Ludovic Pommeret Pre-2024 UTMB Interview

Megan hick of iRun far I'm here with Ludo pom it's a couple days before the 2024 UTMB um last time we met was in my country at Hard Rock and now I'm meeting in yours at UTMB hi Ludo hi again how are you doing um not so bad you know it's nice also it's not the same same country but uh yeah it's nice Mountain also more snow a little bit more yeah but uh yeah and the race will be lower than uh than in silveron the same amount of altitude change but lower altitude overall average is I don't know what is the average in fact here but I think the highest point is something around 2,500 M yeah don't know F the lowest point of hard rock yeah yeah that's that's your I think let's talk about the last seven weeks it's seven weeks between Hard Rock and UTMB what has that looked like for you that's um not that much time to put between two very big 100 mile races yeah it seems quite long time ago so okay it does that's good no no no but yeah I spent two weeks more in in USA okay and uh yeah we we are raing Yellowstone and gron so that was nice to uh to visit first the country uh and to uh to start again training um by by this kind of hiking yeah so hiking in Grand titon is really tricky we tried to reach Grand ton but it's the last part is really tricky one so very tactical right yeah yeah um and you had said at Hard Rock that you really wanted to see a bear in America you did not see it while you were at Hard Rock but did you see a bear we we saw a black bear at uh at very good and was quite close so it was nice you you feel you had your Wildlife Experience yeah yeah we see lot of uh animals in eurostone we see two wolves also oh actually that's very lucky yeah so no it was good awesome and then you took a two week break you did some hiking you were on vacation and then when you returned to Europe is that when you sort of started training again or what has what has the training part looked like yeah when I I came back um just the day after I arrived uh we had the OK training camp okay and so you came straight away yeah just arrive on Sunday and on Monday morning I was here oh wow and just to do a the UTMB in yeah in three stage and uh so yeah we start again quite fast to to run again and uh after that uh the week after I did again with other guys the UTMB course in 3 days so that was a good training so am I sensing that there's a pattern with you in your preparations for these races at Hard Rock you made two Loops Before the Race and same thing here yeah yeah the usually do I do only one but this time was like this so it's a good to train and to spend some time yeah with other Runners during this this uh three days so yeah to to mix preparation and enjoy with with friends so one of the things I think I learned about you at Hard Rock was how methodical you are about the course and how much it I think it helps you to know like to know the course yeah to know what's coming um this is a course I mean you've been around it twice this year but you also know it quite well from the past too like does it for you does it help you that you really know the UTMB course yeah it helps because you can plan and manage your effort uh manage where you you will take maybe more food uh because you know that it would be a Bigg appeal and when you can have water and you don't need to to load to carry all your water from the station you can have safe water let's say because so yeah it helps and um of course I I don't need to do again this UTMB um Before the Race but uh yeah as I said it's it's mainly to to enjoy some three days that where we are focused uh with friends on on this on the race and and spending time together so and so how um during your training and your loops around mon Blanc how has your body felt do you feel like you have recovered from Hard Rock or how how is it my coach say yes on my side I don't know exactly because I did this uh uh this to UTMB um really slow um slow pace so I don't know if I could go faster because during race I should be faster but uh let's see let's see on on Friday we still have four days yeah yeah to rest I also feel like maybe there's a pattern because you said sort of the same thing the week before Hard Rock like I don't know where I am yeah yeah I I'm never really confident what is my shape and I I could never say that yeah for sure I'm ready um I know that I have done what I I think it's the good thing to do before the race that I I did a good training but uh I don't know if it's uh the training plan was the the good one for the for the race so it's yeah it was for sure the good one for artw I don't know if if it would be the the good one for UTMB we crossed the fingers for UTMB thanks um you have been around UTMB for I guess it's 20 years yeah I mean you have seen the full evolution of this event too where it was a small race with a couple hundred Runners to it's starting to become a weekl long Festival to where it's really busy in sheman even a week before the race starts um talk about a little bit about how it feels to ort of watch that progress and how it feels to be in it today compared to that yeah 20 years ago so 20 years ago was my first participation in in UTMB 2004 and uh yeah you can subscribe maybe one month before so that's really different can't do that anymore no it doesn't work you will not have a be and uh yeah it was not the same but even for me it was not the same because it was not the same objective when I was starting 20 years ago objective was just to reach the line even I failed and now the objective is yeah to have a time to uh to perform on the race so yeah so that's uh a change uh also on my side I think in the middle of let's say in the pack the spirit is almost the same yeah than the beginning uh but yeah for elite athlet elite athletes it's a bit different because yeah that's lot of media lot of pressure for or not pressure but expectation from partners and uh yeah if you do a good race it could be better uh good for you for the for for the next for your life career changing performance for sure um but you said I don't know that the spirit still feels the same when once you're out on the course yes and no maybe yeah yes I think in middle yes in when you are in the front uh yeah we are speaking maybe less than when we were in the back okay but when I did dional deu with my wife last year I I feel again this the same spirit that you can exchange more with the runner that are around um even if in the front when we are together we exchange some words with other Runners but uh yeah we are not spending too much time by saving your energy a little yeah yeah yeah try to save you know everything is quite important save your energy from the beginning even if you can speak you should avoid um my last question for you you're running 200 mile races this summer and in my mind they're almost exact opposites you know small race in the mountains of Colorado not so many entrance a few people cheering to this race which is like the biggest most famous the most media yeah yeah that's that's opposite uh yeah for for this for number of of people for the chering as you said but that's quite similar for the uh for the trails I mean true it's uh it's not the same I would not say that between Western States and arck or yeah Western States and UTMB that's a bit different but it's quite similar between AR and UTMB I think AR is a bit more tricky on some part uh but maybe you it's a bit faster on your UTMB more reable um so yeah it's similar for yeah for the trades it's actually you make a really good point about how similar it is the Running part but then how different it is the Landscapes the culture the other things yeah yeah for sure that's a that's really different and you should manage also all this cheering when you are in not at the beginning don't run too fast yeah not run too fast don't give your all your energy away there no but it's incredible I don't know how many thousands of people you have and uh it's noisy with bells with everything and then uh maybe after 500 M you are again in the mountain and you will enjoy all the night uh not alone but uh yeah really quite so just enjoy this this part and uh and you you will find quite place later on love like like hard rock yeah like hard rock well I wish you the best of luck in making this loop around mon Blan and in your second 100 mile the summer thanks hope to see you on Sunday not too late on Sunday Saturday sorry yeah I was on Sunday it's not good let's see each other at the finish line on Saturday Okay than sense