Still Plodding Away

I rested on Thursday after 3 good solid training days so on Friday as I had an early finish at work I got the last Brevent lift to the top and again ran up to Col Salenton and to the top of Mt Buet (3109m) , this time I was 3hrs 30mins Brevent to Summit. Sandy hiked up to meet me via the normal route and we then descended the 2000m down to the car at the village of Buet. Brilliant run again and in the evening sunlight it looked amazing , especially as I was just getting to the summit and the sun setting away in the distance towards Geneva. The run back down the Berard valley was 21 degrees at 10.30pm. 29km and another 3000m of descent.

Buet Summit at Dusk

Sandy Cooling off at 10.30pm

I had a full work day on Saturday so didn't make it out and then on Sunday's lunch break I ran 16km from Brevent to Flegere then down to Les Tines and back along the river to the shop for the afternoon shift. Really really hot the past few days in Chamonix. Up high there was a good breeze but once I had descended down to the valley it was 33 degrees!!

After nearly a month of blue skies on Monday I woke to torrential rain. The forecast was for it to clear late afternoon so I sat in the house until 4pm waiting for the rain to finally ease then I headed out for 12k. Aiguilette Des Houches to Merlet Park and then back home. A pretty boring run to be honest. I wasn't really in the mood for it and the ground was super wet so it was pretty treacherous in places to say the least. Still good to get something done but not really a run I will remember at the end of the season.

Tuesday was much better so I again went for my current favourite run to Anternne – Salenton – Mt Buet – Buet. Blue skies were back so a great day again although I didn't really feel too great on the last little climb up to the summit. Don't know what was wrong but I was much slower than I have been lately. The previous days storm had dumped quite a bit of snow above 2900m so the very top of Mt Buet was pretty white. The run down was great(except the short section above the Berard Refuge – Worst trail ever) and pretty warm once in the Berard valley so a couple of dips into the river were needed. Another 29k done.

Buet Summit again , this time with added snow

Thankfully this time the clouds didn't bring hail

The following day I ran the traverse from Planpraz to Flegere via the Col Gliere. Not a super long distance but the first time I have ran the trail this season so I really enjoyed it. Pretty much clear of snow with only one little awkward section to traverse about 10 metres of snow that was actually quite steep and not somewhere you would want to fall but I made it across. I then wanted to save the knees from another long descent so opted for the chairlift down and ran the flat from the bottom of Flegere to Chamonix. Only a total of 10km but really enjoyable. Then after lunch Myself , Graham and Sandy headed back up to Flegere via the help of the cable car and chairlift to go and do the Crochue Traverse. I have done this little ridge outing loads and it was great to go up in the afternoon to have it to ourselves. Nothing hard on it. A short fun chimney climb to start then a little steep down climb with only a couple of loose handholds followed by some narrow and fairly exposed ridge sections but nothing difficult. The descent off of it was the most fun as it was snow all the way to Lac Blanc below so by skiing , jump turning(Graham) running and bum sliding our way down we made quick work of the descent but opted not to go for a dip in Lac Blanc due to there still being little icebergs floating in it so we made it back to Flegere with plenty of time before the last lift. Really good to get out in the mountain and not be running for change.

Col Cornu

Saving the knees

The down climb , Sandy testing loose rocks , Graham running away

Crochue Summit 2800m. Yeah Yeah Yeah
many remarks were made about the shirt.

So far my body feels pretty good. My knees are a little bit sore sometimes after long descents and also in the mornings so I have been using an ice pack on them in the evenings before bed and when I wake up and it seems to help. Now don't be fooled by thinking that I never get sore legs. It's funny how you can run 30km one day and feel great then 3 days later go for a 10k and it can get worryingly sore. I must say though that my recovery is pretty good as I am not stiff or sore the day after my longest runs. Being able to go out back to back days running is pretty vital I reckon and so far this season I have been able to do that.

