After two weekends of competition in a row we had the opportunity to talk to our ambassador Sara Alonso, Trail Running athlete, about her preseason, goals, feelings in the race and recovery methodology.

Sara we have seen you competing these last two weekends in two apparently very different events such as the Cross of Elgoibar and the Pilancones Trail, or is it our feeling?

There were two very different races, the Elgoibar Cross, a fast and short race of just 30 minutes, and the Pilancones Trail, a hard race with a lot of slope and more than 30 km long.

And being so different, how have you prepared them?

As pre-season tests that they are, I have not prepared them specifically, it can be said that I have followed my usual training routine and I have done the competitions as part of these.

Even though they were so different you managed to perform very well in both, tell us a little about each of them.

Let’s start with the Elgoibar Cross,

I woke up and saw Euskadi pouring with rain and I got a smile on my face. A cross without mud is not a cross and if I want to be competitive with track athletes has to be as hard as possible. A cross that 2 years ago I was crying and I had very bad memories, I had to go back and make amends. I arrived and I saw the course (when I was on the track it seemed incredible hills, but after a year in the mountains they seemed like mounds).

The race began, a starting line with some African Olympic and the Spanish elite … I was afraid to finish last. First 500m all athletics track 1,37min we passed (3,14 pace!). First lap of the small circuit and we go to the mud, I move well and follow with the best Spanish, I pass the line of the public next to Laura Luengo, Isabel Barreiro … international cross country! The race goes on and I decide to stay with the group and push on the climbs. I see Alicia Carrera in front and Elena Garcia behind, I try to stay there. I love the hardness, I move well, I feel that on the track the others are catching me, I still see my international references just a few seconds behind me and I do not believe it, the bell rings a single lap and I think, alone? Hehehehe. I try to push and catch Alicia, I pass her and I stay there, I push in the downhill I get in the mud, the public at home all in my favor hahaha, but in the last 100m she pass me in the track even though I?m very happy.

I cross the finish line first Basque athlete, just a few seconds of my references and in front of athletes of 33.00 the 10km that a month ago in a dry cross as Italica beat me easily.

They put me on the podium with the Africans haha, the closest I’ll ever get to them.

I see my father excited, if this time we have made peace with Elgoibar, thank you public it has been an incredible day.

I wake up the next day with my legs 90% recovered, this is not a 40km trail!

And what can you tell us about Pilancones Trail, this one is close to 40kms, was it much harder?

Back to the Canary Islands and I follow my training plan, Saturday is Trail but as hard training. I register in the 25km race at the last moment a british athlete of 2,33h in the marathon comes on vacations and signs up for the 34km race (also 3rd in the final of the Azores Golden). So if we want to lose the fear of the distance, if we want to lose the fear of the distance there is no better opportunity than this for sure.

The race started with a 10km 1500+ climb that 1 month before I had climbed in 1,45mins, I knew that on race day I should be over 1,35mins. The race starts 2km on tarmac and the Brit puts in a good pace and I think hard day at the office, but the climb starts and I start to lose it…. I get to the top 1,30 and I think I’m doing great.

I take a gel and water and start the descent, it goes through where the Trangrancanaria so I try to visualize and motivate me. I’m moving well and I think I’ve gained confidence this year. I reach km 20 and they add the long distance loop that I didn’t know. 9km 400+, I relax a little to see that I have no rival behind. Objective to drink and eat well. They tell me I’m 9 overall and 15mins behind the male lead. Great, the climb is a bit long, but with two guys we squeeze each other. Km 30 pass the control and only 4km downhill to the finish line. I keep running the km of asphalt at 4 min/km, not bad! I arrive to the finish line and 200m I see my mom and she tells me Sara how cool you are and the truth is that I cross the finish line with a smile and super happy. 7mins ahead of the next one 34km 19000+ 3,20h, very smart race and a hard training. The next day I don’t have many legs, but the smile and the sensations are still there. A training that gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the year. I see that I have improved a lot in the climbs I feel it when I climb, in the descents with more confidence and the kms weigh less.

Well, the truth is that everything you tell us sounds great, we really saw you perform really well in both races, have you modified your training or incorporated something you didn’t do before.

The workouts are similar to what I have been doing, one of the things I do do, especially on very hard training days, whether speed or endurance, is to use pressure therapy as part of my recovery. I also always use them before competing as part of my pre-competition routine, this time the treatments I usually do are lower pressure.

As they say, the preseason lays the foundation for the season, so we are sure that this year will be a great year for Sara.

We are already looking forward to seeing her compete in the big races like Transgrancanaria because we are sure she will fly! #gotothenextlevel