Same old story

Apologies for the delay in posting but to be honest I haven't really had anything to blog about that I haven't said in previous posts. Things have just been ticking over the same as usual for the past couple of weeks. The weather has been very hit or miss but I have still continued to get out running and been able to nip up the Aiguille Du Midi to try and boost the red blood cells a bit. Having trips up to 3842m on my lunch breaks for a couple of hours at a time might not actually help me that much but it's better than sitting having my lunch in my house.

Running has been the same as usual for this time of year when all the lifts are closed and I am too lazy to hike up high to start my runs so I have been sticking mainly to the valley trails in an attempt to begin getting my flat pace a little bit faster ahead of the summer. As with every run I do it is just a matter of how I feel when I get out to see what kind of pace I go. If I just feel like going super slow then that's what I do and if I feel good then I can push it a bit. I went for a hike/run up to the Bellachat refuge the other night. The refuge lies at 2100ish metres so it is around a 1100m climb from my house. I went out the door aiming to just plod up but felt good after 15 mins so decided to get my head down and run what I could of the fairly long steep and technical(near the top) trail. I made a fairly decent round trip from my house in 1hr 50mins and I could have been a little faster. My right Achilles tendon overstretched just over halfway up when I hopped off of a boulder when jogging so I had to ease back a little on both the ascent and descent after that. To be honest I don't think I could take much off of that time but I will surely give it a go again in a few weeks. I am still feeling a little bit of tightness in my Achilles at the moment but not nearly what it was like a few days ago so it is on the mend and I don't expect it to cause any major problems by next week. I did go for a 10km yesterday lunch and it felt okay. I went a pretty slow 9km an hour just to see what it was like and it didn't get any worse but I could still feel something so I may go for another little 5km tonight or just rest it and try a longer run tomorrow but I will just see how it feels.

20k loop to Argentiere

I recently got given a loan of a Compex machine to help build some muscle strength. Now I know some people out there will think this is all a gimmick and over priced rubbish or probably tell me just to go to a gym(no chance) and use weight benches but I thought given that I had never tried the machine before and it is a loan and I didn't have to pay the £500+ for it then I might as well see what it is like. Now for those that don't know what it is then your probably best to google it as to be honest I am not really up to date or smart enough to explain how it works but it pretty much uses electro stimulation to build and strengthen muscles. You can use it for arms , quads , calf’s, hamstrings and so on. You stick little pads to certain muscle areas , plug them into the machine and pick your desired training mode for strength , endurance , recovery or massage.... and away you go. Most programs run for about an hour so I just sit reading a book and every so often crank up the  intensity and watch as the electro pulses make my leg go from relaxed to bulging with muscle every so often. It is really quite odd at first as you sit and do nothing and you muscles are just popping out  and then relaxing as you do nothing. Yes I would never buy this machine because basically I couldn't afford one but I am starting to think it is great idea. It is good to use on the recovery or massage setting after long runs and it does feel like it helps. Also for things like the past week where my Achilles has been too sore to run on it is good to just keep the muscles warm without having to over work my injury. Plenty of people use the machine if they have broken bones and can't exercise and this helps keeps their muscles strong. For sure there will probably be some lazy sods out there who think if they use the machine it will turn them into super fit athletes and they don't have to get off the sofa which it definitely will not but I think used along with real training then it could be a great tool to have. If you know someone who happens to have one or you can test one somewhere then for sure try it out.

Grands Montets is defo better skiing but the trails
ain't too bad at all either

On the America side of things I am still hunting to try and find someone who needs a pacer for Hardrock in July. My name is on the pacers list but given that the race is a pretty small field and most people probably/will have friends eager to run some of the race with them then my chances are slim but I will never loose hope. If all fails I am helping at an aid station regardless. Why do I want to pace Hardrock so much. Loads of reasons. For me it is THE ultra race to do. Every longer distance runner has their own big race to do UTMB , Spartathlon , Western States , Leadville , Badwater , Tour Des Geants and so on but for me the ultimate is definitely Hardrock. I don't know if it is the Hardest and don't really care , how can you really decide what 100 miler is the Hardest? Sure some are more technical , some have more ascent , some are flatter(not meaning easier!) , some are super hot temperatures , some are arctic temperatures , some days you run well , some you don't. I think when people start talking about what is the hardest 100 miler they are the people who have never run that distance. Yes I am no 100 mile veteran(yet!) but 100 miles is hard no matter what the course. 

A little Cosmiques lap with Laurent

The entire Hardrock route from what I have seen just looks epic with the most awesome single track terrain , it's pretty remote , it has a very small field of runners so for most of it you will be out on your own and it looks like a mighty big challenge to finish it given the altitude and the huge 10000m of ascent and descent. Yes Leadville was and will always be my most favourite race experience ever for too many reasons to go into here but to run Hardrock is the one I want. So to be able to maybe pace someone on some of the course for me would be nearly as amazing as getting a chance to run it. Most runners get into it 3rd time lucky and given I missed it this year means in maybe 2yrs my name will be on the list but I need to plan other races around it as there are only certain races Hardrock accept as qualifiers. They decided to change the entry races starting from next year and omitted Western States(oldest hundred miler there is) and Leadville(second oldest) for loads of (what I think) pathetic reasons just to try and make Hardrock look more epic and exclusive. There is a lot of people out there who like to have a pop at these two races again for ridiculous reasons(okay some of the LT100 2013 problems were very bad I agree changes are needed but I can't be bothered discussing all that nonsense again) but I think it is just because they are the two most popular and famous in the States/World and like everything in this world as soon as it becomes popular or successful then the hate campaign starts and I am still convinced most of the haters at LT100 2013 never finished the race and wanted an excuse. Ohhh disaster! No cups!!(sorry couldn't help it). Luckily for me Run Rabbit Run is still a qualifier for 2015 Hardrock so hopefully if I finish it this year I can use that as my entry race but given the odds I will need to do another 100 miler in 2015 on the list to try for 2016 Hardrock. And what is on the list......UTMB which is also super difficult to get an entry but one day yeah I would like to do it but I would not be guaranteed entry to this in 2015. So it is always in the back of my mind what race to try for as a Hardrock 2016 qualifier! Crazy stuff I know. I would also like to do Western States but given it is not a qualifier and if I got into it in 2015 I could not use it for Hardrock 2016!! Is that all confusing??? It is for me.

If and it is a big IF I got to pace for Hardrock over any distance then I would probably have to cancel my Leadville 50 miler as it is two days after Hardrock. It will all depend on the pacing distance I guess. If I was pacing Hardrock for say the last 20km then yeah I could do Leadville 50 but anything over 20km would be too much. In the meantime this years goal is to just finish and enjoy Run Rabbit Run 100 in September with a little bit of Leadville pacing thrown in for the fun in August.