Base and endurance
Easy running, long sessions and back-to-back training build the ability to keep moving for hours without turning every workout into a hard day.
My approach at a glance
I train the problems of Nice, not a Dutch copy of the Alps.
My base remains a high volume of easy running and consistent recovery. On top of that, I train the specific demands that make the Nice 100M difficult: long climbing, controlled descending, hours of purposeful hiking, eating while tired, managing heat and darkness, and making sensible decisions as fatigue builds.
Climbing, descending and strength
Anna’s Berg, strength training, the Technogym Climb Excite and Skillrun give my legs repeatable load for long climbs and more than 10,000 metres of descending.
Nutrition, equipment and recovery
Long sessions are also rehearsals for carbohydrates, hydration, my race vest, clothing and headlamps. A hard block only counts if I absorb it afterwards.
My training map
Six Nice 100M race problems I train in the Netherlands
The Nice 100M is too large to treat as a single training task. I split it into separate problems. Each block explains what can go wrong, what I train and how that fits into an ordinary week in Hilversum.
Descending without destroying my quads too early
Risk: Nice contains more than 10,000 metres of descending. If I create too much braking damage in the first half, I will pay for it later.
What I train: controlled descending, box step-downs, Bulgarian split-squat holds, single-leg stability, strength work and hill loops where technique still matters when I am tired.
What that looks like: lap after lap on Anna’s Berg in Hilversum. It is not the Alps, but repeating the same slope lets me recognise rhythm, control and fatigue.
Why: I want to be able to steer through the final descents, not simply fall forwards.
Building muscular endurance without real mountains
Risk: living in the Netherlands does not automatically prepare the legs for hours of climbing and descending. My cardiovascular fitness can be good while my legs are still not race-ready.
What I train: Technogym Climb Excite, Technogym Skillrun, power hiking, strength work, stairs and long blocks that alternate running and hiking.
What that looks like: sometimes mountain training is simply an evening at SportCity: strength first, then a long climb on the machine. Not glamorous, but specific enough to strengthen the chassis.
Why: I cannot copy the Alps, but I can recreate some of the fatigue my legs will experience there.
Continuing to eat when my brain has lost interest
Risk: nutrition is not a minor detail over 100 miles. If my stomach shuts down, pace becomes irrelevant.
What I train: 80–90 grams of carbohydrate per hour, different flavours and textures, drinking under fatigue and eating while I continue moving.
What that looks like: long sessions are rehearsals for bottles, gels, bars, salt, water and the moment I no longer want to eat but still need to.
Why: race-day nutrition should feel like boring, practised behaviour rather than an experiment.
Holding my technique together when I am tired
Risk: fatigue makes posture smaller, foot placement less precise and every mistake more expensive on technical terrain.
What I train: cadence, foot placement, trunk control, single-leg stability, controlled descending and hiking without collapsing through the hips.
What that looks like: short stability work at home, box step-downs, strength training and attention to how my legs land late in easy runs.
Why: speed only helps while I remain in control. Nice rewards repeatable technique, not bravado.
Making heat, cold, darkness and equipment less uncertain
Risk: Côte d’Azur sounds warm, but the race starts in the mountains. Within one race I may face warmth, cold, darkness, wind, sweating and rapid cooling.
What I train: headlamp use, clothing decisions, carrying water, equipment checklists, cooling, staying warm and making decisions while tired.
What that looks like: laying out equipment as if it were race day, running with a loaded vest when it feels excessive in the Netherlands, and studying course videos before the race.
Why: fatigue makes simple choices harder, so I want as many of those choices as possible to be familiar.
Making the race mentally smaller
Risk: 165 kilometres is too large to hold in my head all at once.
What I train: section thinking, checkpoint study, course videos, mental cues for each phase and scenarios for difficult moments.
What that looks like: I pause videos to study paths, aid stations, packs, lamps, running style and how people move when fatigue becomes obvious.
Why: on 25 September I do not want to think “another 100 miles”. I want to ask: what is the next correct action before the next aid station?
