TransEspana Day 4: Castejon de Valdejasa to Fuendejalon (61km)

A tougher day today. An extra 10km doesn’t sound like much, but it means an earlier start (6.30am today), an extra aid station, and a fair bit more sun exposure from being out longer.

Leaving the sports hall in the pre-dawn, we formed a tango line along the long road, shuffling along, not really stretching out that much for the first section. I left with a thermal top under my shirt, thinking it was cold but that only lasted about 30min. I had to strip down to remove it (which proved entertaining for a few other runners, ooh la la!)

I settled into an early walk/run routine, trying to temper my enthusiasm to move faster. Had a great chat with Thomas, who’s here for his fourth TransEspana event, and is the organiser of several events in Germany, including Deutschland Lauf – 18 days across Germany, a little longer than this race. Next edition 2026. Note to self to completely forget that conversation as soon as possible.

We travelled mostly through farmland again today, quite a few pig farms too, the main change being that much of this land was irrigated, with viaducts criss-crossing through the fields and across the roads. It was interesting to see a number of fields that might have been growing rice (or something else very water-intensive) – many fields had been levelled out to create a stepped landscape. Still extremely green.

Shortly before Aid 3, we went through a small town and passed a Pharmacy. Yay! I bought a couple of tubes and some after-care lotion. Cost a small fortune, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it. The sunscreen I had been given was the spray-on-clear kind, which I’ve never felt all that great about (you just don’t know if you’ve got good coverage). It was great to get a decent application on, and honestly I just felt a lot of relief in knowing that my sunburn shouldn’t get any worse.

It was fields, small towns, aid station, fields etc etc today. The aid station food is working well for me & I’m eating a lot of bananas. My plan is pretty much to just eat as much of everything as I can.

I completed today in 8:17, with a target of 8:45. Maybe pushed the last leg a little harder than I needed to, but I’m also trying to ensure I can just keep in a nice slow running rhythm rather than get stuck doing long stretches of walking.

Tomorrow it’s 75km. Same the day after, with targets of 11h and 12h15 respectively. I think we have a 6am start, so it’s going to be a tough couple of days without a lot of down-time. I may not post the next couple of days, R&R is more important.

Starting to find a bit of a rhythm to this whole adventure.

• Wake 1h45m before the start,
• take pills & get dressed in my running gear
• start packing away my bedding etc,
• poo
• eat breakfast (available 1h15 before start)
• poo
• finish packing everything up
• poo & lube application
• run (the important bit … but doesn’t happen without all the other stuff!)
• finish
• find bags
• find accomodation (if sports hall, find a corner for myself and get bedding setup)
• shower (please let there be warm showers tomorrow, last two days it’s been cold brr)
• eat (there’s a “salad” after each day’s run, today it was potatoes, egg, veggies, with bread)
• have two Bix recovery drinks (really good for avoiding nighttime cramps)
• get organised for the next day (clothes ready, electrolyes etc, notes on course)
• do this internet stuff (if time permits)
• main meal (time varies). We’ve been fed really well so far.
• lie down to sleep
• stare at ceiling
• go to the loo
• stare more at the ceiling
• go to the loo
• eventually drift off (but loo at least two more times through the night, generally after being woken by snoring)