Run , Run , Run

Well my past 3 days off have been epic. Tuesday morning I went up Flegere and did a quick lap of the Crouchue Traverse which took a couple of hours door to door then I decided to drive up to Trient in Switzerland and run some of the CCC out and back again. My plan was to run from Trient and run out to Champex 17kms away then reverse the route back to car. I got to about the 12km mark and in the distance could see a massive thunderstorm brewing so opted to turn around and keep running in the sunshine , was an ace run and was out for just over 2 hours. It did open my eyes to the difficulty of the CCC , when/if I get to that stage of it then I will have passed the 60km mark with 40km to go but the amount of ascent from Champex back to Trient is quite a lot and having run the last 30kms earlier in the season from Trient to Chamonix I know that that section is going to be a killer with two big climbs . 800m up to Catogne then an 900m descent then another 800m climb to Flegere and then a final 1000m down to Chamonix! All in the last 30kms. Also you cant just switch off when running trails like you can on a road , trails have way too many objects to avoid and you really need to concentrate on where your feet are going. Its a super tough thing to do as you can become lazy for just a second on a trail and then end up going face first as you have kicked a tree root or stone.


Thankfully I don't need to run up there.

Wednesday I opted to rest the knees and get on the bike so I went a ride up and over the Col Des Montets and then down to Switzerland and up to the top of the Col Forclaz , I haven't done much riding this season and found it tough going especially since it was about 33 degrees. I was pouring with sweat but it was an ace workout and I was out for just short of 3 hours and covered a distance of about 50 ish kms. I got home and then got the lift up Planpraz and made a rapid 900m descent back down to Chamonix to work on my fast footwork on the uneven trails.

Nearly Home

Feeling rather knackered on Thursday morning I just went out for a wee hours sprint on the bike then rested for most of afternoon and by 5pm was feeling pretty good so got the running kit on again and got the last lift up to 2500m and went an awesome run out over the Aiguilette Des Houches and then down the 1300m trail past Bellachat refuge back to my house. Was the best run of my days off as I had the whole place to myself. It was still hot even up that height and that late in the day but there was a slight breeze which made it great for running.

On top of Aiguilette Des Houches looking out to the Chamonix Aiguilles

It was a great 3 days training although I would have like to get up in the High Mountains for some climbing I knew at start of season that climbing was going to take a hit until after the CCC so its run run run until September now ,  then I can get the axes out and start to scare myself again.