2023 Lavaredo Ultra Trail 80k: An Ultra in Paradise
It’s been a week and a half since I finished the 80k at Lavaredo Ultra, and I’m back home now in Squamish, Canada. This was my second trip to the Italian Dolomites, and just like last time, I come home in absolute awe of that area. If I could pick only one place to visit, this would be it…
Training
Lavaredo is now part of the UTMB series, and I entered a lottery to run the race back in November. I basically hijacked the family vacation to run this race, promoting it as a great excuse to go back to our favourite hotel in the Dolomites. Julien also entered the lottery for the 20km, which was happening two days before my race, and we were lucky to both get in!
In mid-January I ran HURT100, and so I took the rest of the month and February to enjoy unstructured running, and lots of skiing and family adventures. I started training in March, incorporating a lot of uphill intervals and elevation gain to prepare for the race’s 4500m of elevation gain/loss, and slowly building up to a couple of big weeks between 110-125km, with over 5,000m of elevation gain in May. I did a local race, Survival of the Fittest 35k, as an opportunity to test my nutrition and hydration six weeks out from Lavaredo, and participated in a fun local uphill challenge by SkiUphill / RunUphill for the month of May, which was perfectly suited to my needs for Lavaredo!
Everything was going really well, and I was feeling extremely fit and prepared. Then only 3.5 weeks from the race, I overdid it. Luc was sick one day, so we couldn’t bring him to daycare, and I decided to do my planned 15k run with the stroller. At some point, my right hip felt completely out of alignment, and I remember limping my way home. (I’ve found that if there is anything that’s out of balance, the stroller basically exposes and expedites any niggles! I think it could be that I have bad form and possibly a weird posture when I’m pushing it…)
Julien, being smart, suggested not to run for a couple days. But at this point in my training, I was near the end of a very high quality build-up, and I was only a few days from “perfect”. My OCD mind got the best of me, and I went for a run the next day. And, the next day. I ran through a clearly unhappy, out-of-alignment right hip. And even worse, my work wasn’t busy those days, so I made them extended runs. On one of them I even ran up to Garibaldi Lake, just on a weekday! The only thing I adapted was that I eliminated workouts and strides, and admittedly, even that was really hard for me to do. My reaction was too little, too late: that hip weirdness morphed into a legitimate injury: a literal pain in the ass, near the sit bone. I finally got my ass to RMT, and they looked real worried for me, saying I needed physio. I went to physio, and I got a diagnosis: high hamstring tendinopathy! At first I figured this would be a quick little niggle, until the physio told me that this is a notoriously persistent injury, one that makes a long-term home in your body and sticks around, even though it’s not that severe. He said it would be weeks, maybe even months, before I didn’t feel it! Obviously not what you want to hear just three weeks before a long race!
I finally started to adapt my plans, shifting to things that felt better, like walking and hiking, and walk-runs. I did daily glute and hamstring strengthening. I went to physio a few times. I made a plan of not running much until I got to Italy the week before the race, and then trying some short 30-minute runs. It was tough to not see my friends and forgo a lot of fun group runs I’d planned, but it was what I needed to stand at the start line.
In the days before the race, I ran from my door in San Vito Cadore, along the bike path. I could feel the pain in the ass still, but I noticed that when I slowed from a run to a shuffle, the pain really diminished. I figured I would be okay in the race if I just avoided running fast, which was actually a great strategy for a long and hard mountainous 80k anyway!
Our Races Begin!
Julien V. the 20k SkyRace
Julien’s race was up first, on Thursday night at 5pm. Julien doesn’t race often these days, so I really enjoyed the rare opportunity to spectate and support. (Well, I’m giving myself too much credit. It was 20k, so no support was needed, just being with Luc!) The race was really exciting to watch, as it started and finished in the middle of Cortina, with tons of fans and spectators. I felt happy that I didn’t have to race, as the late afternoon heat was relentless. I was sweaty even just standing there! Julien had a great attitude and just went with it. He knew nothing about the course, and had borrowed one of my running packs last minute, realizing he needed to carry mandatory gear! In the end, he had fun, ran 2:09 for a 20k with 1,000m of gain, high-fived some cute kids in the finishing chute, and was clearly giving it his all, as he didn’t notice us cheering in a quiet section at the end… Success!
As a spectator, this race was a delight. I had just enough time to wander around Cortina with Luc and eat a nice dinner with wine, and then they were back! I also got a visit with Wiebke and her family, which was so comforting to see a friend from home!
My Turn!
Spectating the 20k left me feeling really inspired and excited for my race, which was two days later, on Saturday. I watched Julien shift into real vacation mode on Friday after his race, and part of me was quite envious… it’s a wonderful feeling when you’re done, as you have all the endorphins and the memories, and you can finally not worry about getting yourself into an optimal state for a fleeting moment in time.
