Saturday 22 December 2012

Pow Pow

Well it has been way too long since I last posted but now I have some internet back here goes.

It has been a pretty hectic few weeks with friends arriving back to Cham for the Winter and we have had a huge amount of snowfall so I have just been skiing some incredible powder with friends and then celebrating some great skiing with a few too many drinks.
 
Me in the Trees in Italy
1hr 15mins to skin up , 1hr 30mins down! A very sketchy descent , enough said.
I was getting on the bike pretty regularly in the house at nights but now the skiing has begun I have kind of given up on it as I can now start skinning up the mountain at night for my fitness. I also bought a pair of track running spikes to use on the cross country ski track in town and I am super impressed with them already. Very cheap at only £20 and stick on a pair of neoprene socks to keep me dry and warm and it seems to work fine.

Next weeks plans are a bit of Christmas celebrating and there is talks of going through to Ice Climb in Italy as I really need to get my axes out as I am visiting Scotland for a few days in Feb and skiing powder is not going to help me get strong for that.
Lorne showing how its done in Verbier

I will be trying to update more often from now but here are some more ski pics from past couple weeks.
Fleur pinning it in Italy
Graham enjoying awesome tree skiing In Courmayeur
Laurent in Deep Snow in Verbier


 



Tuesday 13 November 2012

Nearly Ski Time


It has been a long time since my last post and since then I really haven’t done a huge amount except work. To be quite honest I have been struggling to get motivated especially to go out running in the evenings now it is dark and cold! Yeah I know that sounds pathetic but after the entire summer of amazing running in perfect temperatures it is now starting to feel like winter again and the running gear is slowly creeping back into the cupboard and the skis are out.

I have managed a couple of decent sized runs around the valley but nothing more than 2 hours and in the evenings I am getting on the turbo trainer , which is the most boring thing ever but if I just stick on music I can usually blast out a good hour or hour and half a few times a week.
 
Last run up high this year. Lifts now closed until Skiing begins.
The great news is that the skis are out and have been used. I headed over to Switzerland with Graham , Ally and Robbie last week to get in some early season turns. We went over in the direction of the Grand St Bernard and skinned up for about an hour and a half going up about 800m. It had been snowing quite a bit and we found some lovely powder albeit with a few rocks here and there. It was great to get back out and find that I could still ski.

Excited to start my season in some nice fresh Powder


Ally showing us how it's done , we gave him first tracks after his
effort at putting in the skinnng track up.
Graham Lovin' it
It is still really cold at the moment in the mornings and in the evening but when the sun creeps out in the afternoons it is actually quite pleasant so if this keeps up then I may well get out running on lunch breaks but to be honest I just want it to snow again so the trail shoes can go away and I can start getting ski fit again. It has been the same old process for a couple of years now. Come December my legs and body suffers for a few weeks trying to get my ski fitness back and then come April/May I suffer for a few weeks getting my running legs back. I am going to try once or twice a week to do a couple of short evening runs over the season and when I say short I mean short like 30-40 mins max. Just to keep me ticking over. I am going to need to invest in some spike running shoes though and they don’t come cheap.

Saturday 20 October 2012

Work and Run


It has been full on work work work since I got back. I have been doing long shifts in the shop getting it painted and sorted out for the new season. I have been pretty knackered in the evenings but have made it out for a few short 40 mins runs around the Balcon Sud and down around the Cross Country ski track. On my days off I have managed to get out for a bit longer. It is super quiet here at moment and I don't have anyone to climb with as Ally is away doing things I couldn't get up so I have just been content with keeping my running fitness up.


Last weekend I got the lift up to mid station on the Midi and did a run over to Montenvers and took a new trail down before heading back to Cham , it was around 2 and a half hours and I felt good. Today I decided to go for something big as weather was great so I left the house and blasted up to the top of the Cornu Chairlift at 2300m. No lifts are open on this side so it was great to have the whole place to myself. I then ran up and over to Lac Noir and just ran around exploring into an area I have never been. After a few hours I decided time to descend so I just reversed my route but instead of being smart I decided to blast the descent and it was not a good idea. From where I started the descent at around 2550m it is a long way down to my house at 1080m. The last 500m were brutal , I haven't had pain like that in my thighs in a long long time and I even had to stop a couple of times and moan to myself how sore they were. This could be due to a few things , I could have just went to fast at the start of the descent , I didn't eat enough( 6 chewy Alligators and a Mars Bars)  , maybe my legs are a bit fatigued from being on them for hours on end the past few weeks in work or maybe the summer has just taken its toll on them and they need nothing more than a good rest. Anyway it was a cracking day for a run and I certainly made the most of it by being on the go for 4 hours.

