Les Deux and Depression

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.

THE Trail

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.

Day 1 - Run the pistes

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.

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 6^th 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.