Trail Running In Gran Canaria - Training for Trans Gran Canaria 128k - Ben Parkes S2 E3

Hello everybody, welcome to season two episode three of training for a and welcome we've finally made it we're here in gran canaria so stay tuned we've got an epic run coming up right guys good i think it's afternoon now where we are it's about one o'clock in the afternoon the sun is shining the weather out here is absolutely amazing um might be a little bit cooler well it will be a lot cooler and a little bit damper about halfway up the mountain where we're heading now so yeah you join us uh in a town called uh to jeddah which is about halfway through transgran canaria um in a bit of a valley so what we're going to be doing is uh we're actually going to be going the wrong way around the course to head all the way up um out of the valley come back down again to where we've parked the car and then going to go up the other side and back down again so yeah the aim of the game get a lot of elevation in we're looking about 28 29k something like that today um about 1500 meters i'll put the miles and the feet up on the screen for people that work in those values so yeah join us today um you know just been packing our bags we've driven out here probably about an hour from where we're staying so yeah we've just been packing up the bags getting everything ready get some nutrition and everything on board um with how the run is we're actually going to be coming back to the car about halfway through so don't need to take too much um out in the course because we can restock halfway through luckily so yeah we're going to head off now join us out on the run out with sarah and yeah see what we get up to right we'll see you out there right guys welcome to the trails we've left the town we are all of about 500 meters in and i feel like i've only done 500 meters of elevation it is so steep around here but look at the views behind me over the valley it's absolutely amazing so what's the point why are we here what are we doing where are we going well i just want to spend time on the course learn how technically it is and just familiarize myself with roughly what the climate's going to be like because we're five weeks out from the race and yeah just see what the terrain's like can make choices about footwear whether we're going to take poles and all the sorts of kit we'll be using for race day so yeah weather really recommend it if you can no matter what type of race that you are running whether a road marathon or uh whatever half marathon whatever just do a little recce of the course see what it's like you know all my recent marathons i've cycled the route beforehand see what it's like you know what's coming up then when you're out there on race day it all seems so much more familiar so really recommend that a little bit of top tip something i always do obviously i can't come out here and run all 128k of this course in one go because we're gonna save that for the race day but just want to spend as much time as you can on it familiarize yourself and come race day make a lot easier to get it done right a little bit of a flat section now at least i'm running we'll check in a bit i don't want to scare you but we can just get through well guys quick check-in we're 4k into the run and we've done we're 4k into the run and we have done 450 meters climbing so far and we're about 730 kilometer pace but yeah super steep this is what's up ahead of us climbing up and up and up and yeah we've got about another two and a half k to go till we get to the turnaround point and then we're gonna hang all the way back down but how beautiful is this today out here getting it done right guys we are just through 6k in about 45 minutes so what's that just over 7 minute k pace and yeah about 650 meters so far as well so we're just reaching the top of the peak i'm going to turn around in a second as you can kind of see we're really up in the clouds very very high elevation up here i'll put it i'll put what it is on the screen in a minute but yeah to my left should be amazing views all over the island as you can see not a lot to see today but it does feel amazing to be up in the clouds pretty cold probably about six or seven degrees up here that's where we set off down there in the valley was about 20 degrees but yeah we're keeping moving keeping warm we've got jackets and stuff anyway so we're all right right time to head back down back down to the car get some more supplies on just gonna get some energy on board using these new goo strawberry gels the roctane ones right heading back down see you for some fun some good speed all right guys we're just coming back down into the town which is bear with me one sec i can't really stop here the town is there and that's uh the Tejadas here heading back down off the mountain back into the town we've actually just come down from the mountains pause watch mountains just up there up in all the clouds that's where we were a second ago so yeah feeling surprisingly strong this whole trip has actually been a bit of a breakthrough i think um actually finding the trails not too bad leg strength feeling good and yeah all the technical stuff been coping with it okay yeah i don't want to talk too soon because some of these bits are really really tricky but yeah flying through them not too bad right let's get down to the car refuel restock the pack and then head back up the mountain for some more climbing back at the car just quick fuel start just grabbing some uh smoothie drank much that already uh banana then we've got some nuts no idea what's in there cashews almonds and stuff like that and obviously a load of water to get down as well so you can get this down and then get back up on the course back up on the mountain which is just over here all right we'll see you back up so out on the second big climb just starting it uh yeah i'm not sure how many meters we've got on this one again i'll put it on the screen i can remember much while i'm running but yeah feeling good refueled pack's a bit heavy now there's some more water on board but still gracias still out working hard all right guys quick check-in we are uh about 16k in done about 900 meter climbing so far just going through this very pretty little village and uh just checking it all right yeah and uh yeah this climb this side's a lot harder a lot lot steeper still got a lot to go heading up into the mountains here but yeah all good strength all good leg work i'm gonna need a serious massage at the end of this trip to drunken area but loving it out here living the dream i keep saying getting it done i can't help it reached finally the top of uh this mountain we've been climbing can't see a lot with all the uh mist and clouds in but it is still incredible to be up here yeah kind of just above the tree line it's so beautiful the way the mist is coming in and then uh yeah surrounded by just oh it's just amazing to be out here on a friday afternoon where else in the world would you want to be so i think we've hit about 1400 meters climbing now and we've got about 7k just dropping the iphone don't lose that um yeah got about 7k to go to until we get back down so yeah down down down all the way back down building up that leg strength and yeah gonna get cracking on now so anyone that's done grand canary will probably recognize this uh sort of plateau up here and behind me is this huge rock um again my knowledge of grand canary is not that great but i'll look it up and learn all about it because that's all about exploring and finding out about your surroundings right guys we'll see you on the way down cannot wait to get back to the car get some fuel on board and some dinner inside as well right we'll see in a bit right guys hopefully this will be the final check-in it's getting dark and the last little bits on the road we are 0.9k to go feeling good legs pretty trashed after coming back down on that final climb but have a check-in when we get to the car a little summary so i'll see you then right guys so that is the run done sorry it looks a bit weird i'm being lit up by my head torch uh because yeah it's about seven o'clock in the evening so uh yeah stats for the day 28.4k i'll put the miles and stuff because i don't know what that is um and 1514 meters of climbing so really decent um yeah really decent to get that in and yeah legs feeling strong up going up coming down really really happy with that i think the average pace was about 650k pace for moving time so yeah pretty good and uh sarah's been out there she's uh getting rid of all the muck and stuff off just over here at the moment so as usual guys if you like this kind of video a thumbs up a like would really help it really helps build the channel and uh yeah subscribe if you don't subscribe i really enjoy making these videos and your support uh makes that a little bit easier as well and yeah if you want to buy one of my new running caps which has seen me through today then obviously that helps supporting the channel there's some links down below and some discount codes as well for people that see these things on youtube so as usual guys let me know down in the comments any questions uh you want to ask me any tips any advice that you're looking for when you're trail running um then let me know guys thanks very much for following along really appreciate it and i'll see you