JupiteHikes <\/a><\/em>in the PCT, without assistance, without running, without forced marches and without having to walk at night.<\/p>I remember that my eyes sparkled with this almost divine inspiration, as I had 20 days of summer holidays at my workplace and it was just the time I needed to prove that I could cross the Pyrenees from sea to sea in a typical summer holiday in Spain, which is usually comprised of 20 days. One day's journey to get to the start of the route, 18 days of walking and one day's return journey home, completed my summer holiday in June.<\/p>My romantic Pyrenees Crossing \/ Photo: Eli del Pirineu<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/span>How did I prepare to cross the Pyrenees in 18 days?<\/span><\/h2>It is well known that there are cases of elite athletes who have crossed the Pyrenees running in perhaps 10 days. Although I am not an elite athlete myself, in fact, if you look at my curriculum<\/em>I had given up smoking 5 years ago. I had been a heavy smoker and I was very sedentary. So, I am neither an elite athlete, nor am I a superman, nor am I an outlier. I'm just a normal guy who has been doing sport for 5 years on an \"almost regular basis\".<\/strong>. So it was clear that I was a long way from doing 40 kilometres a day in the Pyrenees for 18 days in a row.<\/p>The plan for success was meticulously detailed. Choosing the 20 days of holidays at the time of the year with the most hours of sunlight, finding the lightest equipment for the occasion, plotting the shortest route along the High Pyrenean Route and the part where I lacked the most, which was to get the necessary physical strength to successfully achieve such a feat.<\/p>
Maigua Ojeda, a professional athlete specialised in ultra-distance and stage races, took care of the training and nutrition. <\/strong>My coach had two difficulties in making sure that I was fully prepared to achieve such a feat. The first was that I only had 5 months to prepare. The logical thing to do would have been to prepare physically and when you are ready to start the challenge. The other difficulty was that I had a small tear in my meniscus and presumably the doctors told me that I would never be able to run again, nor would I be able to overdo certain activities.<\/p>During these 5 months of preparation, everything revolved around the \"18 Trans-Pyrenean Marathons\". The training, the diet and the relentless pursuit of a backpack with a maximum base weight of 5 kilograms was quite an arduous task.<\/strong><\/p>At the beginning of those 5 months, it seemed that what I had proposed was going to be impossible, in fact almost nobody believed that I would be able to do it, but as the months progressed, I began to believe that it was going to be too easy. Not only because Maigua Ojeda did an excellent job with me, managing some exercises to strengthen my knees and since then I have not had any more meniscus problems, but also, I went from 78 kg to 68 kg, I had a very athletic look, a great capacity of resistance and if that wasn't enough, I had managed a backpack with a base weight of less than 5 kilograms.<\/p>Cape Higuer 18MT \/ Photo: Eli del Pirineu<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/span>The 18 Trans-Pyrenean Marathons challenge begins<\/span><\/h2>I remember perfectly well when I started the Transpirenaica, in the Cantabrian Sea, in front of the Higuer lighthouse. I looked very strong and very ultralight. My whole community took it for granted that I would make it, due to the good preparation I had done and the ultralight equipment I was carrying. That overconfidence that my community had placed in me made me uncomfortable. They saw me as a superman, as if I belonged to a celestial dome or to the elite, and I was only doing this because I wanted to show that with effort and hard work, anyone can do the Trans-Pyrenees if they set their mind to it and prepare properly. I didn't want to show any kind of cockiness by crossing the Pyrenees fast and light.