Alpe D'Huez: A race that deserves it's legendary status

Preparing for a beast

It was as tough a race as any I have done. The Alpe D'Huez Long Course is known for being a hard day at it's best. However this year the Alps added their own "plus forte" spice through weather to the normally piquant mix including a 2.2k lake swim, 115k ride with just under 3,000m of climbing on three cols, the last of which is Alpe D'Huez itself and then the final 22k run completed in 3 laps each with a decent hill included around the ski resort of the Alpe.

Climbing through the fog and rain on Alpe D'Huez

This year the race day was cold, very cold! The rain started early and fluctuated between light to torrential as the day progressed. The water was as "fresh" as the race organisers had forewarned at 14oC with new snowmelt joining it from the falls in the mountains above it during the preceding week. Apparently there was even hail on the bike course at one point. Happily I managed to avoid that just through sheer dumb luck. Some rich European race experience coming my way and fast!

As a soft Australian I was more intimidated by the weather than the course. My bike training included plenty of cols and I find it hard to find a flat run for training near our home in the Aravis Valley. I was not unused to training in cold weather, but managing the logistics of racing in it was a much greater challenge. My previous races in really cold weather had not been much fun! In the end I opted for wearing a cycling jersey over my trisuit so I could load options of vest, gloves, arm warmers etc in the pockets. The weather that week had kept changing from windy, cold and rainy to clearing and warmer and then back again so I felt I needed to be prepared for any eventuality. Would it be too wierd to put in a light beanie? I wish I had!

The race itself


Such a polite bunch
"after you", "no, after you"...

I managed a decent swim start as it was a deepwater start and many people were trying to leave getting in until the last moment. I gritted my teeth, jumped in and found a good spot a few minutes early which was lucky as the race got started by the growing momentum and a loud sound on the speaker a bit before it was meant to and plenty of folk were still standing on the rocks by the shore, having to jump in late. I felt had an okay swim except the cold really took your breath away, almost literally. Not fast, not slow and no mistakes, just cold and crampy in the legs by the time I got out to T1, happy to leave the lake behind.

You had to laugh at my transition to the bike! I fell over trying to get my wetsuit off as I couldn't feel where my feet were by then. Even after getting sorted and on the bike I still had trouble getting my feet in my shoes for the same reason. Not feeling my feet was a bit of an issue that would come back to haunt me later in the day as well. As we rode down to the dam wall I slowly finished getting changed, taking all the clothes out of my pockets and putting them on; incl gloves, arm warmers and vest.

I rode well for down the long valley to the first col and then up the Grand Serre, vying with Coralie Lemaire and Amy Marsh. Descending down to the second climb I took in lots of nutrition as I realised the cold would add to the energy burn rate. It helped that the gels they used on course were one of the few I've had that tasted really good. I must have needed them!! Despite this, by the second climb, the more gentle Col D'Ornan I hit a few energy flats as the rain changed up a notch from wet to torrential. At the top of the climb I was cold (never a good sign when you have a long descent ahead) and the road was like a river with water streaming across and along it. I lost traction a couple of times early in the very technical descent off the D'Ornan and lost my nerve. I usually descend ok but on that descent got a bit freaked out by the combination of a cliff on either side (one up, one down), little or no barrier, soaking wet brakes and a road where the surface flowed. I remembered I was a mum of two beautiful boys that I could not let any race outcome get in the way of and so I went down at a granny-like pace, swapping from race to survival mode and froze in the process. By the bottom I was shivering so hard my bike moved on the road. I didn't care though for that moment I was just delighted to be at the bottom. I had promised myself the Alpe D'Huez climb as a "treat" to warm up again before the run. Heads can do wierd things to keep looking for the upside when racing! Alpe D'Huez is a relatively short but tough climb on an easy day. After 100k, two previous cols and a cold, wet day it felt bigger than the last time I had ridden it in the sun the previous June. The last few kms I lost some time as my energy just wasn't there to keep a good race pace. All up it was a long, scary and tough ride that for a change I was glad to get off and into the run. The ride is usually my favourite leg of the race. I wasn't in a great position coming into T2 (in 12th) but neither was it too bad given the star studded quality of the field. I still had aspirations to run into a top 10 spot... well that was before I took off my bike shoe and saw my toe.

So learning no 1. "take care of the little things in long course racing" as if you don't they may become the big things. After Nice IM I lost a toenail. Unfortunately it decided to fall off just two days before the Alpe D'Huez race. I was worried about it for the run so stuck some medical tape in my T2 bag to quickly put on before the run to protect it as it would likely come off in the swim if I stuck it on before the race. However with soaking wet feet throughout the bike ride and 3,000m of climbing to do pulling up into a hard carbon race shoe, by the time I got to T2 there was no skin left on the end the toe to put a bandage on. It was a pretty ugly bloody mess, more hole than toe. So as you do, I shut my eyes, gritted my teeth a little, stuck my offending foot in a sock and shoe so I couldn't see it anymore and headed off on the run. The worst bit about it was that having not been able to feel the damage for most of the bike ddue to the cold cutting down feeling from the extremities, in the run I warmed up enough to notice (ok really really notice!) the damage that I had already done, especially as we splashed through muddy puddles and ran over loose rocky trails. Ouch! Ouch!

Are we having fun yet? A painful run.

So 3 laps to the finish, 22k. I realised as soon as I started running it was all about finishing now, not racing competitively for a place. First 400m around the sports arena felt like hell, so I just promised myself to do 1 lap to see how it went and maybe stop at a secours (first aid) if I could spot one to bandage the offending toe &/or get some pain killers. I made it around, despite a bit of a lobsided run and saw my great cheer squad as I came into the finish area for the second lap. Jackson yelled at me "just 2 to go Mum and you are finished" so I took his advice (he is 7 and didn't know about the toe but could see something hurt) It was good mental reinforcement to keep me going! Don't dissapoint the kids. I have never DNFed so didn't want this race, after all the work I had put into it up to then to count for nothing. Lap 2 ... grind the teeth a little and only 1 left to go. By then having raced in the freezing cold, wet up and down mountains for over 6 hours, I was not going to let a measly 7k loop get between me and a finish. So, one more for the dummies and I finally made it to the finish in 7:15. Given the large numbers of DNFs that day it ended up being not too bad a result, just 15 mins off my target of a top 10.

Finished!

Finished. Just getting there
was a good result for this race for me today

As I was so cold I took a very long shower and warmed up with plenty of hot drinks and food after. Despite winning the veteran category I missed the presentation, and they didn't realise my age as I signed up late so I didn't even get the "old girl's" bling for the kitchen shelf to remember a race that will not easily melt into a blurr along with any other races like it. It is a legend of a course. After racing it, I more deeply respect why the legend continues. Although I was initially dissapointed with my finish time/place, with a bit of reflection I am truly pleased just to have finished it!

Hats off though to Cat Morrison for her great win on a really tough day. It is no suprise to me the gong went to a Scottish lass. I can't imagine the weather bothered her much. She probably didn't even notice it as being anything out of the ordinary!

Maybe I'll have another go next year, hopefully in some sun!