PROGRAMMATION SAISON TRAIL | Astuces, Erreurs et Réussites !

Hello everyone. I saw lots of comments in my YouTube video about the Maxi Race. You gave me a lot of ideas for creating content on this Youtube channel. Thanks for that, I now have my work cut out for me among these comments. I have seen the theme of programming for a season several times, this is a really interesting first subject, so in this episode I will talk to you about training programming, strategy, goal setting, and overall organization. of a trail season. To illustrate, what I'm going to do is compare two really different seasons. We're not going to go too far into the past. I am going to compare the 2023 season, so last year, and this new 2024 season. This 2024 season is really different from 2023 in terms of programming, but those who follow me already know that. I would even say that 2024 is different from all my seasons, which are themselves all different from each other. In short, you understand, I like to experiment, test, live intensely. I don't really like the status quo. I am still quite young in this sport in terms of number of years of experience and clearly I have not yet satisfied my desire to experience the practice from all its angles. I think it's important to take a step back from what we're doing, to analyze, the goal is to pinpoint what allows us to progress and on the contrary also pinpoint the errors that block us. or which slow us down in our progress. Come on, let's go my dear Marty McFly, let's jump into the Dolorean, see you in January 2023. It's the beginning of 2023, and I decide to schedule my season. Step number 1 for me in season planning is to set the big objectives for the year. With the experience that I have today in understanding how the physiology of the human body works, with the periods of work, the periods of progression, maintenance, sharpening, and regeneration also post-race, but also with all the mental load we can take on. I understand that you can't set tons of goals in a season. Today I set two, maybe three big goals maximum per year, while keeping smaller goals, like milestones. In fact, to prepare myself for big goals, the idea of ​​these milestones is to go there without sharpening, without stressing about performance and to take them rather as real blocks of knowledge. training, but with a bib to prepare for the big goals. Let's come back to 2023, the first big objective is the famous Western States race in the United States. A race which has the characteristic of being quite rolling, not very technical as they say in the jargon, that is to say that it runs fast and almost everywhere. It also has the characteristic of being relatively high in altitude, with a passage close to 3000 m at the first pass, and an average above 2000m. Finally the big characteristic is the heat with peaks almost at 50° degrees Celsius in the canyons, it's tough. So my sporting project at the start of the year was to improve my flat speed, and also to improve my ability to withstand altitude and heat, hence the placement of the milestones which I am going to tell you about here. There was still some good thinking behind it all. On paper it sounded really good, but it was still quite experimental. January 2023, in the bitterly cold winter of Quebec, I was already on the indoor running track in Montreal training hard, doing big intervals, so I might as well tell you that the winter break... there are some Did not have! In February, I already hung my first bib and it wasn't a small bib. We don't do half measures, head to Costa Rica to take part in the famous stage race: "the coastal challenge". A good 250 miles to go, in the jungle in stages, extreme heat, sun that burns you on the beaches of the Pacific, river with crocodiles, short, uncomfortable nights in a tent. It was tough. In March, I went to climb Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and it's clearly not a health trip, especially since we climbed it quickly, in 3 days instead of the usual ten days to get it right. acclimatize. At that time my goal was to really understand the subject of altitude, what it could do to the body for performance, but also to understand its deleterious side when altitude is poorly managed. Then I set up a training base camp in Kenya, to discover, analyze and understand the culture of the best road runners in the world. The big lessons I learned from these people are focus, dedication, risk-taking, surpassing oneself, and the culture of “no pain no gain”. A culture that I don't appreciate very much because, yes, it will allow you to bring out a great champion from time to time, but for a great champion, you have 100 who will explode, get injured or exhaust themselves ! After this camp I felt great which made me think the milestones so far were really excellent. In April on my return from Kenya I participated in the Paris marathon the sensations were confirmed during the race, I had super good sensations I was even able to do a good "negative split" as they say in the jargon and in the At the same time it was the release of my book "Vive d'aventures", on which I worked a lot. I had a lot of media requests and it started to exhaust my brain quite a bit, and that's when I started to understand a little this notion of mental load associated with physical load and at the same time I decided to officially resign from my conventional job to become a 100% pro runner. It seems easy to resign like that, but it is a significant moment in life in which you ask yourself a lot of questions. It is also a big upheaval in a life organization where from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. we work, the rest of the time we train. In May, I went to do the MDS, the “sand marathon”. For those who don't know what this race is, we're talking about a fairly extreme race, which can clearly be put in the adventure box. There are around 250 km to cover, in stages, in the desert, in extreme temperatures and above all in Spartan mode, at the bivouac level. Honestly, I still had great feelings during this race. I managed to tease the experts in the field, the Moroccans, who are extremely strong in these areas. With my team, we even managed to finish first in the general team ranking. And individually, I finished 3rd in the general classification. These are great results. On the other hand, this whole project still tired me. We eat poorly, we sleep poorly, we become dehydrated, there is little hygiene. It really knocked me out, and the weeks that followed when I got back, it really wasn't crazy in June. Finally I was leaving for the United States to participate in this first big objective of the season: the “Western Sates”. The days before the race, I really didn't feel in good shape physically and mentally. It wasn't great, and I actually had no energy. In short, I understood at that moment that I had perhaps done too much at the start of 2023, and I was simply tired. The race went well and I still managed to get into a top 10. That's great in such a competitive race, but I must admit that the race was very difficult for me! I really had to grit my teeth to get to the end of this “Western States” race. A little rest, then I set the