TCC

Running is perfect for exploring. It's slow enough that you have time to take in the surroundings (especially if it's an ultra you're doing), yet it's fast enough to progress through multiple environments within a single outing, and hence to see lots of different stuff over the course of a few hours, or half a day,.. or so.

So what better way to explore Costa Rica than a six-day stage race down the west coast. Voilà the reasoning behind a February trip to Central America; a race entry to The Coastal Challenge, combined with a family holiday in a wonderful part of the world that we'd not explored before!

Stage 1:
I was told to watch out, "it would be hot". And these were indeed wise words of wisdom! But honestly, who listens to wise words of wisdom, eh? Feeling confident, I went out at "morning run" pace; 3:50/km should be ok, it's flat. We quickly found ourselves together in a group with Mauricio Méndez (Xterra world champ) and César Lizano (Costa Rican Olympic marathon runner, competing in the short distance event at TCC). Perfect. Perfect until,.. BAM!! heat explosion!

10km or so later,... first Mauricio slowed and backed off, in a (sensibly) controlled manner, then a little later, I heat-bonked in a (not so sensibly) uncontrolled manner. The first stage rapidly switched from race-mode to survival-mode!

After the long fire-roads, the jungle section and the river crossings at the end of the stage were more than welcome!

Stage 2:
Today was a chase. 2km into the stage we (leading group of 5) missed a turn. The Costa Rican chap (Eric) a couple of meters behind us didn't miss it, and he subsequently held on throughout the day to most of the 10-minutes he gained at this early junction. Until the last 10km of beach running, where Cody and I reeled a few minutes back. This was to set the pecking order for the majority of the race.

Over the next few days Cody and I would share most of the days' trail-time.

Which included stretches of beach running.

And a few communal baths.

Not forgetting to wash your face.

Is this a run or a walk?

Look up!

We'd run together before with Cody, but on totally different terrain - in Sky races across Norway and Italy!

Stage 3:
Today had an excellent first hour or so. No farting around on footpaths, we ran straight up the riverbed. Nice!

Finishing with a waterfall crossing: Power shower!

This was followed by some less-wet and some less-cool sections on hard, earthy trail. Little respite from the scortchio sun on these sections.

Mauricio was unfortunately having problems with a tendon in his foot, and he subsequently dropped out.

Meanwhile I look the opportunity to wash my hair.

And my face.

There was some more beach running at the end. Again, sharing this section with Cody made it a little easier.

Stage 4:
Quite a lot of fire road today. A big climb, some rolling stuff and then a nice downhill through lush jungle at the end.

Eric refused to walk, pretty much irrespective of the steepness of the trail!

Meanwhile Cody was bulking up his biceps with a kilo of fluid in the palm of each hand. Don't arm-wrestle him next week!

Putting that hand-on-knees fell running technique to good use!

I was feeling pretty good again today. Much much better today than I had done on day 1, with that ridiculous, self-inflicted, early heat explosion. However my ever-dodgy right quadriceps were not having much of a ball at all. Heavy and unresponsive. Which made the more techy stuff on the final downhill tricky. It was globally a very bad week for my right leg, which unfortunately turned out to be the critical factor limiting speed, along with the climatic conditions.

The monkeys were making a right racket on that final decent!

Stage 5:
Today was another long one! And it was to be my off-day. Wiped out and suffering from a dodgy tummy from the start (over-indulging on the delicious pineapple on offer?!), I had to battle alone all day today, whilst Cody made his move on Eric and got the big lead he'd been working up for over the last few days.

To get to the start we all jumped on a barge. Powered by a speed boat, attached with some string and propelled by one very small motor. This barge also transports cars, buses,...

Hold that head together!

Returning from the sea, after the estuary crossing, by rowing boat.

The parrots were good company, as we rounded the final headland into Drakes Bay.

Stage 6:
The last day was nice. A very enjoyable (and short!) loop, with some nice jungle, rivers and beach running (but not too much beach running!).

The podium was made. Cody had a comfortable lead, Eric was a safe second and I was in third. The order wasn't likely to change, so today was to be fully enjoyed!

Is this how you do it, Otter?

We spent longer than usual cooling in the streams we found en-route today and finally we finished together with Eric and Cody, on the beach back in Drakes Bay.

Photo credit : Ian Corless

UTMB 2019

This would be my third run at the utmb, after a dnf in 2016 and a 16th place in 2017. In my mind I wanted to improve on those two previous runs and ideally get a top ten position... But ultra running is a bit of a gambling process, with which runners can associate as much joy as they can deception and frustration... At the utmb, never count your chickens before the eggs have hatched!

Here's how this year's great-big-silly-walk went for me, split into six stages:

1. The start and the "warm up" run to Contamines
The start is just nuts. This year I found myself positioned on the start-line right behind two moustache-clad Americans. These guys have a bit of a reputation! I joked to Xavier that this was not ideal positioning, - they were not necessarily the most conservative runners to follow on the rolling trails down to Les Houches,... He reassured me that at least we'd very quickly have plenty of space in front of us. True.

