Kilian Jornet – Ultramarathon Training – Variety Is The Key
[Article by Tait Hearps of Sweat Elite]
Kilian Jornet. Most recently in the news for taking out the Golden Trail World Series, winning the finale at the Annapurna Marathon. He has taken the burgeoning world of ultra-endurance by storm over the past decade, being in the midst of, and helping to fuel, the huge growth in the popularity of trail running and ultramarathons. The diminutive Spaniard is not only notorious for his warp-speed climbing and rapid, technical descents, he is celebrated for his creative, playful approach to the sport.
Combining an indefatigable aerobic engine with technical skills and bravery, Kilian has pulled off an array of performances that challenge people’s notions of what is possible in the discipline. One of the most impressive things about Kilian is his versatility, when I refer to “the discipline” I guess this has to mean self-powered mountain exploration given that Kilian is as comfortable vaulting along razor-sharp ridgelines as he is plummeting through harrowing alpine chutes, and equally powerful ascending a mountain with skins as he is in his Salomon trail runners.
The story of Kilian’s origin is fascinating and gives perfect context to his performances since he burst onto the scene in the late 2000s, as well as his approach to the mountains. Jornet grew up in a mountain hut, Refugi Cap del Rec, in the Spanish Pyrenees. His parents worked here as mountain guides and raised he and his sister with the forest and the surrounding peaks serving as their playground. Kilian’s site says that he has been training since he was born. Forgive the slight hyperbole, as it is as close to being true as one could ever hope for. Spending days in the mountains with his parents before he could even walk, he went on to compete in his first cross-country ski race at the age of three (it was 12-kilometers no less!).
His upbringing was centred around life in the mountains. At the age of thirteen he went to Centre for Mountain Skiing of Catalonia (CTEMC) to train and hone his skills. To cross train for the skiing Kilian ran through summer, always keeping a log of his training and incessantly experimenting to explore the limits of his capabilities. He once even decided to forego food whilst maintaining his gruelling training schedule, passing out on the fifth day mid-run. All these years of training lead him to some success. His list of credentials is impressive, but it’s the things he has done outside of competition that really defy belief.
After winning a slew of the marquee events in the ultra calendar (UTMB, Hardrock etc.) and even becoming world champion in ski mountaineering, Kilian moved on to find some new challenges. At twenty-four he began what he called the “Summits of my life” project, setting out to break speed records on an array of the most iconic alpine climbs around the globe, bringing his fast, light approach from running across to the world of alpinism. Taking on these behemoth peaks, away from the crowds of the races and on his own terms, Kilian shattered multiple glass ceilings in the sport… He set the record for the ascent of Kilimanjaro (5h 23m), a round trip of Denali (11h 48m), The Matterhorn (2h 52m) and Mont Blanc (4h 57m), with the whole project culminating in his ascent of Everest twice in a week, both times without supplemental oxygen! Completing in mere hours what typically takes multiple days, even for experienced, trained mountaineers.
Kilian has achieved all this whilst maintaining an imperturbable aura of positivity and fun. He lives for the mountains, and what he does as ‘training’ for these events he has dominated is so clearly what he would prefer to be doing on any given day. He is well known for essentially having no taper for events. Prior to dominating the Hardrock 100 he spent the week running up 14,000 footers in the San Juan mountains, exploring new terrain. When questioned about this approach in an interview with Outside magazine on this approach he responded “Such beautiful mountains! I went out, met people, ran summits, the rivers. It’s a shame if you just go there to race.”
These incredible performances are the culmination of decades of aerobic base and a life spent in the mountains, doing what brings him joy. Kilian is now based in Norway, where he can climb and train away from the throngs of people that descend on Chamonix and other alpine hubs. In our last article we took a look at some of Kilian’s training philosophies, now we will take a look at some more specifics. He spends lots of time on excursions that last the whole day, climbing mountains and descending through valleys around his home.
However, he has also written about beginning to incorporate flat running and how it has augmented his performances on some of the climbs he regularly trains on, as well as improving times in races he has already competed at in previous years. Whilst still doing lots of running in the mountains (with the total elevation of some weeks surpassing 12,000m), This year he began to change things up with the flat sessions, below are some example sessions.
- 1x Tempo run: around 2 hours, 30-35km at 3:30-3:50min/km
- 1x Uphill training: 3 runs with ~700m elevation gain, each in 20-24mins
- 1x Treshold intervals: 3×5000m (14:58-15:20-15:15) / 4×2000m (5:32-5:55-6:10-6:00) / 5km (15′) 4km (12’20) 3km (9′) 2km (‘5’50”) 1k (2’50”)
- 1x Intervals: 10×400 (1’06”-1’08”) / 10×200 (35”) / 10×600 (1:39-1:40)
- 2 x Easy mountain run: 25-30km with 1500-2000m
- 1x Technical mountain run: 15-20km with 3000-4000m in scrambling terrain (between 4 to 10 hours)
- 700m elevation gain in 20 min + 7km in 21 min + 700m elevation gain in 28 min + 10km in 40 min
- 1000m elevation gain in 33’20” (Vertical Kilometre Chamonix) + 10km in 31’40” + 600m + recovery
He writes about these flat sessions bringing improvements in his fitness, and times up certain climbs he trains on. However, he attributes this predominantly to the change in training stimulus, having spent the preceding fifteen years doing very similar training, which did not include these flat sessions at high intensity.
Kilian demonstrates the importance of variety in training, how extending yourself beyond what is familiar and comfortable can bring improvements. This comes about through the change in stimulus to your body, as well as the other benefits that variation in training can have, helping to prevent injury by avoiding repetitive strain, as well as boosting interest and morale by having more diversity.
How can this apply to you and your training? Mix it up. Tired of the same old long runs? Go for a long run up in the mountains. Been cruising trails non-stop in preparation for the ultra you’ve got coming up? Try mix it up with some speed work on a track. Feeling a bit sore? Go for a long ride with a few friends. And as Kilian says – “Enjoy every training.”
