It's been a bit quiet on here since Western States 2021. For me, blog posts are a real labor of love. I want to pour in enough to the point where I'm happy, and I never felt like I had enough to pour out. Therefore, I will have a few updates sprinkled in here and there in this post.
My road (back) to TDS "Sur les Traces des Ducs de Savoie," or "Following the footprints of the Dukes of Savoie," began last year on Wednesday, August 25. I was back in Chamonix after my race was halted, and subsequently canceled due to a fatality on the course. Runners who were not allowed to continue to the finish were offered priority entry to TDS 2022. Honestly, I did not want to go back. I assumed it was my one and final time to race in the mountains of Italy and France, as I had taken advantage of the elite bib that was offered to me for 2021. I did come around, eventually, and accepted a priority entry. No elite bib, just a heart of thankfulness for the opportunity to go back to give it another go.
2021 vs. 2022
2022 has been a great year of running! I ended 2021 with a 3rd Female result at December's Hellgate 100K++, a win and 2nd overall at Harbison 25K in January, and my very first Boston Marathon in April. I was feeling like an athlete again after a disappointing DNF at The Bear 100 back in September. I was having loads of fun with my training partners as we shared in one another's joys and disappointments in training and racing. I love them all dearly.
Upon completing Boston, my coach put together a plan to help me go from marathon legs back to mountain running legs. I signed up for the Cruel Jewel 56 in May not sure of what expectations to have, except to finish well and with the confidence to proceed in training for TDS. 3rd female and 6th overall was a far better result than expected!
Sooo...
At about 92 miles long and with just under 30,000 feet of elevation gain, TDS is tough. The hype surrounding its gnarly terrain and long, arduous climbs isn't for nothing. It has been called "The Wild Young Brother of UTMB." It sucks the life out of entrants who actually train regularly in the Alps. It is necessary to train specifically for a race like this, with hours of climbing, practicing with trekking poles, and practicing on the most strenuous trails you can find. I feel like I had an advantage because my friend Will was training for UTMB. We spent hours putting in miles on some of the toughest trails in NC. I began assistant coaching cross country, I spent hours on the treadmill at incline, and Paris Mountain weekly runs were there for the taking. Altogether, these opportunities helped me get in the training I could be proud of going into such an undertaking.
I originally placed a time goal of around 26 hours, which was very ambitious! The day would have to be 100% perfect, and time spent at aid would have to be minimal. I would have to run all the "runnable." I really felt like I addressed my weaknesses during my training block, so hopefully it would show on race day.
Start in Courmayeur
Courmayeur, Italy >>>Bourg Saint Maurice, FR
I love a midnight start! For one thing, there are "only" about 7 hours left until sunrise. Also, there's the advantage of running with people for the majority of those dark hours, before the crowd gets too thinned out. For this race, I made a last-minute decision to begin my race way in the back of that crowd, and to not really race at all. As I walked to the queue to prepare to make my way into the first couple hundred runners, I just kept walking. What if I just had a fun day in the Alps? Could I handle not tapping into my competitive spirit? What if I just focused on doing all the right things to get me to the end? Perfect!
It took me about 7 hours and 45 minutes to arrive at the 50K mark. I was very pleased, and my legs felt great. All the memories of the long climbs from last year were coming back. I kept reminding myself to hold back and not put in excessive effort leading up to Col Chavannes, about a half marathon in. I would get the opportunity to put away the poles and go down a long descent, which would eventually lead to Bourg Saint Maurice. There were definitely some tricky parts along the way, but the biggest difference from last year is that it was all wonderfully dry! We ran/hiked all of this in the rain in 2021, and it was incredibly sloppy and hard to manage at times. The weather this time around was perfectly cool, and there was no need to stop and mess with rain gear.
Well, the sun did eventually rise, and I encountered my first personal problem of the day. On a descent around mile 29.5, I felt the familiar feeling of a bloody nose coming on. Although I was getting closer to the checkpoint I still had to take care of the issue quickly. Thankfully, I had packed some toilet paper in my pack. This would be the first of many times that I would find myself fumbling wth my pack for stuff. It's one of the things I can't stand about long races like this--the constant taking out and putting back of gear and other necessities.
BSM>>Beaufort, FR
For me, getting to Bourg Saint Maurice, about 50K in, wasn't really a milestone. It was only the beginning. From there, we would trek through amazing scenery and pass through forts (look up Fort du Truc and Fort de la Platte) along the trails that eventually led up to where my race ended last year. I couldn't wait to reach that point, the Passeur de Pralognan and see what waited on the other side. It's about a 5600 foot climb, and just over 6.5 miles from BSM. Along the way, however, I would come to the realization that it was going to be a very warm day. I began to feel a bit overheated and drank more fluids than anticipated. I was thrilled to come across alpine water troughs. There even came a point along this section where I was completely out, and the only way to get fluids was at a fort where drinks were being sold, and I hadn't brought along any money. I began to pray and ask God to provide a water source for myself and the other runners. Anxiety began to well up inside of me, and as a pretty chill person, this was disconcerting. We rounded a hill, and there it was: a beautiful blue trough. Cows are plentiful throughout these parts, and as we ran, we could hear cowbells far and near. They were on the trails as well, and city girl here is slightly terrified of large animals!
