Stage 4- Halfway There!!

Sept 6th, 2011- Stage 4

So today's run marked the 4th stage in this 8 day stage race, after today- we are halfway to finishing!!
Today, we ran from Galtur, Austria to Scuol, Switzerland!
It was a 40 km run with 2340 meters of climbing, and 2700 meters of descending!!!
It was a gorgeous morning leaving Galtur, quite a change from the day before as we made our way through a fairly runnable valley for approx 10km heading into the glacier area, to our first aid station.

We took things fairly easy to this point, then made our way through some undulating/climbing sections until we reached a peak, and a man welcomed us to Switzerland!! It was unreal:)

After this ascent, there was a very technical, rocky descent that we pushed pretty hard through to get past the slower/tentative runners. On some steep switchbacks, I got stuck behind a spanish team of men that wouldn't let me pass, and rene had to wait ahead....as soon as I got past them, we pushed hard for the next 5km of the descent and flat/undulating area before it started to climb. It was getting hot at this point, and we just kept an even pace up to the second aid station. This was such a beautiful spot, but after stepping in tons of mud/cow patties, we decided to make it a quick stop so the poor people in the restaurant didn't have to deal with our grossness!! (little note- there have been cows EVERYWHERE in this race, on every mountain side. I love hearing the sound of their bells ringing as we're running- I feel like they're cheering us on:) ) After this aid station, we had a really steep climb for the next 3 km, reaching 2800 meters (the highest point of this race to date). It was hot and steep and we slugged to the top- it was worth it! After a little scramble to the peak, the views were incredible!!! 360 degrees of beautiful Swiss Alps!!! Literally breathtaking (combined with the climb, the altitude!)!!

After this, we had a really fun, technical descent with lots of steep/tight swithchbacks for another 5 km! So much fun!!  As we made our way on a well used hiking path, an old couple sitting on a bench said to us in English "Welcome to Switzerland". It was such a nice gesture, and after having run 6 hours already, it made us both a little emotional- we had just run through 3 countries in 4 days!!

From this we traversed over to a ski hill where Rene got shocked by an electrical fence, and a german guy right behind her did exactly the same except he was wearing a white spandex outfit and slipped right into the mud/cow pattie mixture!! I asked him if he needed help, all the while trying not to laugh and give him a lecture on why he should NEVER wear white spandex, but I refrained myself:)
So long story short, from the ski hill we had a 6km downhill into Scuol, ending with a gorgeous descent into the town, on the cobblestone roads- Most Beautiful Finish Yet!!!
I am amazed at how good I felt today, my body felt better today than any other day. Each day I seem to feel a bit better. I wonder how long that will last for!!? LOL!!
Now bring on tomorrow's Rest Day, I mean Hill Sprint.......