Mont Blanc 80km

 

I woke up on Friday morning at 2am to make sure I was well fed and ready to start the race at 4am. It was some Carbo Cake and Coco Pops and then I walked down from my house to Chamonix centre and was at the start line at 3.45am alongside Fredelina who surprise surprise was taking some pictures. It all started pretty well( as well as 700 people could start jogging up a forest track) it was a cold morning but I had a wind shirt on and it kept my temperature just perfect.

It was all slow going for the first bit. It is pretty much uphill from the start line all the way to Brevent at 2457m so a fair old climb of 1400m to begin. I managed to get into a decent group for the hike up as to not waste too much time being behind slower people. I got up the 1400m , 8.7km climb in 2hrs 14mins and was feeling good at the top. It was a hard section to get any pace on due to it being the start and also there was loads of bomber hard snow all the way from Bellachat to Brevent which was impossible to run. From Brevent we ran down the piste(which is still a piste!) to Planpraz and then over to Flegere. I loved this section and as this is my lunchtime run I had a bit of an advantage as I know it super well and managed to get the 7.7km from Brevent to Flegere in 1 hour. I was in 243^rd place out of 700 at Brevent and by Flegere I had managed to get myself into 199.

Heading up to Brevent

The next stage from Flegere to Vallorcine was also great , it has a small bit of uphill involved but nothing major but then a fairly rapid descent back down to 1200m. By this stage the sun was well up and it was just an incredible view over the Mont Blanc Massif and looking down to the cloud covering Chamonix below.

 

Flegere - Vallorcine. What a view to run to,

I reached Vallorcine(26km) just after 9am and now up to 187^th and still feeling great. Sandy was there with my kit bag to refill my supplies. From here it was then 5km and 750 up to the Col Du Passet. Again I just got my head down and plodded on up. The climb went fine but it was fairly steep and super rocky. Once at the Col I had got myself up a few more places to 172^nd at 31.9km into the race. After the Col it was a super trail along to Chalet Loriaz and a descent back down to Vallorcine. I was loving it at this section and ran all of it and was feeling so fit and fresh! I had managed to again pass a fair few people (30) on this 8km section and was now in 142^nd at 40km. There was one slight problem though. My right knee was starting to hurt a little when I started the descent back to Vallorcine. Usually when I feel pain on a race I just try and put it to the back of my mind and take it as part of ultra running but this was wasn't just a minor little niggle. It was a shooting pain in my kneecap every time I swung my leg back. I did my best to ignore it as I knew I wasn't far from the Vallorcine checkpoint and a 5 mins rest to again refuel. Once I hit the flat the knee was fine so I was glad the next section was uphill to give my knee a rest from descending.

35km in and buzzing!

 

Almost immediately after I descended from Loriaz and refuelled at Vallorcine for the 2^nd time it was up again. This time an 800m climb to Aiguilette Du Possettes at 2000m. I have heard this is when most people pulled out of the race and turned around on this climb and walked back to Vallorcine. On the ups I was doing great , not a problem. No heavy legs , no sign of cramp and I was eating and drinking regularly. I didn't pass anyone here but the runners were pretty spread out by now. Once up this climb which took me an hour I was at the 44.6km mark and for the first time in a race ( I think ever) I said to myself ok your over halfway and feeling great so go for it. The way I looked at it was that I was on the way back to Chamonix now albeit with another 34km and 2000m of climbing to do. I did on the other hand forget how sore my knee was on the last descent and descending (800m) to Le Tour then Argentiere was not pretty. By the time I had got the 8.9km from the Aiguilette Du Possettes to Argentiere I had now dropped to 153^rd. It was so frustrating as my usual strong point on running in the mountains is my downhill speed and now I couldn’t run downhill.

Once at Argentiere and glad the descent was over it was yet another climb up to Plan Joran(1913m). This was a 700m climb and I hated it. It was nothing to do with my leg as it was fine on the ups. I just hated the trail. It just seemed to go on forever. I still managed to get up the climb in 1 hour and I was now at 58km and had crept myself back up some places to 145^th which didn't last long as the 900m descent down to Le Bois was again agony and yeah you guessed it I lost places on the descent and by Les Bois(64km) I was now in 152 and had been going for 13hrs 14mins.

