Honestly, I procrastinated so long to write this piece that finally somehow it lost its freshness, season changed, and now it will just feel like a throwback to those beautiful hot summer days.
This is about three successive weekends in August of 2019. I actually wrote the main topic of the article right after those three weeks. However, somehow bringing the detailed descriptions of the routes and images together are done during the first weeks of the fall. And finally in the middle of the winter I'm publishing it!
For a long time, maybe since beginning of the summer, I had this problem of lack of motivation. You realize this when you start to ask questions like "Why am I actually doing this?", "This run is going to be too long and exhausting.", "What if I start to run less and focus on an other sport, like rock climbing?".
The motivation necessary to keep the enthusiasm can come from different sources. One of the most powerful sources of motivation for me is when I feel inspired by something/someone.
Inspiration is one of the most important things that drives me toward doing things. I read the biography of someone who achieved impossible things, it can bring a huge joy and inspiration into my life. Or I read the history of a race or a mountain, I get inspired by it, and it gives me motivation to take part in that race, or go climb that mountain. The memory of someone in my life who do not exist anymore can inspire me to do things that seemed impossible to do. Or I meet someone, and just her/his passion, knowledge and philosophy of life can inspire me.
This is about three successive weekends in August of 2019. I actually wrote the main topic of the article right after those three weeks. However, somehow bringing the detailed descriptions of the routes and images together are done during the first weeks of the fall. And finally in the middle of the winter I'm publishing it!
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For a long time, maybe since beginning of the summer, I had this problem of lack of motivation. You realize this when you start to ask questions like "Why am I actually doing this?", "This run is going to be too long and exhausting.", "What if I start to run less and focus on an other sport, like rock climbing?".
The motivation necessary to keep the enthusiasm can come from different sources. One of the most powerful sources of motivation for me is when I feel inspired by something/someone.
Inspiration is one of the most important things that drives me toward doing things. I read the biography of someone who achieved impossible things, it can bring a huge joy and inspiration into my life. Or I read the history of a race or a mountain, I get inspired by it, and it gives me motivation to take part in that race, or go climb that mountain. The memory of someone in my life who do not exist anymore can inspire me to do things that seemed impossible to do. Or I meet someone, and just her/his passion, knowledge and philosophy of life can inspire me.
August of 2019 was the month in which a combination of things going on in my life led to give me the motivation, to finally enjoy my passion deeply again.
So I'm going to write about three runs (one of them was actually a race) that I did on three successive weekends. The most important point of these runs is that during all of them I visited summits. So I thought the whole story around them can be an interesting topic to write, for someone who is interested, or just for me to later use it as a "training log".
2 Summits (10 August, 2019)
Elevation gain: 1208 m
The idea of running the route on which I could visit two summits of the Hochschwab range (Leobner Mauer and Hochturm) came from one of the mountain runners that I met here in Austria, Martin. We actually got to know each other on Strava, and then met personally during a small local race in Eisenerz. When I saw this route for the first time on my Strava feed, I really got excited. Because it was only a while ago that we hiked with the friends to TAC Spitze and Vordernberger Griesmauer, and from there the Hochturm was visible, and it looked really nice. Below is the picture I took from the summit of Griesmauer, both Hochturm and Leobner Mauer are visible.
The usual hiking trail to these summits start from Präbichl. But the disadvantage of cycling up to Präbichl is that you have to climb around 700 m to get there, which is not a very easy thing to do if your run already includes more than 1000 m of elevation gain. It would be of course possible to ride with bike to Präbichl and visit the summits while hiking instead of running. Hiking, and the comfort of having more than enough water and supply is a nice feeling, but being able to do the same thing (or maybe more) in a shorter time, and in a complete survival mode is a feeling that can make you dream about it the days after you actually did it. Self-sufficiency is something that makes you feel alive.
Anyways, doing this route was in the back of my head for couple of weeks. Therefore as soon as I found my motivation and drive to push myself a little bit more, this route was naturally the first in the line.
On the next Saturday I had a 25-km mountain race, so I did not want to overdo, so I cut the first kilometers of the original route of the Martin. I cycled from Leoben around 5 km more, so the route that I was going to run got shorter to around 22 km.
The distance from Leoben to the route was around 19 km with 360 m of elevation gain, and the weather was hot. I started after 9 am. I got to the trailhead a bit later than 10 am.
A big part of the trail until the first summit is forest road. Then I entered a singletrack trail, and it was so rocky that in the end it was not possible to remain on the trail without the red-white-red marks. After following the marks I got to my first destination.
The symbol on the Leobner Mauer summit is not a cross, which is an interesting and seldom thing to encounter here in Austria.
Getting to the second summit, as expected, was a bit harder. The last hundred meters of the route were completely rocky. Me trying to get there as fast as possible without any reason looked a bit weird, I guess.
On the summit there were people lying and enjoying the sun. One hiker was enjoying his "Gipfelzigarette" (summit cigarette).
From the summit I continued running southwest downhill, initially with some small sections of uphill. On this route, on the right time of the season, it is possible to encounter Edelweiss, the legendary flower of the Alps, the symbol of the Alps. But unfortunately as I was there it was too late to see them.
