That didn’t go as expected. 😅
AMT is a 85km race with 4000m of elevation gain (EG). If you reach the finish line within a cutoff time of 14 hours, you can opt to run an extra 20km with about 1000m of EG. It is my plan to reach that cutoff and continue for the extra 20km.
Soon after finishing the Northern Traverse, I decided that AMT would be my next race. I made a training schedule and started training. At the end of every week, I completed this schedule with how it went and how ‘compliant’ my training was.
| week | training focus | planned time | ran time | distance | remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | build up | 05:00 | 05:58 | 51 | |
| 18 | VO2MAX | 06:30 | 05:18 | 60 | |
| 19 | 06:30 | 04:52 | 51 | ill: switched to easy | |
| 20 | double treshold | 09:30 | 09:10 | 98 | |
| 21 | double treshold | 09:30 | 05:25 | 59 | ill again |
| 22 | rest-week | 06:00 | 08:27 | 89 | |
| 23 | hill repeats + Piet | 11:00 | 11:45 | 124 | Zoniënwoud |
| 24 | hill repeats + GR120 | 11:00 | 14:18 | 153 | GR120 |
| 25 | taper | 07:00 | 07:24 | 78 | |
| 26 | pre-race | 03:00 | 03:12 | 34 | |
| TOTALS | 75:00 | 74:49 | 797 |
All things considered, I felt well prepared to tackle a day-long race.
I made two race-plans:
The race started at 05:00 after some waiting time in a (for what I’ll call) typical French race-atmosphere: a guy on a stage shouting in a mic, loud music, flashing lights, a big screen with a teaser movie, fireworks at the start.
I started rather at the front, within the first 100 or something. The pace is swift, but not too hard. The first couple of ascents I keep running with the others, but at the first steep ascent I switch to hiking uphill. I feel well and push myself hard. But I am too much in my head and not enough in my body, in my centre.
I don’t feel, I think.
I think about the cutoff time. I think about elapsed time and remaining time to the next aid station. I think about my average pace and try to calculate average GAP. I look to my watch too often.
In hindsight, I push myself too hard, especially on the steep descents.
After about 2 hours of running hard, I start feeling an ache in the foot joint of my left big toe. It doesn’t hurt all the time, but rather intermittent, mostly in the descents. At 32km, 4hrs25min in the race, I sit down, take off my shoe and try to massage the ache out of my foot. That doesn’t work as intended.
10km further on, in the last descent towards the big aid station half way (Petite Commune), I hit the dirt. Hard. Lying on the ground, both my calves are completely cramped and I cannot move. Another runner helps me un-cramp and getting back up. We jog the rest of the descent together.
In Petite Commune, I take the necessary time to rest, eat, drink and to take care of the cuts in my left knee. Time to get going again: this race is not going to end by sitting on my arse. But after the first big ascent, I don’t feel like continuing. I sit down on a rock and start to contemplate. I message Mieke (my lovely and supporting wife) about my status. She suggests me to think of what I can change in my mindset to make sure I can continue with joy. After some thinking, I decide that making the cutoff is no longer my goal. I want to continue, but more at an easy pace and meanwhile I want to enjoy my surroundings, enjoy my running. I knew at that point I could still barely make the cutoff, but I left that behind me.
I stand up and start running again. More in my body, less in my head. This is better! This gives me joy.
It is warm and humid. I drink a lot and rinse my head and hat at every occasion.
This second half, after my mental switch, went fairly well. I am able to catch up witch some other runners who passed me while I sat on my rock.
And then comes this news from the organization: They are forced by the local authorities to shorten the race due to the thread of a heavy thunderstorm coming to the region. The race will be 72km in stead of 85km and no extra 20km.
Gradient Adjusted Pace = a way of compensating pace for the gradient of ascent. ↩