UTMB taper and tracking

UTMB is Friday. The entire “festival” starts today. So have a look at live coverage and tracking stuff now to get familiar with it if you’d like. Kind of wish I’d have gotten there earlier than Wednesday but what can you do. Myself, my wife, and two kids are meeting my older brother and his wife in Geneva. We fortunately land almost at the same time. I think everything is lined up as needed just hope the flights go off as planned. Can’t imagine there’d be an issue flying from London to Geneva! Car to Heathrow, plane to Geneva, shuttle to Argentiere where we’re staying 4 miles up valley from Chamonix. 

Triple checked my required kit and it seems all good. I’ll check in, get my race number, tracker, and possibly have a kit check Thursday. Probably wander around the giant expo for a bit if the family has the patience. Then just try to relax until the race start on Friday evening. 

People on social media will fold and lay their kit out all organized and neat. Here’s my kit lay, not too neat! No shoes, food, or race day clothes either. Maybe I’ll do it again with my race number.

Poor photo of my kit

Have been in full taper mode so running very little. A lot of 3.5 mile runs, one 10 miler. The 3.5 mile runs ended up being cat searches for our cat Rocky who went on a “vision quest” for 10 or so days! We’d had reports of sightings so we were frequenting an area looking for him. My wife put up flyers which had a fantastic response. We got him “unlost” and home yesterday. Looked like he’d gotten out of his home range and couldn’t find his way back. He’d lost weight and was super hungry but seems to be ok. He’s in full recovery mode, eating like crazy and sleeping. 

I skipped my final zone 3 hill rep session just to keep any extra stress off my knee. I always regret not doing more of these sessions. I do them on the treadmill and they seem very effective and I enjoy them, it’s just that treadmill sessions are tough because of kid interruptions and noise. My knee still randomly niggles a tiny bit here and there but doesn’t stop me or even hurt at all when running. Most of the time it doesn’t even hurt at all, it’s just that how will it feel after 80 miles? It’s the main thing that worries me. It’s a tendon or ligament from the steep up and down hills I’d been doing. I’ve got physio tape and a knee brace in my crew bag just in case. No ibuprofen though, NSAIDS are illegal at UTMB. So none within 24 hours of the race just in case I get drug tested! 

Cat search sunrise at the riverside park, Stourport 

The weather appears to be really nice, and on the hot side, however I’ve heard rumors of that changing. I like the heat, I tolerate it well, so hopefully it stays hot! Either way I hope the weather is difficult, many can’t tolerate shitty conditions, I seem to tolerate it very well. 

Not much else to report. Excited, anxious, ready to just get running! Then there’s nothing to worry about! Enjoy the experience and if things go well see how well I can do in the 45-49 age group! If you can sort the tracking do so in this age bracket. It may make tracking a lot more exciting. 

In case I forget here’s a couple links that should cover tracking in case you’re interested in dot watching or following along. The coverage is pretty full on for an event like this. I’d assume iRunfar.com will have solid race info and of course #utmb hashtag on social media will get tons.

Remember, age group 45-49. 

I’ll be wearing a yellow Alpenglow Sports shirt (I always race in it), white hat with black brim, orange shoes, gray race vest in case you attempt to spot me in the live feeds at aid stations. 

UTMB’s General Info on all tracking: https://utmbmontblanc.com/en/page/88/88.html

There may be mention of an app called “Live Trail” as well. I’ve got it on my phone, I think it’s mentioned in the link.

My UTMB Tracking Page: https://live.utmb.world/utmb/runners/1658

Oh, and I got my belt back, two stripes!

More thoughts on UTMB goals. A friend suggested throw out all time goals and just run it. You’ll never do it again, it’s expensive, and an experience. Took me a day to wrap my head around getting the race goals out of my head but I think I’ve settled on just run it. I still have zero idea what time I’m capable of, 28, 30, 32 hours? That’s my best estimate. 

I’ve secured a gps beacon so tracking will be the typical dot watching which is good. Very helpful for crew. Another expense added to the list. Also booked “UTMB” bus passes for crew and family. The race is so big they close roads down and have an extensive shuttle system put in place.  My gang will have access to the “red line.” Good and bad, as it’s another expense! 

Good to see things coming together though. Lots of added stress. 

Into taper we go

Selfie. I hate selfies. My second 20 miler back to back in 100 F.

Well I’ve made it safely through the process. I am officially within the window to begin tapering. 3 weeks until UTMB.

But I feel like I need to do more. I can likely get in a couple more bigger sessions but with the kids not in school time is limited. My wife has been extremely flexible, watching the kids while she works allowing me a few more long runs.  But, I’m tempted to do two more long runs with solid vert. I’m worried about the descending and am considering at the very least a bigger session focusing on eccentric muscle contractions used in downhill running. Trouble is there aren’t many steep descents near where I live and I really don’t have time to drive to Church Stretton like I did in the past. 

I do have a really steep and fairly long road I could use. It’s about 2.5 miles away and I can always just run up and down a bunch of times to at least get a solid downhill workout. 

Frog checking out my water cache

Since my last post things have gone well. I made it up to Church Stretton a few more times, once in 100 degree heat, and got in some great vert. I’ve been comparing training to the past and I’ve done more  long runs (20 - 30 milers) than ever. More back to back long runs.  More vert than ever. More speed work and strength work as well. My overall mileage has been less, but my boss reminded me to look at “time” not “distance.”  Very true, which has been more. If you trust the algorithms from Strava I’m 50% fitter than a year ago, and nearly 70% than 6 months ago, shortly after the Arc of Attrition. 

All the water I hauled in to cache on the hot day in Church Stretton

I have no idea if I’m ready. I’ve got to be! However it’s hard not to compare my training to others, but comparing to professionals is just plain stupid! I guess that’s maybe midlife crisis, viewing my abilities as a 20 year old, thinking I’ve still got that. I’ve got the focus now, just age/life is against me. Wish I had this focus back then. 

So into taper we go, gradually reducing the amount of training. I adjusted my training plan and it seems once I’ve done that I’m comfortable with what I have done. 

The big stress now is sorting out crew. With mandatory bus service and road closures it’s fairly straight forward how to get where. I’m struggling with giving my family a general time when I’ll be somewhere. A race of this magnitude is super hard to estimate my times. I’d like to think I can finish under 30 hours but I honestly don’t know. Sometimes I wish it was just me going alone. Far less stressful. Can’t wait to start and forget about all of it.