Latest training block · 11–12 July 2026
Five hours of climbing and descending as a test for Nice
A two-day block on Anna’s Berg: two hours of climbing with a 9 kg pack on Saturday, followed by more hill work on tired legs on Sunday. The combined 30.6 kilometres, more than 2,200 metres of climbing and controlled descending gave me confidence: strong legs, stable technique and no pain.
Saturday: strength and control
I climbed with 9 kg of extra weight for the first two hours. I removed the pack for the descents, keeping the added load in the climbing while staying technically controlled downhill.
Sunday: repeat the work on tired legs
A second hill session with my race vest made the block specific to Nice. The value was not one heroic workout, but having to climb and descend again while Saturday was still present in my legs.
Lesson: load is more than heart rate
The local load on glutes, quads and tendons was greater than the low average heart rate suggested. I therefore followed the block with 48–72 hours of recovery. Saturday’s carbohydrate intake, at roughly 43 grams per hour, was also below my target, so future specific sessions will progress towards 70–90 grams per hour.
30.6 km · 5:06 · 2,221 m+
The real constraint
Not a standard plan, but preparation that must also work at home.
On paper, the Nice 100M is a mountain ultra from Auron to Nice. In my calendar it means training around family life, work, school runs, shopping, fatigue and the question of how to prepare seriously without making everything at home revolve around my race.
I call some workouts “ninja sessions”: get up early, train while the house is still asleep and return before the day properly begins. Not because that is heroic, but because it is practical. Preparing for 100 miles only works if the people around me do not pay the price every week.
I cannot copy the mountains here. What I can do is split the race into problems: descending, braking with tired quads, eating without appetite, hiking without collapsing, starting conservatively and repeating those skills until they become less uncertain.
Sometimes that means a long run. Sometimes it is a session on the Technogym Climb Excite. Sometimes it is dozens of short repeats on Anna’s Berg. Sometimes it is an office-day rest day, because recovery is training too.
Who is writing this
From my first trail race to the Nice 100M
I live in Hilversum, surrounded by heathland and woodland but without real mountains. I have run since my student days in Amsterdam, alongside field hockey, and gradually increased my focus on running from 2016 onwards.
In 2019, a close friend in Geneva told me about the trail races she ran. In 2021 I entered the Matterhorn Ultraks Mountain race, my first running event. I completed the final metres in Zermatt with my children. Since then, I have increased both distance and elevation almost every year.
Why I share the process
I spend a great deal of time preparing and share the lessons with runners planning a mountain ultra, as well as people who want to understand what sits behind a start number.
Why Alzheimer Nederland
My parents-in-law live with dementia. In 2025 I ran the Monte Rosa Trail for Alzheimer Nederland and together we raised more than €5,300. In 2026 I am doing it again with the Nice 100M.
Not a coach, but an engaged runner
I am not a coach. I am interested in running, trails and data, and I share my own preparation even when it is untidy because I work full-time, have three children and need the process to remain sustainable at home.
What it really looks like
Preparation is not one giant heroic workout.
Anna’s Berg in Hilversum, again and again
Anna’s Berg is not an Alpine pass. It is a small Dutch hill I have repeated often enough to know almost too well. That is precisely why it is useful: I can focus on breathing, foot placement, quads, descending, eating and what happens when repetition becomes boring.
Nice will not only be difficult during spectacular moments. It will also be difficult because simple actions must continue when I am tired.
Early-morning ninja sessions
A large part of my training must fit around family life. Sometimes that means shoes on before the rest of the house has properly started the day, training completed, then breakfast, school, work and everything else.
It may sound less romantic than mountain training, but for me that is the point: prepare for a huge race without requiring my whole environment to move with it.
Rest days are planned family days
Thursday is my fixed rest day. During holidays I also plan complete family and travel days without inventing a recovery jog. Sometimes the best training is a normal office day, a walk with the family, enough food, an early night and no extra workout because the data happens to look good.
Ultra preparation requires discipline to train, but also discipline to stop.
Lessons from previous runners
What Nice 100M race reports make me train differently
I have not copied personal reports from previous Nice 100M runners directly onto this page. Some were shared privately and the details would create too much noise. The recurring patterns, however, are too useful to ignore.
The common thread is clear: Nice requires more than fitness. It demands durable legs, sensible layering, a tested nutrition plan and the restraint to reach the second half without destroyed quads.
