I headed to the city center for the race. Had to take a bit of a back entrance to get to the city center, there's arrows leading the way but the main area was already full of runners at 5 pm, one hour before race starts. I wanted to be in the back anyway but if you want to be near the front, you would have to be there well before the 6 pm start time. I started back near the church. I was sort of hoping to see Jerry and start off with him but it was late already and I didn't want to shoot a text this late in the game. No need to add any potential stress at this point. I found it annoying that family members and loved one of the runners kept zigging in and out of the area where runners gather. Some pushed their way through pretty aggressively without any apology.
From the screens I could see a bit of the elite runners. Music started playing and the runners seemed pretty hyped. Did not seem like they were going for a 100 miles, most of them would be out there for 42ish hours, but instead a fun 5k run. I ate a gel and then the race started. It was jog walking getting out of the city. It was too crowded for anything else. The crowds were amazing, tons in the city and many were out as we left Chamonix on the road to the trails. The first three miles are fairly straight road and then it climbs a tad bit here and there following the river till it reaches Les Houches. I jogged my way through, probably near the back of the pack. Then the route starts to climb on road. People seem to start struggling right away and I pass a few with easy. It turns from road to a wide trail, seems like a ski trail to me. It is pretty steep but manageable and I feel like I make good progress. Then the steep downhill where I hold back. A few pass me and I pass a couple. I didn't want to blow out the quads just yet. Made it to Saint-Gervais in fairly comfortable and good shape. My glutes did start feeling a tad sore which was unusual but I was sure it would pass. I grabbed two pieces of French bread at the aid station and refilled water. I started with only 500 mL of water, one bottle and it was good to fill up the second one here. I continued jogging forward. It was fairly easy terrain and we got to Les Contamies.
There I found out there was only 10 minutes till the aid station closes. I got some rice in soup and moved forward. There seems to be an area where crew could access you. I wasn't aware of course cutoff times at all to be honest and had I knew, I would have pushed more on these easier parts. I started running more harder after this on the flats but the course got uphill soon. I made good time on the uphill but made it to the aid station La Balmc with 4 minutes before closing. Now I started panicking, I refilled water and was able to grab 3 pieces of oranges before I left. If I paused a bit I should have stocked up on food as I only had two gels left but I didn't think it through. I knew what items was the aid stations but didn't have a plan for them and how to restock with enough calories to keep going. We were required to wear jackets from this point. I was feeling warm but had to do it. It got cold a bit farther up so grateful for this requirement. I continued forward strong in my opinion upwards. Saw some cows with cowbells on them. The trail turned a bit rocky and less steep and I felt more at home here. I started passing people but eventually the trail got steeper and smooth again. Eventually my calf muscles, not being in this sort of activation for so long before started wearing out. I slowed down and it got colder. I took a break, put on my running tights and kept going. Took a second break and then on my third I put on gloves. Thankful to the mandatory gear as it kept me warm. Altitude was probably affecting me as well. Eventually I was moving alone. I couldn't see anyone ahead. I should have taken this as a warning of going too slow but it didn't register at the time. I must have totaled 12 minutes at break. I ran out of gels and soon got hungry. Looking back now, I should have packed a lot more food. I had the space for it in my running pack. I should have also gotten more of those 250 calories speednut spring energy gels or the 200 calories Trail Nut butter if I was concerned about pack weight. It kept looking like the uphill was going to head but every few minutes I would look up and there was still more to go. The stars were out at full force though and it was beautiful. Despite the dark I could also tell the terrain was nice. I made it to a checkpoint where they scanned my bib. The group seemed pretty quite, maybe they already knew that I would DNF soon.
The downhill came and I wasn't really able to make up time. From trail marker to trail marker I saw the different routes to move downhill and I sometimes took a 1-2 second pause to figure out the best one. Maybe if I was following people it would have been easier to figure out. I was comfortable being out in the dark with my headlamps to this point but now when figuring out downhill routes I was starting to feel inexperienced. I hadn't practiced running at night at all for the race. I passed 2-3 people on the downhill and made it the 50k mark at Les Chapiex. There I found out I missed the 5:15 cutoff by almost 30 minutes. I was definitely disappointed, despite not feeling strong in the last few miles I was no where near hitting the wall. I just need some time to refuel in calories and I was sure I could continue strong. My Garmin Fenix 3 in ultra tranc mode showed 36 miles and seeing the course profile showing that I was instead at 50k (31 miles) was a bit demoralizing and there was another good climb right after which more demoralizing. I stuffed myself with three bowls of rice in soups, some French bread, and Overstims bars. The bus to take us to Courmayeur was coming in a half hour so we had time to relax. The others looked pretty beat. I think I saw a few Taiwanese runners there with me, a stand with Hong Kong statement on their packs. The bus ride to Courmayeur took a while and there I got my gear bag and took a short bus ride to Chamonix. Courmayeur was beautiful and a bit of me wanted to check out the area, maybe take a gondola up to the mountain but I was sweaty and still ran a 50k. I wanted to go back and recover as soon as possible.