Back to work tomorrow and three more days off next week then back in work for two days then it's flight time on August 10^th. Time really has flown past this summer and with the exception of maybe two or three runs I have not got bored of putting on the trail shoes and getting out. I have been super lucky that the weather has been amazing for pretty much all my days off which really does help at getting out. It can be a bit of a chore going out when it's miserable. I have done that enough back in Scotland. After all these training miles I really haven't lost my love of running in the mountains and on the trails. It may sound all a bit cliché but you really do have to enjoy running to get through these kind of races and being able to get through the pain barrier and not giving up is also a good skill to have but at the end of the day if you ain't enjoying running then why do it , find something else to do that you do enjoy. Like I have always said if you wake up one day and just don't feel like going a run then don't , don't push it and just wait until you feel like going again and enjoying it instead of it being a chore. In saying all that though I am looking forward to September when I can go rock climbing and do some Alpine stuff again and maybe only go running two days a week instead of the 5/6 I have been doing all summer. I have a couple of races in October back in the UK but I reckon I just need to be going out a couple of times a week in September and I should be fine.

Just over 3 Weeks to go

So the day after the run that didn't end too well I asked Sandy if he fancied going out an easy little jog/hike. I planned to meet him at 12pm at Les Bossons to climb up to La Jonction at 2630m , a pretty impressive place where at the end of the trail you are greeted with a Glacier. So I headed up Brevent at 11am and ran down to the Bellachat and then back down to the valley floor to meet Sandy getting me a little 10kms in before we started our climb up the other side of the Chamonix valley. I had never actually done this hike before but knew it was a fair old march to the top. It was pretty hot and we were glad to get some tree cover from the sun until we got higher and it cooled down a little. It is a long slog to the top , climbing 1600m over 8kms. My legs were still a little sore from the previous two days efforts but we got to the top in two and a half hours. We hung around for about 30 minutes on the top and then as the storm clouds rolled in we started the descent. The run down was actually really good and we just went at a nice gentle pace. Thighs burning a little near the bottom. Once we hit the road the rain began and got heavier and heavier. Looking at my watch I noticed I had just done a 27km day(more than the previous day) This was meant to have been an easy day so given it was another 6km home and it was pouring by this point I opted for the bus back home. Brilliant uphill training and we even passed the king of the trails himself Kilian Jornet who was descending as we were going up. I greeted him with a well done on the new Mont Blanc record (4hrs 57mins Chamonix Centre to Mont Blanc Summit and back! Incredible) and also winning the Ice Trail and received a handshake and a Merci in return. Made my day.

Sandy at La Jonction

The following day(Thursday) was back to work but not starting until 11.30am myself and Sandy got the 6.30am lift up the Midi(3800m) and got a super fast Cosmiques Arete lap in and then sat on the terrace for a couple of hours getting the red blood cells booming before I had to go down to start my shift. Friday was a rest day and on Saturday I managed to squeeze in a descent from Plan Aiguille(2317m) back down to the shop(1035m) on my lunch. Sunday again was time for a rest.

So back to my days off and on Monday morning when I woke up I really didn't know what to do. I was at a bit of a loose end and to be honest when I thought about running I really didn't want to. I wanted to climb but had no partner as everyone was working. So after waking at 7am I didn't get out the door until 10.30am after many decisions on what to do. I opted to get the lift to the top of Brevent and run over to the Anterne Refuge where I had been the previous week and then just see where I get from there.


Looking up to Mt Buet. Blue skies for now!

