Keeping Motivated

It has been a pretty busy few weeks for me. I have done so much that I don't know where to start. Lauren arrived for an action packed weekend skiing powder in Switzerland , Ski touring near Chamonix, Skiing ENSA couloir and we also managed a couple of little runs. One of which ended up being my favourite so far this winter. We headed out beside the river towards Les Houches but Lauren had planned to meet up with some friends so she turned around early and headed back to Chamonix , I however continued and decided to head up onto a very snowy balcon sud trail. There was a good track in and it was just hard packed snow and no ice making running easy. Absolutely brilliant run along the trail overlooking Chamonix with a clear sky above. At every descent I could just move to the side and plough my way down almost knee deep soft powder. I was out for about an hour and a half and felt great afterwards.

Doing the Crochue Berard Traverse with Lauren

End of a great weekend. All smiles after abseiling
into ENSA couloir ready for a sweet descent

I have been running fairly often in the evenings but only 7-10km. I still find it difficult to keep motivated when I get in from work to get changed and head out into the bitter cold but if I just get home and do not hang around and just change into running gear then it seems to work well although I have had the odd occasion where I have sat down and just not got up. I have also been doing the usual Les Houches skinning track sometimes after work with the head torch and sometimes in the afternoons either on lunch break or after a ski morning on my day off. I got a good bit of exercise in yesterday by going for the Glacier Mort tour with Lorne and we both opted to take our big skis with us as we were pretty sure the snow would be sweet so we left the touring kit at home and went for the lifts hoping there would be a boot pack already set in for is....there was not. So it was up to us to swing the lead and plod on up deep snow first for 45 mins then another for an hour but we got to the top and had a brilliant ski down in incredible powder. Totally worth the trail breaking to ski the descent in our big skis.

Day of the season in Italy. DEEP!

Col De La Fenetre ski tour with Sandy and Fin

My legs are feeling strong but I do need to get out for some longer runs of 15-20km in the next couple of weeks and then try and get in a 40km mid March as it will not be too long after that when I go back to Scotland to run 80km so as always I would like to get half the distance in before the race. The major problem is finding somewhere good to go and run for 40km. There is too much snow here in town for that and even down the valley but I will hunt around the internet to see if I can find anything and if worst comes to worst I will have to loop my local 10km four times but this will be my last resort.

Boot Packing with big skis to Glacier Mort

So worth it for the descent. I am hiding in there somewhere

I have been testing out my NECTAR race nutrition and all seems good. My biggest concern with trying new race food is if it sits well in my stomach which some of it does not especially PowerBar Gels which I once found out on the summit of Ben Lomond when I went for an evening run , enough said. Anyway the NECTAR gels have worked great for me when out running and ski touring , I have only had the Orange flavour so far but tastes good and goes down easy. Way easier than GU gels which are just way way too thick although the Chocolate Brownie flavour I tried was incredible but the gels ain't for me. I have also been using the NECTAR Hydro tabs in my water bottles when ski touring and again all good. The blackcurrant is a little too sweet for me if I use a whole tab but easily solved by breaking off a bit. The Lemon and Lime is perfect so I am looking forward to using these over the summer.

All good so far

My summer trail shoes are all ordered and out goes the Brooks Cascadias and in comes the New Balance Leadvilles(surprised?) I have used Cascadias for years and still think they are amazing trail shoes but I have never been happy with the grip so after testing out the Leadvilles since I bought them last summer the fit is almost the same although the Leadvilles have a sightly roomier toe box which is ideal for long distances to accommodate the feet swelling but the major difference is the sole and the Vibram sole on the New Balance is way way better the the Brooks sole. I have also got myself a new pair of Salomon S-Lab sense(best fit ever in a trail shoe) and Sense Mantras to train with over in America, great shoes for smooth trails in Colorado but not for UK hill running. I would love to run an Ultra in my Sense but they are just a bit too minimalist for my none perfect running style and if I used these for training and races then I would be bankrupt as they ain't cheap. One word of advice if buying running shoes have a look on American sites as all shoes are way cheaper in the States. Sometimes the downside is they will only ship to the US but if your lucky and have a friend over there who can ship you them or like me you are going over there then it is way way cheaper. My Leadvilles cost me £60 a pair and they cost £110-120 in the UK and my Salomons are a crazy £170 a pair in UK and in the States I got them for £95. Crazy difference in prices and worth checking out.

Keeping the uphill fitness going at Les Houches

It's currently raining and pretty miserable today in Chamonix. I went a skin up Les Houches this morning and to be honest didn't feel too great , I did it last night as well and felt good but this morning I was painfully slow. I am now waiting on the forecasted sun to appear before I head out for a run.