Save the downhill legs for the second half
Several runners describe the course as rougher and more technical than expected, with extensive singletrack and long steep descents. I therefore train not only to climb well, but to retain control late in the race.
Step-ups and high knee angles
Long climbs can require repeated high steps and sustained muscular work. Box step-ups, stair climbing, power hiking and single-leg strength remain part of the preparation.
Do not put warm layers on too early
The race can move through cold, snow, wind and ice before becoming warm towards Nice. The lesson is not simply “wear more”, but stay dry, avoid overheating on climbs and add warm layers when they are actually needed.
Do not rely blindly on aid stations
Soup, broth and cola may help, but aid stations do not always provide the solid food you hope for at exactly the right moment. My own nutrition and gut training remain the foundation.
Chafing and equipment are not details
Small equipment choices become large problems after many hours. I test layers, shorts, socks, vest, salt, hydration and everything that remains in prolonged contact with my skin or stomach.
From snow to sea
The race may begin in winter-like conditions and finish beside the Mediterranean. That contrast makes Nice beautiful, but also deceptive. My preparation needs to cover both worlds.
Periodised nutrition
My nutrition changes with the training week, not one fixed daily menu.
For Nice I need to train not only my legs, but also my gut and the decisions I make around food. My approach is influenced by Asker Jeukendrup’s work on gut training and nutritional adaptation in endurance sport.
Easy days: recovery and simplicity
Office, rest and recovery days do not need to resemble race-day nutrition. The priority is normal food, enough protein and supporting recovery without adding fuel that the work does not require.
Long sessions: train the gut
During long sessions I practise drinking, gels, bars, salt and timing. It is a skill: reach for a bottle, keep eating without appetite and learn what my stomach accepts after hours of movement.
Specific blocks: practise carbohydrate intake
As race simulations become more specific, I build towards the carbohydrate intake I want to tolerate during Nice: roughly 80–90 grams per hour in relevant sessions, using different flavours and formats.
Race-day logic: boring is good
The goal is not an impressive nutrition plan on paper. The goal is for eating and drinking on 25 September to feel routine: start early, keep repeating, recognise small problems and do not wait until the tank is empty.
Jeukendrup describes the gastrointestinal system as central to delivering carbohydrate and fluid during prolonged exercise, with GI problems common among endurance athletes. Nutritional training may improve tolerance and reduce symptoms. That is why nutrition is a training component for me, not a race-day afterthought.
Body weight without obsession
Being lighter may help downhill, but starting empty helps nobody.
In a race with thousands of metres of descending, total mass matters because every kilogram must be decelerated repeatedly. Aggressive weight loss, however, can cost recovery, glycogen and strength. The aim is not the lowest number, but a body that reaches the start lighter, strong and fully fuelled.
The trend matters more than one morning
Compared with my preparation for Verbier in 2023, the current trend is slightly lighter, with a lower estimated body-fat percentage and a similar estimated muscle share on the same home scale. I deliberately do not publish daily targets.
A smart scale is not a laboratory
Fluid, salt, carbohydrate, gut contents and creatine can visibly change weight and estimated body composition from day to day. I therefore look at multi-week trends and training quality rather than one reading.
The stop rule is declining performance
If recovery, sleep, strength, mood or training quality decline, the energy deficit is too large. At that point, becoming lighter becomes more expensive for Nice.
Race-ready means fully fuelled
The final days before Nice are not for further weight loss. They are for glycogen, hydration and gastrointestinal calm. I want to start strong and stable, not dehydrated with an attractive scale reading.
Race Study Room
Why I watch race videos as if they were homework
A GPX file does not show how a trail feels. Video reveals where runners slow down, how narrow the paths are, what technical descents look like, how aid stations operate, what people wear and how they move when fatigue becomes visible.
Sometimes I replay a section several times. Recognition may save time, stress and poor decisions later.
Terrainhow technical are the trails?
Descentswhere does braking damage begin?
Aid stationswhere do I need a quick reset?
Equipmentwhat do runners use in heat, cold and darkness?
Finishwhat does the final approach to Nice look like?
