Training Going Well....Rant Time

Well it's been a while since I last stuck a blog up here and to be honest I have done so much that I don't really know where to start. I am going to go on a bit of a rant shortly so I will let the pictures I have taken in the past couple of weeks do the talking with regards to training , skiing and touring. It's been pretty full on and I am starting to feel pretty strong on the up hills now but I still have a long way to go to really get into Skimo shape.

Intervals at Le tour with Naila , Emelie and Joanna

It's been a mixed bag of short tours , long tours , Lot's of skinning at Les Houches(day and night) and also my first ever Skimo interval training which was a bit of an eye opener. Last year was so good for me with so much powder that I am not really going out on my proper big skis unless I am guaranteed an epic day. Pathetic I know but unless the snows going to be great I am sticking to the lightweight fitness regime for now. It's just nice to have a fresh outlook on something this winter and a real goal to work towards....Transvulcania in May.

Hellish hangover skin up Les Houches with Guillem. The picture is not
a set-up , I was actually that bad at the top.

I have a pretty full on summer this year but my running fitness will slowly start to take shape and I am more confident than ever in my running abilities after what an entire summers dedication did to me last year. I am just hoping that I can start the season in the Canary Islands and not have a complete nightmare like I did on my first race last year in Scotland.

A little tour with Sandy in the Aiguille Rouge

Now rant time(this could be long)....apologies if I offend anyone but it's only my opinion and thoughts on things that have been on my mind for a while now. I thought why not lay it all out here for all to read.

I have always been outside in the mountains(hills) from a young age. When I was around 13/14 when most of my friends from school would go “doon the toon” and party and drink(maybe not alcohol at 13 but it was Ayrshire!) I could be found up in the local hills of Largs exploring and camping. I am very fortunate to have grown up where I could walk out my door and head up past the farms to play and have a laugh with friends. I dread to think how my life may have ended up if I grew up in a city. I have nothing against cities , I just don't like them. Too busy , too many people. I know many people do not have the chance or have the option where they grow up but for me I was lucky to live where I did. This is really where it all started for me and my love for just being out and away from normal life.

Ensa couloir with Guillem on lunch break

Since then I have just progressed on and on from running around those local hills to then heading to the Highlands to walk then scramble then slowly I made my way to winter antics and lot's of winter climbing before heading over to Chamonix to explore bigger mountains where I still ski and climb (a little) but as most of you know my attention has turned to running around this special place and entering some ridiculous races that I myself am surprised at. I don't see myself as an amazing mountaineer or alpinist or even runner but I do see myself as experienced in most of this to a reasonable level. I for sure have so much more to learn but I am quite content with knowing that when people come out in the Mountains with me whether it's skiing , climbing or running that they feel safe to be with me. I must stress I do not want to come across that I am perfect by any means. Things can be misinterpreted all the time on these blogs but I know more than anyone my abilities and whereas I sometimes underestimate them I do have my feet placed firmly on the ground as to my technical level in skiing , climbing and my strengths at running. I am not a world class athlete , I am just someone who keeps fit and does a lot of exercise and I chose my life to be that way.

Heading out of the Aiguille Rouge.....Ski and Run...Perfect

Many people , especially friends I do not see much any more but keep in touch with on line always go on about “oh you have an amazing life” yes I like my life but all they ever see is the pictures I post or blogs I write. Yeah my free time is amazing but trust me my whole life is not nearly complete or amazing. I work my ass off to live like this and have this time to play in the mountains. Whereas many people see me escaping to the mountains and being away from it all , they don't see my bank balance for example! All my money goes on rent , food , fuel , kit , race entries and travel to races , I own nothing but that. Yeah it ain't great but it's the price I pay to live this way. Whereas I know many people who have the family life and security , others have girlfriends etc... I have none of that. Please don't feel sorry for me but yeah sometimes I do think what if I had all that , what would it be like , would it be better? Every time the answer is no. I would not change a thing at this moment to jeopardise the life I am living right now. That all may come back and bite me in a few years when I ease off of my running and sit down to find myself alone but hey what can I do. I am not stopping now.