Thankfully, I had Luc to distract me for most of Friday. I can honestly say that I love having a toddler around before a big adventure, as it just takes away the nerves. You’re busy chasing them around and thinking about their needs, so you don’t have all that idle time, just sitting there thinking about the race. (If you want to experience this, let me know, pre-race toddler for hire.)
We walked around San Vito, found a pizza place, and then opted for takeout as Luc started having a little fit there. Our hotel room was on the third floor with a beautiful view, so it was the best place to eat anyway!
In the nights leading up to the race, I wasn’t sleeping well. At first I thought it was jet lag, but eventually I realized that it was because of too much caffeine: I was going to breakfast, and then feeling unsatisfied with the small euro coffees, I started making a giant pour-over coffee in my room. Because none of their cups were large enough, I started making them in large bowls… which only encouraged me to add more coffee scoops. Needless to say, I started skipping my large coffee bowl, and was successfully able to sleep at night again!
I woke up at 5am, and Julien helped me move Luc’s crib from the kitchen into our bedroom, so he could keep sleeping in there as I got ready. Luc woke up as we moved him, and even sat fully upright. But we told him to shhhh, and then he went back to sleep! It’s pretty funny, all the small details that go into doing a race abroad with a toddler. But we made it work, and Luc was a total champ!
The view out the window was beautiful, and I felt so grateful to have a long day in the mountains ahead.
I walked a lovely 1km to the start, and was lucky to encounter a Bellingham friend, Maria, right before the race began. It was so nice to have a friend at the start line, and little did I know, we’d get to spend lots of time crisscrossing over the first 40k!
The 80km route is special because it starts in a different village every year, so it’s a different route each time. I’d read online that Passo Tre Croci, where the ~30k aid station would be, marked a change from the Cadore Valley to the Cortina Valley. It was very cool to experience this transition in the race. From the start, we headed up to San Marco Rifugio and Forcella Grande, and down a wild descent on the other side, with some fun surprise screeing. As we inched our way toward Cortina, I found a noticeable change, and found the trails to be a bit more “national park” feeling: more buffed-out, and more busy, as we entered the more famous areas! It was fun to see that contrast, and I really enjoyed both parts.
Only an hour or two into the race, I took a pretty bad fall while stupidly trying to run fast across a creek and pass someone, slipping and landing right on my left shin. I shamefully got up, let my new “friend” I tried to pass go ahead, and immediately told myself to start running again, as it seemed fine, and I was embarrassed about the whole thing. Relax, and cool it! I told myself. You could have easily just ended your race…
I had several goals going into the race. My process goals were to eat a Spring Energy Awesome Sauce gel every 40 minutes, and to drink one 500ml soft flask of water every hour, alternating between water and Skratch Lab mix. I was planning to take it easy for the first 50k, and then push from there, with an option for music for the second half. In terms of time goals, my main goal was to get a high-enough UTMB score to gain an elite entry into CCC/UTMB, which I figured was around 12:15. I thought that I could run much faster on a good day, and was aspiring to run 10:30 if things went well, which was pretty arbitrary, but based on previous results. Julien was going to come with Luc to spectate at the ~30k aid station, but I wasn’t going to get him to crew me. It seemed far more relaxing for both of us to just carry everything I needed!
For the first 45k, Maria and I were often near each other, passing back and forth, as we have opposite strengths. We were consistently running around 7th Female position, and it seemed like 4th-9th were all very close together. For that whole time, I felt amazing. I was running well within myself, taking photos along the way, and nailing my nutrition plan. It wasn’t hot, and it was incredibly beautiful. I even got to make a new friend! Funny enough, it was the guy I nearly tripped on during the first descent, Jan from Slovenia. :p It turned out to be a great icebreaker, as it gave us a good excuse to make fun of me!
I was looking forward to running up the third mountainous climb of the day, around 40k, as I had done that section while I was pregnant, nearly two years prior. The terrain is also really cool: it’s a ~1,000m climb up an ancient, dry river bed surrounded by big rocky mountains on both sides, so it feels like a big canyon. My goal was to crush my pregnant time up that climb, and I was so excited to be able to run it much more quickly.