Sources and influences
What I base my preparation on
This is my personal preparation, not a universal blueprint. I combine official race information, my own experience, ideas from specialists, data, videos and lessons from runners who have completed Nice.
Official race information
The official UTMB pages and GPX files are the basis for the course, distance, elevation, equipment, aid stations and time limits.
Official Nice 100M pageMy own route preparation
I use a section plan, course videos, online GPX files, finisher reports and information shared through TrailTalk and Strava to make the race less abstract.
Read my Nice 100M route guideMuscular endurance and specificity
I try to translate ideas from Scott Johnston and Jason Koop into my own setting: frequent repetition, specific load and training that matches what the race will actually demand.
Jason Koop — Training Essentials for UltrarunningHill training in Hilversum
Most outdoor hill sessions take place on Anna’s Berg, a roughly 20-metre hill in Hilversum. I also use the Technogym Climb Excite and Skillrun at SportCity for climbing, power hiking and muscular endurance.
See the six race problems I trainSports nutrition and gut training
Asker Jeukendrup has influenced how I think about periodised nutrition and gut training: nutrition is something to practise, not improvise on race day.
Asker Jeukendrup — Training the Gut for AthletesSports medical screening
In 2025 I completed a sports medical assessment at OREC for the Monte Rosa Trail. In 2026 I also use OREC preventively for movement-chain assessment, single-leg control and preparation for long descents.
OREC sports medical assessmentLast meaningfully updated: 13 July 2026 — added the Anna’s Berg training block, body-weight context, current OREC information and a clearer training structure.
Mandatory gear for the Nice 100M
What must go into my race vest?
Alongside normal running clothing, the organiser requires a substantial list of equipment. I track what is mandatory, what I personally choose and what belongs in my vest or drop bags: headlamps, extra layers, a waterproof jacket, emergency food, power banks, bowl and cup.
Why I share this
This preparation is about more than a finish line.
My parents-in-law live with dementia. That is why I am running the Nice 100M for Alzheimer Nederland. The preparation is therefore more personal than training for a sporting goal alone.
Early ninja sessions, repeated laps on Anna’s Berg and deliberate rest days all belong to the same campaign. Training is not more important than Alzheimer’s disease; the 100 miles are a way to raise attention and money for something that directly affects our family.
Every filled mile represents part of the route, but also months of planning, training, practising, recovering and continuing to explain why this matters.
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Frequently asked questions
Questions about training for a 100-mile mountain ultra
How do you train for a mountain ultra in the Netherlands?
By separating the race into demands. Climbing, descending, hiking, eating, darkness, heat and equipment each need different work. I use hill repeats, Anna’s Berg, Technogym Skillrun, Technogym Climb Excite, strength training, long runs and frequent repetition.
Why do you train so often on Anna’s Berg?
Because repetition is useful. The hill is short, but it allows controlled climbing, descending, eating, technique work and fatigue close to home. It is not an Alpine substitute, but it is a practical test slope.
Which machines do you use for mountain training?
Mainly the Technogym Skillrun for incline work and the Technogym Climb Excite for repeated climbing. They do not reproduce the Alps, but they allow focused work on climbing, hiking and muscular endurance.
What are ninja sessions?
Sessions planned early or efficiently so that family life is disrupted as little as possible. The preparation must work athletically and remain sustainable at home.
What do you mean by periodised nutrition?
Nutrition changes with the purpose of the session. A rest day requires something different from a long hill session. During specific work I deliberately practise carbohydrate, fluid, salt and timing so my stomach is not surprised on race day.
What do you mean by plan versus reality?
The plan defines the intended purpose and limits of a session. Reality determines the execution. If terrain, recovery, family life or pain signals change, I adjust. Doing more is only useful when the session remains specific and the recovery afterwards still works.
Why does body weight matter in your preparation?
Total mass must be decelerated repeatedly on long descents. I aim to reduce unnecessary mass gradually, but not at the cost of strength, recovery or carbohydrate availability. Multi-week trends matter more than daily smart-scale readings.
Is this training advice?
No. This is my own preparation, not medical, nutritional or general training advice. Other runners need to make decisions appropriate to their experience, health and circumstances.