Hello 2015

Now that we are into 2015 my race schedule is pretty much completed for this coming summer albeit with a couple of little tweaks from what I posted last time. The trail shoes are now tucked away for the next couple of months and the skiing will continue until nearer to spring when I start to get properly ready for Transvulcania in May.

Out for a tour with the one and only Rob Stokes

All I have been doing recently is ski touring on my days off and some lunch time uphill work every other day. It's going to continue like this for a while now and I am really enjoying this Skimo thing. So now I have my goals set out for this coming summer I thought it might be a good idea to just have a little recap of what went on last summer. Some good , some awful and some surprising performances.

Out for a nice little tour near Les Gets

Night time Skimo with Woody at Les Houches

It all started in April when I travelled over to Scotland to run the Highland Fling 83km race. The race didn't go very well for me. I still finished in a pretty decent time but I was not happy with the state I was in at the finish. Then in June I ran the CMC 40km in Catalonia and this went a lot better and really boosted my confidence. It was then time for Colorado and the entire 3 months spent there were perfect and I came away incredibly happy with all my results , Leadville 50 , Aspen Valley Half Marathon (just 6 days after LT50) , Arapahoe Basin Summit Challenge and then my strong performance at Run Rabbit Run. I then returned to the UK in October and less than a month after RRR100 I ran the Lake District 80km with Lauren. Definitely RRR was my highlight last year but a close second is my Lakes 80km run. I was amazed at just how strong I felt on this course from start to finish and really couldn't believe that it felt quite easy for me. It's a tough tough course and I thought it may have broken me being so close to RRR but it ended up being a great day and I loved every second of it. Including the torrential rain in the morning. My favourite race from start to finish was 100% the Arapahoe Basin Summit Challenge , it was only a 7.5km race which involved a steep uphill push to start then a lovely ridge run and finished with a speedy 2km downhill. Short and sweet and not normally a distance I race but it was a cracking morning.

Some time during RRR 100

Thank you to everyone who supported me on all my races and the words of encouragement on the web and in txts etc... Big shout outs must go to Anna for joining me on many CO runs , Kim for pretty much making it possible for me to stay in the US for so long and last but not least Woody for helping me out at the Highland Fling , inspiring us all with her Mont Blanc Marathon result and making the trip over to Colorado for some epic runs in Utah and The San Juans and finally for helping to not only crew but pace me for 30 miles on what turned out to be a cracking 25hrs of running in Steamboat and making me realise just how I can push at the end of 100 miles with someone beside me who knows my running all to well.

Woody running in The Needles area UT. Best run ever???

So I am currently booking flights and accommodation for this years races and I am starting to prep for what is going to be an epic summer of running yet again. Now I have three days off of work and it's time to ski tour.

Nearing the summit of Mt Sneffels in the San Juans.
At around 14'000ft. Can't wait to be back there.