The over 50's

Never had any of the above that I recall but now I’m 57, I can’t remember stuff anyway. :smile: :see_no_evil:

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I’ll be leaving Area 51 in a few weeks and another notch on the headstone :grimacing:

But today was my 5th long race (3-5 hours) in 7 weeks, and a hard effort at a parkrun on a weekend in between.

I think I was definitely feeling a bit of fatigue towards the end last week and this week but quite pleased with how things have gone. Knew I wasn’t exactly in peak form as training had been a mixed bag given the races ranged from 3 long fell\trail runs with at least 1100M ascent to a pan flat 70.3 in baking heat.

It’s certainly helped me rediscover my enjoyment of racing, and to a point the training, even if I still aren’t doing much particularly structured.

Felt I recovered reasonably well in between despite all the walking on holiday but the lack of work stress would have helped. And other than general aches I don’t seem to be injured, hardly felt the stomach\groin but I do need to maintain the foam rolling on my left thigh area which seems to make a difference. I personally think the lighter days help with the general mood and recovery, and a bit more warmth.

No imminent races now so will try and get back to some basic training and may even have a bit of a plan in mind!

Next races are late July with two 70.3’s but I’m looking to change one as it doesn’t seem like such a good idea now to be travelling across Germany! But most alternatives are also in Europe or Staffs which is a PITA and on the G\F’s birthday.

But training for them with UTMB in the back of my mind is the snag! Although I think that will be a long day of walking.

Certainly been impressed\inspired by other M50’s like chickenboy, TRO, Matt as well now he’s here (sorry if I’ve missed others!).

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Good stuff Jeff. TBH, I don’t think ‘the back my mind’ is a place that UTMB should live. @tunster knows more than me me but walking that whole thing isn’t a plan that would end well, unless you walk FO fast.

UTMB slots are even harder to come by now and will be even harder in the future, due to the ‘Ironman effect’. Those other triathlons can be entered anytime and can easily be downgraded to nice training races.

I would do all I could to nail UTMB and then let tri cards fall where they do, at least this year.

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Wasn’t really worded very well. It’s fairly hard trying to train for a race like that round here as we just don’t have long climbs or descents. In my mind I might look to pop over to the Lakes for back to back days of long walks\runs but it’s more about managing the body! I think that didn’t help in late 2020 when I went over there to use holidays and do some walking and ended up being injured for about 18 months.

Walking would be mostly on the ascents and steeper descents. Will certainly try and do some slower running when it seems level and runnable.

I’m still hopeful it will be enough to get round, it’s the CCC not the really long one but I’ve got no idea if it will be 17 hours or 27 hours!

But I don’t really want to injure myself again. In hindsight I should have tried to do it next year but that meant keeping my ITRA points up by doing 2 Ultra’s!

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Yeah that all makes sense. CCC is what I qualified for (but obviously no lottery success) I did get a warning from UTMB that I was not likely to make cut off though, based on my times.

The whole process is changing and soon you won’t be able to qualify at anything other that a UT series race (with the exception of races like Western States etc). I swore up and down this would happen, as soon as they introduced those ‘stones’.

Then I heard an interview with the RD from Ultra Trail Snowdonia saying as much and that UTMB partnered with Ironman to leverage their expertise at monetising the UT series.

Bottom line, if I had a slot, I’d use it now before the goal posts get moved.

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CCC is a good race IMHO

Not so stupid long like UTMB but still a real challenge

Apart from the first long climb it is the same course as UTMB so very happy to go into more detail with my thoughts/experience if that would be helpful

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I’ve entered for this year so don’t have any alternative really otherwise I’ll lose the place and not interested in qualifying again with the changes.

Yes please tunster, I’ve read some of your previous comments and anything else would be good.

I know getting to the first climb and track will save me getting stuck in a long train.

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Okey dokey - thoughts to follow later :grinning:

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Do they coral you, or is it back to mass start?

Last I looked they were doing corals but that might have been because of Covid restrictions. I’m expecting more information soon about it.

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Corals would make sense, shellfish to do otherwise.

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Could be a great barrier to some though

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I feel like a right clown fish now!

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You have to make sure nobody tries to mussel in ahead of you

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Should I wear a crown of thorns for my mistake?

Looks like the CCC starts at the bass of the first climb

I really got suckered by this one!

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So, here goes:

Starts in Courmayeur so if you are staying in Chamonix get the bus across early so that you can get to the front of your start corral- be prepared to defend your ground especially against Les Francais whose elbows are sharp to get to the front. Even if your corral isn’t one of the ones at the front, being at the front of yours is well worthwhile

As has been said the first climb begins about 1/2km in - most seem to leg it to the start to preserve position and then settle into a swift hike

The hike goes on and on and soon develops into a proper conga line. In some ways, as long as you are forward in the line, the slow progress is useful to make sure you don’t bust your guts too early on in the race

The climb goes on for about 10km (very hard to replicate that in the uk) and really gets steep towards the end at the Tete de la Tronche (1429m of climbing in 9km). Once that is out of the way you get about 15km of downhill and then rolling along the Val Ferret - views are pretty special.

Needless to say get out of the aid stations sharpish. Don’t be afraid to hike the climbs along the way before the descent down to Arnouvaz.

Then comes the climb to the high point of the course - the Grand Col Ferret (also the border into Switzerland). It is a long climb with the worst bit at the start after Arnouvaz. The hike up the Grand Col is long and steady. Take it steady and you then get the reward of a circa 17km descent which does include a few ups but nothing to worry about. You really need to have worked on developing your quads to get the best benefit for this section without completely trashing them. In my view the quickest part of the course and where you can really make some time.

After passing through the very Swiss village of Praz de Fort it is the climb up to Champex - again a long hike which seems interminable through The woods before the trail spits you out on the road and you can see the aid station. You will probably hear the aid station before you see it.

The next section is really nice flat/gentle up/downhill to Plan de l’eu. When I DNF’d UTMB At Champex, I wish I had known who nice this section is - would have definitely carried on (the year I did finish we recced this part of the course beforehand and I was looking forward to this section.

The next climb to La Giete - steady trudge with sharp descent into Triente. Mentally when I got here I knew I was going to finish and only 2 climbs to go.

The climb to Les Tseppes is steep but if you have paced it right there will be places to take on the climb from folks have gone out too fast as this is where they will be paying for it. Nice descent after that with only the final climb to go to the Tete aux Ventes - nasty bugger this one with some quite large step ups required on tired legs which can be hard work.

From the top it’s a 10km downhill into Chamonix, the finish line and a beer

Sticks - most people will use them - my view would be to take them but be able to stow them in your pack/waist belt on the downhills. I find them helpful on the really long climbs.

French aid stations have their own special character - sausage, cheese, noodle broth - quite a bit different to the UK.

Cannot beat Chamonix in UTMB week - I absolutely love it. With CCC being over and done with before UTMB you can get to enjoy the spectacle of the finish of the front runners, go to bed, have breakfast and be ready for lunch while still watching the rest come in.

Any other questions just shout :grinning:

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Thanks for that @tunster I’ll read it again and look at where the climbs are in the race. Plan was always to take the ascents easy, but as you say descending is often what causes problems in the quads.

I’m guessing the tracks are generally wide enough to run, the bits I’ve seen on YouTube look like it?

How do they compare with some of the climbs in the Lake District, e.g. Helvellyn, going up the ZigZag path is just generally relentless rather than steep or difficult, compared to say Striding Edge

Nothing very technical and most of the tracks runnable on the flats and downhills

Definitely not Striding Edge - far from it

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