2. A night in Italy
The weather was perfect this year. Which meant we could go right through the night wearing just a singlet. No faffing around with jackets and gloves! The night section takes you through some remote valleys of Italy, and it's a joy to experience. Legs are still good at this stage, and it's quite unique to run all night long, under the stars. At times it's not easy to differentiate between the headtorches further up the hillside and the stars above. Where is the limit between land and sky? I spotted a shooting star on the way up Col de la Seigne. I presumed that wasn't a flying runner, although it could have been Pau Capell?..

3. Dawn breaks and we wake to sore legs
When the sun rises it's spectacular. The first rays of light illuminate the southern flanks of Mont Blanc. However, it's also at this stage, approximately 100km in, that my quadriceps started to communicate that they'd already been going for 12-hours, - would it be much longer? The reply I gave them was "yes"!

4. The last 3-peaks marathon
When you arrive in Champex it feels like you've got the bulk of the course under your belt. It's here that you can entertain thoughts of finishing. That said, it's still a long way to go - about a "normal" trail race distance left, in fact. The difference being that you're starting these last 45km / 3000mD+ with a warm-up jog of approximately 125km / 7000mD+. Which makes for a rather long warm-up. So now a game of psychology commences.. Your legs tell you they hurt. You try to think of something else. Your legs tell you they hurt. You try to persuade yourself that it doesn't matter. Your legs tell you they hurt. And it goes on like this for around six hours. And this is the essence of ultra running!! :-)

5. The finish
Oh wow, what a nice feeling! All that agony is well worthwhile after all! 22+ hours of blood, sweat and tears for 5-minutes of high-fiving!! haha! No, seriously... The finish line in Chamonix can be an emotional one. And I can see why. Running (and walking) one hundred miles is one hell of a feat, and it sure feels good to complete that challenge. It's a scary and an ambitious thing to contemplate, running all day long (or for some people - two days long), so to get round is understandably highly satisfying! In any case, I was happy to make more of a success of it on this, my third attempt at the distance. Enjoy the moment (because tomorrow you'll be in pain again)!

high-fiving into Chamonix, in 5th position / photo: jan nyka

6. The aftermath
Ultra-running is a very faffy version of running. What's particularly appealing about running is its simplicity. Shoes, vests, shorts,... go! Ultra-running is a different kettle of fish. This year I improved my feeding strategy by integrating ham risottos, sweet-potato and roast chicken purées, rice puddings,... and these I conveniently housed in my soft flasks. Which was all very well and nice and practical... until it comes to washing up!!

Gran Paradiso

The Royal Ultra Skymarathon Gran Paradiso goes by a rather long name. But that's not the only thing with makes this race stand apart!

Starting on a damn at 2000m of elevation, you go straight up the mountainside, immediately gaining another 1000m. Crampons are compulsory going over the col, which is cool on the up, but a bit messy on the rocks going down the other side!

The race course then proceeds to go up and down, along a bit, but mainly up and down, until you've cumulated 4000m of elevation on your watch. At which point you drop down to the lake-side finish in Ceresole Reale.

Sky running is about running at altitude. And that's one of its excellent defining attributes! But living at sea-level and racing straight up to 3000m can make your head feel at a little light :-)

I loved this race and I felt quite strong most of the day. Other than some patches of altitude light-headedness, it was only my dodgy right quad which was impinging my progress over the rocks, snow and grassy pastures of Gran Paradiso National Park.

It's been six years now that I've been running with this oddness in my right leg. Most of the time I try to ignore it and don't talk about it, but at Gran Paradiso it was very much present, and more annoying than usual!

My right Vastus Medialis (the inner bit of muscle near the knee) was weak and weird from the start, making foot placement tricky on an already challenging course. On the ups, it feels heavy and almost a bit numb to lift, and on the down I don't have the same confidence I used to have that the muscle will hold out, correctly absorbing my downwards motion. Every step on the left is fine, every step on the right is timid and apprehensive. The weakness in the Vastus Medialis then moves around the adjacent quadricep muscles before pulling hard on the hip flexor, where I often now get tendonitis.

But no complaining! Enjoy the scenery!

(sometimes easier said than done)

As the hours passed I pulled through from 12th in the early stages of the race to 5th by the finish. Steady progress, "assisted" perhaps by a slow start due to the odd quad. Some of the other runners bonked quite spectacularly on the last climbs! Not always a joy to observe, but nice to pull back a few places :-)

I did spend a lot of the day mulling over which sort of running I should now be best doing. I've always taken pleasure in mixing it up - it's one of the reasons I love running: you can do all kinds of circuits, from grassy fells to rocky mountaintops, through muddy trails, long, short, ultra-long, fast, slow, nordic walking !... The sport of off-road running is a mess as federations and brands fight for control (and often money), but it does mean there's a lot of variety out there to choose from!

