I am just back from a
little trip over to Les Deux Alpes to catch up with Lauren. With the
lack of snow across Europe right now we opted for a run the first
day. This is Woody’s(Lauren) turf so it was up to her to show me
the way. We went a pretty chilled out run for an hour and a half up
through the forest behind her house through a fair bit of snow and
ice and around onto what I can only describe as a death trail!
Brilliant brilliant trail though. It is cut through the side of a
cliff and the exposure and drop to one side is huge. Easily over 800m
right down to the road in the valley below. There is a handrail but I
opted to jog round it without using it just to make it a bit more
fun. It was out and back along this super exposed trail and then a
slightly different way home running down some deep snow and onto the
beginners slopes getting some rather strange looks from the holiday
skiers as two idiots in running gear ran past them. It was pretty
damn hot though and I was in shorts and not cold. The following day
was ski day and we spent the day getting the legs in shape for the
winter to come by blasting around some awesome pistes pretty much all
day. Good times.
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| THE Trail |
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| Long way down |
Over the summer months
I generally train and run on my own. This is not that I don't like to
run with other people but I get pretty focused that time of year and
like to just do my own thing. I do like the company sometimes but
also love my time alone. I cannot wait to run with a load of new
people next summer in Colorado. I have ran with many many people over
the years and really do love it. I really miss running with Scott
back home in Scotland as he could really push me and we worked as a
good team on long painful trips. He is way way faster than me but I
could always find a way to dig in and keep going until he finally
started to feel the pain and slow down to my pace. However I have run
with others who for some reason think that just because I run long
distances means I go very fast and it seems as though it is a test
for them to try and out run me and be faster. Completely not what my
running is about. Yeah fine run as fast as you like , in the long
run(sorry) I will keep going , you won't. Yeah that does make me
sound full of myself but trust me I am far from it. I like to run
with people at the same pace , chilled out , loving being on the
trails in the mountains and have a good laugh. Woody is absolutely my
ideal partner for this , she is a great little runner even if she
won't admit it. Yeah I guess on the steep climbs and technical downs
I can disappear away from her a little but not too far and it won't
be long until she keeps up on that stuff. Once on the flats our pace
is usually bang on the same and it is perfect. Her banter ain't too
bad either which helps. I just need to try and persuade her to come
try out the Colorado trails with me next year. She would make an
awesome addition to my pacer team on my next 100 miler.
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| Day 1 - Run the pistes |
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| Day 2 - Ski the pistes |
Once Ultra training
properly starts next year I will be doing more flat running to try
and work on my speed along long flat sections on ultras which is
always one of my major downfalls. I can plod up and up 1000m climbs
fine and keep good pace on down hills but then keeping momentum at
miles 40 , 50 , 60 on long flats is so so tough and I really want to
try and fix this problem and the only way to do so is train on long
flat trails. Something Chamonix has very little of. I have ran here
for years getting myself comfortable on steep climbs and steep
technical down hills so the next step is obviously get my flat pacing
bang on. I am not even talking fast here. As I say time and time
again these are ultras and not sprints. I am talking more like 1hr to
1hr 30mins 10ks , sometimes even longer depending on the type of
terrain and how far into the race I am. Now some might think that is
easy to achieve. Hmmm just try running a 1hr 30min 10k at km 140 of a
165km race. It ain't easy , well for the normal runners out there
like me who do not train year round.
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| Les 2 Alpes Looking rather Summery on December 16th |
So recently I have been
reading a lot of stuff on post race depression. Easy now , Don't worry! I ain't going crazy or anything. It's not as bad as it sounds and it ends up it is actually very common amongst runners of all distances. Ever
since I crossed that line back in August in Leadville I have been a
bit down. To be honest I started feeling it from when I crested 6th
street and seen the finish line. I didn't want to finish! Don't get
me wrong here it was a completely amazing feeling to finish that race
and my first 100 miler and I cannot describe the emotions of having
done it and I will never ever forget it but on one side I was
ecstatic and on the other I was sad it was all over. With my work and
life I can only afford one big race a year. So all the money ,
planning , training and studying of the course becomes your life and
I love that but once it's all over you are left with this massive
void. Whats next? Where do I go from here? I want that feeling all
the time , the feeling of just being out on a huge course and being
able to let your mind wander and think about all sorts of things ,
sometimes think about nothing , sometimes chat and laugh with other
runners and your crew and pacers , think just how amazing it is that
you can make your legs go for so long and what you can do if you just
dig deep and so on.... I get a bit of a slagging from some people
because I run a lot(all in good humour of course) , I can understand
some of it but in reality I just don't think they get it. When non
runners think of running they think of it being a chore and hard work
and hate it from start to finish. Not me. Of course sometimes it's
hard work , bloody hard work. Especially some sections of an Ultra
when my legs are like lead and it's dark and a bit cold but I can
always find a way to just keep moving and that is the key to it ,
Just keep your legs going and you will do it. To be totally honest
for most of my runs I totally love the escape and freedom I get and
it always clears my head and overall just makes me feel great. So
when you work so hard towards a goal and it all pays off it is
amazing but you just keep chasing it and want it again and again. I
think it is just a constant cycle. I still cannot stop thinking
towards next years races and all the prep involved and that feeling
of running with my friends and having all those amazing people
support me on my races as they always do. It has completely taken
over my life. I know next year will be different from this past
summer and I will never try to recreate what happened as nothing will
ever compare to that first experience but if it can come even a
fraction close to that experience then it will all be worth it again.
Well that's this weeks
thoughts out of the way. So more snow is finally on it's way to
Chamonix and skiing may be taking over for the next few weeks. Along
with the Christmas period I can see running taking a little back seat
until the New Year but I may try get out for a little jaunt
somewhere.
Merry Christmas
everyone and I hope you have an awesome time whatever your doing.
