Lining up for her fourth lap round Mont Blanc, the American residing in France, Katie Schide, arrives on the 2024 UTMB simply 9 weeks after successful the 2024 Western States 100. On this interview, she talks about her restoration after racing in California, what retains bringing her again to UTMB after successful it in 2022, and the components of the race she’s most wanting ahead to.
For extra on who’s racing, take a look at our in-depth ladies’s and males’s previews and observe our reside race protection beginning Friday.
Katie Schide Pre-2024 UTMB Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Megan Hicks of iRunFar. I’m with Katie Schide. It’s a few days earlier than the 2024 UTMB. Right here we discover ourselves once more. Katie, how are you?
Schide: I’m doing nicely. Yeah. Joyful to be again. Nicely, we’ve been right here a bit, but it surely’s all the time good to be again.
iRunFar: Yeah. Or weren’t you a shock beginning entrant on this entrance listing as of late or is that this one thing that you simply’ve been planning however we didn’t learn about?
Schide: It wasn’t an excessive amount of of a shock. We had been required to register in January and I registered, however I did take the runner’s insurance coverage simply in case I canceled. That’s how, I wasn’t positive, I wished to attend till after Western States and simply put the whole lot on Western States after which resolve after if I had the motivation mentally, if it made sense, if I felt okay, if I actually wished to do it. So I suppose it’s a semi-surprise.
iRunFar: A deliberate unplanned plan.
Schide: Yeah, precisely.
iRunFar: So it has been near seven weeks since we noticed you on a sizzling afternoon on the end line of Western States. Discuss us by way of what these weeks have appeared like. I believe you will have traveled rather a lot, you’ve rested rather a lot, and also you’ve educated a bit?
Schide: Yeah, I haven’t traveled an excessive amount of. I went residence, I got here again to the south of France two days after Western States, after which spent three weeks at residence within the south, after which we got here up right here on the finish of July. So yeah, we’ve been right here for simply over a month now, and that was all the time the plan as a result of yeah, my associate, Germain was all the time positive to do UTMB, so it was all the time the plan to come back and-
iRunFar: Whether or not you had been going to do an extended race, a medium race or not a race.
Schide: No race, or, yeah.
iRunFar: So yeah, straight residence after Western States, a little bit little bit of time at residence after which now you’ve turn into a Chamonix Valley native?
Schide: Yeah, virtually. Nicely, we had been staying on the finish of the valley, a bit eliminated. However yeah, we got here in rather a lot to benefit from the meals and low and see a number of folks.
iRunFar: And the way in regards to the restoration and conversion of the physique and thoughts from all issues Western States now to all issues UTMB? How’s that been for you?
Schide: Yeah, it’s been actually cool usually because I had a whole lot of enjoyable taking up this problem of Western States. But it surely simply felt so good to come back again and be within the locations that I choose a little bit bit extra and yeah, I get the poles out, put on an actual backpack once more. It type of simply felt like beginning a brand new sport and I used to be fortunate to not have any massive accidents or something popping out of Western States, in order that made it comparatively easy, I suppose. I believe final yr I performed it fairly protected. Everybody informed me UTMB after Western States and I listened and I did OCC and actually loved that.
iRunFar: And it turned out nicely for you.
Schide: Yeah, it was nice, and I’m actually comfortable I did that and this yr I knew roughly the way it feels to do Western States, the way it feels to coach for it, the way it feels to come back again. So I simply had a bit extra expertise with how the whole lot felt.
iRunFar: Yeah, so I believe you kind of talked about the thoughts there. You felt just like the distinction between the game of Western States working and the game of UTMB working was sufficient of a transition that this feels recent to you?
Schide: Yeah, it does really feel fairly recent, particularly as a result of I took a yr off UTMB and I’ve already finished three UTMBs, so taking the yr off type of gave me the possibility to overlook it a little bit bit, and it additionally made me really feel prefer it’s not one thing I’ve to do. Not that I ever actually felt that, however I kind of put it on myself that it was my largest focus of the entire yr, which it’s, I’d say, I imply mainly everybody on the beginning line. I’m in type of a singular place that I did already end the race. That was actually my focus 100%.
iRunFar: Nicely, end and do actually good at too.
Schide: Yeah, and that’s a bonus for positive. And now I’m tremendous comfortable to be right here figuring out that I, simply having the previous to look again on and simply see what Western States coaching can convey me in the direction of this race.
iRunFar: Yeah, I actually loved a social media submit you mentioned the opposite day about how you will have a brand new confidence in regards to the components of this course that you simply had been much less assured about previously, the extra runnable stuff, courtesy of a few years of targeted time on Western States. Yeah, simply speak about that for a second.
Schide: Yeah, it’s the factor that all the time, I believe it scares a lot of the French path runners is the quick or the fast-pacedness of Western States. How a lot do you need to run. Yeah, you’re actually working virtually the complete race, and that’s fairly uncommon in Europe to discover a race so lengthy that’s like that. So it’s one thing that additionally scared me as a result of yeah, it’s extra how I got here into the game. It was not from a conventional highschool cross-country working or highschool, faculty, cross nation/monitor background, however extra from the facet of mountain climbing.
