Extreme sportswoman, Stéphanie Gicquel grew up near Toulouse. She has just published her third book in which she tells about her challenges and her approach to performance.
In your last book, you talk about running but also about the research programs in which you participate. What prompts you to put your body in the face of extreme conditions?
It is not the medal that interests me, it is the work of the beautiful gesture, it is understanding what endurance, muscular adaptation are. I work in particular with the INSEP (National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance) on the adaptation of the body to hot-cold stress and with the national training center of Font-Romeu on the adaptation to altitude.
Which means that a lot of work remains to be done?
Yes, we don’t know everything. For example during my 7 marathons in 7 days around the world, I encountered both very high and very low temperatures. We know how to acclimatize athletes to the heat, this is what we do for the Tokyo Olympics by preparing them in a thermal chamber for 14 days so that the heart rate does not increase more than in a temperate environment. But in the ultra-deep, with races where you go from hot to cold in a few hours, can cold preparation negatively impact acclimatization to the heat? This is what we are studying and it is innovative. I also participate in research on body temperature monitoring and muscle damage. When I run 240 km in 24 hours like at the world championships, I have more than 100,000 ground impacts which lead to muscle damage but after 8 days everything returns to normal, it is very interesting from a point of view medical.
How far are you willing to go? I feel like I still have some leeway. The adventurers are not hotheads, we prepare for several years and the whole objective of the preparation is to limit the risks. I didn’t run 200 km in 24 hours overnight, there is a form of discipline to be had and I got my body used to it. Who gives in first, body or mind?
Sometimes it depends. When I went on an expedition to Antarctica to cover more than 2000 km, my mind was really on top, I knew that I would not give up even though I had taken 4 years to set up the project. Physically, at the end of the expedition I weighed 39 kg, it was the mind that helped the body to overcome the lack of food but also a toothache that lasted more than a month. On the world championships (240.6 km in 24 hours non-stop), I had difficult times in terms of concentration but as I was well prepared, I felt that the body was moving forward on its own. It is this association of body and mind that makes me think that I can still go further.
What are your next goals?
I will participate in the world championships of ultramarine in Bucharest on October 2nd. My preparation was disrupted by a fractured kneecap following an accident (I was hit by a scooter in early February while I was running). This is where the mind is very useful because I had never had any injuries related to my training. Going from 25 hours of sport per week to nothing, with a total immobilization of three weeks, it is a shock for the body. But maybe, as a result of this, my body will adapt faster. These adaptation phases are life: when you are used to change, you keep a form of agility.
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