How to train for … Matterhorn Ultraks

Last year, we were able to experience the Matterhorn Ultraks spirit as spectators and helpers. The magical moment to hand over the starting number to the participants. The anticipation and also the tension was written in the faces of the runners just as in an open book. The day after, at the start of the long distance mountain race in the morning, these emotions were even more intense. When the starting signal was given, all we wanted was to be part of the race, run and share the emotions with the other participants …

Since this day, the project of taking part in the Matterhorn Ultraks has come to our minds again and again.

Tension, emotions, sweat, pride and joy: Ultraks 16K we are coming

Already in winter, when we went skiing, we trained deep down in a crouch to have strong legs in the beginning of summer … From February on, the idea became more and more solid and we began to spend time on the treadmill. However, we were totally haphazard and did not exactly know what we were doing … so, it was clear to us that if we indeed wanted to master our first Ultraks 16K successfully, there was only one thing we could do: Getting professional support!

As some of us already had some intermittent trainings with Catalina (HappiTraining) last summer, we immediately knew who can help us with realising our personal project.

At the first meeting with Catalina, we became aware of what it really takes to prepare for such a long distance race. First, we had to complete the Coopers test in order to check how fit we were. Based on our fitness level, Catalina prepared a training plan, which contains the following parts:

• 1 x per week: perseverance training
• 2 x per week: interval training
• 1 x per week: strength training

Now, we have been working out for more than a month and we try to combine work and training every week, which is not always as easy. Likewise, we had to learn that you will not get fit overnight. It takes a lot of sweat, perseverance and a few blistering patches 😉

Moreover, the Ultraks long distance race is just around the corner and not finished yet, even though we have run it a hundred times in our minds. Can we really do this? We all know it is not going to be easy – but this fact increases the tension and thus also the motivation to practise even more and more.

Handy hint: Practising in a group makes everything more fun and helps in phases of low motivation. No matter what, we agree not losing sight of our goal; to get our personal starting number, to feel the anticipation and the excitement, to feel the indescribable emotions at the start and to achieve a personal athletic performance.

One months to go, keep strong 💪🏼