Ultra tour du lac Leman - first edition 😂
Invented by me 😂
Jokes aside, it has always been my dream to run around the lake free solo (fully autonomous)
More details to come , in a post maybe 🤔
Project UTLL
Preamble:
tapered nicely the week before but still had the left quad and the right adductor a bit tingly, plus, knowing now in the aftermath that Albert is sick, I was also probably sick, and I felt it on Saturday evening, fever and heatstroke symptoms. But I had one shot to do this with the busy schedule and I went for it.
The run:
Packed everything I needed in the running vest which made it quite heavy and difficult to run with.
I planned all my water stops meticulously and I had a proper nutrition\hydration plan.
Took longer than expected to get to town so I was actually late for the start which should have been 4am.
Started at 4:17 from the Geneva National Monument (wanted to use this as a symbol)
Part 1:
Genève - Evian
Weather was perfect, 14km to Hermance felt easy. Then the first water stop, nice and quick pit stop, then crossed into France at dusk.
From Chens, I decided to make a right and go straight to Douvaine, where I had planned another quick water refill, there was no water, or maybe I didn’t know how to operate it.
Continued on to Massongy to avoid the main road, and what a beautiful area that is, great discovery (apart from a huge dog, almost like a bear that tried to stop me), but also found water
On the way to Anthy, passing by Sciez port, I had a moderately quick toilet break. And then water further.
In Thonon, denis fergeau joined me. This was a nice distraction from my plod so far. Thank you Denis for waking me up 😂 nice to see you again. Denis ran with me till Evian, where I had another two water stops since I knew it would be a long stretch without water until st Gingolph.
Also, the bike lake tour was going on, so the road were super busy.
Part 2:
Evian - Montreux
As anticipated and well planned for, this segment to st Gingolph was hard, because of the single road with no bike lanes and 90 speed limit which nobody respects. I was constantly anxious and the heart rate was rising as was the outside temperature. I put my head down and just pushed through this rough part.
When I got back to Switzerland, I was relieved and happy to have a safe path to run. However, the heat made its appearance. After a quick water stop in st G, I ran towards Villeneuve where the sun really started scorching. The area is amazing with lush vegetation, so I was able to protect myself a bit, but as soon as I got to V and had another quick water stop, environment became like a sauna. Between V and Montreux, I couldn’t really breathe, it was suffocating, and this narrow path was filled with people filling and enjoying a wonderful day.
Passed Chillon on the way to Montreux and decided to got by the lake rather than the main road, which added an extra km, and masses of people strolling. At least the trees were shading nicely.
Part 3:
Montreux - Lausanne
This was tough, a slow grind in the scorching heat by the main road and by the vineyards in Lavaux, the car fumes combined with the humidity and heat made it just impossible to breathe. I did as much nose breathing as possible. The views were incredible though, so this made up for it.
Water stop in st Saphorin but then a long stretch without water in these conditions until Lausanne. I think this is where my muscles started eating themselves.
This was a forgettable section despite the beauty of the area, I also took wrong road twice and had to turn back or use stairs, also got a bit lost. The heat was really affecting me.
Part 4:
Lausanne - Genève
The weather got better after Lausanne, cloud cover, less heat, more water stops, I was cooling down. But getting out of Lausanne towards ecublens, there’s this never ending slow climb and cyclists doing the tour were coming back, completely disregarding the pedestrian lane and almost running into me. I don’t want to mention the mess they made on the road by throwing gels and bottles.
After this endless climb, I thought I’d find water but again, fountain was not working. So the next one was in Morges. These two big stretches without water really took a huge toll on my body. I clearly needed a lot more water. At least the way to morges was now all downhill with amazing views. I focused on not spending too much energy and when at the fountain had a double portion like in Evian. Morges is beautiful as always.
Going towards Rolle, in Allaman, Konstantin B joined me. But to get to him faster, I decided to skip the side roads and just went straight on the main road, cutting some meters off the intended course but also cutting my water supply. I guess I wasn’t very rational anymore at this point after the heat. The main road was awful, but I got better in Etoy and there was this nice downhill going out, however, uphill again to Allaman and I was out of water again. I was extremely happy to meet Konstantin who gave me 500ml of water and most importantly, the company I desperately needed at this point as my brain was drifting into delirium. He really gave me a second wind and I was able to find some energy to plod to Rolle, where again I doubled the hydration. But the end was in sight, I know this path very well, only 30 km to go and it’s done.
Haha, well, the weather was not done with me yet. Around Gland, this massive wind started hitting me and the hilly terrain with never ending low gradient climbs made it really difficult. But Konstantin helped by drafting a bit behind him, cutting the wind. However, the rain started near Nyon, and despite my fear that it would wet all my gear and it would become heavy, it had quite the opposite effect, cooling me down and giving me even more energy.
By the time we reached Nyon, I was fresh, another water stop and on we go to that massive climb out of Nyon. But, the downhill was about 3 nice kms where I was able to find my footing again. Konstantin went on a bit of a tempo run of his own and he met me again in Celigny. The climb really took their toll though, I was very slow going up now, well, relatively slow, only 30 sec per km. In Coppet, Konstantin went back home, but his presence and impact were truly remarkable. I would have probably suffered quite a bit without him.
After another short water refill , I went on, legs were becoming stiff but I had no cramps at all during the run.
And then, the moment came when I entered Geneva canton in Versoix. Home at last.
I was relieved, despite still having 10km to go, I was really already celebrating, nothing could stop me now.
Called Tatiana and Albert before they went to sleep, such a wonderful feeling.
The rest of the way was a formality, I didn’t even keep the pace anymore, just immersed into the feeling and enjoyed it.
Once in Geneva, the park was closed so I had to stay on the main road, and once I reached the lakeside, the Geneva Runners last 500m, I was just reborn. Slalomed through people across the bridge, because quite literally nobody moves out of the way, and then that was it, it was done. 165km in 16h 40min. I completed the tour 🥲
Aftermath:
Of course I finally took my phone out, which was now covered in gels, and texted everyone. The walk back to the parking was like a victory lap, but which wouldn’t last long. As soon as I took the vest off, I almost fainted. The smell in the public parking is disgusting, weed combined with car fumes just made me nauseous. So I quickly got out and back home. However, when trying to leave the car, shivers started.
They were so uncontrollable that I could barely move. I quickly got home and had a shower to find out that Albert was really sick. I sat down to eat and became nauseous again, I think I was also sick, even before the run, as felt the day before.
With Tatiana’s help I was able to recover, eat and sleep. Thank you so much my love. She also took care of Albert all throughout the day and night all alone for me to do this. And I think most importantly, she didn’t tell about his sickness during the run, that would have probably been a big blow that would make me stop.
Finally, I am overjoyed to have done this, it was a massive project that I treated lightly and it came back to bite me, lesson learnt.