On the way up to the top of Cornu at 2300m

Pretty good place to run eh??
Lac Noir 2500m
I will be starting to wind down the running soon but I reckon as long as I can run on the trails without snow then why not as come December running wont be happening that much until April probably. I do plan on getting some spiked shoes this season and doing some short runs again on the Cross Country Ski track in the evenings after work just to keep the legs ticking over , nothing long again just 40 mins hopefully twice a week as my ski touring should keep up a really good fitness for me.

Off again tomorrow and I will see how the legs have recovered as I spotted an awesome trail quite a bit away from Chamonix today that I want to get on , it looks like it descends down to the village of Servoz but I will have a look at maps tonight and if legs feel ok then I will be going for that and it looks like a longer run than today.

Monday 1 October 2012

Bonnie Scotland


Well it has been a while since I last posted. I was planning on taking a bit of time off from running but to be honest that has not happened and it has again been non-stop.

I arrived back in Scotland on Tuesday 18th and was away up north on the Wednesday. The weather was kind to me as I ran up and down Ben Lawers with only the summit being pretty windy. I managed to summit in 1hr 10mins and was back at the car 30 mins later , then the following day I went and ran Schiehallion , This time I was a little quicker being just under an hour to summit and again 30 mins back to car. These were two Munros I had never done so thought I had might as well go get them done and there was no way I was just going to go for a plod. Where is the fun in that!

Looking back from just below Lawers Summit



The way back to the car


Summit up in the Cloud
Schiehallion Summit with the typical Scottish View

Great descent path
Friday I went a long run around the hills of Largs in glorious sunshine. I have this amazing two and a half hour jaunt I go on up over the moors following some farm tracks but mostly it is all off road. I then join the seafront and run along the promenade back to my home. It is a stunning run and has great views out over the west coast of Scotland.

Never come across anybody ever when I have run up here

Largs Below

At the sundial after mistakingly thinking the puddle I was running in was going to be small
Then on Saturday I was feeling good when I woke up so drove up to Arrochar and ran up and over The Cobbler and then Beinn Narnain on another cracking day and was happy with 1hr 58mins for the round trip.

Cobbler Summit

Heading down Narnain
The weather then decided to turn and the rest of my time at home was spent catching up with friends , having a bit of a drink and I finally managed a little 10km road run the night before I drove back to Cham.

So I am now back in Chamonix and start work tomorrow. I managed a 1hr trail run today and as good as Scotland is it just cannot come close to Cham for trail running. So now begins the off season and I have never been here this time of year , it is very quiet around town but we have lots to do at the shop for the next month and I will just been spending my days off Climbing and Running as much as possible to stay in shape for what hopefully will be an epic winter ahead. I must admit I would quite like to do another race before the year is out as the next big one is not until May 2013 which is a long long way off.
The Balcon Sud Trail thats on my doorstep
 
Rockhoppin'
 
Simply the greatest Trails I have ever run. After all these years they still impress.
It sure is good to be Home though.

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Looking Ahead

Well I have had a good rest the past week and also managed two decent runs , one of and hour and one of an hour and a half and got out for a bit of rock climbing aswell
Paul and Gary , on Point Gaspard(5c), Aiguille Rouges
Gary showing how its done on the trickiest move.
I thought that after the CCC I would be bored of running and just want to chill out for a while but to be honest that lasted about 3 days and then I started to think of things in the future. I have already signed up for some other races. I have entered the Dumfries Half Marathon for when I am back in Scotland next week , I ran this race years ago and liked the route so thought I would go do it again since I will be around. It is going to be a strange one I reckon as I havent really  run on a road all season , probably a maximum of 10km I reckon in total! So going back to do a road half marathon wont be as easy as some may think given the distances I have covered this summer on trails. I will probably just be happy to finish it in around an hour and half and feel fresh as ever after but not fussed either way , just dont want to get injured pounding the pavements again.

