I met my first major objective of 2017, the Paris Ecotrail on 18 March. I ran this race in 2014 and finished in 10 hours and 46 minutes. At the time the Eiffel tower was being renovated so the finish was just across the river at Trocadero. This year, you had to climb 328 steps to the first floor to cross the finish line. Read on to see how that turned out.
For preparation, I was averaging about 65 km per week in the 2 months leading up to the race. That consisted of 3 runs during the week, plus usually a Saturday run and a long run on Sunday. My long runs in January were about 20 km with increasing distance up to 42 km two weeks before the race. I usually did one up-tempo paced run during the week. A week before the race I started to feel some left knee pain. My major worry was about how that knee was going to hold up for the 80 km.
On race day, the weather at the 12:15 PM start was cloudy and 50°F with some gusty winds. During the afternoon the temperature got up to about 55°F. I would have liked a few degrees warmer, knowing that I would get cold late in the race with the wind, a slow pace, and a wet t-shirt. I wore a long sleeved shirt, over the knee running tights and high compression socks. I had a versatile running scarf. You can make into a cap and pull it down over the ears, or wrap it around your neck, or hands to keep them warm. In my backpack I had a lightweight running jacket that also became a necessity in the last part of the race.
Below is the trace from Strava. You can click thru to get to the data, splits, elevation profile, etc.
I started out in the pack of 2400 runners. Here is a short 22sec video just before the start. The first 20 km are mostly flat and easy. There was only one choke point where you had to wait a few minutes for your turn to cross a bridge over a highway. I was feeling a little pain in my left knee on the downhill portions.
Video from the first rest stop at 22 km when everyone was still in a good mood. The next rest stop was at 45 km and this stretch was the most difficult with many short steep hills. I was sufficiently hydrating and eating some energy foods along the way. Also every hour of the race I took a salt/electrolyte pill to keep in balance.
A video at the chateau, a water stop. It definitely helped to have already run this course. By the time I got here I was in much better condition than 3 years ago. I was tired but still in good spirits and surprisingly my knee pain was almost gone.