That's more like it!

Oh, I just love the Plateau de Beille. It's a spectacular spot, very accessible and with stunning views. We visited the nordic ski centre up there a few times this winter and I did the Trail Blanch in January, but, not counting the few minutes that I spent up there after cycling up from les Cabannes 2 years ago, I have never explored the Plateau outside of Winter. I did however have the feeling that it could provide some fantastic running on good tracks and trails. So, after yesterday's aborted run and with clear blue skies now safely in place, it was time to explore. It did not disappoint. I'll let the photos do the talkingI ran and sometimes walked as far as the little promentory that you can see on the right in the photo below, just above the Col des Finestres and beneath the Crete de Genibres, just under 7kms in totalThe perfect picnic spot (biccies for the dog, a banana for me), looking towards the Pic de Ruhle in the backgroundand the Col de Didorte in the middle...After soaking up the sun and the clean clean air (2000m alt), we turned around and retraced our steps. Pic de Barthelemy in the distanceGreat running underfootThe local breed of horse, the Merens, is now back up on the high pastures which is lovely to seeI have not felt too good about my runnings legs over recent weeks, in fact not since the Citadelles which was 2 months ago now, when I really pushed myself hard. I have suffered with aches and pains of various sorts and have really felt pretty out of it - instead of getting stronger, I felt like I was going in the opposite direction, which has naturally been demoralising. So instead of running, I have been out on the roadie a fair bit with Andy, which is great cross-training. However, I feel like I may at last be getting my running legs back and, more to the point, my enjoyment of and enthusiasm for running also seem to be returning. I didn't push hard today and deliberately treated it as a recreational outing rather than a training run. But I wanted to run. And when I ran I felt strong. I will be revisiting the Plateau de Beille again, soon, as it ticks all the right boxes for what I need right now. Just a shame it is a 2 hour round trip. The sooner we move the better!

Stats are on the usual site