I really enjoyed the last part of the run. I was feeling like flying. It was one of those times that all the conditions were just perfect.
- Leobner Mauer (1851 m)
- Hochturm (2040 m)
Elevation gain: 1208 m
The idea of running the route on which I could visit two summits of the Hochschwab range (Leobner Mauer and Hochturm) came from one of the mountain runners that I met here in Austria, Martin. We actually got to know each other on Strava, and then met personally during a small local race in Eisenerz. When I saw this route for the first time on my Strava feed, I really got excited. Because it was only a while ago that we hiked with the friends to TAC Spitze and Vordernberger Griesmauer, and from there the Hochturm was visible, and it looked really nice. Below is the picture I took from the summit of Griesmauer, both Hochturm and Leobner Mauer are visible.
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| View of Hochturm (left) and Leobner Mauer (right) from Vordernberger Griesmauer |
Anyways, doing this route was in the back of my head for couple of weeks. Therefore as soon as I found my motivation and drive to push myself a little bit more, this route was naturally the first in the line.
On the next Saturday I had a 25-km mountain race, so I did not want to overdo, so I cut the first kilometers of the original route of the Martin. I cycled from Leoben around 5 km more, so the route that I was going to run got shorter to around 22 km.
The distance from Leoben to the route was around 19 km with 360 m of elevation gain, and the weather was hot. I started after 9 am. I got to the trailhead a bit later than 10 am.
A big part of the trail until the first summit is forest road. Then I entered a singletrack trail, and it was so rocky that in the end it was not possible to remain on the trail without the red-white-red marks. After following the marks I got to my first destination.
The symbol on the Leobner Mauer summit is not a cross, which is an interesting and seldom thing to encounter here in Austria.
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| The view of Hochturm from Leobner Mauer |
On the summit there were people lying and enjoying the sun. One hiker was enjoying his "Gipfelzigarette" (summit cigarette).
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| On the Hochturm. Unfortunately the lens of my camera is wet from my sweat. |
I really enjoyed the last part of the run. I was feeling like flying. It was one of those times that all the conditions were just perfect.
During the run I needed at least 4 liters of water. Fortunately there was enough water on the way.
3 Summits (17 August, 2019)
Elevation gain: 1590 m
After coming back from Kufstein, where I participated in Koasamarsch, I decided to look for more local races around where I live. Running in places where are less touristic can be more enjoyable, I thought. So after some research I found this race on 17th of August, in a small village called "Wald am Schoberpass". This village is also famous for the winter sports.
The race is called "Drei-Gipfel-Lauf" (literally meaning three-summits-run). It passes through three peaks: Leisterhorn, Himmeleck, Griesmoarkogel.
The thing that I like about the local races is that I can just take the train (or even my bike) to get there. Everything is just more simple and more natural. The runners are all very friendly, and after running in couple of local races you start to see familiar faces, which is really a nice thing.
So in the morning I took the train from Leoben to Sankt Michael, and changed to another train from there to get to Wald am Schoberpass. The weather was absolutely perfect, sunny but not very hot. As I got there, I realized that there are much more runners than I expected.
- Leisterhorn (1924 m)
- Himmeleck (2096 m)
- Griesmoarkogel (2009 m)
Elevation gain: 1590 m
After coming back from Kufstein, where I participated in Koasamarsch, I decided to look for more local races around where I live. Running in places where are less touristic can be more enjoyable, I thought. So after some research I found this race on 17th of August, in a small village called "Wald am Schoberpass". This village is also famous for the winter sports.
The race is called "Drei-Gipfel-Lauf" (literally meaning three-summits-run). It passes through three peaks: Leisterhorn, Himmeleck, Griesmoarkogel.
The thing that I like about the local races is that I can just take the train (or even my bike) to get there. Everything is just more simple and more natural. The runners are all very friendly, and after running in couple of local races you start to see familiar faces, which is really a nice thing.
So in the morning I took the train from Leoben to Sankt Michael, and changed to another train from there to get to Wald am Schoberpass. The weather was absolutely perfect, sunny but not very hot. As I got there, I realized that there are much more runners than I expected.
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| Running to the first summit |
Just like almost all of the local mountain races that are organized in this area, the voluntary mountain rescue teams are also very active to help the runners, and keep an eye on the their health. In this race the voluntary fire brigade was also on the scene. I have huge respect for the things that they do. Austria is a country in which in general the concept of helping the people voluntary with the means of a club, or a group plays a very important role in the society. Without their help and sacrifices of their free time for long generations it would not be possible to have such an organized and disciplined society. Especially during winter, keeping in mind the amount of snow that the mountains see, they are the true heroes, opening the roads and keeping the villages safe from the danger of a natural disaster.
Anyways let's get back to the race. The atmosphere during the stations were really great! The support was huge; very different from what I experienced during a relatively larger race back in Kufstein (Koasamarsch). During the last meters of climb to the summits I was somehow feeling like I am running in Zegama! People had climbed up to these summits holding their beers cheering for us.
