Well I’m in the taper period leading up to the Arc of Attrition. Had a bit of a scare with a quad strain so missed a couple biggish workouts. However the threshold sessions I had been doing were HARD! So, not too concerned I missed out, best to get to the start over rested versus over trained or worse not at all. The threshold workouts were really fun despite the difficulty, the kind of training that’s an accomplishment in its own right. We’ll see how it all translates to racing.

I did less long runs this training cycle, mainly due to life stress, Christmas, etc. I’m not too concerned but it is a step I missed out on. The speed work was the big change. I do feel less prepared, but I think I’m blowing the race up bigger than this. I need to take it laid back style leading up to it. That always seems to work. 

I blew out my shoe yesterday which was annoying. So, new shoes a week out from a race, oh well! Still need to get them ordered through work to save a bit of money. 

My friends James and Greg are going to crew again which is cool. Very different this time though, crew is only allowed at 4 checkpoints and only one person is allowed. Kind of lame, seeing your crew is a lot of fun, but we’re on UTMB rules now. Everything is stricter, more professional, and much less flexible and laid back. Kind of a turn off on their events actually! I don’t think I’ll do another UTMB event, it’s expensive and much less personal. Another negative is the ridiculous amount of required kit. Ugh, it’s just running! 

Ridiculous kit requirements 

A couple positives I guess are that the race course is now marked, in the past you had to navigate, and this year there are 10 I think aid stations, pre-UTMB race directing there were only 4! 

We had a cold snap recently and I was fortunate enough to get out early, loved it!

So yeah, taper time it is. Nothing I do now will make me faster so all I have to do is maintain a little bit of mileage and recover from the past months of training.  

If you’re bored here’s a link to the race “runner’s guide,” pretty sure the link will work.

https://issuu.com/utmbmontblanc/docs/aoa_runners_guide_2025_v1.2_07012025

I’ll hopefully do another post for race day tracking but the key app is called LiveTrail, there’s already info up on it but this page will have a link to it. 

https://montblanc.utmb.world/races-runners/other-information/LiveTrail 

One last thing, I’ve entered a lottery! Zegama-Aizikorri is in Basque Country, northern Spain. It’s a marathon in the mountains. I’ve got very little chance of getting in but my buddy Greg encouraged me to try, watch this video and you’ll see why it’s worth it!