Post race meal. Only reason I ran the CCC was so
I could enjoy this without feeling guilty.
And these went down rather nicely aswell
Then it is not until May that I have my next Ultra. The Kintyre Way Ultra in Scotland. It was super cheap to enter(£20) so I thought why not. The full race is 107km from Tarbert to Campbeltown and mostly on trails. The good thing about this race is that you can decide what distance you want to do right up until the day before the event. As I said you can do the full 107km or join the route further ahead and do either 70km or 50km. I dont know what one to go for yet but obviously in the back of my mind the 107km is looming there somewhere , although a nice wee 50km may be the wiser option after a winter season of no running.

I have also be thinking hard about what BIG one to do next year and the one that I have been looking into is the 100 mile Leadville 100 in Colorado in the US.

http://www.leadvilleraceseries.com/page/show/311976-leadville-trail-100-run

It is a super famous trail ultra and I have read many books with articles about this race and it sounds right up my street. Its 100 miles with about 5000m of ascent but it is run quite high in altitude ranging from 9000ft to 12500ft so training in Chamonix is a must. You dont require any points to enter the race but do need to prove you have Ultra experience. Entries are not open yet and when they do I will apply and just see what happens , no point making any plans until I know I am in it. It is also the first race I may do that allows you to run with a pacer from the 50 mile mark , something I think would help me massively , after having already asked Scott if he would like to join me if I get in he has had to decline as the idiot has entered an Ironman next year. So anyone who fancies a trip to the states next August please get in touch , oh and make sure you can run 50 miles.

The other option to fall back on is the TDS in Chamonix one of the other UTMB races. It is slightly longer than the CCC at 112km and has a bigger ascent of 7000m so it looks like a good stepping stone to the full UTMB one day. I will send applications to both the TDS and Leadville and just see if I get in any of them.

Lots of people ask me if I am going to try the full UTMB (164km , 9500m+) and my answer is always the same , yeah probably one day. I firstly dont have enough points yet to qualify for it but if I complete one of the chosen races next year then that will give me the points to try and enter in 2014. Secondly I just dont think I have it in me yet to do something that big , yes the Leadville is the same distance but its not nearly as technical a trail and has half the ascent , just by looking and comparing times of UTMB and Leadville it is obvious that Leadville is the  "easier" of the two.

I was going to pack in the blog after the CCC but to be honest I quite enjoy doing it and it is a great way for me to keep track of what I have been doing so I am just going to continue with it over winter so hope you enjoy.

Tuesday 4 September 2012

CCC - All Over

Well here its my summary of the CCC. Sorry if its a touch long but trying to explain a race of over 80km in a paragraph would be hard.