Finally I finished the race a little bit shorter than 3 hours (2 hours, 54 minutes). A result that was my goal in the beginning.Anyways let's get back to the race. The atmosphere during the stations were really great! The support was huge; very different from what I experienced during a relatively larger race back in Kufstein (Koasamarsch). During the last meters of climb to the summits I was somehow feeling like I am running in Zegama! People had climbed up to these summits holding their beers cheering for us.
During the race I realized that at climbs I am relatively good, but when it comes to downhill running somehow I don't run as efficient as I actually can (or should). I thought about it, and I think it has two reasons: (1) During my training runs with high elevation gain I normally focus on the uphill section of the training, meaning that when I'm already on top, in my head I count the training as almost done. So during downhill section, I'm just holding a slow pace and intensity. (2) I have astigmatism on both of my eyes, and I always run without glasses. So when the downhill run is on a technical train I'm feeling insecure to run down faster.
After the race I spent some hours in the finish area, cheering the finishers, meeting new people and having a Brathendl (roast chicken)!
Finally the nice point about the local races is that there are more than enough amount of stations on the route, so practically you don't need to take water (or even gels) with you. Of course it does not comply with the ITRA rules, but who cares! I can run on a 2000 m mountain like I'm running in the city.
Finally the nice point about the local races is that there are more than enough amount of stations on the route, so practically you don't need to take water (or even gels) with you. Of course it does not comply with the ITRA rules, but who cares! I can run on a 2000 m mountain like I'm running in the city.
4 Summits (25 August, 2019)
- Polster (1919 m)
- Vordernberger Griesmauer (2014 m)
- Hochturm (2040 m)
- Leobner Mauer (1851 m)
Elevation gain: 1526 m
Doing those two- and three-summit runs, I thought I should make it complete with a four-summit run. The only region in our neighborhood having four summits close to each other is of course the Hochschwab mountain range, north of Leoben, where I did the first "two-summit" run.
So after putting some thought and doing some route planning I found the most efficient route connecting four summits (in order): Polster, Vordernberger Griesmauer, Hochturm, and Leobner Mauer. Of course during the planning it was also important that all the train is "runnable"; no via ferrata. So TAC-Spitze was out.
The starting point of the run was going to be Präbichl. But getting there with bike would be a little difficult because of the high elevation difference (around 700 m). So I decided to ride my bike to Vordernberg (a nice historic city), and take the bus from there to Präbichl. So this way I avoided around 400 m of elevation gain.
This time I started my run very early because according to the weather forecast afternoon was going to be rainy. At 7:50 AM I started to bike. It took exactly one hour to reach to Vordernberg.
As I got to Präbichl I realized it is extremely foggy. I could not see the peaks that I am going to run to.
During the climb to the first summit, as the elevation was increasing I started to get completely surrounded by the fog.
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| First summit: Polster |
After reaching the first summit, I had the feeling that it is going to be a hard climb. I was feeling a little bit tired, this thick fog was not providing any confidence to jump here and there, the rocks were slippery and my shoes were not good in these kind of conditions (La Sportica Akyra). So I had to be extra careful.
I ran back from Polster to "Hirschegg" saddle, and starting to climb to Vordernberger Griesmauer. The route is completely covered with huge rocks, and because of thick fog it was not possible to go faster. Only logical thought was to follow the marks on the route, and check the map on the watch to see if it is everything okay.
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| Second summit: Vordernberger Griesmauer |
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| Improvising on the way back from Vordernberger Griesmauer; no visible trail. |
Although the weather was not very stable, there were considerable number of hikers out there. And because I was just touring around in the same area, I was seeing familiar faces multiple times.
During the climb to Hochturm (third summit) I saw a group of mountain goats (around 10 - 15 of them). I assume because of the fog they noticed me very late, so when I got closer all of us were surprised!
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| Third summit: Hochturm |
After coming back to the saddle between Hochturm and Leobner Mauer (last summit), I was well behind my planned time, and knowing that there might be rain coming, I thought about canceling the fourth summit. But then somehow I decided to do it. I was going to miss the bus back to Vordernberg. And I had to wait for more than an hour. I thought it was actually a good opportunity to have some lunch at "Leobner Hütte", a refuge just around 2 km away from the point that I was standing.
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| Fourth summit: Leobner Mauer |
As I got to Leobnerhütte, the clouds started to clear. I ordered "Bergsteigeressen" (literally meaning mountaineer food), which is just a combination of potatoes, meat, traditional sausages, and dumplings with a fried egg on it: a typical homemade food in alpine region! It was more than anything I would hope for.
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| Leobnerhütte, a mountain refuge, or a resting point for the hikers |
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| Dream food; Bergsteigeressen! |
After spending some time at the refuge, and trying to conceive what I just did in the last couple of hours I started running down to where I started. The bus was going to arrive in around thirty minutes.
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| The view of the bus station, Polster is visible up there. |
Selected song of this post is going to be a throwback to those nice summer days, where due to reasons I was obsessed with Italian oldies. I'm going to choose one of the most tender Italian songs that I've ever listened to: Minuetto from Mia Martini.