Great start to the New Year

So my game face is finally on. Recently I have had some brilliant days off touring with friends and I have also been doing my usual skinning up Les Houches for fitness on lunches and evenings and on top of that I have been out running in the evenings.

My runs have not been very long. Usually about an hour and half maximum. As usual I have no set days for getting out but I just go when I feel like it and recently I have been feeling great and excited to get back out for a little jog. The running psyche comes and goes for me all winter season but it doesn't bother me too much that I am not running 5 or 6 days a week over winter as I am getting out ski touring or just skiing which also helps keep the legs strong. Okay it doesn't use the same muscle groups but in my view it ain't to bad to just keep the legs strong and it seems to work for me.

Skinning up to Loriaz chalets

I am loving my skiing again as I went through a short period of not really being bothered about getting out on my skis but recently I have been loving seeing new areas and touring around different places. Most notably myself Lorne and Sandy went for a rather long ski tour last week up to the Refuge Anterne and then skied the Couloir Chourde. Now this didn't really involve too much ascent(600m) but we(meaning I) were breaking trail for a good 6 hours through powder to get to a couloir we wanted to ski. It was a brilliant day for the fitness. The ski however wasn't up to much(crap snow) but I was happy to have worked my legs for so long that day. I have also been on little tours up to the Chalet Loriaz(good snow) and also to the Col Grand Saint Bernard(great snow) Very short skiing summaries I know but I like to keep the ski blogging to a minimal amount as there are a million blogs on Chamonix Skiing you can find on the web. Almost as many as Ultra Running!

Best view this season

Great long skinning day

Hours and hours of breaking trail
is good for the legs but a little help would
have been nice!

So back to fitness and I am feeling good. The skinning track up Les Houches is in great shape at the moment and I have been up it quite a lot recently. I am not sure exactly how much ascent it is from bottom to top but it is around 900m. I am usually around 1hr-1hr30mins on this depending how I am feeling and how much I want to beast myself but I cracked out just under 55 minutes recently so I was happy with that and I am now just hoping to keep getting that time down. I love my skinning for fitness but do not think I will ever enter into the Skimo(ski mountaineering) races. Yeah they are awesome for fitness but I think they will just be too high a tempo for me plus I cannot afford to buy the proper lightweight gear so my own little jaunts will need to do. On the running side of things the ski du fond(my running track) is also in great shape in the evenings and is hard packed but not icy so no spikes are needed. I am on the hunt for some runnable longer trails at the moment as Lauren arrives next week for a bit of skiing and running and since she has the Mont Blanc marathon and the Lake District 80k to look forward to this year I am sure she will want to hit the trails with me.

Me skiing some awesome snow in Switzerland

I think that for getting ultras finished then time on your feet is vital. You don't have to be a great runner to get them done but you do have to be able to grit your teeth and get on with it. Just being on the go for hours and hours helps so much whether it be running , hiking , skiing , ski touring etc.. Just being super active goes a long way but yeah at the end of the day the best way to train for a running race is to run , like training for a bike race you need to bike and so on... Varying it up a little just makes me more excited every time I go back to running but yeah time away from running is good also. That might all sound very confusing but I hope you know what I am getting at. If you loose a little bit of the hunger for your main sport then try other things for a while as that hunger and love for it will return. That's why I love my winters as I know that come summer and I hit the trails again I will be smiling every time I go out a run.

Through a friend of a friend I have offered my sofa to a fairly well known Scottish hill runner , Finlay Wild. He is currently crashing at my place for a few weeks as he is here to try his hand at Skimo Races and is here to train. For those of you who do not know Finlay he is the current Ben Nevis hill race champion and holds the record for the fastest Cuillin Ridge traverse on the Isle Of Skye and has many other race wins to his name so to say he is a pretty handy runner would be a massive understatement. It will be interesting when we start touring together and running as his running pace is going to be ridiculously fast as his races are all about speed whereas mine are about pacing slow. He is light years ahead of my fitness level but I am super keen to get out running with him and have him push me a bit and hopefully improve my flat running speed.

Fin , Sandy and Lorne at Col Grand St Bernard

Finally some more great news for the summer ahead. Colorado based company LARABAR who make amazing 100% fruit and nut food bars have offered to help me out with some bars to fuel me during my training and races over the summer. Just check out the ridiculous amounts of amazing flavours they do. I now have them to thank for my food supplies on trail and also NECTAR and FOR GOODNESS SHAKES who are helping me out with Gels(Orange tested today and worked a treat) , Hydro Tabs(Blackcurrant is my go to drink now on ski tours) and Recovery Shakes(Banana amazing) Absolutely delighted that these companies have taken time to reply to my emails and show a bit of support. I will continue to comment as honestly as I can on how I get on with all of these products once I use them for a bit longer.

