Winter Over - Race Time

Well that's the end of winter for me. The past 6 months were awesome with some truly amazing skiing(plus an epic 2 days climbing back on Nevis) with great folk and the odd insane night out. Roll on Winter 13/14!

Cosmiques Couloir - One of my Fave days of the season

I left Chamonix late afternoon on Sunday and arrived home in Largs on Tuesday morning. As usual the French auto route was great and a clear drive all the way up to Calais however once hitting the UK as always the roads were a joke and it was constant queueing for much of the journey until I cleared Manchester so wasn't the greatest drive up.

Last Cham run of winter

I was greeted to some lovely sunshine in Largs as soon as I got home so stuck on my running gear and went on my usual wee jaunt. As I always say , Scotland is just great when the suns out and this run was one of the best I have done for months. Only around 13km but takes me along the shore front (passing way too many very very overweight folk wearing very little , not a great sight) and then raise the heart rate a little with a run up Douglas Park to the viewpoint(passing a few lads enjoying the Scottish sunshine whilst drinking Buckie) and then over the hills at the back and round to my house. All in all a great run with a good mix of road , trails and bogs. I repeated the same run the following day but this time it was rather wet and windy.

So it is race time and its the Kintyre 57km on Saturday. I am really looking forward to this. I am feeling in pretty decent shape considering the winter has just ended. My main goal on this is to stay injury free and with any luck be in good shape at the finish line but of course that could all change if I get to 30km and I am doing pretty decent. I could then push a little bit and bring on some pain and suffering but I will see how it goes. I will most likely be in some pain regardless of my pace. Forecast not great with more rain but as long as it doesn't get super windy then I don't mind the rain at all.

After the race I have a few days left here before going back to France so I am going to head up to Fort William and Glencoe and do a bit of easy running (and maybe a ski on the Ben) Once back in Chamonix though it is going to just be train train train.

A Bit Of Everything

It's been a pretty eventful couple of weeks. The training head is back on now as Kintyre is not far away so I have been out on the trails loads. I have been doing varying distances of 5km , 10km and 20kms and getting out twice a day a couple of times a week. I am feeling pretty good and ready to up to a 30km run this week , maybe at the weekend. The lighter nights are helping and the lower trails are now snow clear. My 5ks are just cool down runs the day after a big one but I am still running 21min 5ks without a problem and not really pushing it , my 10ks are going well at just under 50 mins. I am feeling good with a good pace and feel I can go on and on when I am out for these runs so all good so far. I managed a good 20km run with 1200m of ascent the other day and it took me 2hrs 25mins. Again felt good after.

Just below park Merlet on my 20km

I have finally invested in a new watch , the Garmin Forerunner 110. I really wanted a watch to track distances and height gain and this ticked all the boxes, So far I am very impressed , it picks up a satellite signal within 2 mins of stepping out of my house and never looses it even when running through dense forests. It has the usual Heart Rate and Calories stuff as well but the distance is what I wanted and it has been great so far.

A little late season powder

I had a friend over staying for a week so we did a little bit of skiing and a little short tour which was a good workout. It is getting pretty warm here now in the valley and there is still some excellent skiing up high to be had but now I am focused on my running. I will still head up for some turns but my cardio work is what I need to do.

Up at Loriaz again

Today I went up the Midi to do a couple of laps of the Cosmiques Arete on my own. Great training as I am always above 3500m. I took my skis so it was faster and safer to traverse to the start. My first lap I got stuck a couple of times behind some groups so was slower than hoped for but the second lap I had to myself. On my first lap I passed a Norwegian couple just after the second abseil then I wondered if I could lap them , unfortunately not but I very very was close as when I got to the end of lap 2 they were just crossing the barrier at the top back to the station. I did receive a strange look and a “where the hell did you come from?” as I replied “lap 2”. I really wanted to go for a 3^rd but I had to be in work to cover for Laurent.

On the Cosmiques

The last section on Cosmiques , over looking Cham on the North Side

All going pretty well at the moment but I am still a little concerned I have started training a little too late for Kintyre. I aim to complete the course and feel fresh at the end but I have a feeling in my mind that will not be the case. Apologies for the txt , computer problems , should be fixed soon.

Going Well

It has been a good week for skiing and running. I finally skied the Classic Cosmiques Couloir which is an awesome long ski line down from the Midi. I am not really into skiing super steep stuff purely for the fact I would prefer not be somewhere if I fall I die and plus I ain't good enough to ski super steep. To be honest I expected this to be steeper given all the hype around it but once in it after a 60m abseil it was actually totally fine. A small side slip on hard pack snow that was I guess 45-50° it was then just great skiing all the way down to the Bossons Glacier at an angle of between 40-45° , after some epic turns further down we battled through the trees that required 2 further abseils and we were out at the Mont Blanc Tunnel and only a car ride from home. Awesome day and glad to have finally skied it.

In the Cosmiques

Lower Down before the tree battle

So there has been plenty of running and a little bit of skinning up as well. I managed a great little skin up to the Chalet Loriaz in glorious sunny and hot weather and had the whole place to myself. It is only a 700m skin up from the car but goes up an ace little track through the trees before breaking out into the open mountainside. The ski down wasn't the greatest on a tiny narrow and extremely fast path but I got down in one piece.

Loriaz

I got home and decided on a run so headed off down to Servoz. I got to Les Houches on snow free trails but then I was on road down to Servoz , I even felt good on the road but my hamstring tightened up a bit about 15 mins from my turnaround point so I decided not to run back and opted to get the bus back to Chamonix. I am not really sure how far it is but it is about 15-18km I reckon and I was 1hr 45mins. By no means fast at all but at moment it is all about getting miles in and feeling as fresh as possible afterwards.

