Re-discovering the hill legs

I was quite apprehensive about jumping back on the roadie after the last outing and even more apprehensive about doing a hill. But having done very little over the past few days (we had a trot around the Peguère forest track circuit on Monday, but that has been it) and awaking to dry weather, I was keen to stretch the legs again. So Andy and I hopped on the bikes this morning and headed down to Massat, up to the Etang de Lhers and back. The only problem with this is that, although the ride down to Massat is a breeze (well, it is downhill afterall), you then have to face the 5km uphill on the way back home when the legs are tired. Anyway, total of 36.4kms, 977m of ascent, 2 hrs and a little bit (not counting the obligatory coffee stop in Massat on the way back).The good news is that the legs felt good and even the admittedly caffeine-fuelled climb back up the hill from Massat felt like a breeze. Good stuff.

Un après-midi convivial et sociable

Pat and Kev are members of the cycle club over their way. Once a year, the club has a 'journée des femmes'. This is a day on which club members can invite along their wives or invite other female acquaintances for a short road bike or mountain bike outing or a short walk before enjoying a barbecue and, in the afternoon, a game of boules/petanques. Pat very kindly invited me along, although I passed on the physical exercise side of the day following yesterday's debacle. The weather has been beautiful again today so I headed over to the pretty little village of Lesparrou near Lavelanet for midday and met P & K and was introduced to Claude and Frédérique who moved down to the Ariege from the flatlands of the Moselle dept of NE France in June. The club is full of characters such as Michel who speaks the local dialect and is barely comprehensible to francophone people let alone incomers such as P, K and myself and who was the source of much hilarity and teasing at our end of the table!The 'repas' was put on at a fee of €6.00 per head which turned out to be exceptional value for money with an aperitif and nibbles, pâté and bread, some yummy slices of cold pizza, barbecued fresh sausage and more bread, camembert, homemade chocolate torte and also the local croustade which is a kind of apple pie - all washed down with red or rosé wine or soft drinks for those driving plus of course coffee to finish it all off, oh, and I mustn't forget the 36 yr old home made eau de vie (55 deg proof apparently!) which was offered as a 'digestif' and which I had to politely decline as I was driving. Kev, on the other hand, was not driving and thoroughly enjoyed himself as usual!The repas was followed by the matter of a mini boules tournement...which was taken very seriously by allAll in all, a wonderfully sociable francophone afternoon was had by all

It doesn't get MUCH better

Perfect Spring weather (wall to wall blue, temperatures in the low 20s), a 62km outing on the roadie on gently rolling, quiet country lanes interrupted only by a brief lunch stop in the historic town of Mirepoix and lets not forget the fantastic views.... ..Ah yes, it felt almost like we were on holiday. The outing was tainted only by a stubborn, dull, heavy, tired ache in my left leg which ran from my bum all the way down to my knees. After just 7kms, I had to stop to try and stretch out the fatigue and coax my muscles back to some kind of elasticity which I knew I would need if I was going to get round the 70km circuit that we had planned. Fortunately, I released it enough to continue, but, after the lunch stop, the heavy, aching fatigue returned and my speed slowed to a relative crawl. We had no choice but to shorten the circuit, which, fortunately, was very possible on the little side roads. We had a pit stop in Saint Amadou which is a lovely little village with a beautiful church and picturesque fountain
and made it back to the car in one piece. Back home, I spent an hour stretching, lying on my mat outside on the new terrasse with the sun on my face (ah, bliss) and wishing away the fatigue that is plaguing my lower body. I guess I should learn some patience, as I did put my poor little pins through the mill last weekend and muscles simply don't recover as quickly at my age ...not that I am that old, but we have to be realistic here! So some gentle exercise and lots more gentle stretching is on the cards for the coming week, I reckon. In the meantime, the cyclist's tan is coming along nicely! Hurrah!

Miscellaneous meanders

Yes, I've been a tad quiet this week - not much to report. My poor little legs' recovery from the race on Sunday has gone well, thanks to some regular stretching and rest. Today, I met up with Anne Arran, who, 18 months ago, moved down to the Ariege from Sheffield with husband John - they have been busily renovating a former farmstead near Sinsat to create some superb self-catering units which they are now renting out. Anyway, we went for a lovely 7km return run alongside the river which was just what I needed to get the legs moving again. Other than that, not a great deal to report on the exercise front, although a couple of outings on the roadie are planned for the weekend.

The weather has been wet and soggy and definitely cooler for the past 48 hours but I do not despair as sun and more spring-like stuff is forecast for the weekend - oh yes! Time to plant out the beetroot modules, the celery the courgettes and the squashes with a bit of luck.

The results are in....

....yes, the results for the 2010 Trail des Citadelles are in! In the 20km race, I came in 7th woman out of 54 in my age category (V1F), 22nd out of 119 female entrants and 202nd out of 433 starters. All I can say is .....

Trail des Citadelles 2010 report

Phew, where to start! The Citadelles is THE big trail race in this area - well, there are actually three trail races, one of 73kms with 3300m of ascent (you have to be seriously bonkers or just stupidly fit to do that one), one of 40kms with 2000m of ascent (Slight bonkersness is definitely an advantage) and then the 20km with 1000m of ascent which is for the saner trail runner such as my goodself . The 20km circuit can also be entered by walkers.