Once I started running I started feeling better in my head and once I reached the refuge I looked over in the distance to Mt Buet(3106m) and wondered if I should head over. I knew the Col Salenton which leads you towards the summit may be full of snow so wasn't sure at first if it was worthwhile but in the end went for it. First time I had run the trail up to Salenton and it was awesome. Blue skies , super hot and the closer I got to the Col I could see the small amount of snow in it was not going to be a problem to get up. Once reaching the Col the other side towards Mt Buet was a different story and full of snow. None of which was really a problem though as there was loads of solid footsteps in it from the hundreds of hikers who have been up to the summit this summer so I just stayed in the tracks and had a great jog up to the final Col just below the summit. By this point the clouds had rolled in and the forecast for late afternoon thunderstorms was looking as it should have read early afternoon thunderstorms. I wasn't far from the summit by this point so I kept going only to get caught in a horrendous hail storm for 15 minutes but luckily managed to find some kind of shelter from the worst of it. That morning I had only packed a little wind shirt ,the first time this season I left my waterproof at home , Typical. Once I reached the summit the clouds were now thick and very very black so I did not hang around and set off down towards the town of Buet which was a long 2000m descent away. Just before I got to the Berard Refuge at 1900m the hail began again but I kept running and made it into the refuge for shelter as the rain and hail got so heavy I couldn't actually believe what I was watching come down. It was a good 20 minutes of constant downpour until it eased and I headed out and blasted down to the hamlet of Buet on trails that were now transformed to small rivers. From here I bailed and hopped onto the bus back to Chamonix but ten minutes into the journey I was thinking to myself how good I felt so at the next stop I got off and ran back home adding 10km onto my day. Overall a brilliant day out climbing 1500m and descending 3000m and I finished just 1km short of doing a marathon.

On the way to Col Salenton

Nearly Hail Storm time

Horrendous

The descent

So on Tuesday I decided to do something much shorter so opted to run the Chamonix Cross Race in reverse (I hate starting in the valley and climbing up this route , bores the life out of me) so it was 23kms and I must say my legs were pretty damn sore for the last 5kms and I must admit I had to stop twice to give my thighs a little rub.

Wednesday was another 6.30am lift up to the midi with Sandy for yet another Cosmiques Arete lap (I swear I could do this route blindfolded by now). Again pretty quick at just over an hour and we got stuck behind a couple of teams who must have started from the hut in the morning. After the short climb we sat in the café for a couple of hours and then back down to Chamonix. Later on I went out a short 11km run in afternoon doing my usual Brevent to Flegere traverse. It was then the lift down to save the knees which have been a little sore recently and then a run along by the river and home. Tested out my TORQ gels and the Rhubarb and Custard really are brilliant , they taste just like the boiled sweets I used to get on lunches when I was at school! They are a slightly thicker Gel to my usual High5 ones which I have used for years and seem to do a good job so I will probably be using a mix of both in Colorado. 76kms covered on my 3 days off.

 

Sandy soloing up the last chimney section on the Arete.
Long way down below!

Really glad I am able to get up to 3842m quite often now even if it is just for a few hours at a time. I do wish I was doing new climbing routes but morning laps of the Cosmiques and runs in the afternoon ain't too bad training.

 

Just Chillin' at 3800m

Leadville news and I have been in touch with my support team. Pacers - Anna , Ben and Kimberley and Crew - Stacey and Jennifer. They have been brilliant help and all seem super keen and excited to help me out. We already have a short run planned the day after I arrive in the states. It really has blown me away how helpful and eager everyone is to support me. It is such a long long day for everyone to hang around and help me try to finish the race and I am so lucky to have them.

Thanks TORQ. Not tried the Banoffee flavour yet.

It is pretty tricky trying to organise rough times for pacers to meet me at checkpoints and also times for my crew to meet me with spare shoes , socks , food oh and I have requested a cooler of Mountain Dew! Especially in a place I have no clue about or even how easy access the checkpoints are. Yeah there is a route map but it is still pretty tricky work hoping you don't make your team wait for hours at certain stages or even be a little quicker and miss them completely. I have my rough times now for the race and I will post them up later. How am I feeling towards the race..hmm still the same really. Just see what happens and hope that I don't get injured. That is my only worry and nothing I can do about it if it happens. I genuinely believe I have the strength and mental focus to cover 100 miles. Ever since the Scottish Ultra a couple of years ago (Yes it was only 70kms but I had not really trained all winter) when I was in total agony at 50km and did not want to go on any more. Somehow I managed to pick myself up and run the rest , I ran a 45 minute final 10kms! Something changed inside my head that day , it could have gone either way to be honest as I could have just quit but for some reason I just kept going albeit it total agony. After that race I realised it was true what people say and I always just thought it was the elite who said it but it kind of made sense to me that day. Find a place in your head to put the pain and forget about it and just keep moving your legs. It is such a hard thing to do but anyone can do it if they try. It's way too easy just to give up. Yes it is going to be sore , total agony at times but keep yourself fuelled , pray you don't get cramp and hope you don't get an injury. I have no doubt in my mind even from halfway at Leadville I will be in some pain but as long as I can keep relatively injury free and within the cut off's then I believe I can do it , there is no point going into the race scared of it. At the end of the day it is only a race albeit a pretty long one but it is something I want to try and enjoy and not just suffer. The key to completing it is simple , eat and drink from the start and just take the pace slow. A great quote from a previous finisher (not a winner)I read the other day , he said “ start off slow and then slow down” Sounds good to me.

