Colorado Calling

Happy New Year Folks! I suppose it comes as no surprise that Christmas and New Year were a mass of amazing food and some rather mental nights out so I planned on spending January recovering and getting the fitness level back up to where it should be. All was going well with some great skiing and ace little tours and then I got hit with a pretty bad cold and that has floored me for a good ten days and counting although it looks as though I may be on the mend and hopefully all good again for my days off.

Awesome Tree Skiing

Traversing up to Col Beaugent

So not much to report on on the training side of things but as soon as I feel 100% again then it will be full steam ahead and to be honest I cannot wait.

 

 

The best news I got over the New Year was that I have been accepted to run in the Leadville 100 in August in Colorado USA! I found out on January 1^st and I was super happy. I cannot wait to go over there and have a go at what is one of the most famous and toughest Ultras not just in the States but in the world. I am not kidding myself on here thinking it will all go smoothly but I am so excited now to have my main goal for the rest of winter and summer and something to focus on. It is going to be so much tougher than the CCC not just because its an extra 65km but there are a few other reasons. One being that the race is never below 3000m in altitude so training high in Cham this summer is a must. Also I will be going there with no support team and no knowledge of the course. It is quite a small race in terms of famous Ultras with only around 700 competitors and the scariest part is the 45% success rate.

I have also been accepted to run in the TDS in Chamonix , the race slightly longer than the CCC but shorter than the full UTMB. It is 120km with 7000m of ascent. Now this was my fall back race in case I didn’t get into Leadville but I got an email to say I had a place to I paid the fee and that was that. One small detail however is the TDS is 10 days after Leadville!Yup I know , it sounds mad but I will just see how I feel. I am living in Chamonix anyway so I don’t have to make travel or accommodation plans for the TDS. My main goal is Leadville , IF I return to Chamonix as a Leadville finisher or not and I feel good enough to give the TDS a bash then so be it. Why not.

So at the moment it is get back to feeling 100% then I can start touring and getting my legs fit again , sure there is still plenty of partying to be had this season but it may be a bit more mellow now. Real training will without a doubt start Mid March or early April.