Trail Running - CCC 2024: A Debrief
CCC?
CCC stands for Courmayeur, Champex, Chamonix - the 3 main towns that this
trail races goes through.
It is one of the "Major" races of the UTMB Finals, happening in Chamonix the
last week of August.
I registered in December to the lotery, and had the chance to be selected (along with my friends Pierre and Julien). We used for that the Running Stones we gained with the Nice by UTMB trail race.
It is a 100K race with ~6000 meters of elevation, going through 3 countries (Italy, Switzerland and France). More info here.
Suboptimal preparation
After my Ultra Saint Jacques mid June, I got surgery mid July (inguinal hernia), which meant I had to stop running/sports for roughly 3 weeks. While I managed to keep walking steadily every day, I could not workout (GPP) or do hill repeats runs, but still I wanted to try running this CCC.
Besides, the St Jacques race was my main objective for 2024, the CCC was only a bonus, so there was really no reason not to go to Chamonix.
The UTMB week in Chamonix!
One of the motivations to go to Chamonix was to experience the atmosphere, but also to meet with a lot of fellow trail runners, either from out "Let's Trail podcast" (LTP) community, or with other folks I met during other races or trail camp.
During the 4 days I was in Chamonix, I managed to meet Nico (my coach and the LTP host), as well as Claire, Tiphaine, Thomas, Florian, Gwen, Fredo and Seb. Nico recorded a few podcast episodes and we attended the recording (with e.g. "Casquette Verte" (Green Cap) and Loïc), which was a super nice experience!
I also followed Richard and Cédric who were on the PTL from Monday to Sunday, even greeting them on Sunday morning with some fresh croissants! :)
Finally, I met again Benoît, who I ran with for 3 hours last year at the 75k Trail de Saint Jacques (my first DNF. He ran the TDS on Monday (but had to withdrawn because of an issue with his ankle), and Olivia, his wife, was also running the CCC.
I also briefly saw Nicolas, who was at the trail running camp in Lubéron (see here).
So in a nutshell: this week has been crazy, in terms of atmosphere, but also all the people you meet with!
The Race... and DNF
As I said above, the CCC was just a bonus for me: even though I felt good (no pain after the surgery), I knew that my preparation was not optimal. Still, when I was at the start line, my goal was to finish the race. I was running with my buddy Pierre, and the goal was to run together, since Pierre didn't have much opportunity to train properly.
What I hadn't anticipated is that lining up an Ultra, then a surgery 4 weeks after, followed by another Ultra, was maybe a bit ambitious.
Courmayeur
The first kilometers in Courmayeur went fine, and quickly we had to stop because of a bottleneck right before the first uphill section. We waited for ~45 minutes and then progressed slowly.
While it was not crazy hot, it was already pretty warm, and because we were moving slowly, there was barely any air cooling us down.
Bloody backpack
Following the St Jacques, I knew that one pain point for me was the Salomon race
pack I was using: the main pocket in the back is messy and does not allow to
organize things as I want, and the front pockets where the flasks lie are also
not practical, as when you remove a flask and put back a new one, the pocket
with food is right below and it can be really difficult to easily put the flask
bask.
I can't say that's only because of that issue, but subconsciously, I "resisted"
drinking too much, as it would have meant having to swap flasks (I had 2 in the
front pockets, and 2 in the back).
Tête de la Tronche (km 9)
The climb was long (1400m of elevation), but the landscapes were gorgeous!
Arrived at Tête de la Tronche, I had barely drunk 1 liter, which was
clearly not enough after 3 hours - I should have been at least 1/2 liter more.
Those flasks were filled with isotonic drink (1st) and Maurten (2nd), so at least I had carbs, but still...
Once at the top, it was downhill towards Refuge Bertone, which felt good.
Refuge Bertone (km 14)
The first aid station - I felt already nauseous, and could eat only one energy bar. I refilled my flasks and Pierre and I left the aid station.
To Refuge Bonatti (km 21)
The section till Bonatti was mostly flat. The weather was still fairly hot, so whenever there was a brook, I would take off my cap and fill it with water, to cool me down.
At Refuge Bonatti, we refilled the flasks (I still had only used the 2 first ones) and I had managed to eat just a little.
Arnouvaz (km 27)
I refilled the flasks and ate some noodle soup, which was hot and salty - felt good. I also ate some watermelon, but didn't manage to eat much more - first signs of upcoming issues...
Grand Col Ferret (km 31)
Yet another 800m of elevation, during which I started feeling very tired, which was unusual for me, especially so early in the race (around 7h running).
Arrived at the top, it was super windy, and even though it was still hot, I felt very cold all of a sudden, and had to put my vest to warm me up a bit.
I told Pierre that I needed a few minutes to rest, and sat down probably 5 minutes, then we resumed.
But at that point, I knew that it would be very complicated to carry on, and in
the downhill section towards La Fouly, I told Pierre that I would probably drop
off there, if things didn't improve.
I was still feeling very tired, and couldn't eat anymore, so keep running after
La Fouly towards Champex-Lac meant doing so in the night, and running in the
mountains with a headlamp without being clearheaded was too risky.
La Fouly
Arrived at La Fouly, I told the UTMB staff I wanted to stop there. Pauline, Pierre's girlfriend, was there to cheer him up, and then she was going to Champex-Lac to crew him. I took the same shuttle to Orsières, then another one to Chamonix. I was home at 10pm (having dropped off at 8pm).
Debrief
What failed
As I hinted previously, I was a bit ambitious to try running the CCC shortly after an ultra and a surgery - but hey, I could not refuse the chance :)
I think the tiredness came from there, but clearly that doesn't explain everything, so I have a bunch of things I'll have to work on and improve:
- hydration: I must drink more, I've clearly made a mistake here,
- food: I brought way too much food with me, making my race pack too heavy,
- race pack - this is already fixed, or at least on the right track, as I bought a new pack (Instinct Eklipse 12L) that solves a lot of the problems I had with my Salomon Adv Skin 12
What went well
Even if I DNFed, there are still things that went well or that I improved after the St Jacques:
- no muscle pains at all: granted, I didn't run the 100k, but I still did 41k and 2600m of elevation,
- good feeling uphill and manage to make good use of the running poles,
- validated the running belt with poles (as opposed to the quiver at my previous races): sooooo much better and simpler, both when running and when arriving at aid stations,
- no shoe problem: after the St Jacques, my feet/toes were clearly in a bad shape. I ran the CCC with the Altra Timp 5 I bought after the St Jacques, and they're really great, especially when it comes to the lacing system,
- and finally, the landscapes!!! Several folks told me that this part of the CCC (Italy / beginning of the Swiss part) is the most beautiful/iconic part, and I can only confirm that (see picas below).
PICAS!
Wrap Up
I already wrote about it, but I have no issue with DNF, provided that I keep
learning and won't make the same mistake again.
This DNF is no different: I have plenty of things to improve, but there are also
things that went well and improved compared with my previous races.
I'll be back to run and finish this CCC, not sure yet whether it will be next year or after though, but for sure I'll do it.
With that, thanks for reading!
Tags: Running