UTMB 2017: so close to the start, how did I even get here?

UTMB, Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc, a beast I tried to avoid for so many years, and it is now around the corner. yikes! I am even deemed ready for it, not injured, all the mandatory requirement gathered, checked in as of yesterday, and even with the privilege of an elite start, so really no way to escape at this point. Even for the bad weather ahead.

But... how did I get here, this is actually a long story... shortened into the 6 following vignettes.

0. Prehistory

It started many years ago as a matter of fact. First, my wife has spent vacations in Chamonix every year since she was a baby so, when I met her in Geneva, we got accustomed to stay together here. Leaving in California since 1998, we only spend a few days every year but it always feel good to visit, this is such a unique place for people loving the mountains. I only wish I didn't lose my agility on the trails after I broke my shoulder 5 years ago. Since then, I've developed a fear of falling as soon as the trails turn technical, and there are plenty of them on the UTMB course, even more so dangerous with rain, snow and at night.

1. UTMB multi-year prelude

My first encounter with the course and the idea of running this beast was actually pretty amazing as I had the opportunity to tag along with the Lafuma ultra running team in August 2007; what a blast it was to share the trails with such experienced and talented runners! I titled my blog post UTMB training camp: trail review for 2008? But I then decided to focus on North American races since then. Due to the bad weather on day 1, we covered the whole course in 5 days instead of the 3 in the original plan.

In 2008, the excitement went up a notch as I joined Team Lafuma again but with a notable addition, Scott Jurek! However, I had a train to catch on day 2 of their program so only covered the first third that time (UTMB training with Scott and Team Lafuma).

In 2009, I ran almost the whole course in two days, but had to call it a day at Le Col de la Forclaz, fighting GI issues after eating a delicious cheese omelette at La Peule. I assure you, I won't touch any cheese during the run this year!

In 2010, I ran my own CCC, albeit missing the final climb to La Tête aux Vents and coming back to Chamonix through Argentière.

And, this Monday, 4 hours after landing in Geneva, I took the train from Chamonix to Vallorcine with my Silicon Valley mate, Mike Kreaden, to run the final section which I didn't know, up to La Tête aux Vents and through La Flégère. (Next three pictures are from Mike.)

With that, I can't say I don't know how tough the course is, I've been warned as we say... ;-)

2. The elite corral, really?

The news came by email last week, I was invited to join the elites at the start of the race, what a cool honor and perk. With 2,300 registered runners, I wasn't planning on standing for an hour or more in order to start at the front. Well, now I'd better start fast if I don't want to get hurt by 2,000 charging bulls behind!

How is the elite status determined? With the ITRA (International Trail Running Association) ranking which has almost a million runners in its database (close to 997,000 to be more exact)! It is actually this ranking which got me to run UTMB this year. I must admit, I wasn't found of the idea of running a single trail with 2,300 other runners, furthermore in bad weather conditions potentially. But, last year, I discovered that my ranking (785 points at the time) made me eligible to bypass the lottery (runners between 750 and 849 points get in and pay, those above 850 points don't even pay!).

I knew I couldn't maintain this level for too long. As a matter of fact, the ranking doesn't take the age into account so I'm the oldest of these 118 elite men, which is a fate in itself.

With that though, I really don't have other expectations than finish so I can put a check next to UTMB. Still such a daunting task ahead tomorrow and Saturday, and maybe even a part of Sunday...

At the expo, I met Jeff Browning who, at 46, thought he was the oldest in the group. Sorry, Jeff, in a few years maybe... ;-) Besides, you are still way too fast and strong!! Here we are in front of the booth of our sponsor, GU Energy (Made in Berkeley, California!).

23 nations are represented in this elite group, led by the host country, France, then USA and Spain. Many duels in perspective among these three leaders, and Hoka and Salamon. To my dismay, my sponsor, Brooks, despite having 5 different models of trail shoes, wasn't represented at the expo.

3. The inbound flight

After the good news of the elite status, my luck continued with an upgrade on the flights from SFO to IAD and IAD to GVA. On the second leg I met a few members of the Western States Board, Donn Zea and Race Director, Craig Thornley, here with his wife as we wait for our shuttle.

