Still no snow here in Chamonix so the running has continued and it's been pretty good. It's getting colder now and some snow is expected......at some point we hope.
I have been out for the odd run to and from work alongside the river but on days off I have been getting out on longer trips. Last week myself , Guillem and Laurent went for a fun outing up to the top of the Aiguilette des Houches , along to the Bellachat refuge then around back to Les Houches. 20km with 1300m of ascent. The following day was just an easy 10km loop I have from the house in Les Houches.
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| Aiguilette Des Houches - No idea what we were doing. |
I have really been resting a lot in November but a few days ago I went on another excellent run this time with Naila and Laurent. We followed the same route as the Petit Tour Des Fiz. This was a brilliant loop of 30km with 2300m of ascent and involved lots of snow running. We had it all on the run , snow , sun , hot , very cold.... Great day running in an area so close to Chamonix I am kicking myself I have never been there before. In spring for sure I will be back.
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| There was lots of this |
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| Amazing scenery |
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| Chalets Anternne |
So now to next year. Well I watched anxiously as both Hardrock and Western States were drawn at the same time live online but unfortunately my name never came out of the hat for either. Yeah I knew my chance were slim but I never lost hope of getting one of them. So after pondering just what to do next year and changing my race list god knows how many times I have made a decision. I will be travelling to do Transvulcania 73km in May then I will return to work most of the summer in Chamonix in order to save money for the USA again. I have entered the fun Vertical Km in Cham at the end of June. I am pretty sure I will then run the Ice Trail Tarantaise 65km in July but I need cash to register so if there are places come January I will do that. August will be spent training and exploring more of the Alps than I have done before then I will fly to Colorado and pace Kim at Leadville again at the end of the month. After Leadville I plan on spending most of September in the San Juans and at the end of the month my next 100 miler. I have entered The Bear 100 in Utah. I was considering not doing a 100 miler next summer but then again I do need another Western Qualifier and also another Hardrock to allow me two more years in the lottery. So I decided on The Bear. It is a point to point race starting from the small town of Logan and traversing over to Bear Lake in Idaho. I loved Utah when I visited and it will be nice to train in CO at altitude and then run a race pretty close by but in new surroundings. It has slightly more ascent than RRR and Leadville with 7000m of climbing. There are lots and lots of climbs in this one , way more than RRR or Leadville however my max elevation will be 9000ft so training in the San Juans at 11'000-14'000ft will be perfect I hope. It really does look a stunning course and all I have read on other blogs is so positive about it.
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| Approaching the top of the last Col with Mont Buet behind |
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| Navigation time |
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| Col Anternne , Mont Blanc shrouded in cloud behind |
I will explain more about the summer races as the winter goes by but I am excited I now have a solid plan. It will be hard to not have a full 3 months to train(cash is needed) for this 100 but I will work a day less a week in the summer and have 3 solid training days a week and then I have 5 weeks before the race to properly get my head down with running and resting. In the meantime where the heck is all the snow!!???
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