Lucy Bartholomew, a 28-year-old Australian ultra-trail runner, has reached the epitome of trail running and triathlon in the same season.
Bartholomew’s intro into the world of ultra running was not typical.
When she was just 15 years old, she ran her first 100k trail race with her dad, finishing in 12 hours and 36 minutes. This was a defining moment in her career when she felt strong and would continue on professionally.
Last year, Bartholomew became just the sixth person and second woman to have ever completed Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) and Ironman World Championships in the same season.
And this year, she’s doing just that, once again.
UTMB is considered the most prestigious trail running event in the world. The race begins in Chamonix, covering three countries in 171k and almost 10,000m of positive elevation.
Not only did Bartholomew complete UTMB, but she also placed 10th (again) among a stacked field of accomplished ultra runners. Lucy completed the grueling course in 25:55:31.
The Ironman World Championships, taking place in Nice, France, forces athletes to negotiate a 3.9k swim, 180.2k bike, and a marathon (42.2k) totaling 226.3k.
In 2023, both events occured within only six weeks of each other. This year, Bartholomew has just three weeks of turnaround.
We spoke with Bartholomew after her double last year, and the overarching theme was that she went into both races with a lot of uncertainty, both being quite new experiences for her. However, this year, speaking to Run247, Bartholomew used her previous experience to push herself to a personal best.
“My UTMB experience has felt different this year. Last year was driven by curiosity and ‘can I do this?’, whereas this year felt more like it was driven by ‘how fast can I go?’”
“My approach and attitude towards the race remained the same – knowing it was a fast start, a long night and a hot day following, I felt confident that when the sun hit on Saturday, I could be in a good place to make moves as I handled the heat well.”
“A lot went wrong, again, but more went right. I am super happy with my time, which would have been in the top three most other years, but I am so impressed and inspired by the speed of the women’s race, which brought out my best on that day.”
Balancing Recovery And Training
Reaching the epitome of two demanding sports requires a diligent balance of a high training load and adequate recovery to avoid illness and injury.
“The day after UTMB I got an email saying, ‘IRONMAN World Championship Nice is three weeks away, it’s time to start your taper’, and I thought, ‘no, it’s time to start training’!”4
“I feel really good, though. I have come out of UTMB with no niggles or injuries, which is better than last year. I have eaten for a family of five in the past week and have been very intuitive about moving my body and sleeping to catch back up.”
“The international travel and the last third of UTMB being a massive fight with my mind and body meant I was already so much further back than where I am now.”
“It always fascinates me to watch the body and mind recover because with UTMB, you run through a whole night and then don’t really sleep the night after as your body starts to repair, so I am really trying to respect that and say to it, ‘OK, tell me what you want to do each day’ and being guided by that rather than a training plan.”
“My plan for the in-between weeks was to ride and swim a little to remind my body what these sports are and to run a few times, but nothing wild. I would rather turn up to Nice fresh and stoked than overtrained and exhausted,” she said to Run247.
One key component to Lucy’s staying free from injury and overtraining is her Ironman training, which ultimately acts as a form of cross-training for her ultrarunning.
Bartholomew says the multi-sport training allowed her to feel healthier and well-rounded.
She relished the benefit that cycling allowed her to get in more volume without the impact on her joints. She found swimming meditative, keeping her in a positive mindset and therapeutic for her body.
“Whether I ever do another Ironman or not, I will definitely continue to keep this type of multisport training in.”
Her multisport approach is what allowed her to build such a high level of fitness during her training for UTMB. She was able to pack in more volume while avoiding injury and burnout.
Despite being only 28 years old, Lucy has been in the sport for a long time. As an athlete that many young aspiring trail runners can look up to, we asked her what her parting advice to any young runner looking to get into ultra running would be.
Her answer: “Do it, try it, but do it for the right reasons. Ensure you understand that ultra running is an extreme sport and can have extreme effects on the body, so be smart about it, be willing to learn, and build up slowly. You don’t have to ultra-run. Going fast and short is cool, too.”
Bartholomew will compete in the Women’s VinFast Ironman World Championships which will take place on September 22, 2024 in Nice France, the first time they are being hosted outside of the United States.