Great opportunity to sleep so I could have this run a few hours after landing, then be rested enough to keep working my first job in the afternoon and evenings this week.

4. The check-in and expo

Again, got super lucky on Wednesday because I was counting on staying in line for at least an hour and went for the checkin at 1 pm, while it was scheduled to open at 2, only to find out they had opened early, sweet!

For the non insiders: we have to carry a lot of mandatory equipment for the race and here is the way they check you have it, by random sampling. At check-in and potentially anywhere/anytime on the course during the race.

I spent the next two hours chatting with a few race organizers and vendors, most especially RaidLight which is now part of the Rossignol/Dynastar group and plan on expanding in North America. Even met with one of the employees, Sergio Fernandez from Spain, who told me he was an avid runner of my blog! Small and connected ultra world! ;-)

 Overall, except for the absence of my sponsor Brooks, quite a show of ultra and trail brands!

5. And, last but not least, the weather...

It's changing so fast, I'm going to summarize the randomness of mountain weather in three pictures, they speak for themselves.

Monday

Tuesday

Panorama from our balcony (with a trick, Mont Blanc being the lowest peak in the middle):

Wednesday

Thursday

Oops, the trend isn't toward my favorite weather conditions which are dry and hot. What about rain, snow and freezing cold instead...?


Anyway, almost midnight on Thursday, time to go to bed and, for once before such a long ultra, with the opportunity to sleep in tomorrow morning since the start is so late, at 6 pm. Pasta party for lunch then and see you at the start or on line! Bib #164, here I come to the wet party!

Last UTMB-prep long run: Playing in the Club's backyard

That's it, I have to be ready for the UTMB beast now, just need to survive 2 weeks of tapering and, guess what, these are not the easiest ones! ;-) Besides, the pressure is on as I just found out that I'm on the Elite Men list, oops! Oh, well, second, from the bottom, quite an old underdog, lol. (At least I didn't get noticed by Meghan in her preview on iRunFar, back in January, phew! But look at the stars showing up.)

I started the week taking it really easy with 10K on Monday and Tuesday, 5K on Wednesday after a good strength training session, and even a day off on Thursday. 15K on Friday and this morning before another flight to Dallas, but I still managed to squeeze in another ultra training/long run this Saturday morning in our Quicksilver Running Club's backyard, the hill Almaden Quicksilver County Park. That makes for 1 ultra per week for the past 4 weeks, albeit barely ultra distances for Andy Jones-Wilkins who doesn't consider 50K as an ultra if I recall.

Anyway, I've been racing 10 times in this park in club races ranging from half marathon to 100K distances and people must think that, being part of the local club, I must train a lot on this ground but I actually don't live that close, so don't visit that often. I actually checked my running log, it was my 10th training run there so 20 runs total in 10 years. One every 6 months, yet enough course variety to know all the trails and be able to improvise.

This Saturday, I started with the trail our club has adopted, the convoluted New Almaden Trail. Then right on Mine Trail toward the McAbee Road entrance, left on Senador Mine Trail, right on Guadalupe, up on Mine Hill including the detour on Providencia Trail, continuing on Castirello Trail after the Bull Run, continuing on the left down to English Camp, right on English Camp Trail the crossing Mine Hill to go on the Hacienda Trail and its steep roller-coaster, returning to the Mockingbird parking lot on Virl O. Norton. That first loop circumventing the park made for 16.2 miles which I had covered in 2:20. While the temperature was very nice at the start at 8 thanks to the foggy layer, it was getting quite warm now at 10 am. I refilled my GU2 and water bottles, ate a banana, grabbed a second Snickers bar and I was back on the trail, albeit having to walk on the steep Hacienda Trail. I was hoping to cover 30 miles this morning, before our Club picnic at noon but, with all the walking and the heat, it looked unlikely. I did push to maintain a reasonable pace but, thinking of UTMB, I was also less embarrassed to walk when I felt the urge as there will be a lot of walking in 2 weeks. I left Hacienda mid way to take the Capehorn Pass Trail to get back on Mine Hill, then the April Tunnel detour, back on Mine Hill, right on Prospect #3 as we do on the new Quicksilver 50K/100K course, left on Randol Trail then left on Mine Trail again to go up Bull Run, Castillero, English Camp, and finishing with Mine Trail, Capehorn, right on Hacienda and left on Vir O. Norton for a total of 29 miles, 5,700 feet of cumulative elevation, in 4:21 (9:00 min/mile). Not a spectacular run but a good long one. And I only twisted my right ankle once, albeit rather badly, a good opportunity to check that it is still super flexible and tender, phew! (It is that same ankle that I rolled and trigger my fall while training for Montagn'Hard early July, when I broke and badly twisted two fingers, one still being a mess after 6 weeks...)

