A brief run

Current conditions are making it very difficult to find a good running route around here at the moment. Below 1000m the recent snow has melted, but mud, rocks and fallen branches have taken its place. Between 1000 and 1500m, snow remains but it is heavy and soft and not exactly runnable. Regardless of the conditions, I was determined to get a 'run' in before the poor weather arrives this evening, so I plumped for a circuit above Ercé that I last did back in October with Andy. The going underfoot was as I had expected, muddy and slippy with rocks and branches strewn across the footpaths. The section of steep ascent was hard going - my legs felt like lead and my lungs protested in no uncertain terms. But I pushed on. I came across snow only from 1000m as I had expected, but it had been tracked by a 4x4, was well-compacted and runnable, thank goodness. I had a welcome pause to take a photo of the view back down to the valley.The stream that I had to cross was carrying a great deal of melt water so I had to wade across it rather than daintily step from stone to stone as we had done on our last outing up there. The run back down on the other side of the valley was more fun and I arrived back at the car having covered the 9.50kms with 400m of ascent in 1 hr 29 mins. I blame the conditions underfoot for the not so amazing time, but I am pleased I got out for a stretch of the legs all the same.

Just a hint....

... of Spring. Only a hint, mind. It has reached 8 degrees today. There were snowdrops along the chemin down in Massat yesterday, not yet open, but pretty in their whiteness all the same. I am noticing patches of fresh new greeness amongst the vegetation on the front terrasse and the bulbs are bravely poking out their green tips. I fear they may be somewhat premature, however, as we are due for another sharp dip in temperature midweek and possibly also more snow at our level. We have taken advantage of the milder temperature today to open all the windows wide, to give the chimney a good sweeping and to get more washing dry outside. I am planning to have a good run tomorrow morning before the weather turns again. Quite where, I have not yet decided, but hopefully somewhere new for a change of scenery.

Postscript

Shortly after I made that last post, I gave myself a kick up the backside, donned my running clobber and ventured out into the wild weather, pooch in tow. A quick blast up the Peguere road would blow the cobwebs away. That would do it. Hmm. Think again, P! The driving sleet and underfoot conditions soon had me turning on my tail and returning to the car. Plan B was put into operation. Down to Massat and a fast blast along the 'Chemin des Diligences' track that borders the river, relatively sheltered from the wind and rain and a good surface to run on. Only 4.5km in total but it wasn't a jog! I needed that :-)

Wild

We are experiencing another spell of wild, stormy weather at the mo - strong winds and driving rain. Most unpleasant. Temperatures have however risen and most of the snow here at 826m has melted. The forecast is for more snow mid next week, though. Hopefully I will get out for a run tomorrow! In the meantime, I will be delving into and absorbing my Cicerone guides to the Tour of Mont Blanc and the Tour du Queyras for inspiration for future trips away. Oh, and I shall also be eating cake :-)

Snowshoes

Since our nordic ski outing at the Plateau de Beille on Monday, I have been experiencing a lot of discomfort at the top of my thighs on both legs. It isn't the normal dull DOMS ache that I know well. It feels more like a strain, as if the tendons at the top of the leg have been pulled to near breaking point. OK, I may exaggerate slightly, but lifting my legs when seated should not be painful now, should it! The only difference between this last nordic ski outing and the one that I did with Pat and Kev the other week (when I experienced no discomfort), is that this time I felt like I was continually fighting my skis on any inclines to prevent them from back-sliding which put a lot of strain on my upper legs. Why the skis behaved differently this time, I have no idea. So yesterday, despite the glorious weather, we remained at Pissou. Today, the glorious weather has continued and I had to get out and do something. Skiing was off the agenda so the alternative was a gentle snowshoe outing. We drove 15 mins up to the Col de Port and headed up to Pic d'Estibat (1663m) Fortunately, tracks had already been made by previous snowshoers (in stark contrast to our last outing up there in November) which made our work a bit easier. The clarity of the light and the contrast between the deep sky blue and the pure white snow was striking.I took it really steady and the legs felt OK, thank goodness. The views from the Pic make the 400m of ascent worthwhile. I have also uploaded a short video of the panorama to YouTube The avalanche risk is currently at level 4 here at the moment - the northerly and north-east facing slopes are heavily corniced and wind-slab is also prevalent. The NE-facing cornice that runs between Pic d'Estibat and Sommet des Griets is already showing signs of collapsing under its own weight We were only out for a couple of hours. I wanted to stay out in the warm sun for longer, soaking up more of this amazing weather but my legs need to fully recover before I can enjoy a longer outing. Plans for next week are already forming!

It's the little things

It's been an absolutely glorious day today - not a cloud in the sky. The air temperature is still only around 3 degrees but there is some warmth in the sun. I got a load of washing done and have been able to get it dry outside on the line for a change. It smells of fresh, clean air - wonderful!

Snow

We awoke to quite a dump of snow yesterday morning and the air temperature has stubbornly refused to rise above zero degrees since. The grey skies did however concede to the power of the sun this morning and the blue skies enticed us back onto the skis. Nordic skis, to be precise. Pat was unfortunately unable to make it, but Andy and I had a lovely afternoon up at the Plateau de Beille in sunny but very cold conditions. It looked as though we would be subjected to a full-on blizzard part way through the afternoon but Pat's text confirmed that the white-out had been confined to the valley and to the mountains to the east of the Plateau de Beille. We managed to stay on the very edge of the Weather and covered around 15kms in the course of what was a stunningly beautiful afternoon.