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How I became a skyrunner in the Carpathians: training, start and result
How I became a skyrunner in the Carpathians: training, start and result
Anonim

Today I will tell you about my first mountain race Chornohora Sky Race 2016. It was not an ultra marathon, but more than a half marathon, with a set of 1,400 meters over 23 kilometers. It was cool and very vertical in places. But first things first.

How I became a skyrunner in the Carpathians: training, start and result
How I became a skyrunner in the Carpathians: training, start and result

In general, mountain races are very different from both city road running and my favorite triathlon. At city starts - marathons and half marathons - you know exactly what the route will be. It's pretty clear what the weather will be like. The landscape is also 100% known. Moreover, you can read a lot of reports and plan the race normally. The same is true for long triathlons. They are often diversified by an unexpected wind at the cycle stage, the sea can be agitated, and the waves spoil or help with their movement. And even at the swimming stage, you may be kicked and kicked a little by your starting colleagues. The main work of triathlon is careful planning of nutrition, hydration and the ability to quickly pass the transition zones.

So, in mountain running, almost nothing can be predicted: the route can change hours before the start, as it was with us. The temperature can fluctuate by tens of degrees, and dressing correctly is unrealistic in principle. In the mountains, everything has extreme states: if it is raining, then a downpour, if not a downpour, then hail, if it is wet, then streams, if it is hot, then you melt and flow, as if you had not trained before at all.

Impressed? If yes, then here is my story of the start and full delight of this sports discipline!

Workout

Skyrunning: training
Skyrunning: training

I live in Kiev, and therefore I have no opportunity to train in full-fledged mountains. Those who say that Kiev is a hilly city simply do not understand what they are talking about. These are not hills, but just piles of land. I trained in the Goloseevsky forest. I have never climbed more than 300-400 meters per workout. But the training was high-speed and interval, which in the end worked well and compensated for the lack of real mountains.

Two days before the start

I was in the Carpathians in advance. Two days before the start in the hellish heat, my friend, an ultra-Marathon player with experience, offered to show me the mountains. We scored 1,150 meters on foot with a run. I had a panic. It turned out that I had no idea what I signed up for! What I had to do in a day - to reach an altitude of 1,400 meters at race speed - scared me a lot. But the Carpathian cold springs and Hutsul liqueur had their calming effect, and I cooled down.

Skyrunning
Skyrunning

It also became clear that you need to take sunscreen with you to the race. The power of the sun in the mountains cannot be underestimated.

The day before the start, I didn't go to any pasta party simply because I didn't need new information from frightened newbies and experienced trolls. Before going to bed, I carefully packed myself up, checked everything I could check (triathlon school in action), and fell over to watch Rick and Morty.

Skyrunning: equipment
Skyrunning: equipment

By the way, when you start in the mountains, read as carefully as possible what the organizers send you by mail. The most important thing there concerns the equipment that you should have with you. For our start, these were:

  • cap;
  • isofolia;
  • charged and working phone;
  • windbreaker;
  • whistle;
  • a bottle of water.

At the finish line, strict organizers check the availability of everything required and for each shortage you will be fined 20 minutes in the total time!

I slept badly. Especially because in the evening there was a terrible downpour and the river under the hotel became ten times thicker. What was going on in the mountains at that time, I tried not to think, but thought, and therefore I slept anxiously.

Start day

The start was at 8:00 for half marathons like me and at 7:00 for ultra marathons. My friend is an ultramarathon runner, so we went to his start. The rise was at 5:00. Skyrunner morning includes:

  • breakfast with oatmeal;
  • drinking water;
  • smearing with petroleum jelly or Boro plus everything that can be rubbed;
  • rewinding with a plaster of places that are most often rubbed;
  • drive to the starting point.

On the day of the start it was cloudy, without rain and without a scorching sun. Looking ahead, I will say that I saw him only on the top of Mount Petros.

Mountain wisdom lies in the fact that you need to start calmly and not succumb to all sorts of racing moods, not try to get ahead. You need to prove to everyone on the slopes! Our start had the following profile:

Track Profile Chronohora Sky Race 2016
Track Profile Chronohora Sky Race 2016

Fourteen kilometers from the start, we climbed all the time. There were a lot of flat areas. The masters advised me not to run uphill, but to walk. As fast as possible, but do not run and maintain a high cadence. Which I did. Strange, but I did not experience a state of agony and just did the job like a robot. A cool pre-selected pathos classics played in my ears, which created a holiday mood. Mindful of the heavy rain, I did not take a hydrapak with me (a two-liter bag of water in a backpack and a drinking pipe), but limited myself to one 0.5 liter bottle and one empty one in reserve. I drank a lot, but the remaining 1.5 liters were a cold spring miracle. It was a thrill! What is IRONMAN?:)

Normal mountain trail:

Mountain trail
Mountain trail

The road you climb is:

  • slippery stones;
  • slippery clay;
  • sharp stones;
  • grass (also slippery);
  • soil with puddles and mud;
  • football-sized stones that sometimes roll and crumble.

All this is compensated by the views.

