The dust has now settled on our Transalpine Race which we completed 5 weeks ago today. During the recovery period, we've had the opportunity to relax and enjoy the achievement, but also to reflect on the race. My thoughts here are to document the things that went well, went badly and what we learnt with a view to how we would approach things differently next time - should there by a next time! [And I think there will.]
This should in no way distract from the immense achievement of finishing the race, placing beyond our expectations in 13th overall and enjoying every (non-pain inducing) step of the journey, but there's always ways to improve and look forward to the next adventure.
Pacing (after day 1 at least!)
This should in no way distract from the immense achievement of finishing the race, placing beyond our expectations in 13th overall and enjoying every (non-pain inducing) step of the journey, but there's always ways to improve and look forward to the next adventure.
What went well
Peaking at the race
Despite starting the year with a few injuries and lack of form, both of us started the race fresh and injury free. The build up wasn't ideal, but combining the endurance base from the Bob Graham training and success, with a short specific tailoring phase and a well executed taper meant that we toed the start line in good shape for what lie ahead.
Recovery
We'd thought about this beforehand and so had a rough plan to follow each day. Still, the first few days were agony, but by day 4 or 5 the soreness was subsiding and the muscles felt a lot better. Our main aims in recovery were to limit the damage caused during the day and then kick off the healing and refuelling process as best we could, ready for the next onslaught.
This involved hydrating and eating pretty much as soon as we finished to get all the right building blocks in the system and to help carry out all the crap. We then tried our best to find a suitable ice bath to really flush out the toxins and reduce any swelling. We succeeded most days with the, sometimes ornate, town square centre pieces often becoming a make shift ice bath. If not, there was access to a fast flowing and perishingly cold glacial stream.
Back at the camp we followed the same principles; getting protein and hydration in the form of powdered milkshakes and protein bars; then some stretching/foam roller action before squeezing into our compression gear. Again, an attempt at keeping the swelling down and the good blood flowing. If we could, we'd get gravity on our side too by raising our increasingly chubby feet, ankles, legs up as high as possible. More food and more hydration would then follow at the pasta party.
The last part of the recovery process was to get some decent shut eye. Towards the end of the week this wasn't too difficult as the hours racked up but early on, the ear plugs and face masks/buffs were just what was needed. [Not that they helped when sleeping in a school corridor with motion detection lights coming on every other minute!!]
Peaking at the race
Despite starting the year with a few injuries and lack of form, both of us started the race fresh and injury free. The build up wasn't ideal, but combining the endurance base from the Bob Graham training and success, with a short specific tailoring phase and a well executed taper meant that we toed the start line in good shape for what lie ahead.
Recovery
We'd thought about this beforehand and so had a rough plan to follow each day. Still, the first few days were agony, but by day 4 or 5 the soreness was subsiding and the muscles felt a lot better. Our main aims in recovery were to limit the damage caused during the day and then kick off the healing and refuelling process as best we could, ready for the next onslaught.
This involved hydrating and eating pretty much as soon as we finished to get all the right building blocks in the system and to help carry out all the crap. We then tried our best to find a suitable ice bath to really flush out the toxins and reduce any swelling. We succeeded most days with the, sometimes ornate, town square centre pieces often becoming a make shift ice bath. If not, there was access to a fast flowing and perishingly cold glacial stream.
Back at the camp we followed the same principles; getting protein and hydration in the form of powdered milkshakes and protein bars; then some stretching/foam roller action before squeezing into our compression gear. Again, an attempt at keeping the swelling down and the good blood flowing. If we could, we'd get gravity on our side too by raising our increasingly chubby feet, ankles, legs up as high as possible. More food and more hydration would then follow at the pasta party.
The last part of the recovery process was to get some decent shut eye. Towards the end of the week this wasn't too difficult as the hours racked up but early on, the ear plugs and face masks/buffs were just what was needed. [Not that they helped when sleeping in a school corridor with motion detection lights coming on every other minute!!]
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| Ice bath-ing with Ryan and Ben (AKA The Reservoir Dogs) |
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| Camp recovery |
We tried to run at a sustainable pace each day and the effort matched the incline and terrain we were running on. This meant that most days we would run into the finish pretty much spent, but most importantly we hadn't massively blown up earlier in the day. Any small dips in energy were quickly dealt with, with Jelly Babies or gel together with a suitable adjustment in pace.
