I’m immortal! Trifecta Weekend from Maroš

I’m immortal!

Before the race, I told myself that if I could do a Trifecta Weekend in Valča and I don’t die, I’m immortal. It seems I have succeeded

Trifecta weekend is a very difficult race, as there is no time for a proper rest, moreover, they say the hills in Valčianska dolina are legendary. I finished my first Super in 2017 in Valča and I haven’t shown up there since then, but I remember I enjoyed the race and that I ran it in a good time (6:26:58). This time I had to prepare better, and I trained honestly hard through the whole summer, intensifying my workouts to endure more stress. I felt I was the fittest than ever before. I was ready to face my biggest challenge so far, I was looking forward to Valča, but I also was quite nervous, I knew that I would have to be focused all the time, because any mistake, inattention could cause major injuries.

Saturday:

The weather was good, it wasn’t cold, but what was more important for me, that it was not raining, but I knew that in this area it could change every minute. Fortunately, on Saturday the weather was trouble-free all day. I started at 8:30 am, which is a very early hour for me, but I felt quite relaxed and ready to go. Less than half an hour before the start, I stopped for a drink from Edgar, on which I relied to wake me up and here we have a little advertising break.

I would recommend Edgar Power Drink to anyone who hasn’t tried it yet. I personally like it because it does not burden my stomach and mine is really sensitive, I couldn’t consume e. g. energy gel products. I haven’t had any problems with Edgar yet, and I’ve always felt a flow of new energy.

A shoulder and arm massage made my blood flow, which helped me a lot in the first few meters / kilometers. I set a limit of 9 hours for this race, but I was hoping it could be considerably less. I did not know what tactics to choose whether I should go on full effort and try to quit as soon as possible so that I would have more time to relax to the next day, or go slower assuming I would be less tired but would have less time to relax. I chose something in between. I tried not hurry too much at the beginning and at the same time to go as smoothly as possible to catch my breath. Everything went smoothly, from the beginning I remembered the track two years ago and I even had time to enjoy the views of the surroundings, hills, valleys, beautiful landscape. The racers again encouraged me, expressed words of respect, for which I am extremely grateful to them and one even asked me if I’m doing some motivational lectures. Here I will use the space for a second advertising break.

Yes, we do motivational lectures, so if someone is interested, you can feel free to contact me via messenger or order me via hhi@hhi.institute email address. Lectures are suitable for schools, companies, organizations, etc. I will be pleased to come to motivate anyone, anywhere.

Somewhere in the middle of the woods, all the racers were held back by a steep hill, the top of which could not be seen. They all crawled on all fours, swearing. Fortunately, here I had helpers who carried me crutches or belayed me to keep me from slipping. I can’t even guess how much it took me to climb this damned hill, but when I was up I noticed that I couldn’t even see where we started climbing. I continued, honestly refilling liquids and salt to avoid cramps. Later I came to the first obstacle, which could reward me with 30 burpees – spear throw. Always when I approach this obstacle, I keep repeating the theory and concentrating on following all the procedures. I also think about the mistakes I made in previous races and I try to change something, focus more on direction and strength. I stretched out, threw and hit the target. I run on with a great feeling that perhaps someday I will learn how to throw a spear. Followed by obstacles they refreshed, first dunk wall and shortly afterwards swimming. The water was cold, but nothing horrible that couldn’t be handled for two minutes. I was most delayed by a bucket full of gravel that was filled and sealed for the first time. It was too heavy for me to carry it in my hands, as I had been used to, so I had to change to another tactics, dragging it on the ground. It took me a long time, certainly over half an hour, and it was very exhausting. I left a lot of energy on the plate drag or rope climb too, and so I didn’t have enough energy to pull the bag on the Hercules hoist, although I tried it three times. For the third time I pulled the bag completely to the top, but I could not slowly lower it, the rope in my hand began to slide, and it burned my finger on my right hand just like on previous race in Eplény, Hungary. The bag felt to the ground and I went to do my first 30 burpees. I walked tiredly to the atlas carry, and even at this obstacle it seemed to me like the concrete ball gained weight. Compared to previous races, I had significant problems with it. After a few minutes and successfully overcoming the obstacle, I crawled under the barbed wire in the stream and reached the festival arena, where I still had a Z-wall to overcome, but it was wet and muddy. I haven’t grown up to this obstacle yet, so I went to do a second set of 30 burpees. I only had a multirig consisting of circles and ropes ahead of me, but even though all the handles were a little wet, I had no trouble to ring the bell. I was satisfied with the final time of 8:16:50, I went quite fast and I also had time to relax.