table again quickly for my second objective of the season: the UTMB. In fact it was a goal within a goal, because I had the idea of ​​doing the combo of these two races, only 2 months apart and that was a goal in itself to do this combo. So I worked extra hard during the summer, heavy training, the GR54... To try to get in top shape for the UTMB. But in fact, I just added fatigue, on top of fatigue. The sequence of two big ultras at the top level is possible, but it is very complicated. In August, I am participating in the UTMB. I'll tell you the story pretty quickly. A good start to the race, but very quickly it becomes complicated. And at the 50th km, when you know you have 130 left to run, and you're exhausted, it's difficult in the head! A little experience, and especially mentally, I managed to do not too badly. With an honorable 4th place overall. But quite frustrated not to be able to run at my best level. In short, this is a season that I would describe as poorly managed. Finally, in terms of intermediate milestones, preparatory to the big goals, I was really burned out and I must admit that if you look at it with your heart, I still really enjoyed it! And sometimes looking at the season with the heart can be an assumed choice, so to meditate... 2024 I wanted to do really differently, taking inspiration from my 2022 season. Why 2022? Paracerque I remember having the best sensations of my life on my UTMB 2022. And when we go back even further in the past, before this UTMB, I remember that the winter which preceded, I had a volume minimum stroke. In fact I prepared a polar adventure "Uapapunan", so I quickly made the link with the notion of physical and mental regeneration. So in 2024, why not do something similar? So I voluntarily and thoughtfully took up ski mountaineering. With a somewhat carrot project in sight: the “glacier patrol”. It arrived in April, so enough to keep me busy all winter. I ran very little in winter, a minimum volume, which was between 30 and 50 km per week. Really not much compared to what I can do in season, from spring onwards. This ski race really marked my winter. This allowed me to train differently, to move away from trail running a little, but without reducing my level of performance. I would even say now, with hindsight, that the project allowed me to increase my level of performance. So we should not always see doing something other than running as something detrimental to running performance . Once this project, this ski race was over, at the end of winter, it was for me the official end of my winter regeneration period and the official kickoff of my trail season. So it was time to get back to it seriously. I then started pushing the running volume and intensity sliders. The idea was to be ready to face a great milestone in my season, the traditional “training camp” of the Salomon professional trail team. This year we're heading to the Isle of Beauty: Corsica. I talk about it here because for me it is also an important step in seasonal programming. It’s a moment that will allow us to reconnect with the trail community. And here is day number 2 of the training camp, we have just arrived at the summit, with the little sheepfold, with the whole team, we see that things are laughing. This is what “team spirit” is. It gives good energy, that's what we also come to look for in the training camp. We're going to leave in this little street, for a beautiful day, how many kilometers have you reserved for us? 40 km, 2500m of elevation gain excluding taxes I think. Are you going to do it all with us? I'll try... It's in the video, we'll see... Thank you Vincent. So I recommend that in your programming you take inspiration from these "training camps" that professional athletes can do, and also give yourself a moment at the end of winter, with your community, with your friends, to meet , to discuss and challenge you on your objectives. To go running together and share your new vision of your passion for the coming season . And believe me, it's super energizing. I also decided for the first time to follow a training program continuously, without breaks, and it's a huge lesson, it works really well. A program to fix everything. With periods of progression, overcompensation, intensity, volume and finally real sharpening! Without cutting into travel or opportunities right to left. I have never felt so good in training, and I really felt myself progressing during this period. It was ultimately the “Maxi Race” in Annecy that allowed me to confirm these great sensations. With a victory and very good feelings about the race. Now the season continues. I will continue this momentum. That is to say, staying focused as much as possible on my training program, without deviating from it, while reducing travel and various requests as much as possible. Try to protect yourself a little. If there were only three things to remember from everything I have just talked to you about, for me it would be 1, to set your objectives and your intermediate milestones, this is the basis of a sporting season, but this is not as simple as just registering for events. You have to calculate the deadlines carefully to prepare yourself for the objectives. I would say at least 2 months and ideally 4 months. Also carefully calculate the times between two objectives, to give yourself time to recover and rebuild a block, of at least 2 months, therefore 2 months between two objectives. In 2, with or without without a coach, build a real training program to prepare your objectives, phases of progression of overcompensation, specific, ultra specific, 10 to 15 days of sharpening, a plan that will allow you to progress, without creating too much fatigue, and also paying attention to the mental load which plays a huge part in the equation. This mental load is often at work, personal projects , you must try to reduce this mental load as much as possible and therefore perhaps take it into account in your programming, to avoid situations in the weeks preceding your objective. anxiety-provoking. And in 3, have a real break period generally in winter, to rest physically and mentally, but also to create a little bit of withdrawal from your sporting passion. Honestly I tended not to do it before, and I saw a huge difference when I did. So remember to regenerate yourself. 4th and last little bonus, never forget to let your heart speak to you a little too. It's super important. On the other hand, be careful, your heart will make you enjoy it, but will also sometimes tire you. Remember my 2023 season. So now it's up to you to take responsibility for the amount of heart and reason that should be put into your recipe. In this video, it's quite new for me, I try to find themes that you suggested to me, in a previous video, to treat and then apply it to what I experience in my daily life, in my season high-level sportswoman. So if you still have ideas for training themes or topics that you would like me to discuss and present to you, to show you what I do, don't hesitate to write to me in the comments. I get a lot of them, but I read them and take notes. I will try to answer as many topics as possible in these upcoming videos. see you soon. Ciao