Sometimes it's nice to slow down

It seems that everytime I have been out recently, I have been either running or cycling, on a mission of some description or other. Today was different. After yesterday's exertions, hard exercise would have been a bad idea. But I wanted to get out to stretch my legs a tad and the pooch needed a mooch, so this afternoon I took Taff up the zig zags to the Cabane des Roses which is at approx 1600m, and actually walked the route for a change. This meant I was able to take the time to really look around me and to appreciate the fantastic environment that we have here. My attention was rewarded with the sight of some spectacular little flowers peeping up through the dead bracken... surely they are poking their heads up way too early? Erythronium Dens-canis, so I am led to believe. The temperatures have been unseasonably warm and they have been tricked into thinking spring has sprung.

The lack of snow at 1600m also testifies to the abnormal conditions for early February. Quite worrying.The view from the top was as beautiful as ever

It's all Pat's fault....

... she's broken me... well, nearly! I've measured out this running route, she says, managed to get it down to around 14km, she says .... yeah right! Oh, but it's got a section of really steep ascent in it, which will be good practise for the trail race in 6 weeks time, won't it, she says! Hmmmm. So it started off well enough, even though I was decidedly lacking in energy this morning. A nice trot from Pissou to Pat's at Espies (no more than a km) then down the hill to Massat, following paths and chemins that I had not previously discovered. All very pleasant. Then turn left and.... oh, we're going up there are we?! Ahhhh, right. It turned out to be 410m of ascent over a distance of just under 3kms up to 'Peyregude', which is a hill that we can see from Pissou. Nice! But I soon forgave her, as we then had a very pleasant trot along a path/track which contoured the hillside, with great views down to the Massatois Valley. The descent was enjoyable, but I knew more ascent was ahead, as the route was to take us back up the Col de Caougnous before the final trot back down the hill to Pissou. I was starting to get muscular discomfort in my right leg, running from my deep buttock climbing muscles, all the way down to my ankles. .... as usual, no such discomfort in my left leg. It's official, I am loppy! Anyway, some stretching en route alleviated the symptoms somewhat, but I knew the last few kilometers would be 'interesting'. We opted to walk a fair bit of the last leg as we were both struggling ... at this point Pat uttered those words 'I think this run may actually have been a little bit further than 14kms'. No shit sherlock! Good old Memory Map, in conjunction with my garmin Forerunner did indeed confirm later that we had covered just over 19km, with 600m of ascent in around 2 hrs 40 mins. No wonder I felt like my body was collapsing! But I had to forgive Pat, as she gave me a sports massage this evening. She quickly identified a number of interesting muscular imbalances and worked on knots and tight areas that had been the cause of much of my discomfort. I am now ready for more running/biking action - bring it on!

Tedious but necessary

Another mild, clear day but, instead of being an exercise junkey, I had to spend most of the day down in St Girons, not only doing the weekly organic fruit and veg shop but also sorting out the car's 'controle technique' (the equivalent of the UK MOT), which is a necessary part of the procedure for getting the car registered over here. Fortunately, it passed. So that's another thing off the 'to do' ticklist. It was after 4pm when I eventually got home - the best of the day had gone. So now, I am looking forward to tomorrow - Pat and I have got a good run planned for the morning. So only a couple of glasses of wine for me this evening, despite it being Saturday night... not that that means anything out here .... every night is a Saturday night, which is kinda nice really :-)

Past the 50km barrier - woo-hoo!

It has been another beautifully clear, warm day today with temperatures approaching 20 degrees. Andy woke up with a bad belly, probably as a result of too much red wine being consumed last night! That, plus extreme tiredness, meant he opted not to join me on a bike ride today. The route was straight out of our door, down the Col de Port road to Massat, up to the Col de Saraillé and Cominac, down into Oust, back along the road to Ercé and then back up to the Col de Saraillé followed by a descent back to Massat and then the 4km ride back up to Pissou.

The ride up to Cominac is worth it in itself - it has to be one of my favourite places in the world, a high pastures community set out on a plateau with panoramic views of the Pyrénées. A spectacular setting.