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.

5 Weeks To Go

Well it has been 10 or so days since the race and on the plus side my knee is much better. I rested for 3 full days and then I started out again running distances from 10-15km most days without any trouble. I didn't do any downhill running for a week (except one rapid 36mins descent from Le Signal that I still don't know how I went so fast for the 1100m) after the race and just resorted to getting the lifts down after doing some awesome mainly flat runs up at around 2000m at Brevent/Flegere and over at the Plan Aiguille areas and still managing to get up to 3700m once a week to help those red blood cells. Really missing my climbing this summer but I knew running would kind of take over so here is hoping the end of August and all of September is good weather so I can catch up on getting routes done.

Heading to Flegere

Looking back on the 80km and I am so happy to have finished it and in a pretty decent time. I was worried before about this race as I thought it was too soon in summer to hit 80km and 6000m of climbing but as it turned out it wasn't and it all went very very well apart from the knee of course. It really does amaze me how my legs were not heavy or sore or had any cramp at all over the entire race , it wasn't so long ago (May 2011) I ran a 70km in Scotland and the last 10km were utter torture and my legs were in agony and I could hardly walk never mind run. My nutrition was spot on as well and I am pretty confident in my selection of gels , bars , proper food and drinks for Leadville. Also my clothing works well so none of that will be changing although recently the soles of my feet have been getting a little sore in my shoes. I also wear compression calf supports when racing and they seem to work also. I generally never wear them training but on race day I stick them on and they seem to do the job at keeping my calf’s fresh and not cramping. Now I don't know if this is science working or psychologically my brain is telling me they work but whatever it is it does the job so I will be sticking with them.

Lunch

My only slight worry at the moment is my right shin. It is a very strange feeling. It is not painful at all but when I stretch my leg a certain way there is a slight pulling sensation on the front of my shin. Nothing at all like the Tendinitis that I got a couple years back and to be honest I don't feel it on flats but sometimes on ups and downs it appears. Like I said it is not sore but I can feel something there that shouldn't be. I am still taking it easy at the moment and resting more than I should be in hope that this goes away.

Finishing the 80k. So happy.

It is now a month until I travel to the states. I will be hitting the running hard in the next few days for another couple of weeks doing distances from 10km to 40km and maybe a 50km once. Then from the first week in Aug I will ease off and just go running short distances to keep the legs ticking over. I won't get any fitter in the last week or two before the race.

 

I am just happy to have got half of the Leadville distance out of the way. I am starting to believe now that 100 miles is within my grasp but there are so many factors that could stop it from happening. If I can manage to stay injury free and don't have a major issue with the altitude during the race and make the cut off times then I know I have the mental strength to be able to get to the finish line. It is then all down to my two legs to see if they have it in them to keep moving. The worst thing I or anybody for that matter can do in an Ultra is get 2 hours in and think Oh My God I am 2 hours in and I have 80% of the race still to do and my legs are a bit heavy. It always takes me a good couple of hours to really stretch my legs out and get properly into an Ultra. I have become better and better at not looking too far ahead anymore. I just take it checkpoint by checkpoint. There is no point in looking way ahead. Just look to the next checkpoint. During Leadville on the first 50 miles I will be looking at each 10 mile checkpoint as a goal and then after it will be pacer to pacer.

Anyway enough Leadville chat for now as there will be much more to come in the next few weeks as I start to panic more. I am off to enjoy the delights of the Chamonix Trails and Sunshine.