In the mean time I am off for a run.

2014 Let's Go!

Looking back on 2013 and what a year. Training and racing didn't really start until May when I went to Kintyre(and it hurt) but from then on I never looked back and I loved ever second I was out running. Obviously the biggest highlight and one I will never forget is the Leadville 100. I think everyone is aware of my feelings about that race so I will not bore you more with the same old story and if you don't know the story already then flick back through this blog to August. Looking ahead to 2014 and I am super excited to get started all over again and try and get as trail fit as possible. Last year I actually think I was at my fittest when I came back from Colorado and not before I went. Yeah I was in great running shape but I felt like 2 weeks after Leadville I was in the best shape I have ever been in for running and I just hope I can grow on that this year. Notable little runs during summer 2013 must be the beauty of the Mont Blanc 80km , the Loriaz trail being a highlight as well as THAT can of Red Bull(cheers guys). Also definitely my 30km loop from home to Mont Buet. The hail shower I got caught in one time on that run and the other when Sandy met me on the descent and we were flying back down the trail in the middle of the night and it was sweltering hot. I will sorely miss that run this coming season. Not to forget a few little jaunts I went on back in Scotland on my own in Arrochar and a brilliant Run/Jog/Walk/Hike thing I did at the end of the season in Cham with Ally , Sandy and Woody. That days sticks in my head as it was just so good to go out running with friends and have a laugh and I was feeling so so fit at that time. Massive shout out to everyone who helped me on all my races last year and all the amazing words sent to me after Leadville. Mum , Dad , Rob , Graham , Sandy , Dawn , Kim , Ben , Anna , Matt , Diana , Ally , Lorne and obviously Woody. The list could go on and on....

I don't think this could ever be topped

Hail time on Mont Buet

Great times , great friends.

Ecstatic at the end of the Mont Blanc 80km

Another awesome training day

Bonnie Scotland

The festive period is well out of the way and my focus has now turned to getting out running and ski touring. It was not a ridiculously crazy time over Christmas but yeah I did have some interesting nights out!

There is so much for me to look forward to this coming year and top of this list is Colorado. I am all booked up and will be leaving Scotland on July 3^rd to spent almost 3 months training and racing over there. I have never done anything like this before in my life. Pack in my job and just go and train. Now don't think I am made of money , my entire months wage went on flights and race entries so now I must scrape together the cash to survive out there. I have signed up for my races over there. Leadville 50 miler , Leadville 10km and Run Rabbit Run 100 miler in Steamboat Springs. I am also pacing Kim on the LT 100 and I must admit that is what I am most excited to be doing this summer. I cannot wait to go back and experience that race again and help out someone who helped me so much last year. The biggest challenge is obviously Steamboat and I am not pushing this to one side and thinking that just because I have done one 100 miler then this next one will be easy. Yeah right! It is going to be so so hard but I am ready for the challenge. It is a very small race with just 200 runners and has slightly more climbing involved than Leadville but it is not at quite the same altitude. As usual I am just wanting to finish and have a good time running with my awesome team again. I plan on exploring all over Colorado as much as possible and just discovering new trails hopefully without coming across any Mountain Lions or Rattlesnakes! I feel like I have done my time running awesome very technical trails with steep climbs here in Cham so now is the time to go and get better at long winding mellow trails in a very very hot place. Although I will be trying to find some cool little ridge runs to spice things up out there.

Heading Up Les Houches

Feeling Good

I went for a little skin up Les Houches with Graham on lunch the other day and it was good to get out and work the legs after the Christmas and New Year shenanigans. I think we were both feeling it in our legs a little on the 900m climb. I went out again today and did the same little climb and felt really really good. Once down I went home and quickly changed to the running gear and went out for a couple of hours and managed to find some almost snow clear trails. Beautiful sunny day and really not cold at all. It felt great to be back out running but my legs were pretty heavy and my heart rate was pretty high(177bpm) and I just couldn't find my usual pace but this will come back in time. The Chamonix cross country ski track is great for running on(if you don't get caught) and you can take it all the way to Les Tines and then cross the road and hit the Balcon Sud trail back and there are plenty more trails to play around on. I am back running on the New Balance Leadvilles now and giving the Salomons a rest. Pretty sure I will be using the Leadvilles for my big races this year. Just need to save the pennies to buy about 2 or 3 more pairs! Super comfy trainers with great grip and I never needed my yaktraks once today.

Bliss

Well it is winter so here is the obligatory ski picture
of Graham enjoying some bluebird Pow

Finally a big shout out to Alex at Athlete Store (https://www.facebook.com/AthleteStore) who will be helping me out with some sweet deals on For Goodness Shakes and Nectar Sports Fuel this forthcoming season. I used For Goodness Shakes protein drinks all last summer and felt they worked a treat and actually tasted good. I must admit I haven't tried Nectar yet but I will be using their Gels and Fuel so will have an honest update on them once I get my first batch.