It did actually give me wings on the next climb

A load of my friends were there to greet me in Les Bois and it was a massive boost(as was the can of Red Bull) It really does make a massive difference to see people you know during a race. Even if it is just for a few minutes and just to say hello or have a quick laugh it really does help. Even if sometimes I am too tired to show my appreciation it really does have a massive effect so it was great to see them all before heading off for the last section.

 

Now I was 14km from the end. Ahead of me lay a 900m climb to Montenvers then another 250m to Alpage Du Blatiere and finally a long 1100m descent to Chamonix. I was pleased with my time up Montenvers. It took me an hour and a half which is no record breaker as I can do it way faster when training but this stage in the race and having already down 5000m ascent it went very well and still no sign of cramp or over tired legs and I had managed to get myself back up to 141^st.

Face of pain - Starting the final 1100m descent

 

Now the next short section from Montenvers to Alpage Du Blatiere should have been fast. Well it was not. It is only 3kms and 250m uphill but it is a really narrow tricky trail and it lies between the 69-72km in the race and it took me 45mins! Once along this section though it was all downhill to the finish. It was now 7.35pm and 15hrs 34mins into the race and the sun was just beginning to set so it was a cracking view out over the mountains behind Chamonix. Normally I would have loved this section , legs were not screaming in agony and I had come 72km and only had a small section to go but I can't say it was much fun until I hit the car park at the bottom. It is a a long 1100m descent and my knee was not happy about it. Ever step down was a shooting pain into my kneecap and I got slightly annoyed with myself for continuing with it when it was this sore on descents. I just kept saying over and over in my head 'you've wasted your Leadville chance now , wasted it. Your an idiot for not stopping back in Le Tour' It was also so frustrating to see all these people I had passed climbing up now gaining on me all because I had a sore knee. I never normally get competitive in a race and like I said weeks ago this was training for me but for some reason this time I didn’t want to loose places to people I knew I was faster than so I tried my hardest to not let anyone past me. 2 guys did pass me about halfway down then another guy and then a girl who was actually really nice and could see I was in pain and even gave me a wee pat on the back and said “Bravo , Bon Courage” I actually managed to keep her in my sights for the rest of the descent and could tell she had also decided she didn’t want me to pass here again as she kept glancing back to see me in pain hopping and limping my way along behind her not letting her out of sight. Ally was waiting to greet me(fresh from beasting the Vertical KM in 50 mins) about 150m Vertical from the car park and gave me some much needed small talk back down to Chamonix.



Back in Cham at 8.30pm, The first ascent of the race which was
 done at 4am up to Brevent is marked.

About to cross the line

No she was not in the race

Once I got down on flat ground and into Chamonix I started to run and felt great. I really did feel good. No pain on the flats at all and my thighs didn’t even feel heavy or like jelly. It was now less than a mile to the finish and up ahead I could see the guy and girl who had passed me on the descent so I had to dispatch of them and did so quite comfortably as their legs didn't seem to want to run and they were going at a walking pace. It was then a right turn onto the main st and nearly there. The street was packed with family’s and people out shopping and every single one of them would stop and clap and cheer you on to the end. A really special feeling. A load of my friends were also waiting just at the end for me and it was smiles all around when I crossed the line at 8.42pm in 141^st place and a race time of 16hrs 41mins. Totally delighted with my time but for once I knew I could have been faster. Apart from my knee and a slightly sore neck(due to using my poles so much on the descents) the rest of me is totally fine and if I wasn't resting my knee I would be going a run on tomorrows lunch break.

16hrs 41mins

Time to rest that knee

This was a great full on mountain ultra and everyone supporting and volunteering at aid stations were as usual superb. I will reflect more on the race in a few days but I woke today to find my knee is not as bad as it was during the race. I will give it full rest for the next 5-7 days and hope it was just the 6000m of descent that made it so sore. Anyway Leadville is only 5000m!

