Hello 2015

Now that we are into 2015 my race schedule is pretty much completed for this coming summer albeit with a couple of little tweaks from what I posted last time. The trail shoes are now tucked away for the next couple of months and the skiing will continue until nearer to spring when I start to get properly ready for Transvulcania in May.

Out for a tour with the one and only Rob Stokes

All I have been doing recently is ski touring on my days off and some lunch time uphill work every other day. It's going to continue like this for a while now and I am really enjoying this Skimo thing. So now I have my goals set out for this coming summer I thought it might be a good idea to just have a little recap of what went on last summer. Some good , some awful and some surprising performances.

Out for a nice little tour near Les Gets

Night time Skimo with Woody at Les Houches

It all started in April when I travelled over to Scotland to run the Highland Fling 83km race. The race didn't go very well for me. I still finished in a pretty decent time but I was not happy with the state I was in at the finish. Then in June I ran the CMC 40km in Catalonia and this went a lot better and really boosted my confidence. It was then time for Colorado and the entire 3 months spent there were perfect and I came away incredibly happy with all my results , Leadville 50 , Aspen Valley Half Marathon (just 6 days after LT50) , Arapahoe Basin Summit Challenge and then my strong performance at Run Rabbit Run. I then returned to the UK in October and less than a month after RRR100 I ran the Lake District 80km with Lauren. Definitely RRR was my highlight last year but a close second is my Lakes 80km run. I was amazed at just how strong I felt on this course from start to finish and really couldn't believe that it felt quite easy for me. It's a tough tough course and I thought it may have broken me being so close to RRR but it ended up being a great day and I loved every second of it. Including the torrential rain in the morning. My favourite race from start to finish was 100% the Arapahoe Basin Summit Challenge , it was only a 7.5km race which involved a steep uphill push to start then a lovely ridge run and finished with a speedy 2km downhill. Short and sweet and not normally a distance I race but it was a cracking morning.

Some time during RRR 100

Thank you to everyone who supported me on all my races and the words of encouragement on the web and in txts etc... Big shout outs must go to Anna for joining me on many CO runs , Kim for pretty much making it possible for me to stay in the US for so long and last but not least Woody for helping me out at the Highland Fling , inspiring us all with her Mont Blanc Marathon result and making the trip over to Colorado for some epic runs in Utah and The San Juans and finally for helping to not only crew but pace me for 30 miles on what turned out to be a cracking 25hrs of running in Steamboat and making me realise just how I can push at the end of 100 miles with someone beside me who knows my running all to well.

Woody running in The Needles area UT. Best run ever???

So I am currently booking flights and accommodation for this years races and I am starting to prep for what is going to be an epic summer of running yet again. Now I have three days off of work and it's time to ski tour.

Nearing the summit of Mt Sneffels in the San Juans.
At around 14'000ft. Can't wait to be back there.

(Not quite) the best of both worlds

Well winter should arrive here in the Alps at some point we hope. We have had some dustings of snow but nothing major. It's looking a bit dry over the next week and we can only hope it really starts to dump it down at the end of the month.

Not enough snow to ski down so running down it is

I have been keeping quiet and just working. I have made a few trips up Grand Montets with Naila on my days off and it's been good to get on the skis. My new skimo set up is complete and what a difference it makes. The skis and boots are pretty damn light and makes life a lot easier on the way up and the downhill is actually decent as well. It's still going to take me a while to really get the technique down using this kind of gear but I will persist at it.

Naila heading up GM

Since we don't have a huge deal of snow I have been out running as well. The steep run up to Col Lachat behind my house is great fun however there is some snow plodding involved nearer the top which makes the descent on my slick trail shoes rather fun. I'm still loving getting out running right now but also ready to get the skiing into full swing and just sit the running aside for a couple of months but until winter decides to arrive I am quite enjoying having both options although there is a little too much snow for running up high and not enough for skiing! My running is still feeling really strong and my uphill strength is much better right now than on skis. I am still surprising myself at some of the climbs I am able to run/jog up here behind my house, It's going to take some time to get that strength back for next years races but I do hope all this Skimo helps a little with the transition in the spring from skis to trail shoes.

Pretty views from Skiing in the morning...

and more pretty views from running in the afternoon.

Unfortunately the Ice Trail Tarantaise is full next July so I am on the hunt for another race in France in mid July around the 65-80km mark if I am unable to get Tour des Fiz. My list for next year is as follows....

May 6th – Transvulcania 75km 4000m+(Canary Islands)

June 26th – Chamonix Vertical KM

July 26th - Tour des Fiz 61km – 5000m+(Haute Savoie , France) - Entries not yet open

August 22nd – Leadville 100(pacing 30+ miles)

September 6th – The Rut 50km 3000m+(Montana) – Entries open January

September 25-26th – The Bear 100miles - 7000m+(Utah)

As you can see I still need to wait on some entries to open but I will for sure try for the Tour des Fiz and The Rut. I would like to do another race early August around the 40km distance but nothing has sprung out at me except the Tromso Skyrace in Norway but I can't really see me making it to that due to work and also the cost as I will be travelling to the Canary Islands for Transvulcania and also my trip to Colorado , Utah and the drive up to the Rut in Montana is all going to add up. So as it stands I would like the above list to be the final one but it could change a little if I find a race early August in France.