Race plan
Right from day 1 we had in mind that this was an 8-day race. Pushing too hard at the start was a sure way to pick up injuries or general fatigue and plummet down the rankings. We therefore ran our own race each day and didn't get enthralled in too much day by day racing (unless the net result was being 'chicked' of course!). As vast numbers of teams started to drop out we settled into a pack of similar runners and our day by day positions remained fairly static until the last couple of days when injuries slowed us down. Not that this mattered as we had built up a decent time buffer over the teams behind us in the first two thirds of the race.
Even better if
Shoe choice
We both suffered with our feet, but for completely different reasons. In the weeks leading up to the race we concluded that our regular fell shoes (inov8 x-talons and Mudclaws) would not be the most appropriate for the mainly hard packed trails we expected. We needed shoes with a bit more cushioning for the punishing descents, robust soles with good grip but also for the shoes to be as light as possible. We would have to lift these up 15000m of climb when all said and done.
We both settled on Adidas Kanadias and ordered these in the weeks leading up to the event. Whilst Andy fitted into his fairly comfortably, I struggled on the first few outings. This is something I should've pre-empted as I often have issues with new shoes for the first few runs. Ultimately I'd left it too late to break them in properly and as a result had to go with my inov8 roclites.
These definitely fitted the grip and weight requirements but the '2-arrow' profile meant next to no cushioning. During the race, this lack of protection meant that my knees took more of a battering than they should've done. However the biggest problem turned out to be the low cut of the laces which bruised the top of my toes. Progressively this got more and more painful until I was popping the vitamin I every morning before the off.
Fortunately, I managed to avoid the most common complaints from footwear, blister and battered toenails. Andy wasn't so lucky. The Kanadias didn't stop some gargantuan blisters forming on the soles of his feet and an undue amount of pressure on the toenails.
The lesson here is clearly to get your footwear sorted well in advance and ensure they are broken in and tested on the type of terrain they will be used on, obvious really! I think I'd also recommend having a variety of shoes (as many of the competitors at the front end of the race had). Then selections can be made on the anticipated terrain and weather. Indeed, in the dry, even regular road shoes would've been fine.
Specificity in training
Finding similar terrain in the UK is always going to be a challenge. We certainly don't have altitude or the long climbs. Even hilly hard packed trails of more than a few miles are hard to come by. The Lakes come close, but I'd say this is limited to the height of summer when all the puddles have dried up. I think the coastal paths of the South West, the trails up, down and around Snowdon and the forest trails of Keilder Forest would be a good mix. Of course, they are so far apart you'd have to pick your terrain and then pick your weekend.
With tackling events such as the Fellsman, LAMM and SLMM earlier in the year, we focused more on the general fitness and endurance rather than the terrain. Not to forget the Bob Graham round. Unfortunately all of these involve running on pretty much the roughest terrain available and the climbs are often not runnable. This is where specific terrain and distance would've come in very useful.
Whilst we had a good two months after the SLMM before the Transalpine; holidays, other events and the Olympics meant that we simply didn't have the time to get out to specific terrain. If we were to run the Transalpine again, I think I'd pencil in a couple of weekends and head for some specific terrain. Even an extended weekend in the Alps would be feasible and of course, offer the most specific training imaginable.
Kit weight
This is a minor one, but we did stick diligently to the specified race kit list, at least for the first few stages. Our experience of '4-seasons in one day' in the Lakes and Scotland meant that we were prepared for anything. Indeed, had the weather really 'come in' on those first few days we would've been in our element.
It appeared many of the Europeans were cutting kit pretty close to the bone. Extensive first aid kits were replaced by the odd sticking plaster, 'waterproof' jackets were replaced by featherlite pertex windproofs and as for the 1 litre water container, well, maybe they were carrying a plastic bag?
We gradually ditched parts of our kit as the event progressed and the kit check became more of a question of having some kit, full stop. Although, we always had what we felt we might need, making choices largely on the weather forecast.
This would've been a sensible approach right from the start and may have provided a marginal gain on the first few days results. Of course, by the end of the week, the time gaps were vast and a few grams here and there wouldn't have made the difference.
I'm not quite so sure this principle applies to Mountain Marathons....
