Why the ultra trail ?
What is then this
ultra trail
I've been talking about since a while ? The
Ultra Trail Tour du
Mont-Blanc is a mountain "race" of 158.1km and 8639m of
positive ascent (according to
the last
profile) in 3 countries - France, Italy, Switzerland. If I'm
able to finish (which is not sure at all !), I'll probably take 30h
to 45h to complete the loop, half of the trail being run by night.
The difficulty is more due to the ascent rather than the actual
distance. Obviously I won't run full-speed all the way long ! I'll
try to walk at good pace in the uphill sections and to run in the
downhill ones.
This sounds crazy isn't it ? So why trying to do that ? First of
all, I like hiking in the mountains. I like to see the as much
landscape as I can in a hiking day. I also enjoy running,
especially long distances (although a marathon is quite a short
distance in this context
). I like the challenges. I like to touch my
limits, and I've been a quite disapointed not to really see these
limits at the Belfast Marathon. So it was natural to me to be
attracted by such an adventure.
My training will be slightly complicated because there are no hills
around. I'll then go cycling to some hilly places and run
repetitively the slopes. My weekly schedule will look like the
following:
- running 3x 1h-2h (15km to 25km)
- swimming 2x 1h (2km) - the arms will be useful with the
hiking poles
- cycling 1x long distance (probably 150km or more if
possible)
- circuit training 1x - for fun
In the mean time, I'd like to put on weight to store energy - 2 to
4kg. This won't be easy with so much exercice ....
PS: if you want to see the pictures of the
London to Brighton
Bike Ride, don't hesitate to spam Rachel by e-mail or text
message to ask her to take her camera and the cable and the drivers