Still happy to be running in the snow

So a short little update of what's been going on recently but really I am taking it a bit easy this month and then I will start to slowly increase the volume of my training once the new year arrives.

More Running and Summer 2015 Plans

Still no snow here in Chamonix so the running has continued and it's been pretty good. It's getting colder now and some snow is expected......at some point we hope.

I have been out for the odd run to and from work alongside the river but on days off I have been getting out on longer trips. Last week myself , Guillem and Laurent went for a fun outing up to the top of the Aiguilette des Houches , along to the Bellachat refuge then around back to Les Houches. 20km with 1300m of ascent. The following day was just an easy 10km loop I have from the house in Les Houches.

Aiguilette Des Houches - No idea what we were doing.

I have really been resting a lot in November but a few days ago I went on another excellent run this time with Naila and Laurent. We followed the same route as the Petit Tour Des Fiz. This was a brilliant loop of 30km with 2300m of ascent and involved lots of snow running. We had it all on the run , snow , sun , hot , very cold.... Great day running in an area so close to Chamonix I am kicking myself I have never been there before. In spring for sure I will be back.

There was lots of this

Amazing scenery

Chalets Anternne

So now to next year. Well I watched anxiously as both Hardrock and Western States were drawn at the same time live online but unfortunately my name never came out of the hat for either. Yeah I knew my chance were slim but I never lost hope of getting one of them. So after pondering just what to do next year and changing my race list god knows how many times I have made a decision. I will be travelling to do Transvulcania 73km in May then I will return to work most of the summer in Chamonix in order to save money for the USA again. I have entered the fun Vertical Km in Cham at the end of June. I am pretty sure I will then run the Ice Trail Tarantaise 65km in July but I need cash to register so if there are places come January I will do that. August will be spent training and exploring more of the Alps than I have done before then I will fly to Colorado and pace Kim at Leadville again at the end of the month. After Leadville I plan on spending most of September in the San Juans and at the end of the month my next 100 miler. I have entered The Bear 100 in Utah. I was considering not doing a 100 miler next summer but then again I do need another Western Qualifier and also another Hardrock to allow me two more years in the lottery. So I decided on The Bear. It is a point to point race starting from the small town of Logan and traversing over to Bear Lake in Idaho. I loved Utah when I visited and it will be nice to train in CO at altitude and then run a race pretty close by but in new surroundings. It has slightly more ascent than RRR and Leadville with 7000m of climbing. There are lots and lots of climbs in this one , way more than RRR or Leadville however my max elevation will be 9000ft so training in the San Juans at 11'000-14'000ft will be perfect I hope. It really does look a stunning course and all I have read on other blogs is so positive about it.

Approaching the top of the last Col with Mont Buet behind

Navigation time

Col Anternne , Mont Blanc shrouded in cloud behind

I will explain more about the summer races as the winter goes by but I am excited I now have a solid plan. It will be hard to not have a full 3 months to train(cash is needed) for this 100 but I will work a day less a week in the summer and have 3 solid training days a week and then I have 5 weeks before the race to properly get my head down with running and resting. In the meantime where the heck is all the snow!!???

Tignes and Le Tour

After a few little flurries of snow in the valley the weather has been pretty settled for a while now and lot's of the snow is starting to disappear as we await real winter to properly start. This hasn't stopped me getting out on skis and over the past ten days I have been out on the skis five times and out running just the once.

One of the best ridge runs near Cham but way too short

The weekend before last I headed off to Tignes with Guillem to do some touring in that area. Due to it's high elevation there was plenty of snow for us to play on from the car. The first day I managed 1600m ascent in just over 1hr 40mins. I must admit I found it pretty hard going. Guillem is pretty strong at the skimo stuff so for me going at a pace just slightly faster than I am used to was quite hard work for me but I was happy with the amount of ascent on day 1.

Cold start in Tignes

Day 2 we planned to do more fitness work. We set off from the car with head torches at 6am with a plan to summit the Grande Motte then have a little explore. However once we arrived near the top of the lift station at Tignes we were told by the ski patrol that we could not go any further as they were doing avalanche control above. The weather on the entire skin up was bitterly cold but we were greeted with stunning views in the morning light gazing around at all the fresh untouched snow that had fallen overnight. Guillem was over to see some friends from the Spanish World Cup Team but given that they are all stupidly fit and fast I spent the rest of the morning skiing back down and skiing back up again and got in another 1600m on my already tired legs from the day before. All in all a great weekend away from Cham and some really nice skiing.

Zero visibility and cold! Awesome morning,

The Wednesday after Tignes was an evening skin up Le Tour with Guillem and Graham after work. It was only 800m but it was a cracking clear night and really not that cold and we were happily surprised to find some boot top powder just next to the piste to enjoy on the descent. My ascents haven't exactly been the kind of metres you will find from a lot of others out doing skimo(Ski Mountaineering) races but I am happy for now just slowly building up to some much bigger days in the next few weeks and months to come.