It was seeing cool seeing runners from everywhere but I didn't talk to people like I normally do in American ultras. Maybe farther down the line people would have been more talkive? That aspect of the race felt weird. The crowds however were super amazing and I enjoyed it more than any world major. I hi fived 20 kids in the first few miles, by the third aid station got offered beer three times and my name was called out more times than any race before and I didn't even make it to the 1/3 mark. Chamonix was stunningly beautiful. I didn't try to get a crew to come with me, the thought of having people traveling all the way to Europe, take a bus for 1-2 hours to see me for three minutes for 40 plus hours seemed like a way too much ask. Crew however would have been able to better supply me and probably knew what the time cutoffs were, could have pushed me to succeed. The problem with the race is that with one drop bag, crew's ability to resupply you is a huge advantage. When I got to Chamonix and realized how beautiful it is, I realized that crewing won't have been that bad of a ask. It could be a mini vacation. It was also difficult figuring out fun things to do when you are alone in a new country and all of a sudden have free time.
For something that went right in the race, I was happy with the Salomon Advance Skin 12 liter bag. A lot of kangaroo like pockets - my water, gels, head lamps, and bowl - spoon were easily accessible while the layers were in the main pocket in the back. I was happy with the pack weight, though I could have shaved off some weight with a long sleeve and wind jacket combo instead of a thick - fleece type of long sleeve but I thought the fleece be more useful if I actually needed it. I was fairly comfortable running with the weight.
For something that went right in the race, I was happy with the Salomon Advance Skin 12 liter bag. A lot of kangaroo like pockets - my water, gels, head lamps, and bowl - spoon were easily accessible while the layers were in the main pocket in the back. I was happy with the pack weight, though I could have shaved off some weight with a long sleeve and wind jacket combo instead of a thick - fleece type of long sleeve but I thought the fleece be more useful if I actually needed it. I was fairly comfortable running with the weight.
My trip to Chamonix, overall was pretty good price wise despite me doing everything last minute. I flew to Paris roundtrip for $400ish, my apartment reserved via Airbnb was $330, the race was $280 , transportation from Paris to Chamonix would have totaled about $160ish. I do think next time I would fly to Geneva and pay the extra to fly there to take off some stress of navigating the French public transportation systems. Food was a tad cheaper than NYC prices and much cheaper than food I found in Geneva but that maybe because I went for vegan only places in Geneva. I usually did two meals a day, a post run brunch from grocery stores and a lunch-dinner meal for Indian food.
I have new ideas for training and things to do next time. I would either invest in a treadmill or find a gym that has 40% incline grades or so (not sure if gyms would have that so probably will have to buy). I would also do more races focused on preping me for UTMB. Maybe a 100ks in the spring to prep the legs a bit, and more sky races in the US (or Europe even if flights are cheaper). I definitely think, as someone that lives in NYC and trains primarly on road, I could do it. Some thoughts for races to help prepare near NYC are the breakneck marathons, it gets 10,000 gain in 26 miles, a higher ratio than UTMB, Maintou's Revenge which gets 15,000 gain in 54 miles (about the same ratio as UTMB) and the Whiteface Sky race which gets 8,000 gain in 15.5 miles (this one is a bit of a drive but doing the ascent one day which gains 3,300 feet in 2.3 miles and then doing the full skyrace the next day seems like good training).
I however would not qualify for the UTMB lottery next year. I used my 2017 races to qualify for the lottery last year and this year. I didn't do a 100 miler last year and was planning to use UTMB to qualify for American races and perhaps enter the lottery again for next year (with the intention of probably winning in 2021). UTMB wasn't a dream race for me till I got to Chamonix and saw the beauty of the mountains and the amazing community. Now I really want to try again but I try to calm myself. I could run the Oman by UTMB race during Thanksgiving weekend which would kill both the North Face Endurance Challenge SF race and the California International marathon, in addition to a whole bunch of money, and bypass the lottery for UTMB next year. I still think I would need the points and that I'm not sure about. I'm still a bit confused about the new point system. The points are reduced to 10 points instead of 15. However, I believe that the point system is now by distance instead of distance plus elevation gain. Previously races with elevation gain kind of got an extra point. So a hilly 50 miler had 4 points while a less hilly one has 3 points (compare North Face NY vs SF, the NY has less than 7000 gain and SF has over 10,000 gain, while NY is much more technical and SF smooth trails, SF gets 4 points vs NY's 3 points). Now it looks like all 50 milers would get 3 points so I would probably have to do two 100 milers to qualify. That's a bit difficult to do in a year on my current fitness. I would qualify for the CCC lottery (33% chance of getting in) so thinking of doing that and perhaps the Val d'Aran by UTMB (really want to explore the Pyrenees mountains) on July 4th weekend to start the process of qualifying for the lottery in 2021 and maybe getting in 2022? Still easier than getting in Western States! I'm also thinking of running the course over 4 days, with 19 villages the course going through, it should be easy enough to resupply food and find sleeping accommodations for.
Really excited to try again but going to focus on finishing off the rest of the year. Next is the Berlin marathon, NYC marathon, North Face SF marathon and then CIM. Next year I'm already signed up for Houston marathon and Altanta marathon. I want to do Maintou's Revenge next year and will probably look to do Breakneck marathon in the spring to help prep for it. Have to decide about Val d'Aran, registration opens 10/7/19, with 10,500 meters gain I would have to make sure I'm on top of my vert game. Breakneck and Maintou seem like good build ups to it though. A winter speed focus on marathons for speed, then shifting to vert focus for a few months sounds like a interesting year!
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