 

Thank You Graham!!

Thanks again to everyone who supported me during the race and all those who were at the end. You're all awesome.

Finally a big shout out to Fred who not only made it round the course and looked as fresh as ever when she crossed the line , she also managed to take 300 photos while running!

80km in 4 Days Time

So it is only 4 days until the Mont Blanc 80km. The route has slightly been changed due to snow but it still remains 78-80km and 6000m+. The forecast at moment is for some sun and some rain so I hope that doesn't change too much. As I look out my window now there has been a falling of fresh snow to 2000m overnight! It was 35 degrees last week!

 

I have everything ready in terms of a bit of support at halfway with a change of shoes and extra food. Last night after work I hiked the start of the race to Bellachat refuge which was a good leg stretch but it is a narrow trail so early on in the race and I can see it being very congested until we reach the top where it opens out. Most of the trail I know except the section halfway for about 20km but other than that I have ran all the rest at some point. For me the worst bit looks like the climb out of Vallorcine and all the way to Les Bois. Lots of little climbs so late in the race will totally zap what energy is left in me. From Les Bois however think adrenaline will kick in and the end of the race could be fun. So I just hope to actually enjoy this and work on my eating and pacing and get my kit correct for Leadville. It has a 24hr time limit and if it takes me 23hrs 59mins then so be it. I really expect this to be a tough tough race. For me it is so early in the season to do a 80km , this time last year I done the Marathon and was in a lot of pain during that so my pace here is going to be slow and just get the miles in my legs.

The race starts at 4am on Friday morning. You can follow the race through this site http://www.montblancmarathon.net/en/ You should be directed somewhere on here to follow a runner but may need to switch the site to French. My number is 7710.

Today I am going to go and do the final 10km of the race and then no running until race day. I think I will go and climb up high tomorrow and on Wednesday and Thursday just chill out and probably go up the Midi and sit at 3800m with a book.

Thanks to TORQ FITNESS for giving me a hand and helping to sort me out with energy supplies like Bars , Gels and Drinks. A much needed bit of sponsorship which will help me greatly in training and in Colorado. Once it all arrives I will give some feedback on it all. Rhubarb and Custard Gels! I can't wait for them. http://www.torqfitness.co.uk/

Finally a big shout out to my good friend Scott Denny who yesterday completed his first IRONMAN in an amazing 11hrs 49mins! 2.4 mile swim , 112 mile bike ride and then top it all off a wee marathon. Scott has never been one to shy away from a bit of pain and this must have hurt. Excellent stuff.

Roasting!

Well the past week or so has consisted of lots of running. I have been getting out on the trails nearly everyday. On work days I am doing around 10-15km on lunch then on days off I am managing to fit in one mountain day at altitude climbing and the other days running more trails.

Lunchtime Trail

One of the best runs so far was a 35km loop I ran over to Les Houches (an area I haven’t really ever explored in summer) I ran from Chamonix by the river to Les Houches then found a very steep trail up to the Bellevue cable car station , dropped down to Col de Voza then up to Prarion lift station then it was up and along a brilliant ridge line and down to the Col Forclaz , from there it was back to Les Houches and retrace my run back to Chamonix. The ridge line run was great and I will be going back soon to run it on a clear day as this time it was wet , windy and no visibility at all.

Great ridge run at Les Houches

All the lifts are open now so it is great on lunch to get up to 1900m and do my usual traverse to Flegere then down onto the balcon sud and back to my house. Dependent on some different variations on the route it can be anything from 11-15km so great training.