Since the beginnings of this strange leg thing I've mixed up my ideas and annual race calendars between rolling trails, ultras, techy sky races,.. partly in search of the discipline which might be the less restrictive for my right quad. Ultras were the obvious choice as beyond 10+ hours of forwards motion everyone's bodies are so utterly destroyed that what's a funny right quad to all that! I figured that if you're sufficiently smashed up, a weak quadricep is eventually absorbed by other problems. This is half true. But in any case, sky running is more fun, right!

Enough complaining. It's still incredibly good fun to spend time in these places, running over these spectacular courses. Good leg or bad leg, nothing beats a morning running through paradise, and being joined by the kids for the last 100m.

:-)

(My son is not sponsored by Nike ;-)

Recovery is so easy in the mountains. Lakes are good.

Snow-melt rivers are even better!

Next stop, a nordic walk around Europe's highest mountain :-)

Templiers

LES TEMPLIERS

La course en 6 étapes :

1. Le départ

Le ciel est noir mais les frontales de 2500 coureurs,

la fumé rouge et la musique forte crée une certaine ambiance !

2. La nuit

Les 24 premiers kilomètres vont vite.

Les frontales zigzaguent le long d'une piste forestière.

On ne croise pas grand monde par là.

3. L'aube

Dans la montée après Peyreleau le ciel noir est percé par des éclats d'orange.

Les falaises, les blocs et les tours de rocher sont dessinés par de la nouvelle lumière,

non-seulement de la frontale, mais aussi du début du jour.

C'est un moment magique.

Quel bonheur d'évoluer sur les sentiers à ce moment là.

Les jambes sont encore bonnes et le paysage est merveilleux.

4. Le dernier tiers

Au bout d'un certain temps de course le corps s'épuise.

Idéalement ça arrive juste avant l'arrivée,

mais plus typiquement c'est quelque part dans la deuxième moitié du parcours.

Vers le soixantième kilomètre ma cuisse droite, qui se plaignait toute la matinée,

a fini par bloquer. Le muscle était dur, raide et il ne m'était plus possible d'avancer à la même allure.

Il n'y a plus que deux heures à parcourir,

mais on sait que ce sera les deux heures les plus dures.

5. La montée au pylône

Les trois dernières montées sont les plus raides.

C'est un moment de souffrance pour beaucoup.

Les coureurs ralentissent.

Je n'avais plus les jambes fraîches comme avant,

mais j'ai constaté que les autres n'étaient pas mieux !

On continue comme on peut, l'arrivée approche.

6. L'arrivée

La dernière descente n'est pas du goût de tout le monde.

Elle est raide, boueuse, jamais facile.

Je l'aime bien !

On sent presque l'aligot et les saucisses cuire dans la tente d'arrivée.

Cette arche en bois marque la fin d'une belle matinée de "trail".

Je termine 4ème, doublant plusieurs concurrents dans les 7 derniers kilomètres.

Le passage entre 60 et 70km avait été dur. J'étais un peu déçu et irrité d'avoir eu la cuisse coincée, plus que d'habitude, mais ce moment de déception est finalement compensé par une bonne fin de course, passant de 9ème à 4ème en peu de temps. Il faut jamais rien lâcher à la fin ! Mais c'est plus facile à dire qu'à faire parfois !

Résultats : www.festivaldestempliers.com

Trail de Saint Didier 2018

Le Trail de Saint Didier s'est inscrit dans mon calendrier comme le rendez-vous habituel qui marque le début d’automne ! Avec quatre participations maintenant, c'est la course à laquelle j'ai le plus participé en france (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018). Quatre participations, mais jamais le même parcours ! Et bien que la course se déroule à deux pas de la maison, tous les ans les organisateurs arrivent à nous sortir un bout de chemin que je  n'avais jamais vu auparavant ! Et cette année ils ont été encore plus loin, en créant de nouveaux passages (ou en ouvrant des vieux trucs quasi-fermés) sous les falaises sous Venasque par exemple, et en rajoutant en bonus quelques belles descentes très raides, sur la roche de la Croix de St Gens ou dans la boue de Camp Long. Bref, le parcours était un vrai régal !

La croix de St Gens

Mon idée été de me servir de ce trail comme une dernière sortie moyenne-longue et moyenne-rapide avant mon prochain objectif (les Templiers), et aussi de profiter d'une belle matinée avec ma famille et des amis traileurs locaux sur des sentiers trop beaux à une poignée de kilomètres de la maison.

Confirmation comme quoi il y avait de la boue !

Pierre-Hugo a la malchance de devoir se mesurer à Elliot en sprint !

L'un des passages les plus secs et roulants !

Courir dans la boue - ça donne le sourire !

results 2018

Le parcours