<\/p>\ud83d\udccb Technical sheet of the adventure:<\/mark><\/strong><\/strong><\/td><\/tr>Stage 1: Cape Higuer Lighthouse - Near Iguzkiagerreko Borda <\/strong>37,5 km | +759m, -354m | 7:22h <\/em>Stage 2: Near Iguzkiagerreko Borda - Izandorre Refuge <\/strong>51.25 km | +2453, -1599m | 9:08h <\/em>Stage 3: Izandorre Refuge - Belagua Refuge <\/strong>55,24 km | +2621m, -2534m | 11:08h <\/em>Stage 4: Belagua hut - Baigt de Saint-Cours cabin <\/strong>49,41 km | +3045m, -2892m | 9:56h <\/em>Stage 5: Cabane de la Baigt de Saint-Cours - Respomoso Hut <\/strong>34,52 km | +3004m, -2425m | 7:46h <\/em>Stage 6: Respomoso Hut - Chalet la Grange de Holle Hut <\/strong>39,45 km | +2404m, -3055m | 8:24h <\/em>Stage 7: Hut Chalet la Grange de Holle - Hut du Pas du Cheval - Hut du Pas des Chevaliers <\/strong>45,98km | +3918m, -3088m | 9:39h <\/em>Stage 8: Refugio del Paso de los Caballos - Llanos del Hospital <\/strong>41,19 km | +2385m, -2920m | 8:48h *Hotel de los Llanos del Hospital closed, the hotel security guard will take me down to Benasque. <\/em>Stage 9: Benasque - Lac de Rius <\/strong>38.92 km | +2934m, -1727m | 8:17h *In the previous stage I reached the San Chaime bridge and climbed up to the Hospital plains. In today's stage I climb from Benasque to the bridge of San Chaime to honestly link my stages.<\/em>Stage 10: Lac de Rius - La Guingueta d'Aneu <\/strong>43,16 km | +1728m, -3117m | 9:55h <\/em>Stage 11: La Guingueta d'Aneu - Punta de Roquetes <\/strong>33,26 km | +2984m, -2008m | 7:26h <\/em>Stage 12: Punta de Roquetes - La Massana <\/strong>36,62 km | +2090m, -2765m | 7:31h <\/em>Stage 13: La Massana - Puigcerda <\/strong>50,04 km | +2562m, -2601m | 10:12h <\/em>Stage 14: Puigcerda - Ulldeter Hut <\/strong>40,38 km | +2520m, -1489m | 9:05h <\/em>Stage 15: Ulldeter Refuge - Talaix\u00e0 Refuge <\/strong>47,22 km | +1446m, -2920m | 9:51h <\/em>Stage 16: Talaix\u00e0 Refuge - Vilabertran <\/strong>48,12 km | +1170m, -1905m | 8:56h <\/em>Stage 17: Vilabertran - Cap de Creu lighthouse <\/strong>40,79 km | +1308m, -1262m | 8:43h <\/em>Total: 733.05 km | +39331m, -38661m<\/em> | 152:07h <\/strong>*Data collected from a Garmin Fenix 7X watch, errors may occur.**The initial challenge was to complete the Trans-Pyrenees in 18 days, but in the end I completed it in one day less, 17 stages. <\/strong><\/em><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>By luck or the whims of fate, two problems had arisen right at the start that were going to hinder my feat and once again make it an almost impossible challenge. It was snowing in the central Pyrenees and it was expected to rain for the next two weeks. This \"bad luck of fate\" was all I wanted. If I managed to cross the Pyrenees in the worst possible conditions, nobody would come to me with excuses for not wanting to do the Trans-Pyrenees and even less, if the person who decided to do the challenge, found the ideal weather to cross the Pyrenees in their summer holidays.<\/p>
During the route, and to summarise, as there is a series of several chapters on my YouTube channel<\/a><\/strong>In the following section, I will summarise some of my setbacks.<\/p>Photo 2020 at Puigmal during My Romantic Pyrenees Crossing \/ Photo: Eli del Pirineu<\/figcaption><\/figure>Arriving at Respomuso I had a fall that could have been fatal, luckily I only hurt my ankle. As my ankle did not rest, the pain increased every day. Near the Guingueta de Aneu, I thought about giving up and honestly, that should have been the indisputable option. However, there was a part of the community that had put their hopes in me and if I was not able to do it, they would be unable to do it, despite the only thing I could prove was a mathematical calculation I made at the time.<\/p>
<\/span>Dreams come true if you work for them<\/span><\/h2>And against all odds, after 17 days of walking under intense, almost monsoon rains and having added 40 additional kilometres in a Pyrenees with some areas that were impassable due to snow, which added up to a total of 19 marathons, I managed to reach the Cap de Creus lighthouse, completing the \"Challenge of the 18 Trans-Pyrenean Marathons in 17 days. <\/strong>Without assistance, without the need to run, without forced marches and without night walks. So now, dear reader, no more excuses, if you want to, you can do it.<\/p><\/p>