Planpraz - Flegere

The skis still haven’t gone away either! On Monday , myself , Dorian and Ally went up the Midi and managed to do the Traverse of Point Lachanel then climbed up Contamine Grisolle which had some awesome little mixed sections and a cool little ice runnel. From the top of the climb we stuck on the skis and skied the face of Mont Blanc du Tacul and back to the midi. An awesome training day at altitude as I was always above 3600m and got to a maximum of 4100m. Was great to get the axes out again. Myself and Dorian were roped but no belaying needed as we just moved together on all of it placing the odd bit of gear here and there. Ally soloed up ahead being cameraman for the day. It was smiles all around as the ski off of Tacul was great spring snow. I hate the Tacul face and generally avoid it in summer as accidents always occur on it from avalanches and serac collapses but being on skis makes it so much faster to descend and a lot safer. I have still never ever gone up the face. Only descended it due to descending being faster , especially on skis. We got down to Chamonix around 2pm and I got home had lunch then managed to get out for a 15k. The thighs were a little sore that evening.

Red Climb - Blue Ski

High Point on Lachanel

Fun on Tacul

Great shot from Ally. Me in front of Dorian as we finish the climb

Ski Time on June 17th!

The next day was a running day and although it wasn’t very long it was worth it. Again blue skies but a sweltering 35 degrees in Chamonix. Again I got the Planpraz lift up to 1900m and ran for 15km along the Aiguille Rouge over Tete Aux Vents and down to the village of Montroc and got a bus home. A great great run but my legs were not as fresh as I would have liked. The temperature up high was hot but not scorching until I got down nearer Montroc at the end. There was still a lot of snow on this trail especially past Tete Aux Vents and some sections I had to be very careful not to fall through the softer stuff and get a pretty nasty injury. All in all a great afternoon to be running at 2000m and in pretty hot conditions.

Tete Aux Vents - Roasting

Tricky Traversing

News of the new Mont Blanc 80km route will be posted tomorrow. Due to all the snow the route will definitely be changed at some stages. Only 9 days until this race and I am still not sure if I am properly ready for it. I raced 57km in May and my longest run here this summer so far is only 35km. I have been up high a lot recently though which I think will help but I am well aware there could be some pain to come on this course and I hope it is not going to be as hot as the past week has been.

Hello Summer

Summer has finally arrived in Chamonix but that hasn't stopped the skis coming out again. Paul I decided to go for a wee tour up Mont Buet. It was a 6am start from the car in Buet. We walked for around 45 mins until we managed to put on our skis and start skinning up. It was a cracking morning and even at 8am it was getting hot. The skin up was fine and we went at a pretty steady pace. At the top though I was a bit slower than I thought I would be but I blame the heat. I was pouring with sweat as the sun was by this point belting down on us at 10am. We were greeted at the top with amazing blue skies. We didn't hang around on the top too long as it was getting so warm and I didn't want to be skiing down when the snow was too wet and heavy so we blasted off and for the first few hundred metres the skiing was just amazing. It was perfect spring snow and I was loving every second of it. Lower down it got a bit heavier and we managed to set off some slides , one of which was quite considerable but we got down in one piece with no major incident. It was a cracking morning out and again great uphill leg training as it is pretty long at 1800m vertical ascent from the hamlet of Buet to the summit of Mont Buet which lies at 3000m in altitude.

Summit of Mont Buet , Mont Blanc Massif Behind. Awesome

Sweaty!

Fresh Spring Turns

Since then though I have been focused on running and must admit I really really want to climb up in the high mountain. I managed a pretty good time on the zigzags under the Planpraz Gondola doing the ascent and descent in 1hr 15mins. I am never really one for bothering about speed any more. I have done my time at beasting myself of 10ks and half marathons and team events so now I prefer to just be able to plod on and on and just see how far I can go but sometimes I go out and I do get an urge to just go for it , this doesn’t happen often now but is fun when it does.