Mont Blanc 80km

 

I woke up on Friday morning at 2am to make sure I was well fed and ready to start the race at 4am. It was some Carbo Cake and Coco Pops and then I walked down from my house to Chamonix centre and was at the start line at 3.45am alongside Fredelina who surprise surprise was taking some pictures. It all started pretty well( as well as 700 people could start jogging up a forest track) it was a cold morning but I had a wind shirt on and it kept my temperature just perfect.

It was all slow going for the first bit. It is pretty much uphill from the start line all the way to Brevent at 2457m so a fair old climb of 1400m to begin. I managed to get into a decent group for the hike up as to not waste too much time being behind slower people. I got up the 1400m , 8.7km climb in 2hrs 14mins and was feeling good at the top. It was a hard section to get any pace on due to it being the start and also there was loads of bomber hard snow all the way from Bellachat to Brevent which was impossible to run. From Brevent we ran down the piste(which is still a piste!) to Planpraz and then over to Flegere. I loved this section and as this is my lunchtime run I had a bit of an advantage as I know it super well and managed to get the 7.7km from Brevent to Flegere in 1 hour. I was in 243^rd place out of 700 at Brevent and by Flegere I had managed to get myself into 199.

Heading up to Brevent

The next stage from Flegere to Vallorcine was also great , it has a small bit of uphill involved but nothing major but then a fairly rapid descent back down to 1200m. By this stage the sun was well up and it was just an incredible view over the Mont Blanc Massif and looking down to the cloud covering Chamonix below.

 

Flegere - Vallorcine. What a view to run to,

I reached Vallorcine(26km) just after 9am and now up to 187^th and still feeling great. Sandy was there with my kit bag to refill my supplies. From here it was then 5km and 750 up to the Col Du Passet. Again I just got my head down and plodded on up. The climb went fine but it was fairly steep and super rocky. Once at the Col I had got myself up a few more places to 172^nd at 31.9km into the race. After the Col it was a super trail along to Chalet Loriaz and a descent back down to Vallorcine. I was loving it at this section and ran all of it and was feeling so fit and fresh! I had managed to again pass a fair few people (30) on this 8km section and was now in 142^nd at 40km. There was one slight problem though. My right knee was starting to hurt a little when I started the descent back to Vallorcine. Usually when I feel pain on a race I just try and put it to the back of my mind and take it as part of ultra running but this was wasn't just a minor little niggle. It was a shooting pain in my kneecap every time I swung my leg back. I did my best to ignore it as I knew I wasn't far from the Vallorcine checkpoint and a 5 mins rest to again refuel. Once I hit the flat the knee was fine so I was glad the next section was uphill to give my knee a rest from descending.

35km in and buzzing!

 

Almost immediately after I descended from Loriaz and refuelled at Vallorcine for the 2^nd time it was up again. This time an 800m climb to Aiguilette Du Possettes at 2000m. I have heard this is when most people pulled out of the race and turned around on this climb and walked back to Vallorcine. On the ups I was doing great , not a problem. No heavy legs , no sign of cramp and I was eating and drinking regularly. I didn't pass anyone here but the runners were pretty spread out by now. Once up this climb which took me an hour I was at the 44.6km mark and for the first time in a race ( I think ever) I said to myself ok your over halfway and feeling great so go for it. The way I looked at it was that I was on the way back to Chamonix now albeit with another 34km and 2000m of climbing to do. I did on the other hand forget how sore my knee was on the last descent and descending (800m) to Le Tour then Argentiere was not pretty. By the time I had got the 8.9km from the Aiguilette Du Possettes to Argentiere I had now dropped to 153^rd. It was so frustrating as my usual strong point on running in the mountains is my downhill speed and now I couldn’t run downhill.

Once at Argentiere and glad the descent was over it was yet another climb up to Plan Joran(1913m). This was a 700m climb and I hated it. It was nothing to do with my leg as it was fine on the ups. I just hated the trail. It just seemed to go on forever. I still managed to get up the climb in 1 hour and I was now at 58km and had crept myself back up some places to 145^th which didn't last long as the 900m descent down to Le Bois was again agony and yeah you guessed it I lost places on the descent and by Les Bois(64km) I was now in 152 and had been going for 13hrs 14mins.

