Once again world champion in the 100 km last Saturday in Bangalore (India), in 7h08’43”, two years after her first coronation in Berlin, Floriane Hot took the time to speak at length to athle.fr about her performance, his preparation and his desires for the coming months. Confidences.
Athle.fr: Twenty-eight months after your victory at the 2022 World Championships and fourteen months after the birth of your first child, you are world champion again. How did you prepare for this deadline in an unprecedented geographical and climatic context?
We knew that the race would be completely different from what we knew, that it would be hot and humid, that the course would be hilly and located at an altitude of 1000 m, and that the environment would be polluted. That’s a lot of parameters to take into account. I am lucky to live in the South-East of France, where it is often very warm. Even if the months of September to December, during which I did my prep, are not those with the highest temperatures, my body was prepared because I am used to the heat. And then towards my home, in Aix, there is nothing flat, so even when I go for a little recovery run, I always have a little difference in altitude, obviously. So that gave me a little advantage.
Was the course as difficult as expected?
Frankly, he really broke his legs! But despite that, I preferred it to the one in Berlin, in 2022, which was completely flat on a long straight line back and forth. The scenery never changed, it was endless, and mentally very difficult. In Bangalore, the route was completely atypical: the fact of having an ascent and a descent broke up the 5 kilometer loop well, it provided variations. On top of that, it was a bit “folkish”. Officially the road was closed, but there were occasional motorbikes and even trucks passing by. We regularly ran into students, since we were in the middle of a campus. There were also monkeys who ate everything that was lying around the place where the food was! All in all, it was pleasant, despite the pain of a 100 km…
Such a context requires a good capacity to adapt. Is this one of your natural qualities?
I’ve had it since I became a mother. With a little one, you have to constantly adapt, especially when you want to prepare for sporting events. Before, I had a training plan to follow, I just had to take care of myself, it was “easy”. From now on, we are never safe from having a bad night, being sick or bringing us a virus. Plans change overnight. You have to get used to the idea that it doesn’t matter if everything isn’t perfect or doesn’t go exactly as planned. We adapt and we do better. This allows me to let go a lot more. I therefore preferred this preparation, although it is more physically tiring, because it sets a goal and we know even better why we are doing all this. It’s additional motivation.
Can you describe to us, in broad terms, the content of your preparation?
Obviously, a lot of kilometers. With my coach (Editor’s note: Jérémy Cabadet), we chose to go on a marathon preparation course, but with more volume. I’ve kept speed sessions, including sets of 300m and 400m on the track, and I know there aren’t many of us in this situation. The only real change was that I was doing more reps than my training partners, who were preparing for the Valencia marathon. And on Sunday, instead of doing blocks at marathon pace, I was on long outings of 50 to 55 kilometers at 100 km pace. I also included a lot of physical preparation with my physiotherapist, including a weekly targeted muscle strengthening session.
You didn’t include this aspect in your training before?
A little, before my delivery, in the gym. But since then, I haven’t really been able to make time for that, it’s taken a bit of a back seat. I knew it was absolutely necessary to get back into it with a view to the Worlds, and with my physiotherapist, we blocked a slot every Thursday morning. This has contributed enormously to my performance, already allowing me to cope with the workload without injuring myself. Even at the end, when the legs were painful…
When did you start running again after giving birth to your son?
I started back really smoothly. I wasn’t in a hurry to resort, even if I obviously missed it. I didn’t want to skip the steps, I wanted to start again with a long-term perspective, not to get injured two months later. At the beginning, I did breathing exercises to strengthen the abdominal muscles, then I alternated walking and running, gradually doing a little less walking and a little more running. Little by little, I was able to do long distances again, until I ran the Valencia marathon last December. Without any objective, just for fun. It was six months after I gave birth. I was still postpartum, but at that point, I felt physically capable of embarking on more advanced prep. What I did for the French marathon championships, the objective of my start of the year, which went very well (she won the national title in 2h46’02”, Editor’s note). Then, it was around Nicolas (Navarro, his partner, Editor’s note) to embark on preparation for the Olympic Games marathon, since we alternate, so that there is always someone with Nino. During that time I did some fun races, like the Ventoux and Marvejols-Mende half-marathon, to stay active.