Anyway, the weather has been wonderfully dry for the past week, but, guess what, it absolutely tipped it down during the night which ensured that the Citadelles would retain its reputation as a tough race thanks to the copious quantities of mud that would be encountered today. Oh whoopee (yes, that is a slight tone of sarcasm that you have detected there). I spent the night at Pat and Kevs (they only live 10 mins from Lavalenet from where the races start) and have to say I had an appalling night's sleep (I blame it on pre-race nerves) so was knackered when the alarm went off at 06.30 this morning. Still, the adrenalin started to kick in when we got to the race centre. Pat and Kev were taking a walking group of clients around the 20km circuit and set off 1hr 20min before me. The weather was changeable with occasional showers so I opted to leave the full waterproof cover in the car. Very quickly after the race start, the tone was set for the conditions for the rest of the race.4kms into the race, the real ascent commenced up through the woodland. The mud was deeper and thicker, but my shoes seemed to be giving me reasonable grip and I was pleased to be able to pass quite a number of people who were struggling. Then came some nice descent - the word 'nice' should be taken in context!And then, you turn a corner and ........ we're going up there??!!! The Chateau de Montsegur is a landmark in more ways than one. The final steep ascent of 238m over 1.5kms was stiff and made treachorous by the fact that the Chateau (well, its a ruin really, now, isn't it) remained open to the public this morning despite the fact that it was both an ascent and descent route for all of the race runners and the walkers, so you can imagine that the narrow path up to the top became something of a bottleneck!!! Oh yes, and we were treated to a blast of snow on the way up! But I was at the top 1 hr 30 mins and 9.30kms into the race and promptly legged it back down the steep path, looking forward to the second half of the race which would be mainly downhill or on the level. I particularly enjoyed the route down through the woodland was just hilarious and a real opportunity to 'let it go' through the copious quantities of mud that prevaled. Naturally a took a bit of a fall but didn't everybody! Great fun! I was feeling good and fuelling well. The final 6kms were back along the valley, pretty much on the level, but my right ITB and deep buttock muscle started complaining about the punishment I was giving them. My left leg on the other hand, held its counsel and just got on with it, thank goodness. But despite the deep discomfort and pain, I pushed through to the finish at a reasonable pace (still averaging 10 kph) and crossed the line after 2 hrs 45 mins on my feet. For me, that was a good result. I have no idea where I came in the overall results as they have not yet been published, but I don't think I disgraced myself - I just hope I can walk tomorrow! The profile of the course is impressivePat and Kev's group all made it around the course without injury which was fantastic as none of them had ever done anything like that before. Chapeau, as the French say.

The atmosphere at the post race 'repas' was fantastic, amongst like minded folk who had all 'enjoyed' the days conditions. Unfortunately for the 40 and 70km racers, the weather deteriorated at around 1pm and they spent much of the latter half of their race in torrential rain and freezing conditions. I repeat, only the truely mad (OK, the hardy/brave/whatever - you have my respect, I am envious of your resilience and determination, honestly!) need apply.

So back home now, very tired and in some discomfort but hopefully some liquid muscle relaxant will ease my pain.

Progress and analysis

I had a quick 'trot' up the zig-zags from the Col de Port this afternoon to remind my legs what it feels like to climb a stiff ascent. The zig-zags are always a tester - 290m of ascent over just 1.27km. I usually have to stop at least twice on the way up, gasping for breath like a fish out of water, and a good minute is generally demanded by the legs and lungs when I reach the top before they are prepared to carry me any further. But today was different. I romped up there without so much as a backwards glance. 20 minutes it took me. 4 minutes faster than my previous best. I even ran the last little 20 metre section which, well, just isn't Normal after that climb even though that final little section is admittedly pretty much on the level. This is looking back down to the tiny dot that is the car in the car parkI continued on, at a leisurely pace up to the Pech de Therme with its usual stunning views towards Pic de la Journalade and Trois Seigneurs
Here comes the boring self-analysis bit that I feel compelled to write, so feel free to switch off now that you have seen the nice piccies!

I have seen quite a jump in my fitness levels over the past month. I went back to the UK in mid February feeling a couple of kgs overweight and generally unfit and out of shape. I knew I had the Citadelles to aim for on the 4 April and knew I had to do something that would make me feel even OK about the prospect, instead of dreading the pain that I would inevitably feel in the race if I didn't get my sorry ass into gear. So I did some serious work in the Lake District and the Peak District, upping my running game, getting myself up some hills and putting in some good kilometers, whilst all the time listening to my body. It all felt good, but over the last couple of days in the Peak District, I did feel tired and I knew I had put my body through enough. So then, for nearly two weeks, I didn't run, I couldn't run, my running muscles needed time out, I felt weary, so weary and to be honest, that did worry me! But I did plenty of stretching and self-massage on my oh so tight calf muscles and instead of running, I got back on the roadie to exercise alternative muscles, crosstraining, which was wonderful. Then, when I felt ready, I ran up the track to the Cabane des Roses. My legs responded positively and so did my lungs. Since then, I have been on fire - running has been easier and more comfortable, I have run faster and harder with seemingly less effort. This is a major step up in my fitness and I hope, I just hope I can maintain it and build on it. I am actually excited about the race on Sunday, confident that I won't die on the ascents and am aiming to get a time of around 2 hrs 50 mins on the 20km/1000m ascent circuit. I hope my confidence and optimism doesn't turn out to be misplaced!