I don’t only race on trails and mountains – I also train on this terrain. Last weekend the weather was almost perfect, so I laced up the trail running shoes and headed out for a run in the Bucegi Mountains, starting from Bușteni and finishing the loop back in Bușteni.
Training – doing a few runs every week – might seem boring, or like too much, but it builds endurance and fitness. It’s what allows me to take on a mountain course as if I were in a neighborhood park back in the city. In training I connect hiking routes that might otherwise take a full day, or even two, into single runs that are sometimes tougher than most races.
Saturday’s run was demanding: 23km in total, with 1800m of elevation gain. The loop started with Jepii Mici, a tough climb of 1000m over just 4km. I enjoyed every meter of it, keeping the effort steady without emptying the tank – moving up at a pace that let me take in the landscapes, the ravines and the blooming vegetation, which looked so refreshing.
Once I reached the plateau, the course became less demanding, and getting to Omu Peak is a straightforward plateau trail. The area near the peak was crowded, which is usual for the summer. From Omu Peak I started a long descent, around 11km, back to Bușteni. I completed the loop in less than 5 hours, plus around 30 minutes of breaks (taking photos, stopping at Babele Chalet).
On the trails I met not only hikers but also other people running and training. These are the people putting in the effort, racing and pushing for new personal records. It’s for dedicated runners like them that I built RunningLog, the app where race results are tracked – where each runner keeps a full history of their races, from marathons to 10k races and even ultramarathons.