Are you still an air traffic controller alongside your sporting career and your life as a mother?
Yes, but since my world title in Berlin, I have had an adjusted schedule. This makes it much easier for me to train twice a day. I’m very lucky: my boss leaves me free when I need it during busy periods. I love my job, which is a profession of passion, so I want to keep it. But I couldn’t do the same while working full time.
Was the defense of your world title always in the back of your mind during this maternity break?
No not at all ! I told myself that I wouldn’t do a 100 km again, because it’s a big investment in terms of time. I also didn’t know if my body would allow me to do it. In addition, we knew that the Worlds would take place in 2024, but we did not know when exactly. If they had been scheduled at the beginning of the year, I would not have gone. We found out at the end of 2023, so I understood that it was becoming feasible, if we could work things out on a family level. I also didn’t want it to be to the detriment of Nino, or to spoil moments with him. We laid everything out and thought about it carefully, and after the France marathon in March, I understood that the door was open. I had managed to run between 130 and 150 km per week, and for the 100 km, it was “just a little more”, up to 200 or 220 km. Everything was reconcilable, and we managed to do it all together, it was perfect.
In just three 100 km races, you have one victory at the French championships and two at the world championships. You have completely skipped going through the learning box…
I think the distance suits me well. I have always liked long events, I have always done marathons rather than 10 km. What I like is the mental aspect. Mine helps me a lot. When I have an idea in my head, I don’t let it go. It was even more true in this race: I thought a lot about my son, with the idea that I had to return to France with the medal for him. There were no other options. These are also races where you have to run with your head. I have no problem running my errand without getting sucked into what the other girls around are doing. Obviously, I had a little pressure as the title holder, but I didn’t make a big deal out of it. I had already experienced victory once, and I told myself that if I couldn’t get back on the girls who had left faster than me, it was simply because they were stronger. I also manage to be careful, not to let myself get carried away. In Bangalore, I knew that with the heat and humidity, it was important not to set off at the same pace as in normal conditions, otherwise you would run into a wall. I made sure to avoid it.
Are you supported to work on this mental aspect of performance?
So far, I’ve never felt the need for it. Maybe I’ve had it in me since I was little. It is also our life that shapes us. I thought a lot about my birth during the race, because it had been a bit complicated. I also have a lot of support, from all my loved ones, and I want to give it back to them.
You are very surrounded by your family, your partner also runs a lot, and you are very attached to your club. Do you still run alone?
Of course, and even a lot! With two training sessions a day, we can’t always be in a group. I don’t mind, as long as I can run with my music. I love it, going for a run by myself, in the hills near Aix-en-Provence. I don’t look at the watch, I run, and my two hours go by super quickly. This is also why the preparation courses, even very long ones, do not pose so many problems for me. The risk is to stay in your comfort zone, and that’s why I wanted to do sessions with my group at the club, and that helped me to progress. The key is to enjoy it. I really love running, whether with Nico, with my group or by myself.
You ran twice between 7 a.m. and 7:10 a.m. A time of less than 7 hours must be on your mind…
For the moment, I don’t have that goal. I have a lot of fun at a World Cup, with the jersey and the collective side of the France team. Compared to the form I had and the sessions I did, if the conditions had been different in Bangalore, I would have started for less than 7 hours. But I’m not obsessed with it. Maybe it will come later.
You are a double world champion. The adage says “never two without three”…
There, right away, for sure, I want to go back there. I enjoyed the preparation, I enjoyed the race. But that’s two years away, we don’t know what the future holds. I also really want to do a marathon again and progress to beat my record (2h41’28” in 2021, Editor’s note). Races like Boston and New York give me chills. But it is not really compatible with 100 km preparation. Defending your title is a dream, but we don’t yet know where and when the next World Championships will take place. For now, I still have stars in front of my eyes, so I’m game. We will see in due time…
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