UTMB TRAINING – PART 1 – VOLUME + INTENSITY

I’ve been signed up for the  UTMB (Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc)  for a couple of months now and I realized I haven’t really shared any information about the training and preparation for the race.

The event takes place this coming August 30th with a start in Chamonix, France. Organized by The North Face the UTMB is a 105 miles ultra marathon with 31,500 feet of elevation gain (more than climbing Mt Everest from sea level!) and a cut off time of 46 hours. At 4,810 m (15,782 ft) the Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in Western Europe. 2300 athletes will run around the mountain, going through France, Italy, and Switzerland. It’s the first ultra during which I will have to carry my passport.

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SANTA BARBARA TRAIL RUN…

I had just gotten off course twice in the last hour, it was noon, my heart was pounding, I was puking, it was hot, still a big climb away from the aid station. I was calculating: time to recover at aid station + who knows the conditions ahead + wanting to finish before 9 pm (we started at 7 am) = might as well stop now = where do I get a ride? One hour before I was chasing the guy in front of me and I was giddy at the thought of a sub-12 for a 100K!

 I quit a race yesterday – after about 30 miles. It was the first time I quit a foot race. It’s not like I didn’t make a cut-off or got pulled out by race personnel. I was plunging to exhaustion and was going to end up in a helicopter flying to the Santa Barbara ER (if only there would have been a spot for a helicopter to land in that dense brush and savannah of the Santa Ynez mountains). Quitting was right. I’m grateful I came back in one piece and I am satisfied with the way I handled every situation that arose. Although I can’t pinpoint what went wrong exactly I can definitely see the chain of events that led to quitting.

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Mini Miwok Maxi Fun

Since the first time I ran an ultra in the Marin Headlands the nature there became very special to me. Living in Los Angeles, which is a desert with a little water, the coast north of the Golden Gate in contrast is lush and moist, the vistas are terrific and the trails are well maintained.

I like to run two ultras there: the  North Face Endurance Challenge (NFEC)  in December and  Miwok 100k  in May. I didn’t report on the last NFEC last December – the weather was harsh (it rained so much – sometimes by the ocean it felt like receiving buckets of water in the face. I ran a sub 10 though and that’s a Western States 100 qualifier!). It was still a fun adventure.

 Last year Miwok 100k  was epic and a great experience. I was lucky to get through the lottery again this year. And it was equally epic although for different reasons. And also a rich experience.

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RIO DEL LAGO 100 MILES

After Miwok this year I was looking forward to running Pikes Peak Marathon but I was also looking for an opportunity to accumulate the points to qualify for the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc ( UTMB ) in Chamonix, France, in 2013. I wanted to run the  AC100  but it was sold out very early and they don’t seem to want too many runners on the course since they don’t have a waiting list. It’s already sold out for 2013 by the way…

A friend told me that the Rio del Lago 100 miler was a qualifier (I had to get 3 or more points before the end of the year and I would rather run in California). 2011 NFCE gave me 2 points, Miwok also two points (which seems abnormal but that is an issue that I will examine later) and a runner needs to accumulate 7 points in 3 races. Too afraid that it would sell out I registered right away. According to the  web site , it looked like a very feasible 100 mi run with reasonable elevation gain (2700m I think) and a generous cut-off time (34 hrs: what could go wrong? I could probably walk the whole thing and qualify for UTMB). The scenery looked nice and I heard that the course shares some trails with the WS100… legendary stuff, right?

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