And so I really feel like I actually targeted on my weaknesses for 2 years now, and yeah, I would miss a few of that specificity that I had coming to the race previously. However I’m simply to see the place that places me.
iRunFar: Attention-grabbing for me is that someone such as you who’s already had a profession defining efficiency or type of all you might ask for at a earlier UTMB earlier than, however you’re again for both extra, higher, totally different, one thing alongside these traces. Simply wanting again at your prior UTMB experiences, what do you’re taking from those who you’re like, “Oh, I need to simply press repeat and do one thing I did very well once more,” or one thing like, “Hmm, let’s strive that totally different.”?
Schide: Yeah. I’ve had some difficult moments on this course and a few nice ones.
iRunFar: Isn’t it such a European approach to say that?
Schide: Yeah, I’m selecting up the French English. Yeah, I’ve had some fairly dangerous moments on this racecourse. However I believe that’s additionally what all the time made me essentially the most proud on the finish was simply persevering with even when issues had been actually dangerous. And it’s one thing that helped me rather a lot in 2022 is simply being at these factors the place I felt good and saying, “Oh wow, I really feel so a lot better than the final two instances I used to be right here.”
And it’s one thing after I did have a fairly low second in 2022 that bought me by way of it as a result of I used to be like, “Hey, I felt this dangerous for a 100K previously and I made it so I can really feel like this for an hour or two.”
However this yr I believe the factor that’s actually motivating me is it’s one thing that in the end made me essentially the most to do it once more was simply the feminine begin listing is wanting so good and-
iRunFar: So good.
Schide: … I actually need to be right here for it. We had simply such an incredible group of ladies at Western States and we noticed what that delivered to all of us, and I need to be a part of this group of ladies. I believe it’s going to be just like Western States with simply the entire prime 10, the entire prime group of ladies is simply actually going to convey these instances down. Not that the course is ever precisely the identical. There are heaps little modifications.
iRunFar: It modifications yearly.
Schide: However usually I believe it’s going to be a extremely quick, sturdy yr.
iRunFar: Seeing the instances get simply objectively sooner and sooner.
Schide: Yeah. And never only for the primary one or two, however for everyone.
iRunFar: For me in the case of the ladies’s competitors, that’s the brand new dynamic that each one of you’re enjoying with in these races, is that there’s actually no room for way more than a little bit blip or a little bit downside. When you drop fairly a methods again, say 5 years in the past at ultras, you might nonetheless make your manner ahead by way of the pack. I believe these days might have come and gone for ladies’s ultrarunning at a race like this.
Schide: Yeah, we’re nonetheless not fairly, sadly, we don’t have fairly the density to be the lads fairly but, however quickly it’s coming and it’s thrilling to see that. It makes us all convey our performances to a brand new stage figuring out we don’t have this house to mess up an excessive amount of.
iRunFar: It’s an attention-grabbing race. You had a humorous social media submit the opposite day about like, “Oh, we’re going to go across the mountain and do all these climbs and descents and by no means summit something.” Nonetheless, it’s a rare course in simply so many various methods. You recognize it nicely, you’ve run it a few instances, you’ve educated on it. Are there sure simply panorama points or geography points that you simply’re pondering, I can’t wait to try this once more?
Schide: I don’t run at evening in coaching fairly often. Fairly not often. That’s all the time one thing that’s the most important, it’s fairly uncommon in coaching you’d exit and run for the complete evening for that lengthy. And in order that’s all the time the kind of cool half the place you’re like, wow, we’re out right here and everybody says you see the road of headlamps. It’s actually these are particular moments.
Aside from that, I do know the landscapes fairly nicely at this level, so it’s not normally new. However yeah, I do attempt to take a second to lookup and simply be like, wow, that is actually stunning. Sadly, among the greatest components will hopefully be at evening for me.
iRunFar: Fingers crossed they occur within the nighttime.
Schide: And lacking Tete aux Vents final two years has been unlucky as a result of that’s also-
iRunFar: Actually stunning.
Schide: … a fairly great place, however we’ll be within the timber this yr.
iRunFar: Yeah, simply transient glances of the terrain as you’re climbing. It’s humorous to listen to you additionally point out the evening as being one among your favorites. It looks as if that’s only a favourite of all people.
Schide: I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite factor. It’s kind of the factor that makes ultrarunning extra particular to me than simply going out for a long term as a result of I wouldn’t usually select to try this.
iRunFar: It’s additionally type of totally different right here since you concurrently do the evening throughout the extra distant a part of the course too. So it’s like you will have this actually wild and loopy night for 40K and then you definitely go to darkish and relative like path vacancy after which daytime comes once more. It’s wild and loopy all day lengthy. It’s simply, I don’t know, that interaction of day and evening and folks and never folks is simply attention-grabbing.
Schide: The race for me is actually these sections between Contamines and Courmayeur after which Courmayeur and Champex-Lac, it’s fully totally different than if you see your crew each couple of hours on the finish. So it’s a whole lot of issues to handle and all the time disturbing if you’re going by way of your plan on the final minute, attempting to place the best issues and by no means actually figuring out the way it’s going to prove.
iRunFar: Yeah. Nicely, I’ve a sense it’s going to prove simply okay for you, or higher than okay, let’s say. Better of luck to you in your, what is that this, your fourth lap?
Schide: My fourth UTMB.
iRunFar: Better of luck.
Schide: Thanks.