UKC

Hello ! 
I had fortune by the draw, so I will be at the start of UTMB. This will be my 1st 100 miler race and 2nd race with 2 nights. (1st will be UTCAM in June: Ultra Trail Cote d'Azur - Mercantour) 

I ran these races in 2017 to have right for registration: 
Transylvania 100k,  Mátra 115 (132 km + 6760 m), Gran Trail Courmayeur (105 km + 7000 m) and Ultra Pirineu (110 km + 6768 m).
By each of the races I made GoPro video and I edited a 15 minute long compilation-video about them: this shows it.
youtube.com/watch?v=FrmvD21nFqI&

Beside this I'm curious about which sections are suggested the most to visit and run before the race ? (climb and descent of Bonhomme, climb of La Flegere... ?) and how to prepare for do UTMB without sleeping, so running / walking both nights ( I plan to finish after about ca. 40 hours).
Thanks for other advice too ! 

Gábor


 

Get used to being out at night. I always felt sick at 3 - 5 am so did as much BGR, PBR pacing as a I could so I was out a lot at those times. The tiredness is huge. You need to know what food you can tolerate at those times.

I finished in 29 hours so only one full night but as that sun set a second time my morale crashed. 

Well done for qualifying! Now the fun begins

I've done both UTMB and TDS and never got the opportunity to recce the course at all. It's extremely well marked and tbh it really is a case of following the person in front of you. It can get really frustrating at time but unless you're prepared to barge past a long row of people on single track that's pretty much it until you get to the aid station where you can make up some places by getting out before those that were ahead of you. That being said you'll just end up behind a different queue of people!

Lowest points for me were climbing up Colin the Ferret (Gran Col de Feret) but that was in part down to the heat the year I did it. The climb up to La Flegere takes FOREVER! I had been warned about the number of false summits but really, there are flipping 100s of them! When I got there though there was a little kiosk open and I was able to buy an ice lolly which made me happy beyond measure

For me sleep deprivation is all part of the fun of the event, when I did UTMB all the rocks in the path were turning into little dinosaurs covered in tribal tattoos so embrace the fun!

Seriously though you need to experience how lack of sleep makes you feel beforehand and put together your own coping strategies. My lowest point is normally 3- 5am which is an absolute killer. However I've done it enough times to know that it will pass. As soon as the first light of day comes the world becomes as FAR better place.

Training wise when I couldn't get out and do hillwork in the mountains I hit the stairmaster in the gym and did long sessions on that, great way of upping your training and building stamina for long climbs (some of them take 3 hrs!)

Last bit of advice, you will be sat in that square for a long time before the race actually starts listening to some solidarity malarkey and watching a bird fly around.......if it's hot make sure you take some extra water otherwise you'll do what I did and end up drinking half your water before the race even starts!

Right, think thats it...........enjoy your training and I may see you at the finish, I'm doing PTL this year :-S