Sunday:

After Saturday’s Beast I felt most comfortable among all the Beasts so far, maybe because I did not have time to feel tired and I knew I had to do at least the same performance again. It was a little harder to get up and I didn’t have much time to prepare before the start. I managed to drink Edgar power drink but I didn’t warm up, and I will tell you, kids, never forget your warm-up. I started hardly, and soon my shoulders hurt. Yes, when I run / walk, my shoulders tend to hurt. And since it was raining overnight, the track was soaked, muddy and slippery. The mud was the biggest problem, I couldn’t move as fast as I wanted, and it deprived me of a lot of energy. On one decent elevation in the woods, which I went through without problems the day before, I literally stuck and I couldn’t move the crutches or my legs, because I felt I had no fixed point below me. How to overcome this passage? Only on my butt and proceed slowly but surely. It was a little frustrating to move so slowly, but I couldn’t do anything about it. I checked the time, it was good, I needed to finish Super before my next discipline – Sprint. Maybe around 10th kilometer my shoulder pain soothed and I moved better. But the closer I got to the end, the more time was against me. I did not do the spear throw, I stayed too long at the bucket carry, and I managed to climb the rope on the second attempt. I came to Hercules hoist a little disgusted after the previous day, the burned wound on my finger was pinching, so I just touched the rope, slightly lifted the bag, dropped it and went to do the 30 to avoid unnecessary delay. When I was doing the last 30 at the Z-wall, I heard that the heat that I was supposed to be in had just started. I quickly made the burpees, went through the multirig and reached the finish in 7:01:11. The plan was under 6 hours, but due to muddy conditions I couldn’t. Never mind, excuses aside. I ate one protein bar, made a quick pit stop like in F1, and my personal helpers swapped my headband, timer, and hurried to catch up the last heat. Before the weekend, I thought Sprint, as the last part, might be the hardest one, because after one Beast and Super I thought I wouldn’t have the energy left. But I was surprised how fast I started and caught up the last racers doing burpees next to the balance obstacle. In a short time I had most of the track behind me and I managed to throw the spear to the target, so for the first time I had a positive statistics from this obstacle. The bucket carry hold me back the most again. I rolled the bucket on the ground, but I still guess it took me 40 minutes. I know that this technique is not allowed, but as one of the volunteers told me, I did everything I could to overcome this obstacle, I look for ways, not excuses. If only I could carry it in my hands, on my shoulder or even on my head. The rope climb was easily overcome despite the wet ropes, and I was approaching the Herc hoist, which I wanted to skip again as I did it on Super to save my sore palms, but the volunteer convinced me to try it anyway. I walked to the rope and started pulling. I don’t know why, but the bags seemed to be lighter. Maybe they were, or I had more strength, I don’t know, but I overcame this obstacle as well. Volunteers and spectators accompanied me for the rest of my journey, encouraging me, pushing me forward. I repeated my only 30 burpees on Sprint at Z-wall. Multirig is a routine and after climbing the last wall and skipping the fire I could breathe out (time 3:26:25). I did it!

Also my second visit in Valčianska dolina was excellent, those hills fit me well, I like them. In two days, during three races, I went about 45km, climbed over 2500m and burned more than 6200 calories. I have never experienced such stress before, but my body managed with it brilliantly. I continue to regenerate, exercise, because the next race is around the corner. See you soon in the beautiful landscape of Lipno, where this time I will run “only” the Beast.

Thank you all for your support!