Sorry that Relive.cc didn't manage to pick this run, that would have been a great flyover (short of having Jeff C following me with his drone! ;-). And a less boring walkthrough of my run than the above litany of trail names... which I went through for those wanting to do this long run and who are not familiar with the park (Strava activity).

I changed and washed in the restrooms so I could appear normal at the picnic at the nearby Almaden Lake Park. Great party organized by our Club Officers (Greg, our President, Keith, our Treasurer, Stuart, Members at Large and Loren, our Ultra Racing Team Captain), with a special mention to Stuart and Ellen, Stuart being BBQ Chef again to our delight!

Among 80 or so attendees were many kids from Coach Marc (Klemencic)'s youth team and also guests from our brother club of the Stevens Creek Striders of Cupertino, the club I joined initially in Cupertino and where I learned so much about ultra running.

The raffle was quite exceptional this year, with more prizes than participants, so everybody won, woo woo!

With that, I'm super glad to report that I don't have any injury after this long and diligent training, yeah! Just that the energy level doesn't feel like to the max, but I have 2 weeks of rest to work on that part. For one thing, I will try to get more sleep, this never hurts! We say that a big challenge running a 100-miler, beyond getting in, is to arrive healthy to the start line, time to dial down, it reminds me my first Western States, in June 2007, the same intimidation and apprehension in front of something I've never done before, a way to remain motivated and on my toes!

Speaking of energy level, did you see the sadly comical or stupid statement and believe of our apprentice POTUS about exercise? Here is an excerpt from a Washington Post article in May:

President Trump reportedly eschews exercise because he believes it drains the body’s “finite”energy resources, but experts say this argument is flawed because the human body actually becomes stronger with exercise. 

Trump’s views on exercise were mentioned in a New Yorker article this month and in “Trump Revealed,”The Washington Post’s 2016 biography of the president, which noted that Trump mostly gave up athletics after college because he “believed the human body was like a battery, with a finite amount of energy, which exercise only depleted.”

Exercise does deplete stores of glucose, glycogen and fats from the body’s tissues, but these fuels are restored when a person eats, said Michael Jonesco, a sports medicine and orthopedics specialist at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center. 

Rather than thinking of energy stores as a battery, “a better analogy would be like the fire that you continue to fuel with more coal or wood,”Jonesco said. “You need to continue to add fuel, or your flame will die. This is true whether you exercise or not. . . . Simply by existing, we are burning energy.” 

What’s more, although exercise puts a temporary stress on the body, the body adapts to that stress so that the heart and muscles become stronger and more efficient. “If we can create a battery that, every time it’s used, actually becomes more powerful and efficient, then sure, our body is like that battery,”Jonesco said.

With 75,000 kilometers in my running log, I hope I was born with a 1MW battery (10^9 watts, or ~ 239 thousands kcal!) so I can keep going for 95 years without eating... Seriously, this is just an insignificant piece compared to the disastrous rollbacks of environment preservation regulations, but this adds to the insanity our country is going through on the political and institutional sides. It is baffling that we managed to lose the collective intelligence and reason to run a real democracy nowadays and that interests or craziness of a few overrides the sustainable future of the majority. When are we going to wake up and act as it is enough, or rather, unbearable...?!

After this political rant, time to get back to work with yet another business trip, so I can free up my desk before the big dance around the majestic and intimidating Mont Blanc in less than two weeks now!