At the top of Passesur de Pralognan, where a man from Czech Republic passed away last year
The descent is super steep!
The rest of this section mostly kept us at well over 6000ft, and I could feel that I was putting in a harder effort than I wanted on the way to La Gittaz (~mi. 46). The downhills were extremely steep and technical. There were multiple false summits as we climbed out of La Gittaz and headed to Col de la Gittaz and up the Montagne d'Outray. By this time, I was really feeling the heat and altitude. There was a good size group of us piggy-backing off one another, and we finally did enjoy some running through very pretty forests down to Beaufort, at only about 2000 feet in elevation.
Surprise! Another nosebleed. A medic at the checkpoint cleaned me up a bit and sent me on my way, but not before I chugged some fluids and grabbed stuff out of my drop bag. I ate a little, used the bathroom, and went back out with some of the other runners with whom I came in.
Beaufort>>Chamonix, FR (finish)
From Beaufort, we would run on roads. There was more of this than I anticipated on our way through Hauteluce. We would be on a trail, then it would spit us out onto a road. I was nearing the 20-hour mark as we went up, up, up the trails leading to Mont Vores. The air was definitely getting colder, and the sky was getting darker, so I stopped and got out my gloves and wind shell. I also stopped to nurse another nosebleed, but it wasn't bad. It was around this time that I also experienced my first hallucination of the race. At some point, there was a wall to my right and as I was approaching it, I saw a super clear mural of John Lennon. I stopped just past it, ran back, and stared at it for a few seconds just to make sure that's what it was. However, it was just moss, and ended up looking nothing like John Lennon! The group and I rolled along to Col du Joly, where I ate a bit again before beginning the rough descent to the village of Les Contamines.
I was very much alone when I entered LC. It was dark, and I bet it would have been very pretty in the daytime, ha! I wasn't running fast by any means, but I was also trying to make sure I could find my way through the streets/parks/nature trails/whatever. This felt like forever, and I was a bit sleepy as I tried to keep focused on finding the flags that lead to aid. I remembered that I had caffeinated RunGum in my pack from when I got nutrition out of my drop bag in Beaufort, so I took one of those to fight off the sleepies. At about 77 miles in, I knew I was going to finish the thing. It was all just a matter of staying focused on getting to the checkpoint.
When I got to the LC aid, I was surrounded by a little bit of madness as those around me contemplated what was ahead. I mean, I could only understand the Spaniard, and he had a point. There was A LOT of climbing in the upcoming miles (over 2000 meters), and I would argue that they were the absolute hardest climbs. As we left, I had to keep telling myself that I could do this. I hadn't pushed myself super hard in this race. I never really red-lined. It was go time.
It was nice to stay in a little group that talked, and the guys spoke about how they had much faster goals for the race. We worked out way up Mont Truc, which I had heard was a long stinker of a climb. As we headed down from there, I rounded a switchback and came face to face with very large nostrils. I could HEAR cowbells, and saw one or two every few seconds, but they were at least ten feet away and not bothering us. This one appeared right in front of me, I screamed, and the gentleman behind me charged alongside me and the cow moved to the side of the trail. It didn't help that I was already having some more hallucinations, this time of little blue pictures drawn on the white rocks on the trails!
A few minutes after the cow scare, I heard a, "No. No no no no no!" As we looked off to our left, we saw headlamps going up into the night sky. There it was, the Col de Tricot. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit terrified. It is a nototriously difficult climb with 30% grades that makes grown men cry. It starts in Miage, and maxes out approximately 1.2 miles later after climbing around 1800 feet. In the daylight, this is apparently a magnificent place to visit. I could only imagine the views, so I later looked up as many pictures I could find to help paint a picture of the environment I was in.
It's a fun looking little segment, isn't it?
I feel like the rest of the route to the finish was mostly a matter of just moving well to get to the end. The descents weren't hard or slow due to physical issues, but due to the fact that the trails were just plain steep and technical. Our drop down to Les Houches at about 3200 feet, came all the way up from Bellevue at nearly 6000. I came across several people who were struggling with quad issues, some trying to make the steep drops with their poles. Looking back, I think I should have used them in some spots, but then there was the issue of really needing my hands to be free with some of the scrambling in the dark. This was a section of really rough ups and downs, and constantly hoping I was on the right trail.
From the time the wonderful volunteers said goodbye to me in Les Houches, the finish line was only about 7 miles away. Thankfully, this was mostly rolling trails and gravel roads along the L'Arve before getting onto the Route de Pecles which leads into Chamonix. From the Route, I made the turn onto Docteur Paccard (passing my apartment), then the left to the finish. It was a fairly quiet arrival with few people in the morning, and I'm good with that. I arrived in great shape and feeling all the emotions of having done something pretty epic.
I took full advantage of all gelato recovery opportunities
Gear/Nutrition:
Salomon Advanced Skin 12L vest & soft flashes
Salomon Pulse belt
Topo Mountain Racer shoe
Rabbit Summit Chaser 2.5 shorts
Rabbit EZ Tee
XOSkin socks
Leki trekking poles
A bunch of mandatory gear I didn't need
Long Haul Nutrition drink
Scratch chews, GU chews, GU gels, Spring Awesomesauce gels, RunGum
Bananas, baguettes, watermelon, and meat at checkpoints
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