Night time Les Houches. Chamonix all lit up.

My whole life centres around escaping and being outside. Obviously now that involves a lot of running. It's just who I am and what I do. Nowadays there seem to be people everywhere popping up on social media who just “love” the mountains more than the next person. Now it just seems like the cool thing to be doing. Whereas when I was younger It was completely not cool to be going camping or exploring in the hills. I do not think I deserve to be in these mountains more than anyone else but please do not go on and on and on about your love of freedom and the fresh air when you just fell out of some city a few weeks ago and act like it's been your passion for your entire life when really it's just the next craze on twitter or facebook. Yes.....granted I do also use twitter and facebook to let people know what I am up to but I don't use it as a tool to sell myself as something I am not. I am not a sponsored athlete , I am not good enough for that. I do get help from some companies but this is only help and very much appreciated. I get very little free and actually feel like I don't really deserve anything free , especially from running companies. At the end of the day I am not going to win big races but the help I do get is really really great and just means the bank balance gets hit a little less.

Heading up Col Crochues

I do feel that within the past couple of years my running has come on so well that yeah maybe I could pursue some kind of sponsorship from some brands or at least a little more help. For example... you may notice I run in a LOT of Salomon kit. I pay for all of it. It's the only kit I will run in most of the time. I could never be sponsored by a company like that , have you seen their trail team???? Francois D'Haene , Ricky Gates , Dakota Jones , Emelie Forsberg , Anna Frost , Stevie Kremer and eh.....Kilian. These people are proper athletes and the best in the world. I wear the kit because for me it really is the best trail running gear out there. It all just works , yeah it's overpriced for sure but what isn't these days in the outdoor industry. I would actually be a bit embarrassed to try and blag some kind of deal from companies like this even if I felt that in a way I deserved maybe a little something for my efforts.

I am just getting a bit sick of so many people these days selling themselves as something they completely are not. In a way you need to congratulate these types as they manage to fool somebody into thinking they are more than they are and who am I to have a go at these people for getting free stuff. Jealous?? No chance. I just feel like it is removing all the life and soul out of so many sports these days and especially the ones I am involved in.

2 x Les Houches with Naila

I have a couple of friends who I shall not name. One a runner , one a skier. Now they are pretty damn good at what they do but they would never go down the road of selling themselves as being more than they are. Why? Because they would be embarrassed. They may not be world beaters but they sure are more deserving of some help than the social media fakes. These two know what it means to be sponsored or be some brands athlete and there is a pressure to that. I know for sure these two could get deals with companies but they won't bother. They have too much respect for their sports and know that there is probably someone out there who deserves it more than them. It just annoys me that these days if you have a huge twitter or facebook following it has a massive impact on what brands will do for you and that is scary. Yeah the brands want to make money I know but please do it with people who are actual athletes and not a load of fakes flooding social media.

Sandy on his way to the Keyhole

I am not going to get started on the rich kid explorers/adventurers who have never had to work an hour in their life to pay for their so called passion as this post would never end. I want to stress that I am not against (well not completely) these type of people and I am genuinely not jealous of them in the slightest. Hat's off to them for getting something they shouldn't but please oh please don't act like you grew up like this and it's been your life long goal or dream to aspire to climbing that route or running these races when really your doing it to escape the office(fair enough) and sell yourself to be something your way more than you really are. Just admit who you are and where you came from. Honesty goes way further than lying your ass off.

Brilliant day off up behind Chalets Loriaz

 “What do you get out of running in the mountains?” , “what do you do it for?”. If you need to ask me then I am afraid you are missing the whole point completely as to why I/we do it.

Sorry if that was a bit of a long rant and sorry if I offended anyone. I am sure many out there will understand what I am on about. Tomorrow I am off to ski some powder........Laters.

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