En Route to Servoz , It's kinda hard taking running photos of yourself!

Today my hamstring feels fine and I feel fresh to go out again tonight. I will try to keep upping the mileage bit by bit as it is 5 weeks until Kintyre and if I can get a 30km in before then I should be ok so next week I will probably get a 25km and then a 30km the week after when I go to Italy.

Time to Focus

Yes I know this is meant to be a running blog but since the alps got hit with a load of new snow last week it was definitely going to be skiing on my days off. Tuesday we headed over to Italy and skied amazing deep powder in a very quiet Courmayeur , easily for me the best days skiing of the season with fresh tracks all day and some ridiculously deep powder. Wednesday was then a road trip to the tiny Swiss resort of Bruson , only 4 lifts but amazing tree skiing and even quieter than Italy the day before.

Fleur enjoying awesome Italian Pow

On the training side of things the time has come to leave the crazy nights out aside for this winter except of course for the final Chambre Neuf Party. I love partying here and with my friends but there comes a time every season it has to stop and its super difficult to get back into training regime but once the first week is out the way then my focus on the summer is back on.

Me in Italy skiing down to Dolonne

 

I have been out running on lunches and in the evenings. I don’t tend to follow my training stats and view Heart rates etc... but thought I would stick on my Suunto M5 and see how I was looking. This is a watch that I don't actually rate very highly , I am thinking of investing in a Garmin now so I can track distance which would be very good for me as judging distance when training on trails is very difficult. So yesterday on lunch I went for a short 40 mins run up the zigzags behind my house as far as I could go before too much snowed blocked the way , then it was a fast descent and a cruise along the balcon sud trail and down through Chamonix and back up to my house. According to my watch that was a good 617 calories burned , and average HR of 162 and a peak of 184(current resting is at 52). Tonight I went for another short 40 mins but this time a loop through and around Cham centre burning 550 cals , Average HR 154 and a max of 179. As I said I am not really that into checking calories burned and all that guff but having a glance now and then at the HR cant be any harm and it seems to be going fine bearing in mind this is the start of running season for me.

Looks like there is going to be a little trip down to Italy on the 15^th of April for a couple days climbing and trail running near the Med so I hope to squeeze in a 30km trail run which would be perfect training as a month later I have the 54km Kintyre Way Ultra in Scotland.


Running will be getting a lot more regular now and I will be heading out twice a day soon so I will keep posting how things are going. Apologies for lack of running pictures as I mistakenly left my camera at home.

Need Your Help Please

So things have been going rather well at moment. The trail shoes have been out after being locked away for a few months and I managed to get in a couple of 10ks on lunch breaks which was great. I was just plodding along the roads as the trails are still way too snowy for running. I hate road running but its all I can do at the moment so I will have to make do with it. A few minor niggles in my knee and my shins appeared but all to be expected. Nothing spectacular on the runs just a couple of 50 mins 10ks , will have them back down to nearer the 40 mins mark pretty easily by the end of the month but no point rushing anything just need to get the miles back in my legs.

The Cascadias are back out

I also managed a quick Cosmiques Arete lap on another lunch with Laurent. We skied over to the start and climbed the route back up to the station. Great conditions on it at the moment with the most snow on it I have ever seen. Was good to be back up high(3600m - 3800m) doing some cardio work and even though we were really only up for a total of 2 hours including waiting time on the lift I felt absolutely fine on the ridge with regards to the altitude.

Lunbreaks! Laurent at the first abseil

Now back to work

On another note , I have decided I am going to run Leadville for a Charity. It is something I always get asked when I enter races. People always ask if I am running for a charity and to be honest normally I don’t. Now I am all for Charities and everything they do but I used to feel that running under a charity would be another pressure to deal with and I would not like to fail them but since this is such a big event for me then I thought I will try make some money for a good cause. I have chosen to run for Chest , Heart and Stroke Scotland. My Gran passed away after suffering a Stroke and a very close friend of mines Father died a few years back from a Heart Attack so I feel this is the best Charity to support. The link to my sponsorship page is on this blog , just click the Chest , Heart and Stroke logo and you will be directed straight to my page. Any pennies you have spare would be very much appreciated.

I will soon be getting a little section in the Scottish Running Guide magazine to promote my run courtesy of CHSS who have a column in the magazine and are happy to use it up just for me very soon. Also the kind people of Inverclyde National Sports Centre particularly Jamie who I have been in contact with are going to help me out by also promoting me on their website which is great and also offered me use of facilities if need be. I grew up my whole life using the sports centre which is only a few minutes from my parents house in Largs. I went there to play Football , Basketball and use the gym. I also worked a fair bit up there coaching Basketball for North Ayrshire Leisure a few years back so its great that Inverclyde can help me out a little bit.

It has been rather mild lately in Chamonix so I will be getting out for another few runs this week before the snow arrives back and it will be back to ski touring for my fitness.

Finally as of the moment I do not have many races this year set up before Leadville. I am back in Scotland for 10 days in May and I will be running the Kintyre Way Ultra with my work collegue Laurent. There are 2 races , one of 107km and one of 54km. We have chosen to just run the 54km , I would have loved to run the full 107 but feel its just too close to the end of winter season to go for it. Really looking forward to it. I have also entered the Chamonix Vertical KM which is the end of June , it is pretty much a race from Chamonix Town Centre to the top of the Planpraz bubble so straight up 1000m(running straight up a munro) as fast as possible not really Leadville training but more a bit of fun. Last Years winner the awesome Killian Jornet won it in an incredible 34 mins! If I can get sub 50mins I will be happy. I would like to fit in another 50-60km at some point over the summer and will have a look around although most races here are on weekends when I work which is a problem but I am pretty confident my training days will be nice a long in this awesome playground that is Chamonix.