So all the training is done it now just remains to run the race!I added up all the running I’ve done in the last year in preperation for this event (I’ve included the 2 events I’ve done as well).In Total I’ve,* Run 966 km (600 Miles)* Ascented 51,675 m (169,537 Feet) (Thats 5.8 times the height of Everest)* And Taken 6 Day 10 Hours 54 Mins to Do it (Not sure I’ve worked that last one out correct?)
Archive for the 'Training' Category
A big 2hr run today, which really marks the starting of the serious training leading up to the Mont Blanc Marathon which is only 14 weeks away!My training now consists of 3 runs a week - A short but fast pace (Starting at 8km) and Hill climb (At 5Km) with speed up steep hills, and a long run currently at 15Km. The plan is to do 3 week cycles of 100%-120%-80% with each 100% week increasing by 10% on the last 100% week - if that makes any sense.Todays Run took 2hr:02:18, was 14.88km and had 793m of ascent - To see the route profile click on the thumbnail image below.
Snow has finally fallen in the village! But this means that my training runs are going to be a bit more tricky now - still I like a challenge, heck I wouldn’t of entered the UTMB CCC if i didn’t !Set out this afternoon at about 4:10pm and headed out on the trails that I normally run - there is a fair amount of light powdery snow about, probably 5 inches or so. The first gently uphills weren’t too bad as a few other folks had walked out along this way and so the snow was fairly well flattened, but it was certainly using up more energy. The sun was low and there was a lovely light on the Aravis and the Fiz as the peaked through the atmospheric low wispy clouds.The steep uphill was really hard, the snow dragging at my feet, and struggling to keep grip on the soft powdery snow. I’m usually at about 24mins on a good day or 27 on a bad day at the top of this climb and today was 30mins, which was what I expected given the conditions so I was quite pleased.It was a great adventure - slipping and slidding on the down hills, running across the ski piste (It wasn’t officially open but there where people skiing it!). Temperature down at -12 centigrade, my water bottle was freezing even with all the jiggling about it was getting. And finally running the last bit as the last light faded from the sky. Now this is definitely the sort of running I like !Todays figures are 12.7 Km, 530m Ascent, 1hr:45 (ish) as the cold got to my watch which stopped working half way round!
The weather has been so mild recently, and I have done so little exercise in the last month that I really needed to restart my training routine ! Mentally I’ve really been waiting for winter arrive when I’d be skiing and cross country skiing, but no more, got to get back to it.
So today started with a 4k run with about 160m of ascent, and it hurt. Another mental note to self - don’t stop the training for any length of time because it seriously difficult to get going again. Anyway, pace overall was reasonable and at least it’s a start. The run was superb with beautiful morning light filtering through the winter foliage of the trees on the run down towards Le Fayet, all snow free.It’s been nearly 2 weeks since I last went out running - partially because I have just not been able to find the time, with these short days, partially because my 8month old has been keeping me awake a lot at night, and also because the weather has been pretty fowl !
Today was a beautiful day and so I dragged myself out, and I really enjoyed the run. I also went further than before, by quite a long way, and discoverd some parts of the commune that I’d never visited before! In fact some of the route reminded me of hiking in Nepal - Little granges with the smell of wood-smoke in the air. Of course magnificent mountain views everywhere as well!
It’s kind of tough staying motivated at the moment, as I know that very soon, most, well all, of my running routes will be under an awful lot of snow, and the running will have to be cut back a lot, to be resumed when the snow starts to melt in spring. I’ll be replacing the running with Cross-Country skiing, and I’ll let you know how that goes when the snow finally arrives ! No sign at the moment.
For the Record, todays run was 11.4Km, 576m of ascent and took me 1hr 31Min.