Run and Rest

Well that's me now back in Chamonix for the next 2 months before heading over the pond to the US. The plan from now on is just stay fit and keep on running and maybe do a little bit of climbing. The weather has been pretty awful here since I got back but I am still forcing myself out the door even when it is pouring.

It took me a good few days after being back in France to get out running again. I think the race and the following days events in Arrochar finally caught up with me and although my legs felt fine I just could not motivate myself to go for a run. I was still a bit confused and annoyed at the state I was in during the Fling but I also felt like I had lost all interest in going for a run. This feeling didn't last too long but it slowly disappeared and I feel good again however I am now ready for a change and to be honest cannot wait to get out of Chamonix and head to the next chapter. Now I hope that doesn't sound to awful to my good friends here. I would love it if they could all come to the states with me and for sure I will miss my times here with them but now I feel ready to move on to something new. I don't hate Chamonix one bit. It is an amazing place and I am sure there will be times over the summer I will be wishing I could go for a run in the Aiguille Rouge or nip up the midi for a wee Cosmiques lap but who's to say I will never ever come back even if it's just the odd weekend. The time has come for me to go and explore somewhere new and my feet are itching to get to Colorado now.

Bringing a bit of Scotland
back to Chamonix

Between now and heading off I really don't have any races lined up here. I am doing the Annecy Vertical Kilometre at the end of the month but that is just a fun short(fast) race. There is talk of maybe going for a quick trip to Catalonia to run a 36km race there at the start of June but that is still to be confirmed for sure but something I am super excited about if it goes ahead. Other than that I have no races at all until the Leadville 50 miler at the start of July which to be honest I am not that worried about now after I managed to get the Fling done straight after winter. The only thing I will need to do is get a bit acclimatised. The distance should be okay for me and there is a 14hr cut-off but I am hopeful I will be fine with those aspects of it. The only thing is that the race passes 12,000ft on a few separate occasions so I will be making sure I am properly prepared for that but I was relatively okay at the altitude there last summer so I hope it will be the same this time.

Since being back in Chamonix I haven't really been feeling particularly strong on my runs. I probably need a little bit more rest. The Highland Fling seems to have taken a bit more out of me than I wanted. I have managed a morning of 20km , a morning of 15km with 1200m ascent and today went for a fast balcon sud lap of 13km(51 mins) on lunch , the first 4ks were brutal trying to keep up with Guilleme on the ascent but then I found a nice rhythm for the rest of the run and we smashed out some pretty good sub 6 min miles at the end.

Back on the lower Aiguille Rouge trails

So I will just keep putting away the miles for the next few weeks and with better weather now settling in I cannot wait to get up high again and run around the Aiguille Rouge.

A big shout out to partner in crime Lauren Woodwiss who yet again won another race today. This time 30kms in a pretty darn fast 2hrs 36mins. Now 4 wins out of 4 for her and it looks like her Mont Blanc Marathon time is going to be pretty sweet if she keeps this going. Good Job Woody! And  finally another shout out. This time to fellow Scotsman Donnie Campbell who today ran the super super tough Transvulcania 73km Ultra in La Palma with a brilliant time of 9hrs 20mins coming well within the top 100 of nearly 2000! That race is defo on my hit list for next year and when entries open I will be signing up for sure.