So now it's training time and my sights firmly set on the Hoka Highland Fling in April.

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.

Pretty Nippy

After a very snowy end of November it has been blue skies and bitterly cold for a couple of weeks. I have been making most of the snow and getting back out on the skis just for a play around and also managed a couple of little days skinning up. I went to St Gervais with Garry for a nice 2 hour jaunt in glorious sunshine and we were pretty lucky to find a little stash of powder on the way down.

Top of St Gervais

The next day I went for a skin up Les Houches in full on fitness mode and blasted up to the top of the Kandahar slope in just 50 minutes. I was pretty happy with this time as I didn't take the direct route up and preferred to weave my way up different slopes. It was pretty hard work I must admit skinning that fast. I left the car ready for a nice morning stroll but for some reason as I do now and then I switched to fast mode and never let up until the top. Loved it although the descent was freezing as I never stuck on any extra layers at the top and just turned around and skied down into the bitter cold.

Breathing out of my........

Yup that will be snow on the lens

Running has not stopped yet but the yaktracks have been a fair amount. I have been running in the evenings after work. It is pretty hard I must admit to get home after work and then get changed to go and run in -8 but I have been pretty motivated to keep up my running and so far all is good. Nothing long. Never more than 13km but it is awesome fun. The trails are rock hard ice so are quite tricky but the riverside run to Les Houches is in great condition on hard pack snow. I am still loving my running even more than skiing at the moment although that will change when more snow arrives I am sure. I still have doubts about this winter season and all sorts of things are going through my head everyday as to what to do next and if I will last a full winter or head back to Scotland but as soon as I get out on the trail at night as silly as it all sounds my head is just clear and I just love to run especially in these amazing crisp cold nights with everything sparkling from the snow , ice and frost. It's amazing but then once home again and in for the night I repeatedly keep thinking what I should be doing with myself. All I am focused on now is summer in Colorado and it is miles away. Anything could happen between now and then I know. It's just crazy how big an impact that place had on me.

My night time view

Still cracking fun but bloody cold. So cold in fact that night
the buff around my neck froze solid

Onto next years races and unfortunately I did not get into Hardrock 100. I can't say I am gutted about this as I knew my chance was slim so into the hat for 2015 I will go. It is still the only other Ultra(with exception of the LT 100) that I have really really wanted to do. Hardrock 2014 is set to be a cracker as Kilian Jornet made the draw for next year so I cannot wait to see how he does on a course which is ideal for him with lots of climbing and technical ground. It is going to be a hell of a race next July. I am expecting a new course record from the Spaniard.

Now I know that Hardrock 2014 is not to be it has kind of cleared up what I will be doing as I was waiting to see the result of the draw before focusing on others. So here is my list....

April 26^th – Hoka Highland Fling – 80km - Scotland

July 13^th – Leadville 50(80km) - Colorado

August 10^th – Leadville 10km - Colorado

August 17^th – Leadville 100 PACER(return the favour to Kim for pacing me this year)

September 12^th – Run Rabbit Run 100 Steamboat Springs – Colorado

October 4^th – Lake District 3x3000 80km – England

So 3 80kms next year and another 100 miler is on the cards and probably some short stuff when over in Colorado. Entry for all the American races opens on January 1^st but I should get in them as they don't usually sell out for a few weeks but I will be signing up on the 1^st. The UK races I have already signed up for. So next years big one is the Steamboat 100. I have months to let you know all about this one but it is 100 miles and has a little bit more climbing than Leadville involving 6000m of ascent and descent , 68 miles on single track , 8 miles on tarmac and the rest on rough jeep roads throw in a small field of just 250 runners and it should be brilliant. Also I am allowed to use Pacers so hopefully I can have my Colorado team back with me for this one and they all seem super keen so far which is awesome. I am also doing a few of the other Leadville races because I loved the place and want to go and run there again plus Anna and Kim are planning on doing the 50 miler as well so would be cool if we can run that together. Finally I will be returning to the Leadville 100 but this time to pace. Kim is going to enter and straight away I told her I wanted pace for her and return the favour. I am actually more excited about pacing a friend over the course than any other race next year. No idea on what distance she wants me to run with her but I am happy with anything up to 40 miles including the Hope Pass section as I loved that but I will do whatever she asks. I am just so happy to be going back there again.

I am sitting waiting on more snow to arrive so winter can properly kick off and my next two days off are going to be spent visiting Lauren in Les Deux Alpes to go Trail Running! And maybe a little ski...maybe.