Robs Blog La Saintelyon Ultramarathon
We stood 100mts from the start line with 6000 others, there was a buzz of excitement going through the crowd. The announcer was pumping up the crowd in French, I looked behind me and for as far as I could see there was hundreds of head torches. It was a couple of minutes to midnight and I was about to start my first ultra the 69k Lasantelyon trail race from St Etienne to Lyon. I was not nearly as nervous as I should have been, Ais was beside me smiling. This was only a "Short" ultra according to her, the gun went and we were off....
My legs were pretty sore even before the start from last weeks marathon. I had 2 layers of compression on hoping it would help, I had taken anti inflamatories before the start and my only worry was really that the calves wouldn't hold up for the distance.
From the first step they were pretty bad, I thought I might last 2 hours...maybe.....Ais reckoned the race would take us about 8 hours so it wasn't looking good.
The first 10k was all tarmac and a lot of climbing, I started to feel ok after an hour or so but as soon as we hit some steep trail climbs all of a sudden I felt great the legs were warmed up and all pain was gone. I was flying up passing people but at the same time thinking I shoukld be talking it easy this would be a long night. We hit the first aid station at 16k and refilled bottles and grabbed a couple of gels and didn't wait around as it was pretty cold. After about 3 hours of feeling great Aisling reckoned I should push on and she would run with Liam, I was a bit nervous as I had a long way to go still to start running hard but I threw caution to the wind and hit the gas....well a little anyway, I spent the next 3 hours feeling awesome, every climb I was making up places and flying on the descents. Over the next 3 hours I made up over 700 places and the buzz I got from constantly passing people was awesome, I knew at some stage I would likely slow but I enjoyed it as much as possible while it lasted. I didnt stop too long at the aid stations just enough to grab water and some bananas usually.
At about 6 hours the wheels started wobbling and within 30 mins they had come off completely. I slowed to a painful jog, all of a sudden all the aches that were hardly noticed when I was going well were becoming very uncomfortable. I knew that at this rate I would be seeing Ais shortly as she tends to do the oppossite to me, she starts steady and when everyone else slows down she is only winding it up. Sure enough about 40 mins later I heard the cheery "Hey Rob" I dug in and got up to the same speed as herself and Liam and they dragged me along to the next aid station, some more water and a gel and we kept moving. I really struggled on the climbs...and the flats...and the downhills too for that matter and knowing that there was another 2 hours to go was really tough. Having company though made a huge difference as I didn't really have the option of slowing any more and I wouldnt give in and walk (Except for on some of the the steeper climbs)
At about 8am the sun came up and we were into Lyon, the last 5k were very tough with lots of flights of steps and cobbled sections. It seemed like the organisers were having a very sadistic laugh at our expense. The last 20 mins seemed to take an age, I was so sore and just wanted to stop, crossing the line was one of the best feelings I've had racing. I cant quite say I loved every minute of it as the last 2 hours were really, really hard but it was one of the best races I've ever done. For the first 6 hours I loved every bit, especially the hills and cant wait to come back again but maybe with some more specific training done next time in the hope of not hitting the wall as early (Or like Ais maybe not at all)
Rob
My legs were pretty sore even before the start from last weeks marathon. I had 2 layers of compression on hoping it would help, I had taken anti inflamatories before the start and my only worry was really that the calves wouldn't hold up for the distance.
From the first step they were pretty bad, I thought I might last 2 hours...maybe.....Ais reckoned the race would take us about 8 hours so it wasn't looking good.
The first 10k was all tarmac and a lot of climbing, I started to feel ok after an hour or so but as soon as we hit some steep trail climbs all of a sudden I felt great the legs were warmed up and all pain was gone. I was flying up passing people but at the same time thinking I shoukld be talking it easy this would be a long night. We hit the first aid station at 16k and refilled bottles and grabbed a couple of gels and didn't wait around as it was pretty cold. After about 3 hours of feeling great Aisling reckoned I should push on and she would run with Liam, I was a bit nervous as I had a long way to go still to start running hard but I threw caution to the wind and hit the gas....well a little anyway, I spent the next 3 hours feeling awesome, every climb I was making up places and flying on the descents. Over the next 3 hours I made up over 700 places and the buzz I got from constantly passing people was awesome, I knew at some stage I would likely slow but I enjoyed it as much as possible while it lasted. I didnt stop too long at the aid stations just enough to grab water and some bananas usually.
At about 6 hours the wheels started wobbling and within 30 mins they had come off completely. I slowed to a painful jog, all of a sudden all the aches that were hardly noticed when I was going well were becoming very uncomfortable. I knew that at this rate I would be seeing Ais shortly as she tends to do the oppossite to me, she starts steady and when everyone else slows down she is only winding it up. Sure enough about 40 mins later I heard the cheery "Hey Rob" I dug in and got up to the same speed as herself and Liam and they dragged me along to the next aid station, some more water and a gel and we kept moving. I really struggled on the climbs...and the flats...and the downhills too for that matter and knowing that there was another 2 hours to go was really tough. Having company though made a huge difference as I didn't really have the option of slowing any more and I wouldnt give in and walk (Except for on some of the the steeper climbs)
At about 8am the sun came up and we were into Lyon, the last 5k were very tough with lots of flights of steps and cobbled sections. It seemed like the organisers were having a very sadistic laugh at our expense. The last 20 mins seemed to take an age, I was so sore and just wanted to stop, crossing the line was one of the best feelings I've had racing. I cant quite say I loved every minute of it as the last 2 hours were really, really hard but it was one of the best races I've ever done. For the first 6 hours I loved every bit, especially the hills and cant wait to come back again but maybe with some more specific training done next time in the hope of not hitting the wall as early (Or like Ais maybe not at all)
Rob