Tor des Geants - Martin Morrison

Favourite / key session

Hills! Long, short, all uphill, continuous, anything with a hill

Biggest lesson pre-race

I’m physically & mentally stronger than I previously thought I was. “I am the storm”

What went well?

Sleep strategy & pacing. My sleep plan was to go straight through the 1st life base and sleep for 30-40 minutes at each life base after that. I’d take “trail naps” if required on top of that. In total I slept between 2.5 & 3 hours over the 4 days. I did sleep through 2 alarms at the final life base and slept for longer than planned. My pacing plan was to stay in Zone 2, under 143 bpm, as much as possible throughout the race but not allow that to drop too much in order to keep the pace up. The second part of the pacing plan was to not stop moving forward, at all, if I could, to keep going until I had no option but to rest. The rest would be as short a time as I thought I could get away with. This meant quickly eating at Refugios etc, putting my head on the table for a 30 second/1 minute nap, if required, and cracking on. “Relentless forward motion!”

What will you improve for next time?

Simplify my fuelling even more and set an alarm for when to eat

Advice for others thinking of this race?

Be prepared for all weathers. Be adaptable. Enjoy the bad times and the good ones. The bad times are where you find out who you are. Take in every moment, every climb, every descent, every interaction with a local at an aid station and the whole occasion, from registration to the awards presentation at the end. Oh & “be the storm!”.

Best bit of kit for the race?

Salomon ADV Skin 12 race pack and Black Diamond Carbon FLZ poles