Funny noises

Over the past week, we have been hearing an intermittent noise coming from somewhere around the front door which sounds very much like a smoke alarm when it is on low battery... beep, beep, beep. It goes quiet for a few minutes then it starts again ... beep beep. And over the past couple of days, it seems to be increasing in volume, audible at night from inside the house. So yesterday, we homed in the noise, lifted up a big rock that lies on the border to the right of the door and there they were - two pairs of the tiny little common midwife toad, complete with eggs! Picture courtesy of Herpfrance.com For such tiny creatures, they sure are capable of making some loud noise! So mystery solved. We shall now leave them in peace and await the arrival of little ones in due course!

Yesterday, I took the decision to enter a trail race in 2 weeks time. The Trail des Pieds Cloutés takes place on the hills above Foix and is billed as 19kms/1100m+ which is more ascent than the Citadelles that I have also signed up for again at the end of April! The plan is to use the Pieds Cloutés as a training run for the Citadelles and to get an idea of where I am, fitness-wise, at the moment. It should be fun, although I have to admit to feeling ever so slightly nervous at the prospect. In the meantime, I got out for a run yesterday before the next band of poor weather moves in. It was a 10km circuit from the house which I have done once before and which involves 320m of ascent. I decided to push myself hard and reached the highpoint after 4 kms 5 minutes faster than I did last time! I blasted around the rest of the circuit, feeling strong, no aches or pains and arrived back at the house just as the rain started after 1h10m - 9 minutes faster than last time! If only I could feel so good and strong on all of my runs. Full stats on the usual site.