Non-Stop

The past week has been again jam packed and this time I got on some rock.

On Tuesday myself and Gary had a proper relaxed morning drinking coffee and eating croissants before getting the lift up to the Midi mid station at 12pm. We had all our Bivi gear with us and stashed it not far from the lift station then at 2pm set off to the start of our climb. Yes 2pm is a very late start but our route was only 5 pitches and an easy 4 abseils back down to the bottom and a short walk back to the Bivi stuff.

Gary about to head up to me on a very long First Pitch

Gary on pitch 2 , Awesome crack climbing

No Idea what he was pointing at

We went a done a climb on the North Side of the Aiguille Du Peigne called Lepidopteres being on the North Side means it doesn’t get the sun until late in the day so our late start was great as we had the entire climb with the sun hitting us. This was the first time I have really been out proper climbing this season and although it was super easy at French 5a Max (about UK Hard Severe for 2 pitches then easy Vdiff) it was just brilliant to be back rock climbing and strange placing gear again as the Belays were bolted but the route needed a few cams and nuts along the way , there were also a few rusty pegs we clipped but they did shake a little. It was as always super chilled out climbing with Gary and we just had a great time cruising up the route knowing we were in no rush back to get back down for the lift. We got back down to the Bivi gear at around 7.30pm and as Gary cracked open a bottle of Red (I only had one glass , still in training remember) I yet again had a healthy meal of Chinese noodles.

Heading Down

We had no plans for the next day so we woke up quite early and chilled out at the bivi for ages until deciding to head up and summit the Peigne by the normal route. Again we were in no rush as we could have Bivied again if need be that night. The normal route takes you up a long Couloir scrambling and walking until you reach the same place our route topped out on the day before but this time on the south side , from there its again scrambling and walking to near the summit where rock shoes go back on and there are some pitches to the summit. I think its a French Alpine grade of AD so again not really that hard but spicy enough given the exposure. However , once we arrived at the little Breche where we topped out the day before for some reason we were both a little unsure of heading further up , I have no idea why but Gary said to me he wasn’t feeling that up for it and I must admit I didn’t either by that point. No idea why though. It was about 2pm at this point and we knew to continue it was another 3hrs to summit then about 3 to get back down , coming down would have been fine once we got back to the Breche as we had already descended that way the day before. We both decided though to turn around and head back down the south side couloir. We got back to the lift around 4pm and back down to a scorching hot Chamonix. Our decision to turn around ended up being a good idea as that evening about 9pm Cham got hit with an almighty thunderstorm right about the time we would have been descending and the thought of having to spend the night up there hiding under the station does not appeal to me. So good call to turn around but we will be back again to complete the route.

Back at the Bivi , Gary with his Vin Rouge

It was time to get out running again and on Thursday I ran the Chamonix Cross(23km) in the opposite direction from Planpraz – Le Tour – Chamonix its not a huge amount of ascent probably only 500m but a descent of 1500m and that gets the legs nice and strong. Again it was roasting but I felt good and was running for 2hrs 45mins. The only problem being the last 5km as I had ran most of the way without a top on and my backpack had by that point decided to rub so much it had peeled some of my skin off my back , the shower afterwards was not pleasant.

Running topless = Excellent , with a backpack = Horrible

Friday evening after work I managed a little hours run and felt terrible but plodded through it. I don’t know what it was and it sometimes happens to me but sometimes I go out and my legs just don’t want to work , I just hope that doesn’t happen on the 31^st in Courmayeur.

Saturday was a rest day and on Sunday I finished at 4.30pm and managed to grab the lift to Planpraz and then I hiked up to top of Brevent and then ran all the way back down to my house which is an awesome 1500m descent. Going up to the top of Brevent I was in glorious evening sunshine and on reaching the top I was greeted with a big black cloud heading Chamonix way so I began an ultra fast descent but about 500m down I heard the rumble and I that was it , downpour and thunderstorm for the last 1000m to my house.

Lovely going up

Trying to outrun the storm on the descent

Wasnt fast enough

So all in all I am pretty happy with the way training is going at the moment. Its only 4 weeks until the race but it has been good to mix it up a little and get out on the mountain climbing. I’m obviously a little worried as the more I think about the CCC the more it frightens me , for some it is not a massive challenge but for me just to get around this course would be a massive achievement and I am looking forward to chilling out in September whatever the outcome of the race is.