For all the dreams that disappeared with a torn cruciate ligament in the knee, one that arose: before the injury, Pau Capell was the pivot of the futsal team in his town, Sant Boi; after injury, Pau Capell is the best mountain racing rider in the world. By the way, seven years. From the age of 20, when the traumatologist prescribed mount to rehabilitate his battered joint, until the 27, when he won the Ultra Trail of Mont Blanc (UTMB), something like the Tour de France of the mountain.

It happened last summer, he became the second Spanish winner after Kilian Jornet (2009, 2010 and 2011) and this summer he was preparing to repeat success when the pandemic stopped everything. Everything? No, not everything. Despite the many canceled races, Capell has managed to organize a schedule of 10 tests until December with trips to Sweden, Costa Rica or Argentina.

"I did not want to lose a year and, besides, although it is surprising, I am in great shape. I think it happens to many athletes: it must be the result of the confined months of rest and the desire to run as soon as they let us go out, "he says on the phone after one of his workouts. Yesterday morning, 31 kilometers up the mountain and in the afternoon, a series session. Everything is little when someone prepares for a 170 kilometer race like the UTMB, which this year will also run ... even if it is not held.

This Thursday, The North Face athlete will face the legendary ultra route alone, with refreshments prepared by his team and a single goal: to beat himself. If last year it took you 20 hours and 19 minutes to go around the roof of the Alps, now you want to go down from 20 hours. The question is: What need?

"Last year, when I won the UTMB, I fell into a downturn. Now what? I didn't enjoy it as I should because I was left empty, without motivation. But I remembered Jornet's record of three consecutive victories and I thought about overcoming it. The coronavirus has forced me to postpone it this year, but I still needed to return to Montblanc with a personal challenge, "says Capell who, in some way, also recognizes that a similar question often haunts his head: Why do I run?

"There are days when I answer one thing and there are days when I answer the opposite, but in the end I am in the mountains and the conclusion is always the same: that freedom, that calm, that feeling ...", reflects Capell that, in fact , has the mentality as a strong point. In such long races, where the most important thing is to always maintain the rhythm, not go off plan, psychology usually decides the winner and the Spaniard is a specialist: if he says it will be a while, that time ago. It is an innate merit, it is a trained merit.

"I spend many hours planning the races and many training sessions to know exactly what pace I should take, what time I should do. For me it is important," analyzes the runner, 'rare bird' in his own way. Unlike Jornet and many others who grew up in the mountains, he always lived in Sant Boi - in fact he went to the same school as the Gasol brothers , the Escola Llor - and the highest peak he could see from his home was Sant Ramón, a hill less than 300 meters high. For this reason, to compensate for the low unevenness in his area, he soon got used to training between 30 and 40 kilometers. That is why now, after confinement, he has moved to Andorra, where he already spent long periods of time.

His adaptation there and his change of coach - from Laia Díez to Andrés Arroyo - will depend on whether he can win the many races on his new calendar this year and, next year, seek Jornet's record of three consecutive wins in the UTMB. Later, if it succeeds, it will be seen. "I still see myself as more of an athlete than a mountaineer. I still have many races to win all over the world, like the Ultra-Trail Mount Fuji, the Western States ... And then I may go on more adventures. I've already been in the Arctic running and The North Face tempts me with other projects. Time to time, "Capell ends before going out, again, as always, for a run.

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