Skyrunning: stunning views
Skyrunning: stunning views

To be honest, they made me cry a couple of times. Probably, this is some kind of chemistry of euphoria, mixed with stress and a premonition of agony from the complexity of the track. The meadows, the fogs flowing down and running over the mountains, the clouds in which you go in and out - this is something. But the most beautiful thing is what is above the clouds, almost at the top. Everything around is filled with sky! Above - the sky, you see 50-60 meters and find yourself as if out of the world. There is no one around. Only you are in the sky!

Skyrunning: clouds on top of the mountain
Skyrunning: clouds on top of the mountain

And here I am on the top of Mount Petros, 2,020 meters above sea level. Running on it transfers you to skyrunner status, which involves running to heights of more than 2,000 meters! At the top, I met several runners and for the first time realized that no one had overtaken me for a long time. Therefore, I decided that I would not waste time on the summit for rest and photography and should run without stopping. And that's how it happened!

Skyrunning: Climbing Mount Petros
Skyrunning: Climbing Mount Petros

But then I experienced a shock that is comparable to the first triathlon start, when everyone runs into the water together and you are in a heap of bodies for about ten minutes (if you know what I'm talking about). But everything was even worse. It turned out that I had misunderstood the stories about the steepness of the descent from the mountain. If we speak in numbers, then for 1, 6 kilometers, the loss of height is 465 meters! This is an almost steep descent, which consists of small and giant stones, where you have to jump from a height of 1-2 meters!

If you describe my impression in words, then this is a mat. Very dirty. I caught such a betrayal and descended so fast that I was sixth fastest on Strava.:) Oh, how fast I was.

Skyrunning Descent
Skyrunning Descent

Then I learned that the people there both fell and tore off the skin of their hands and feet. In general, it was very extreme and wildly interesting. It's good that I didn't get killed.

As soon as I went down the mountain, I met my coach, who was second in the ultra marathon there and back (I ran only one way), and he inspired me a lot. I cannot let Yura down, especially after such a descent. And then I drowned after a glass of cola at the food point. Further there was only a descent, and I did not miss anyone. As a result, he overtook 30 people and was 12th out of more than a hundred who started at the finish line.

Descent in a mountain start for many amateur athletes is a more difficult thing than ascent. The slope is steep and you have to slow down constantly. All this is complicated by the dirt, wet stones and tree roots underfoot. Before that, you climbed the mountain, and your legs became wadded and almost uncontrollable. Instability and silly mistakes are possible. All this must be tried before planning the victories at the starts.

Key lessons I learned from my first start

  1. You cannot predict the weather. Those running a little slower than me were caught in a pouring 3D rain. Everything was wet! The ultramarathon runners who returned along the same route talked about the wind blowing off the trail, about the grape-sized hail, about the streams of water that came off the stones of the descent, and the mud streams that they climbed this time!
  2. Take your clothes, don't care about the weight. It's better to have a raincoat than not. Wear a cap: it wicks showers of sweat and rain water away from your eyes.
  3. Follow your meal plan. I ate GU gels every 45 minutes, even when I was not hungry, and drank a lot. It was a plan, and you can't trust yourself when climbing a mountain. It also adds uncertainty that something is happening all the time in the mountains: the weather is changing, the storm is approaching, then the hail, then the crowds of stew lovers who do not really understand what exactly you are doing and where you are rushing. Set timers on the clock and eat. The only way.
  4. Forget all the bullshit like barefoot running or lightweight sneakers with thin soles. In the mountains, lighter running shoes will really come in handy, but the sturdy outsole and the spikes are the gods there. I heard dozens of stories at the finish line about how stones tormented my feet, how my skin peeled off. I just didn't get it all. The New Balance 910 Trail made this information irrelevant to me.
  5. You need to buy soft bottles and a trail backpack. I have run and trained with The North Face Flight Series backpack, which is chic and very comfortable. I have bottles of Salomon. When the bottles are soft, they do not gurgle or irritate. Use tight-fitting shorts with waist pockets for gels and saline tablets.
  6. Forget waterproofing. It is simply impossible in the rain that comes from all directions. I had an adidas Outdoor windbreaker with wind protection. Lightweight, compact and bright (useful if you get lost or can't walk).
  7. Feet will get wet anyway! Puddles, rain, streams, your sweat - this is inevitable. The only thing that matters is how much the shoe wicks moisture away from the feet. And also how much you know your feet and their weak spots for chafing. They should all be rewound with paper or cloth tape! I knew and rewound.
  8. Mountain running is very difficult anyway. Don't try to break yourself over the knee if you're not ready. Here you will not be forgiven. Here is a picture for understanding the situation. These are the recovery and load metrics from the Polar Flow system. Compare how the training loads of a comparable mileage differ from a real start in real mountains! Remember I'm using a Polar V800?

What's next?

On the day of the finish, I found out the name of my next start behind the Carpathian craft IPA. The next morning I signed up for it. This is October 22 in Turkey. Join us! It seems to be already possible, right?;)

Now get ready. This time - with trips to real mountains. This trail will not forgive frivolity.

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