Below is Guillems soon to be Oscar nominated short film of our little Le Tour outing.....next time he will clean the lens...

Friday I ran the 9km back home from work at night and loved it. I have really eased back on the running now as I try to get into shape for a big winter of skiing so it was nice to get the trail shoes back on and have a blast along the river back to the house. I felt great and really just wanted to keep running for hours more but I am going to try and rest the running legs this season as much as possible in the hope the skiing will keep me strong enough come Easter to start pounding the trails again.

Tete Du Balme with Laurent

This past weekend was spent doing yet more skinning. This time up at Le Tour. On Saturday myself , Guillem and Laurent did a great little loop of the Le Tour ski area and managed to get a good 1200m ascent and then on Sunday I headed back up with Sandy for another little short 800m outing. I'm feeling pretty strong on the up hills at the moment but I really need to work more on technique and speed if I plan on doing any proper races this winter and not finish dead last. Given the start I have had on skis so far I am pretty confident I can go from strength to strength in the coming months.

Top of Aiguilette Des Possettes

In two weeks I find out if I am lucky enough to be drawn into next years Western States 100 or Hardrock 100. Both draws take place on Dec 6th and I will be glued to twitter hoping my name comes out of one of the hats. I have a 4% yes that's a 4% chance of getting into Western. Hardrock has 1900 applicants for the 146 places available so my chances of getting into any of these races is very very slim but fingers crossed. Obviously Hardrock is the one I want the most but I won't complain if it's Western. I have been thinking a lot about next summer. My mind wanders through many ideas and changes very often but I am thinking if I do not get one of those two races I might stay in Europe next summer and do some shorter distance stuff here. I would love to run Ice Trail Tarantaise(France) , Zegama(Italy) and Tromso(Norway) and if I stayed in Europe then this would be possible. I do still want to head to the States again but maybe just for 2 or 3 weeks if funds allow. I really wish I can be at Leadville(August) again to pace but would also love to race The Rut in Montana , Flagstaff Skyrace in Arizona and The Bridger Ridge Run also in Montana but these are in Sept and Oct and I just don't think I can manage three months again without work. I am sure my mind will be changing a lot over the next few weeks but nothing will be decided properly until Dec 6th.

Great little loop at Le Tour

Return to Chamonix

That's me now back in Chamonix and ready for the winter season to kick off. I actually got back on the 2nd of November but moving into a new house , starting work again and catching up with friends has caused this slight delay in posting here.

Back on Euro trails

So the day after arriving I was greeted with crisp clear blue skies so on it was with the trail shoes and I headed off up the vertical km route. I was pretty surprised how easily it seemed and I was up the 900m climb in around 45 minutes. I then continued on up to Col Cornu adding on around another 400m. I stayed at the Col for a while admiring the view , one that I never tire of seeing. It was then along to Flegere and back to Chamonix. In total it was 20km , 1300m+ and I was 2hrs 20mins.

Col Cornu

Running has continued but to be totally honest I have been finding it quite hard to not just relax after work. Having not worked since June has been a bit of a shock to the system but I need the cash asap. I have ran a couple of Les Houches laps(10km) in the evenings and one of which was a rather fun snow run with snow up to well over my ankles after we had a pretty decent dump one evening. It's been pretty good moving to a new house and heading out and exploring some trails I had never ran before. The snow has now cleared from town and we are waiting for the real winter storms to hit before I put the trail shoes to one side.

Fun at Les Houches

I managed to get my first skiing in as well last week. Myself and Guillem headed up to Le Tour on our day off work. It started with a 30 minute hike then we put on the skis and skinned up to the top of Le Tour. I felt pretty good on the up. We weren't going at an incredibly fast pace but we were up the 900m in (I think) a reasonable time but neither of us took our watches. The ski down wasn't the best snow but it was great to just be on skis again. This season I am going to focus a lot on my Skimo fitness and I will be doing a lot of ski touring and fitness work at night in Les Houches with Guillem and Naila. For sure I am not going to be giving up on lift accessed powder days though!

Le Tour

We will be able to ski from our door next month so I am pretty excited and a little nervous to see how my skimo fitness will improve training with these two who have many a years experience over me in the skimo side of things. My legs still feel strong after the summer but it's obviously a completely different technique and different muscles I will be using when trying to skin up hills as fast as I can. The bonus is that my running muscles and joints will be getting a good rest over winter and they will go back into action probably around the end of March. I will be trying to get out the odd run over the season but my focus is the ski fitness.

Near Les Carroz

I think I am going to miss trail running this winter more than I ever had. I managed to get myself into a shape I am so happy and this will slightly disappear over the cold months and I know come March it will be a tough couple of weeks physically and mentally to prove to myself I can get back to the level I was in. This cycle happens at the end of every winter season and I get through it so I am pretty confident I can get to that level of fitness again and with any luck even improve.

Les Houches from Merlet