • ⛰️ Forcella de Lerosa (2,020 m) • ⛰️ Forcela Col dei Bos (2,250 m) • ⛰️ Passo di Giau (2,236 m) • ⛰️ Forcella di Zonia (2,229 m) • ⛰️ Forcella de Col Piombin (2,239 m) • ⛰️ Forcella di Giau (2,370 m) • ⛰️ Forcella Ambrizzola (2,277 m) | 🌐 summitbag.com

3km loop with start every 20 min. Managed to get the win on the first lap 💪 20/151 based on the final lap time, 57/151 finished all 18 laps. Way more elevation than I expected in Lille 😅https://sportchronometrage.fr/live/defi-trail-lillois-25-j2

A second chance! Thanks Perla for figuring out that I was offered a replacement race due to the storm yesterday night! This one went way better than CDH! ⛰️ Era Colhada (2,190 m) | 🌐 summitbag.com

Beautiful race with some very impressive mountains! Everything felt ok until around 60km, then my stomach was protesting a lot (maybe due to drinking the stream water? Or just too much sugar and heat?). I couldn’t keep anything down so I stopped at the 70km aid station and rested for an hour before taking the DNF shuttle back down to Vielha. At that point I was very dehydrated and even drinking water was impossible, so my legs started cramping a lot. Mentally I was still ok but I was physically too exhausted to continue and the next aid station was much more remote and without access by car so it would have been very unwise to try to continue. Stopping where I did was probably one of the main adult decisions I’ve made! Edit: After a few weeks of reflection, it was definitely the stream water that messed with my gut, I’ve never experienced a full night of puking from normal dehydration, and also I don’t think I was just dehydrated since I was drinking more than one bottle per hour. ⛰️ Còth de Varradòs (2,050 m) • ⛰️ Còth de Maubèrme (2,478 m) • ⛰️ Pòrt d'Urets (2,533 m) • ⛰️ Còth de Montoliu (2,491 m) | 🌐 summitbag.com

This was really hard. The sun made the flat parts between the mountains harder than the hills on day 1. The sunstroke produced a lot of fever dreams after finishing. I started getting some blisters at 50km. Both legs and feet were mostly fine until 130km. After 141km, I just walked and cried in the heat for the remaining 27km. Overall, I had fun during most of SMVE2023.

Official time was 1:27:59 Garmin data 5km - 20:54 (4:08/km) 10km - 41:41 (4:12/km) 15km - 1:02:04 (4:05/km) 20km - 1:22:48 (4:09/km) 21.44km - 1:28:20 (3:51/km)

A completely new experience! 266 laps around a 375m track in Växjö togerher with some lunatics. Harder than I thought! Finished fourth!

Never been in this much pain before, but I made it. It was way steeper than I expected, probably should have checked that altitude map more in detail, or not. Everything started to hurt after 40km. Cried a bit after finishing Official result was 11:28 I think, that includes all the stops and walking, especially during those last kilometers where someone put an unnecessarily steep mountain.

Very long bike race with Axel Apoy . I would dare saying we got close to a perfect execution. Pacing, eating, hydration and so on worked so well that we never had to stop due to feeling awful or needing a nap. Judging from some of the faces of the others at night, we were doing way better and had a bit more fun (?). The goal was to keep as low power as possible, and avoid going above 150W for extended periods. This was only possible due to incredible luck with the wind. We even got to celebrate midsummer eve with drunk teenagers at McDonald’s after midnight. First bike race I’ve ever done (any category), will hopefully not do it again. It was great though. ⛰️ Kulmilebakke (28 m) | 🌐 summitbag.com