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Newsletter April

April was a rather slow month, not only because of the fact that I had the feeling things were not moving the way I wanted them to move, but also because the continuous traveling started to take its toll. I had tried to do as much running as I possibly could while conducting a security training course in Tunisia. Immediately after this trip on Sunday 13th of April, I had intended to run a marathon in Annecy but my body just said 'NO'. Lack of sleep combined with my travels and training told me not to do it. My body had reached its physical limits.

Apart from fatigue, I also became sick and had severe intestinal problems for a few days and this sorry state just weakened me more.

But I was more determined than ever to get back to my previous fitness and improve in the 4 months left before the race. A few bad weeks and a lost battle didn't mean a lost war. I knew that eventually these experiences would come in handy during the race where I would have bad moments as well. So I was not planning on softening my resolve and motivation. On the contrary, I will use these experiences to uplift my mental strength.

My recovery from illness was protracted and I noticed that my stomach had become fairly sensitive. But this is part of the game and as a matter of fact I saw it as an additional part of the training. After doing some research, I learned the following problems could happen during the race.

Your digestive system is going to be disturbed during the event through several mechanisms.

• The blood flow is going to be diverted towards the muscles and "noble" organs, and the digestive system is going to see its blood flow diminish by around 50%. This is going to be even more aggravated if there is also a state of dehydration. This reduction in flow is accompanied by an impoverishment of oxygen which can be responsible for little lesions around the cells of the digestive tract. Whenever the blood flow returns to normal when the effort stops, these damaged tissues can bleed (haemorraghic diarrhoea or vomiting).
• With the lack of oxygen, the intestinal cells function less well, and have difficulty in absorbing what is in the digestive tract. If water is not absorbed, it will eliminate itself in the form of diarrhoea.
• The vibrations linked to the race will shake the digestive tract and will have 3 types of consequence:
• the intestines are going to be tossed around and will hinder the breaking-down of the food, so causing an acceleration of the bowel movement.
• the insertion zone of the intestines can be damaged by these prolonged vibrations, and the arteries which cross this zone can go into spasms, so reducing the provision of blood and oxygen to the digestive tract.
• these vibrations can facilitate regurgitation of acid substances from the stomach to the oesophagus, leading to a burning sensation at the base of the throat, or sometimes to vomiting.
• The muscles of the digestive tract are also going to suffer from lack of oxygen, and this is evidenced by pain.
• The stomach is also affected. Diminishing blood flow will lead to an increase in acidity and a drying-out of the gastric mucous membrane which can lead to pains.
• Infections to the digestive tract are going to be facilitated by the altered functioning of the cells and a relative diminishing of the efficiency of the immune system during these very long trials.

(source: http://www.ultratrailmb.com/page.php?page=Conseilsdietetique)

So in a way it was not too bad to have a taste of the potential problems I would have to face during the race. Somehow it could very well be part of the preparation.

By the end of April, I had accomplished my first positive altitude-gain training. On that last weekend, I ran a 1600 metre positive and negative altitude on the Salève - a mountain just over the French/Swiss border where I had been several times in the past and which was now baptized my 'training mountain'. I covered the entire mountain length twice running uphill and downhill. It became very clear to me that uphill running was a different piece of cake and I realized that with 5600 metres positive altitude gain during the race, I definitely would require intense altitude training in the legs as well.

The Salève was a nice trail with a variation of steep and gently sloping tracks which gave me a good workout consisting of alternate running and quick uphill marching. The downhill running was as challenging as its uphill counterpart because it puts an enormous amount of stress on the joints and the quadriceps. It can be pretty tricky too because if you don't pay attention, you can easily twist an ankle and if that happens in the early stage of the competition that could mean an early elimination from the race.

The Salève (just over the Swiss-French border)

A huge part of the ultra race would involve running at night. This was another type of training that I needed to start. This meant I had to conduct hill runs in the evening, select and test the right head torch, calculate how long batteries lasted, etc etc etc

I also felt that I needed to start running with the running club at work to maximize my training. Not that my speed was anywhere near theirs, but training with these runners would definitely take me out of my comfort zone and they probably could give me tons of great advice.

I also had to try to lose weight. With my 82 kg's and 1.77 metres, I have a heavier physique compared to a runner's lean built. So I need to lose some of that weight in order to be lighter on my feet.

So training wise, there is still a lot to do.

On the website front, we had a bit of a set back with the donating mechanism, which apparently took longer than expected. However, the RMCC team and I are keeping our spirits high and we are hoping it would be solved sometime next month.

MAY PLANS

Work wise May should give me a little bit of breathing space.

Even though I will have 2 duty travels (one to Morocco and another to Atlanta) most of the time I will be in Geneva.

Geneva's weather has been getting better and I want to take advantage of such good conditions as I focus on maximizing altitude and distance conditioning in my legs. By the end of the month I aim to run longer distances and get as close as possible to the optimal fitness level required for the race and to achieve efficient altitude (positive and negative) and distance acclimatization.

© 2008