Can't Stop Running

At the moment most days on either lunch or after work I am doing about 10-13km then on days off it has been longer and on trails that are new to me.

On Wednesday last week I got the lift up to the top of Brevent early in the morning and went over to the Aiguilette Des Houches , then down a long long trail to Les Houches , ran up through Les Houches and up to the Col Forclaz and over the amazing little ridge to the Prarion gondola. From there I saved my knee and got the lift to the bottom , grabbed a quick coffee then ran the 8km back to Chamonix next to the river. All in all a great morning/afternoon out. The climb up to Forclaz was the worst bit. It was super hot and the trail is super steep at one section and even though it is short it is still tough going and to make matters worse I swallowed a fly on the climb up and the damn thing was stuck in the back of my mouth for ages until I finally managed to heave it back up and out. It was not very pleasant. 28km with 1500m of climbing.

Looking over to the Aiguilette De Houches

At top of Aiguilette Des Houches looking
over to my next section

Looking back to Aiguilette Des Houches

Time for a lift down and a coffee

Thursday was then just a 13km over from Planpraz to Col Des Montets and then on Sunday evening after work I managed to get the last lift up to Plan Aiguille and ran my usual trail to Montenevers and then down to home. Usually this trail in summer is rammed with hikers but as I got the last lift of the day up it was deserted and was just brilliant to have it all to myself.

Not a bad commute

 

I had plans to climb on my days of this week but that all changed as I decided I really needed to keep running. So on Monday I got the Planpraz gondola and then hiked up to Col Brevent. From there I run over to the Refuge Anterne and then up to the Col Anterne. Brilliant new trail to me. Then I took a very long descent down to the town of Servoz and caught the train back to Cham. A scorching day and as I ran out of water near the end I was so happy to see a water fountain in the town and didn't hang around in soaking myself. 24kms with 1300m of ascent. The descent down to Servoz for the top half was super technical and rocky making it really difficult to run on then all of a sudden beautiful packed pine needles for the rest of the way was greatly appreciated.

At Col Brevent starting out for the day

Looking back towards Refuge Anterne which is
in the distance on the left and the Col is out of shot way
over on the left

Long way down to the train

Heaven

 

I would like to say the best run was this one and it was going all so well until the end. Today (Tuesday) I got the early morning bus up to Le Tour and from there got the gondola then chairlift(I love gondolas and chairlifts) and then began running. I headed up to the Col De Balme and was just going to head over and down to the Col Possettes until I noticed an absolutely stunning ridge line behind me and just had to go check it out. It is straight out of the West Coast of Scotland and although short it was amazing and very very narrow in places. It tops out on a little peak and you cannot go any further unless you have a wingsuit so I turned back and continued with my original plan. I ran up and over the Aiguilette Des Possettes and then down to Col Des Montets from the Col it was then the brutal hike up to Tete Aux Vents and over to Flegere then on to Planpraz and the gondola to my door. It was all going well from the start and was all good until the climb up to Tete Aux Vents. I do not like this climb at all and although my legs were not sore they were heavier than usual and my pace was slow. It was super hot and I was pouring sweat. I had also got very low on water and was nibbling away on Haribo. I got to Flegere (20km) and went straight to the drinks stand and got some water and a coke (6 bloody euros) I then ate my sandwich , finished off the fluids and headed off on the final 5km. After 2km I just did not feel good so sat down and all of a sudden... Hello Water and Coke. It was all back up. I didn't start to shake or anything but I just all of a sudden felt so weak and my body just didn't want to go any further. I would have actually got a bit worried if there wasn't a lift down 3km away. I picked myself up and headed onwards at an embarrassingly slow rate to the Planpraz gondola and down to my house. 25km and 1600m. I had planned to go further and in the morning I was all set to head right over to Les Houches but I just couldn't do it so had to bail. I am pretty sure I just didn't eat or drink nearly enough and when I finally got a lot of fluids in me my body just didn't want it all at once. Once home it was litres of water and loads of fruit and a pizza.

Just look at that ridge! Ohhhhh yeah

Heading home

Time to go home

So recently some brilliant trails and pretty much all of them around the 2000m altitude mark which is good. I really do need to be getting up even higher soon to get ready for Colorado. I plan on climbing tomorrow up above 3500m which will help but closer to the big race I will definitely be spending some nights above 3000m but I have a bit of time before I need to start doing that. Still some little niggles with my knee and my shin but getting better. I will be taking a day off of running tomorrow and might even finally get a climb done.