It did actually give me wings on the next climb

A load of my friends were there to greet me in Les Bois and it was a massive boost(as was the can of Red Bull) It really does make a massive difference to see people you know during a race. Even if it is just for a few minutes and just to say hello or have a quick laugh it really does help. Even if sometimes I am too tired to show my appreciation it really does have a massive effect so it was great to see them all before heading off for the last section.

 

Now I was 14km from the end. Ahead of me lay a 900m climb to Montenvers then another 250m to Alpage Du Blatiere and finally a long 1100m descent to Chamonix. I was pleased with my time up Montenvers. It took me an hour and a half which is no record breaker as I can do it way faster when training but this stage in the race and having already down 5000m ascent it went very well and still no sign of cramp or over tired legs and I had managed to get myself back up to 141^st.

Face of pain - Starting the final 1100m descent

 

Now the next short section from Montenvers to Alpage Du Blatiere should have been fast. Well it was not. It is only 3kms and 250m uphill but it is a really narrow tricky trail and it lies between the 69-72km in the race and it took me 45mins! Once along this section though it was all downhill to the finish. It was now 7.35pm and 15hrs 34mins into the race and the sun was just beginning to set so it was a cracking view out over the mountains behind Chamonix. Normally I would have loved this section , legs were not screaming in agony and I had come 72km and only had a small section to go but I can't say it was much fun until I hit the car park at the bottom. It is a a long 1100m descent and my knee was not happy about it. Ever step down was a shooting pain into my kneecap and I got slightly annoyed with myself for continuing with it when it was this sore on descents. I just kept saying over and over in my head 'you've wasted your Leadville chance now , wasted it. Your an idiot for not stopping back in Le Tour' It was also so frustrating to see all these people I had passed climbing up now gaining on me all because I had a sore knee. I never normally get competitive in a race and like I said weeks ago this was training for me but for some reason this time I didn’t want to loose places to people I knew I was faster than so I tried my hardest to not let anyone past me. 2 guys did pass me about halfway down then another guy and then a girl who was actually really nice and could see I was in pain and even gave me a wee pat on the back and said “Bravo , Bon Courage” I actually managed to keep her in my sights for the rest of the descent and could tell she had also decided she didn’t want me to pass here again as she kept glancing back to see me in pain hopping and limping my way along behind her not letting her out of sight. Ally was waiting to greet me(fresh from beasting the Vertical KM in 50 mins) about 150m Vertical from the car park and gave me some much needed small talk back down to Chamonix.



Back in Cham at 8.30pm, The first ascent of the race which was
 done at 4am up to Brevent is marked.

About to cross the line

No she was not in the race

Once I got down on flat ground and into Chamonix I started to run and felt great. I really did feel good. No pain on the flats at all and my thighs didn’t even feel heavy or like jelly. It was now less than a mile to the finish and up ahead I could see the guy and girl who had passed me on the descent so I had to dispatch of them and did so quite comfortably as their legs didn't seem to want to run and they were going at a walking pace. It was then a right turn onto the main st and nearly there. The street was packed with family’s and people out shopping and every single one of them would stop and clap and cheer you on to the end. A really special feeling. A load of my friends were also waiting just at the end for me and it was smiles all around when I crossed the line at 8.42pm in 141^st place and a race time of 16hrs 41mins. Totally delighted with my time but for once I knew I could have been faster. Apart from my knee and a slightly sore neck(due to using my poles so much on the descents) the rest of me is totally fine and if I wasn't resting my knee I would be going a run on tomorrows lunch break.

16hrs 41mins

Time to rest that knee

This was a great full on mountain ultra and everyone supporting and volunteering at aid stations were as usual superb. I will reflect more on the race in a few days but I woke today to find my knee is not as bad as it was during the race. I will give it full rest for the next 5-7 days and hope it was just the 6000m of descent that made it so sore. Anyway Leadville is only 5000m!

 

Thank You Graham!!

Thanks again to everyone who supported me during the race and all those who were at the end. You're all awesome.

Finally a big shout out to Fred who not only made it round the course and looked as fresh as ever when she crossed the line , she also managed to take 300 photos while running!