As I said in previous blogs I was not feeling my greatest the days running up to the race , luckily on the morning of it I felt good and ready to go. Pretty sure it was just a load of nerves causing me to feel a bit weird but thankfully on Friday morning when I woke at 6.30am I was feeling good. After some cups of tea and cornflakes I walked down to the bus. Passing by what would end up being my finish line. Ally and Susan were kind enough to see me off on the bus and Ally being Ally decides to shout out my name extremely loud just as I am queueing for the bus , as I turn around to him and everyone looking at me the little bugger yells out “its okay mate don’t worry about it , your way better than all these guys” it certainly made me smile.
The Finish Line at 7am
The bus journey to Italy is not long and as we left a pouring Chamonix we then appeared out of the tunnel to a sunny Italy , this however did not last long and 30 mins before the start the rain made its way to us. I ate a load of my carb cake just before the start and at 10am the race began but in 2 waves so I didn’t actually cross the start until 10.15am. The atmosphere was amazing with Courmayeur packed with spectators and AC/DC at full volume blasting out the PA system. It was obviously a very slow start but we kept moving in a big bunch.
The Start - Miles back
That morning we had received txt messages to inform us that the course had been slightly changed due to the terrible weather. We were now missing the first climb to Tete De La Tronche and going directly up to the Bertone Hut and also near the end we would be skipping the ascent to Flegere and going direct Vallorcine to Argentiere to Chamonix. There is no official figures out yet but the course ended up being a bit shorter between 85-93km and about 5000m of ascent instead of 6000m.
Refuge Bertone
All went well up to Refuge Bertone at 2000m , it was a busy trail and difficult to pass people but this was only the first few km of the race so no need to try and go fast. From Bertone it was an awesome 7km run to the Bonatti hut staying at around 2000m all the way along , it was getting windy by this stage and the snow began once I hit the Bonatti and the jacket went on. Then another relatively flat 5km was easily run before an awful mudfest of a descent to Arnuva at 1770m. Arnuva was the first main stop and inside the tent I downed a quick bowl of soup as the climb up to the Col Ferret was next. We had been warned about the weather at the top of the Col , so I wrapped up and set off. To be honest the climb up to 2537m was not bad at all , the pace was not fast but I just plodded away on up and was pleasantly surprised when I was greeted by the woman at the top to beep me through the checkpoint. It was cold and snowing but it was not as bad as described. Then it was a long long descent of 10km down to the village of La Fouly where more soup was downed.
Grand Col Ferret
I was now just 14km from Champex and a change of clothes. This section though was the worst for me. I was not in any pain but it was just boring and a lot of it was on road and I am always wary of running on roads as last time I ran a long road section on an Ultra I ended up with Tendinitis and I did not want this again so the pace here was slow until the last 4km where we left the road and made our way up a difficult 400m climb on trails to Champex.
Changing at Champex
As I entered Champex(50km) at around 6.30pm ,8hrs on the go Laurent was waiting there for me and it was a great sight to see a friend. We both got in the tent and it was out with all my new clothes and a complete change of everything including shoes. It was now approaching night time so I wrapped up and stuck my head torch on my head to save hunting for it later which ended up being a stroke of genius. I was stopped in Champex for nearly an hour changing and eating. I left the tent and was then on familiar ground. I knew it all the way from here. I jogged along the short road section then onto the trails again and ran for 6km before taking the pace down for the climb up to Bovine at 2049m , a 750m climb. This time the ipod went on and it was head down and march on up. Again this climb went fine , the head torch was soon on and I managed to pass a few who had to stop a hunt in the dark for their torches in their bags. About 100m from the top the weather began to worsen , it was dumping with snow , cold and windy , I knew we were not far from a small shelter so moved fast. The shelter was tiny and it was quickly in to again register at the checkpoint and again down a bowl of soup and for a brief second I looked out the door and as I heard the howling wind and could see snowing dumping down I for a brief second did not want to go back out in it. There was no point stopping for a rest as I would have just got cold , some had stopped and they just sat in the corner shivering. I knew the trail from here was just 6km and 700m down to Trient and another major checkpoint where more friends and dry clothes were waiting. The descent was pretty horrible , cold , wet and very very slippy and I ran most of it alone which is quite daunting in such bad weather. The course however was very well marked with fluorescent flags on trees and fences etc..