The ride was steady and uneventful. The conditions and the setting were just perfect. What more could you ask for! The ride back up to the Col de Saraillé from Ercé was probably the most tiring part - an 8km climb after already having covered 30kms. But head down and get on with it. Piece of cake!

On the descent from Saraillé to Massat, I passed another cyclist who was 70 if he was a day! He quickly tucked in behind me and followed me down the hill, chatting as we went. Although he had a pretty thick accent, I was able to ascertain that it was just his 2nd outing of the year and that he would have done a 55km loop by the time he had finished. Good effort!

I was tired by the time I made it back to Pissou. It was my longest ride yet, clocking in at 52kms and over 1000m of ascent in 3 hrs. I was pretty darned pleased with myself, to be honest! But I think the legs may need a rest tomorrow.

On the running trail again

Another high front has settled across the region which means the return of clear skies and a warm sun (15 degrees ambient temperature but more like 25 in the sun). Andy was keen to have a bash at the run up Peguere and along the forest track that I did with Pat and Kev on Friday. I was keen to do some hill training on the Peguere road and the pooch was keen for a mooch, so off we went. We attempted to follow Kev and Pat's lead of run two, walk two of the road markings up the Peguere road in a hill interval type stylee and did indeed make a fine attempt at it before over-heating became a problem. The road has now been noted as our main hill training ground for the future, to improve stamina and endurance.... our target is to run the whole 3.5kms, ave 12% gradient, in one go (ahem!). Well, we can hope!

The rest of the run was wonderful, on superb terrain and fantastic views. 12kms in just under 2 hrs. It is set to become one of my favourite routes.

Quiet weekend

Had an uneventful, quiet weekend - I visited St Girons market to stock up on fruit and veg and did a supermarket shop and that was about the sum total of Saturday's excitement. Woo-hoo!

Sunday, all change on the weather front, as it clouded over and a sudden, vicious wind came up the valley out of nowhere, rattling the shutters and threatening to rip the tarpaulins from over the woodpiles. 5 minutes after the biggest gust had passed through, the siren went off down in Massat and my first thought was that a tree had come down on top of somebody's house :-( It is rare to experience wind of such intensity in these parts, thank goodness.

On our feet again

Had a day of rest yesterday, although the old pins are feeling surprisingly good considering what I thought I had put them through this week (maybe I should try a bit harder?!), so I agreed to join Pat and Kev on a stretch of the legs this afternoon. Well, it was going to be this morning, but Pat postponed it until this afternoon, I am guessing because she had had a glass of wine too many last night . But regardless, we are basically panicking about the lack of training we have done so far for the 20km Citadelles trail race on the 23 March, so reckoned we needed a decent distance run with a bit of ascent in it. The day did not start off too well, however, having had a shit night's sleep, followed by a decidedly dicky tummy and an ongoing splinter in my finger (no sniggering at the back, thank you very much!!), but I had to give it a bash.

We started off at a leisurely pace from Espies and headed from there through to Pissou on the hidden footpaths and up to Caugnous from where the route took us up the horribly steep road which leads to the Col de Peguere (18% in one spot!!). Pat and I watched in resigned silence as Kev, being 'ard, decided he was going to show us what it was all about by jogging in intervals up the road. It got to a point where I could not let him get away with creating such a break, so I followed suit. It was actually quite an exhilarating exercise in a masochistic kind of way and I felt quite surprisingly strong! But even so, I was relieved when we hit the turn off for the track/footpath that meant the end of the ascent. Here, the great running commenced, on an easy trail that contoured the hillside. Reminiscent of the Peak in many ways. The views down towards Massat were fab , despite the high level cloud which obstructed the sun

Eventually, we reached a point where descent was called for, so Kev manfully led the way and had us battling down a steep hillside, being tripped up by brambles and tree routes, sliding on dead leaves before we reached a 'chemin creux' that we were able to follow down to the road which eventually took us back to Espies where a cup of tea and some biccys were gratefully received!

Sum total for the day, 12kms in 2 hrs with 600m of ascent.... which was nice!

Oh, and the pooch is pooped to boot, which can only be a good thing :-)