Chamonix from above Lavancher

The day after I went out for a 25km loop from home up to Lavancher then up to the view point over the Mer de Glace Glacier , down an amazing little trail to Les Bois then up to Montenvers and along to the Cascade Du Dard then home. This was just over 2 hours and I was happy with this time as I didn't think I was going that fast but just managed to keep a good pace. I was speed walking the steep uphill sections though. Personally I think this is a vital skill to have for Ultra running. A lot of newbies have great ideas of running the full distance of their chosen Ultra but in reality this isn't going to happen , not even for the pros. It is quite a hard thing to practice and get right , being able to know when to start walking uphill and not gas out trying to keep running it when 99% of the time walking is actually faster even if the incline is only short. Also being able to change between walking and running over a long period of time is something that sounds easy but is difficult to get right. The change in momentum all the time is something I work on a lot when out for longer runs. It's amazing how on some races I am at a walking pace at say mile 30 then at mile 40 I start running and feel great again for another 5 or so miles then it is back to a slow jog/walk and so on. In my view it is vital to practice this when out training.

 

Finally Summer

Heading to Les Bois

I have also been out for 10ks and some 13-15ks. I am taking one day off a week at the moment. Doing mostly things between 10-15k each day and one day a week do a 25k +. This week looks like it is going to be a 35k on Monday. I am plodding along at 1 hour 10km pace at moment , which yes isn't particularly fast for a 10km race but that's not what I am training for. I need to find a pace I can do for a long long time and I seem to be able to run at a 1hr 10km pace for a good while. There is no way I will do Leadville at 1hr 10km pace for 165kms but I think 1hr 10ks is a good pace for my Ultra training.

The Chamonix 80km race is not far away and as expected the route is going to be changed due to snow. There is still a crazy amount of snow above 2000m and some of this race goes to 2600m so no chance it will clear for June 28^th. They have said it will stay 80km and 6000m+ but they haven’t revealed the course yet. I will just have to wait and see but I know this is going to be a very tough race , one I am afraid I am overlooking a little bit.

 

On the Leadville side of things it is all going great. I am all booked up now with Flights , Accommodation etc... and best of all I have my pacers all sorted for the race which is a big relief. For the first 50 miles of the race I am on my own then at mile 50 Anna is going to come into play and get me back over Hope Pass(3800m) to Twin Lakes which is 13 miles then Todd will see me for 17 miles to Fish Hatchery where Ben will take over for 10 miles to Mayqueen and then at Mayqueen Anna will be back on the course to hopefully see me the 13 miles back to Leadville. I am more than happy with my pacing crew. Anna is a super keen runner doing Half Marathons , Marathons and is going for 50kms as well , Ben is into running 50kms also and is going to scope out his section of the race a few times over the summer and Todd has completed Leadville before and also paced on it before so having him with me will be a big big help. A great little team. I still have to sort out time estimates for stages of the race to give to my pacers and crew (Stacey and Jennifer) but I will do that over July.

I have been thinking a lot about Leadville and my biggest fear is still the distance. The altitude I think I will be ok with by the time August arrives and also the 5000m of ascent doesn't frighten me , of course it is still a fair bit of ascent but I have done that before and also the biggest climb in one go is about 800m(followed 10 miles after by the same 800m climb) which really isn't that big when you consider this years CCC will start with a 1400m climb! Don't get me wrong I am not saying 5000m is easy at all but I know I can manage that. Managing 100 miles is going to hard and within what I consider tight cut off times. It doesn't matter what way you look at 100 milers as they all have different terrain and elevation gains etc.. and yes some are harder than others but at the end of the day it is still 100 miles to cover in one go.


There are a huge number of 100 milers(and 100+ , google Spartathlon) all over the world to have a go at (some easier to get in that others) but Leadville just seems the correct one for me for a number of reasons. It is in Colorado and I have always wanted to go to Colorado and I love being in America. It is a relatively small field being around 800 runners. It really does seem like a small-scale community event , obviously there are sponsors and media involved but it seems to have some kind of small town charm to it when you speak to other runners who have ran it or read other blogs on it the support from locals and other runners family and friends is meant to be immense. The CCC did have great support last year from everyone around and I loved the whole race even if the weather was rotten I still enjoyed myself , the only thing I didn't like was the number of runners on tiny narrow trails , it is way too busy for me or maybe I just didn't run fast enough to find space! Anyway it is a trip away for me to somewhere completely new , who knows I might enjoy the trails there so much I won't come back.