It wasn’t long and I was in Trient and was greeted by Dorian and Laurent who again nursed me by helping me change and fuel up. I stopped again for a while but I was well within the checkpoint times so I didn’t see a need to rush as I didn’t want to burn out. I was by this stage at around 65km and was feeling fine! No pain , no cramps. I was just a little tired when I sat down but my legs and engine were all good. After being so cold at the top of Bovine I made sure I wasn’t going to get cold again as now was another big climb of 5km from 1300m up to 2027m then a 5km descent to Vallorcine and more clothes. So my plan was , wrap up and pretty much cook all the way up and over the pass and change again once down and it was a relatively flat 15km from Vallorcine to Chamonix. Dorian was amazed I was putting on so many clothes(2 baselayers , a primaloft jacket and a hardshell) but it all worked and I never got cold. The climb again went fine but at the top it was very very wintery , loads of snow but I ran the top section alongside a girl to the checkpoint so neither of us got lost as due to the snow the markers were getting a bit tricky to see. We got to a tiny hut at 2037m and beeped through again. This had no hot drinks , it was just a medical tent with a checkpoint. I thanked the doctors for being up there all day to which they replied “we are fine , we are not the ones running in this ,and besides we have wine!” Only in France. It was then a long 5km descent to Vallorcine and the worst descent yet. Extremely dangerous and slippy. The trails were flowing with mud ,it was getting pretty mental but I knew once down then that was the worst over.
Hellish Descent
I was greeted in Vallorcine this time by Dorian , Jo , Ally and Susan , this was at 2am and they were all super chatty and just as excited to see me as I was to see them. I again changed everything and Ally handed me a can of Irn Bru which I destroyed in about 3 seconds. Again I felt fine , tired but no muscle pain at all. My toes had got slightly FREEZING coming down so I had to warm them as Dorian handed me a pair of neoprene waterproof socks (LEGEND!)
Allys gift
Warming them up
Vallorcine - My Beautiful Team
I was not far from Chamonix now. I made fast work of Vallorcine to Argentiere where there was the final checkpoint which I didn’t stop at and just went through. The final stage to Cham was a trail I know blindfolded but I hate it , it just always seems to go on forever. It was an amazing feeling as I popped out of the trees and started running along by the river towards the centre. As I approached the town I crossed the final Km marker which tells the finish line who will be arriving next. I was then greeted by Dorian , Ally , Jo , Susan and Graham who all joined me for the final section down the main street (an awesome feeling and great of them to do it) they then peeled off from me about 300 metres from the end to let me go solo up a mobbed Chamonix Centre (it was so busy as the winner of the big race was due in in a few minutes after me so the crowd wasnt for me but worked out rather well). Ally stuck his arm out with a Scottish Flag which I gladly grabbed from him and ran up and over the finish line. It was hugs all around and I was even asked to do an interview for French TV as soon as I crossed the line and happily accepted.
1km to go!
Me with my Flag
I finished at 5.30am on the Saturday morning. On the go for 19 hours and 11mins. Around 350 pulled out of the race and half of that was after the horrible Bovine section so I guess they descended to Trient and with no clothing change thought enoughs enough and packed it in. 1900 started. I finished around 700th (some stats say I was 702 others 800) and out of the 800 in my age group I was halfway at around 400th.

The next day I was a little stiff but nothing crazy. The main thing I was and still am is a little tired.

Big Hugs - Soooo Happy
I have learnt so much from the race. I seemed to just get it spot on with food and drink and pace. Remember I was not interested in a time , I wanted to finish and I did that and to be honest crossed the line and I knew I could have kept going. For how long now I dont know but I had plenty left in the legs. I do wonder what would have happened if I had started to up my pace at halfway but who knows. I could have been faster or I could have just burnt out and struggled badly the last 20km. As it turned out I was fine. Yeah a few niggles at stages here and there in my knee or back but never once did my legs get heavy or did I have a sniff of cramp creeping up on me. I was worried before due to bad experience on the Scottish Ultra and the Cham Marathon as during and after them I was in a lot of pain. This however I just done it right. I also got my mental strength and focus back and for hours on end I was able to just switch off completely. Honestly at times , hours on end I was thinking of absolutely nothing , I just switched off. I worked hard for this and feel I deserved it. I dedicated a lot of my summer to this , stopped drinking any alcohol at all for 2 months and really watched what I ate.
Crossing the Line
Another factor that got me to the end was my mates. Laurent waited for me for 3 hours before I arrived at Champex just so he knew he would be there to help me out. Dorian finished work at 7.30pm on Friday night and followed and helped me right up until I crossed the line at 5.30am on Saturday and then he went to work at 8.30am! Also Jo , Ally and Susan who were with me from 2am and were always smiling and never looked liked they were bored. If it wasnt for them then I would not have got through it. I owe them all big time. Also a big shout out to everyone on Facebook. Only the day after when I logged on did I see all the amazing messages from so many friends who were following me during the race. It was really quite touching reading them all. Oh and I cant forget Scott , dude those text messages over the course of the day were just awesome.
Fresh as ever
It is now a little bit of rest and maybe a wee drink is needed. I am however now looking for the next step. I will report back soon but for now I am due some folk a shot or 10.

Saturday 1 September 2012

CCC - Done

Just a little update to say that's it all over and I managed to finish the race in 19hr and 11mins. Conditions were truly horrendous from start to finish with over 300 people pulling out of the race at various stages due to the cold and snow!

Will put up a proper summary when I get some photos from friends as I think I took one picture the whole race , there was no point as I couldn't see a thing for cloud , rain and snow.

Super happy and off to enjoy some junk food now.