I started up the climb around the same time as Maria, and just as we were beginning, our route started to get a lot busier. I didn’t know this would happen, but the mid-pack of the 120k was now turning onto our route, and suddenly I was surrounded by a lot of runners, ahead of me and behind. At the same time, it got hot. We had been exposed without shade for many hours already, and here we were, up at 1,500m and climbing, in the middle of what I’m calling “the canyon”. I shifted into heat management mode, which involved downshifting my pace, and stopping to gather creek water at every opportunity. My body felt good, but I started to feel quite terrible inside, almost like my lungs were deeply tired. (I still struggle to fully describe that sensation, but I’m guessing it was likely from a mix of the heat, the altitude relative to my home at sea level, and possibly dehydration.) My legs started cramping, which was scary, as I still had a long way to go! Remembering that my friend Nate eats electrolyte tablets (the kind that are designed to dissolve in water) like candy, I dipped my tongue straight into my ziplock bag of Skratch Labs powder like a Fun Dip, which seemed to work like magic. Still, I missed the quiet of the Cadore trails, and the wonderful solitude of being near the front of the 80k. The area around me was packed with 120km racers, who didn’t seem to know that us 80k racers were mixed in. I was passing runner after runner, although it was singletrack, and took a fair amount of mental energy. That’s when I lost track of where I was in the field, and with it, a lot of my competitive drive. I had shifted into survival mode, and I felt lost in the sea of 120k racers. Later I’d find out that I did indeed run the “big canyon” segment faster than I’d run it while pregnant with Luc. The funny part: on a segment that’s nearly an hour long, I was only 20 seconds ahead of my pregnant time! I’ll have to come back for another round. 😉
From the top of the “big canyon” climb at 2300m / 52km, the rest of the race stayed in the alpine above 2,000m until the final descent into Cortina. For me, this was all a beautiful blur, and a lot of suffering. So many things went well, like I was able to continue eating and drinking, kept moving along, and wasted very little time in aid stations. However, I was no longer racing, now running to survive instead of chasing down goals. I shuffled along, walking a lot of the climbs, and ultra-shuffling the flats and downs. Around 60k I reached Rifugio Averau at 2400m (nearly 8000 ft!), where Julien and I stayed for a night in 2021. I never thought of quitting the race, but I certainly gave my permission to think that this may be my last ultra! I wasn’t nauseous, but I felt like I’d been broiled in the oven all day. The miles were passing more slowly than ever. Unfortunately my phone died, so no more photos, and no music!
Finally, I was close to the final descent! I could see Rifugio Croda del Lago ahead of me, which brought back happy memories. Julien and I had run there on our trip two years ago, and it has the most amazing views around it. As I approached the rifugio (and final aid station), I had a talk with myself. I know that there was a big 1,000m descent down to Cortina. For the past 20k, I’d kind of shifted into survival mode on everything, but deep down, I knew that descending was actually tolerable. I convinced myself that I could run the downhill a bit more steadily than I’d be doing. I had about 8km left, and I convinced myself that every minute per km faster would result in a much faster finishing time, so Julien and Luc would have less time waiting around, and it would all be over much sooner… that reasoning worked really well, and I committed to finishing the descent faster. After 15 gels, my desire to eat had finally vanished, and I grabbed half a banana at the last aid station, with a goal of just nibbling on it until the end.
The descent into Cortina was actually quite enjoyable, as we could hear the announcers at the finish line from high above, and the town looked so beautiful from that vantage point. The last 200m before the finish was also super fun, just running through downtown Cortina, and high-fiving the little kids! I ended up finishing as the 15th Female just under 12 hours, which I was happy with! In the end, it wasn’t enough for an elite entry into UTMB in 2024, but I’m super happy with the way I executed my plans, and handled the challenges of the day. I’ll just maybe need to sign up for a fall race in cool temperatures for that elite entry!
Thank you to the organizers, the friendly and fun other runners, and to my family, for enabling me to have such an incredible long day in the Dolomites.
Gear
Here is a list of some of my favourite gear I used for this race!
- HOKA Tecton X 2 shoes: my feet were sooo happy and comfy all day, and I have zero blisters!
- Ultraspire Legacy 2.0 backpack: this race had a lot of mandatory gear, and I also wanted to carry 17 gels, plus 2 ziplock bags of potato chips, plus electrolyte powder, and my hiking poles! This pack was perfect for easily fitting everything, and it was super easy to grab my poles, even when tired!
- Black Diamond Carbon Z poles: I went back and forth before the race, about whether to use poles or not. Eventually I decided to use them, as I figured it was good practice for eventually doing UTMB. If I did this race again, it would be a toss-up about whether to use the poles or not. I didn’t need them much during the first 40k when I was feeling great and running good chunks of the climbs, but I really liked having them when I had my low point, for the next 30k!
- Nutrition: 15 Spring Energy Awesome Sauce gels, 1 ziplock of salt and vinegar chips, Skratch Labs orange hydration drink mix, 1/2 a banana!
Overall, I would highly recommend any of the races at Lavaredo! They are incredibly beautiful loops or point to point routes, they’re extremely well-organized, and the routes are actually using the best trails of the area. (Also, bonus, I got a sweet La Sportiva rain jacket for finishing!) Next time I’d probably try either the 50k or the 120k, but it’s also a toss-up about whether I’d do a race versus running vacation format, as it’s so nice being able to run and adventure every day there, without the need to taper and recover! Either way, I’ll for sure be back in two years, it’s my favourite place to visit!
Like most trips to Italy, I come home inspired to live a little bit better… eating more good cake, and just celebrating each and every day. The Italians are so good at indulging in life, and I’ll do my best to continue that spirit in Canada…
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