For every 1,000 feet I
climbed at my first 100 mile race, Western States, I will climb 1,700 feet at
UTMB. Compared to my last 100 mile event, Angeles Crest, where I climbed 19,000
feet, I will have to climb an additional 11,700 feet at UTMB.
There is a total of 30,839 feet of ascent at UTMB. Over 60,000 total elevation change. To put that in perspective, that is 300 feet per mile of climbing. I’ve been measuring my training runs in the last few months, trying to come close to this. What I’ve learned is that it’s not only difficult to train in this much vertical, it’s hard to find it! I live in a pretty hilly area. I don’t have to go far to string together a long run with what I thought was a lot of elevation change. What I’ve found, however, is to achieve 300 feet per mile of climbing, I have to be running (and hiking) steep hills, up and down, all the time. No flat sections in between.
Looks like I’ll be spending a lot more time in the Santa Ana and San
Bernardino Mountains in the next couple months...finding vertical.