Wednesday 14th August. Race 5 of our Summer League. Felt a bit rough going into this, and it showed. Averaged 6:04 a mile on a flattish course, struggled to get under 6 for most of it, and just felt flat. 36th place in 35:53. Moving on...
Went over to Lake Annecy in the French Alps for a Family Holiday, and met up with friends Mark and Debs Kerry. Had an absolutely fantastic time, did loads of things with family and kids without having to focus on working for my Maths Degree. Happy days. Discovered my eldest daughter has no fear whatsoever when it comes to climbing, or speed. Loved the luge. Didn't get to go to Chamonix, or the Raidlight HQ, but did get a morning pass out to go up a mountain, and handily, La Tournette was close by.
So, I departed from Verthier, at the Southern end of Lake Annecy, early Monday morning (about an hour later than planned as it was still dark!) on foot, starting altitude of ~440m. As I had left most of my kit behind, not really expecting to be doing anything like this I was wearing my 22l day pack, and only had 3 muesli bars and a banana for fuel (I did have a very nice baguette I made, but left it in the fridge at the campsite). Started to run up the hill, but that didn't last very long as it was a) early and b)steep. Still kept up a good pace, and started running when it flattened out again.Made it up to the Col de la Forclaz in 50 minutes, 700m climbed with another 1200m to go.
Next it was along past where the hordes of paragliders launch from, along through some forest to the Chateau de l'Aulp (or something similar). Along here was also a viewpoint. Said viewpoint was a rocky outcropping with a bit of a (massive) drop. About here I realised that my head for heights wasn't as good as it used to be, and had to have a bit of a sit down. The spinning gradually abated, I took some snaps, and retreated (carefully, 3 points of contact at all times) back to the path. Some good running from here took me to the Chateau. 1:35 done, still feeling good, 1st bar eaten.
Gets steep from here. Really steep. Hands on knees, going up steady, passing loads of people all with poles. I was the only person I saw the whole time without. Made it up to the Refuge de la Tournette,and ran past a French couple, the bloke on the phone exclaimed something along the lines of seeing Kilian Jornet. That made me run up the next bit until they couldn't see me. Thankfully, that wasn't far. Next up, after that brief, morale boosting respite, was more steep climb. Steep, muddy climb as well, still running anything that looked flattish. Finally approached the rocky top section, edging carefully past the massive drop to the left (head getting better with heights though) and finally getting to climb up bits with chains. Randomly, there was also a small lily patch at about 2000m. Crazy.
The top. Reached it in just over 3 hours, was really happy with that, head just about back to ok with heights and drops, took loads of photos and waited a bit to see if the clouds on the Mont Blanc side would clear. They did, a little, i took more photos but didn't spot it. Ate my banana, then started on the descent. It was fun. Nice little scree bit, down a nice ridge, full of goats, then down through some forest to a nice stream. Filled up my bottle, and myself, then spotted Mark and Debs coming up the other side. Had a quick chat, then carried on. About 200m later, had to stop as there was a large deer/goat thing in the middle of the path. It was incredibly unconcerned, so I took few photos and walked towards it. It waited until I was about 1m away, then ambled just off the path. I carried on. Down through more forest, and into Montmin. Then slightly up and along a road back to Col de la Forclaz, and a terrific descent back down to Verthier. Stopped the clock at just over 5 hours, with about 8100 ft of climb. Fantastic, and I was back to the campsite on time also.
Strava link is here.
Today's race. The Dark and White trail race, round 2 at Rowter Farm, Castleton. Travelled up with Brett, which was entertaining in itself, fairly early doors, with Nick Lander and Andy Watson coming up later to do the 12km option. Got there well within time, got ourselves sorted, and tried to warm up. It was cold, with a bit of a wind blowing. Jogged to the start point (you can start the 20k any time between 8:15 and 9:30) and set off at about 8:25, with a few people ahead. I do prefer to have people ahead, targets to chase and all that. Started off heading towards Mam Tor, but turning up to Rushup Edge. ran all the way up to the road, then up to the edge, where I noticed that not only was the wind really, really cold, it was also a dirty headwind, and blowing quite hard. Never mind, keep going, take it steady. Reached the turn North to Chapel gate, then off the side, down the footpath to Dale Head. Started to get into it, passing a few people. Reached the first checkpoint, water and grabbed a gel for later, then on, heading towards the path up to Hollins Cross. Took my gel just before the climb, and just kept plugging at it, passing Martin Stacey of DDMT, made myself run all the way to the top. Was feeling quite good by now, heading towards Lose Hill, and thankfully missing the summit. Down the side, following the old Moors and Tors route, into Hope, 2nd checkpoint, grabbed another gel for later, and along the start of the Moors and Tors route. Into Castleton, but for once, I wasn't climbing up Cavedale, which I think would have been the easier option. Instead, we were directed around the back of Castleton, going up past the entrance to Peak Cavern, then straight up the side of the hill. I had to walk. It was steep. after about 50m, it flattened out and I managed to start running again, but it kept going, and going...and then going back into the teeth of that headwind. Only, it wasn't the same headwind, it had reinforcements. It was a hell of a struggle to keep running, but I wasn't walking again. The last 2 miles took what felt like forever (in reality they weren't too bad, but took a load of effort), and dibbed in at the finish in 1:46:34, which turned out to be good enough for 1st place. An entire 9 minutes clear of 2nd.
Strava link here.
Some photos from Annecy:
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