Thursday 30 August 2012

Not Looking Good

Well the weather is turning out to be extremely bad. I have had two text message warnings over the past 12 hours advising to wear extra clothing and that the weather is going to be bitterly cold and snowing. It is pouring in Chamonix right now.

I reckon the start will go ahead but I can see it being cancelled a few hours into the race. I dont reckon they would cancel before the start as that would mean refunds and a logistical nightmare of transfering people over to next years race but if they start it and have to cancel then no refunds and all thats needed is to cart everyone back to Cham in buses. I am almost certain that this will happen. Saturday and Sunday weather is looking not as bad but doubt they will hold off a day. The only other option is to slightly alter the route to skip the two high points early on where the weather will be horrendous , this is a good option but who knows.

If however it all goes ahead then it is going to be a tough one and pretty horrible , and also I am not feeling very well! Coming down with a cold I think which is not good , hopefully get rid of it today.

Anyway at the moment it is all still on.

Wednesday 29 August 2012

It All Comes Down To This


Well the big day is almost here. I ended up doing a little 40 minute run on Sat morning before work and then an hour and a half on Sunday lunchtime along from the Mid Station to Montenvers and back down to Chamonix. Today I went and ran the final 5km of the race from Flegere down to Chamonix just to stretch the legs.

I have pretty much just been sorting out my kit bag that my support team will be carrying for me with all my spare clothes and food. I have also been working out the food I need to carry for the first 54km until I re stock at Champex. Coconut Power Bars , Energy Gels , Mars Bars , Tuna Sandwiches , Dried Mango and of course Fizzy Cola Bottles look like my fuel. Along with some Banana Chocolate Cake I found in a tub that has a whopping 72% Carbs in it , perfect for the morning of the race and also to nibble on at halfway. Its called Gatosport and is well worth trying ,comes in a ton of flavours as well. My hydration bladder will be just plain and simple water but I will also carry a 500ml bottle with Electrolyte drink in it and carry some extra sachets to mix en route.
 
It aint cheap to be a runner
My team is assembled and Laurent being the only one off work(in fact he has been off work all summer) is going to meet me at Champex with my change of clothes and trainers , then at Trient will be Laurent and Dorian and possibly Ally if he is not doing a transfer and then to Vallorcine where Laurent again is kindly going to support along with Dorian. I am super happy and appreciate every bit of help I can get , its a long long time for people to hang around and wait for me but it will make a massive difference mentally for me to see people from 54km hopefully to the end. I have informed everyone that helps though that they will be rewarded with copious amounts of alcohol when I recover and go for a beer.

I really have no idea when I may finish , it could be 4am it could be 11am on Saturday , I just don’t know how it is going to turn out. Finishing early would be great but I would kind of like to finish a bit later on when there are people in the street to greet me back to Chamonix at around 7am onwards. Coming in at 4am would be a great time but everyone will be in bed , that is only a minor thing though. Getting over that finish line is what matters to me.

Right you can follow me on the UTMB website http://utmb.livetrail.net/coureurentete.php and stick in my number 7083 and this will update as I pass checkpoints. I have also set up a Twitter account , to be honest I have no idea how it works but I know I can text messages to it during the race which will be fun as I can take my mind off the pain. Go on Twitter and follow me. Funnily enough my name on it is Colin Thornton (colinthornton1). Some people have had problems finding me on it for some reason but I am there , I guess just search for 'colin thornton' and I will be there somewhere.

So that’s me just collected my Number and had my bag checked (there was some extremely small packs that I have no idea how they have all the kit and on the other side there were some huge bags I would take climbing) , pretty excited now although the latest forecast for Friday Day and Night is not looking good. Rain and Snow above 2000m , up to 6cm and 60km/h winds in places , temperature up high between -5 / -10. Not good at all , I wouldn’t be surprised if it got cancelled or delayed were it to get any worse! Saturday is looking a good day but I should be finished early that morning. I overheard one organiser speaking to a concerned runner about the conditions ahead and she said “if you have walked in Scotland then you will be fine” I am hoping she is right as the forecast is terrible , rain doesn’t bother me but the strong winds and bitter cold could be a nightmare. Booked on the 8am bus to Italy on Friday morning , we set off at 10am.
 
Long queue but surprisingly fast.
Brilliantly organised bag check and number collect.
All Set
So here goes , 100km , 6000m positive height gain in under 26 hours.