I highly recommend this running race / training route for everybody. It is starting at St Etienne de Tinée , a small village under the col. 27km long road stretch with 1700m of elevation gain. Then blasting down to the village of Jausiers on a technical whirly route. It has been part of the Tour de France 4 times from 1962, through 1964 and 1993 to 2008. The unpredictability of high altitude makes this col a bad choice in case of organisation. It was covered of snow, just the next day of the climb. Cold and windy all the way. I recommend to start early to avoid all trafic, not that there is much. Maybe a car every 10minutes or so with a couple of motor bikes and ton of cyclists !
Here you go the profile. There is around 6km "easy" with a 2km slightly harder part, before you hit the steep slopes around the 10km mark. Then back to 6 to 7° sloping with a butt kicker at the end !
You can feel the altitude is killing your lungs from about 1h into the effort.
https://www.strava.com/activities/640649950
I drank like a tank during this run. I mean I always hydrate well during races, but as I do most of my training on MAF drinking and eating is not important during training at all. I had two bottles prepared here, with a spoon of organic malto in each, about 80kcals, with some guarana, pink salt, goji powder and green tea. Jugged down the 2 x 650ml easy during the 2:40min effort. 145 average heart rate all the way up. Good trianing and recce for the upcoming race next wêekend.
The best time is just under 2hours. I think I could approach it in 1 year, if I trained specifically for this race for 6months, but afterwards, it really comes down to consistent specific training and would take a lot of time to go under. Months of work for each minute and each second. IT is doable though !
Winning Times in tha last 5 years:
2015 - 2:03:03
2014 - 2:05:02
2013 - 1:59:50
2012 - 2:02:49
2011 - 2:03:03
At this moment I broke down the race to certain sections:
4,5km / 4.4% - 4:20/km
4km / 6% - 4:40/km
1.5km / 4.1% 4:20/km
1.5km / 4.1% 4:20/km
5km / 8.2% - 5:40/km
10km / 6% - 4:40/km
Last half Km hard 15%
This is the break down to get to 2:08:30 ! Not gonna happen this year probably, but a good example of a break down ! On my MAF HR with around 3minutes of small pauses, I did exactly 1min/km slower splits during the training run, that you can see in the video. That adds 27 minutes and change for a 2:35 on the col and a 2:40on the summit. I think I can get exactly inbetween somewhere. Around the 2:10 and the 2:20 timeframe. I just have to control breathing, have a very even pace and low heart rate during the first 10km. Manage muscularly the middle part where the pente moyenne is 8 to 9% . Let my heart rate go up 10 to 15 to 25 beats above MAF for that 10km on 6% average to finish with HRMAX on the last 15% slope. My MAX heart rate is around 195bpm, so I have still 50bpm reserve over MAF for accelerations and some lactate cumulating.
Depending on the day and my health, this will put me on the 2:10 to 2:20 finishing time. Depending on the year and the strength of the competition, that might be 3rd to 6th place finishing time.
Nutrition wise, I planned on using 1gel at around 90minutes and have another reserve. It is salted honey with propolis and royal jelly from an organic french brand, Meltonic (Click). 63calories each ! Not sponsored by the brand and not payed for endorsements. All natural foods contain a lot of bio-information and positive vibration, so I prefer to eat health fully even during races.
Here you go a small plug for the GEL I use. The thing is, that yes, you can do it by yourself and mix salt into honey, add droplets of propolis and royal jelly and done. However the small packets are very convenient and necessary for high performance sport use !
Gel énergétique Salé
La pratique du sport provoque une dépense importante en énergie. Afin d'éviter les moments de fatigue, prendre des gels énergétiques pendant l'effort permet d'apporter au corps les nutriments nécessaires et ainsi, d'obtenir un véritable regain d'énergie.
Le gel énergétique salé dispose d'une saveur unique et gourmande pour ravir les sportifs et changer des goûts fruités.Le gel énergétique salé est un savoureux mélange entre du miel, de la gelée royale bio et la fleur de sel de Guérande. Le miel apporte une énergie progressive grâce à son indice glycémique modéré. Le gel salé est garanti en pouvoir antioxydant total.
Utilisation du gel énergétique salé Meltonic
Lors d'entrainements ou en compétition, les coups de fatigue sont vite arrivés. Le gel énergétique est donc à prendre pendant l'effort pour palier à ce manque d'énergie. Sa texture permet une utilisation agréable pendant l'effort et son format de 20g permet de prendre le gel énergie en une seule fois. Pour un confort maximum durant un effort, utilisez la Fiole Eco gel. Cette petite fiole peut contenir jusqu'à trois sticks et elle est utilisable d'une seule main. Etant rechargeable, cette fiole évite de stocker les emballages sur soi. Pour une assimilation optimum prendre 1 à 2 gorgées de boisson énergétique après avoir pris un gel.
Le gel énergétique salé est idéal pour les sports demandant des efforts de longue durée et une alimentation adaptée :
- Running/Course à pied / Trail / Marathon
- Cyclisme / VTT
- Natation
- Fitness
- Badminton
- Voile
- Triathlon...
Les + du Gel énergétique
- Un gel énergétique revitalisant pour répondre aux besoins des sports demandant un effort de longue durée tel que les trails, les marathons ou le vtt.
- Indice glycémique modéré
- Digestion optimum
- Format pratique et ouverture facile
Retrouvez les gels énergétiques SALE en étui économique de 8 sticks
1 gel énergétique de 20g