Landie & Christiaan’s Transalpine Epic
Part 2: Day 3 & 4
Day 3 — Landie’s view
St Anton (Austria) to Landeck (Austria) 39,9 km & 2868m Ascent
It was day 3 and after a night of pain, the cramps were still very much with me… I simply could not see myself running with this kind of agony for another stage. Especially these brutal Alpine kind, where, if healthy, is already one beast of a challenge. I mean, 2700m ascent over 40km is no easy task in itself. Now add a throbbing stomach and a European heatwave of 33 degrees C to the mix and this beast turns into an even more unpleasant monster! But, I had a few, actually many, positives going for me;
I had the best and strongest team partner who helped me up and over wherever he could; the Lord miraculously empowered my legs to keep going over every rock, kilometre for kilometre; however, most importantly, I still had hope and deep down, I already made the decision that giving up is just not an option. After what felt like days, we fought our way to 2nd place on the podium again, having to outsprint another mixed team in the final two kilometres. Once more, my body felt like it completed it’s last leg, yet the mind were still very much alive and kicking!
Day 4 — Christiaan’s view
Landeck (Austria) to Samnaum (Switserland) 46,7 km & 2881m Ascent
The thought of the longest stage lying ahead of us was quite daunting. But as we came to realize, with our 2015 Transalpine experience, surviving one stage was the only way to go about it. We would study the stage profile in detail the night before to plan our nutrition and strategy. So needless to say, it was somewhat of a shock to discover that not only will the total ascent of the day amount to2861m, but the first climb alone will have an ascent of 1600m, the biggest non-stop climb I have ever been exposed to…
I could sense that Landie was back in the game, as she started off really strong on the gradual jeep-track climbs and we were blowing in the necks of the front teams. My strength showed whenever hiking poles could be used and we functioned very well as a team to reach the summit at the first aid station of the day. The yellow jersey’s were still visible in the distance on the alpine ascent, about 3 minutes ahead. We were both hungry to contest and we were ready to make a race of it!
But for some reason, this was still not our day, as I learnt that at an altitude of 1800m, I have trouble to breath and eat and I simply struggled to run. It was Landie’s turn to help me and along with the current heatwave in Europe we did the best we could under the circumstances. With Landie’s encouragement as only she can, we managed to secure 2nd place, less than 6 minutes behind the leaders. This stage finished in Samnaun, a lovely little duty- free ski-resort village in Switzerland. The best was that the fact that we were stationed here for two nights, received some royal treatment from South African supporters. However, it also meant that I was exposed to an altitude of 1840m and above for more than 48hours…
After every stage, in the evening, a glamourous prize ceremony took place and this specific one was on top of the mountain, with all athletes being transported with the Gondola to the restaurant at the top for a feast of a Pasta Party.
