New XC season

Now I commue by bike I have decided to focus on this winter's cross country season and forget for a bit about this Ultra "nonsense"...

Salomon South Downs Trail Marathon 12/06/10

It is not often that you come to a race fully fit and prepared this was it and I had a blast!

I did enter the SSDM months earlier but did not look at it from a competitive angle for me this was pure fun the way we do it in France, trail running.

The weather was sunny, the South Down Way beautiful and hilly on a few occasion, the path nice and easy.

I new that the trails wouldn't be to technical and ran with my Brooks Green Silence and as there was plenty of water station on the way just took an handheld bottle.

I finish in 30th position in 3h38 and as always a few minutes past the finish line I was hopping I could run it again in two weeks...

 

Ultra Trans Aubrac Relay 17/04/10

Since coming back to England last October this was the occasion to run again, in Aveyron, with my French mates: Olivier, Emmanuel, Myself and Benjamin.

The Ultra Trans Aubrac is a 105K ultra that we where running for the second time. In 2009 our team placed 3rd so this year with a new very talented addition in our team, Olivier, the expectations where high and we did deliver getting this time the second place loosing only by 43 seconds we got past 100 meters before the finish...
The solo was won by Thomas Lorblanchet, Trail Running World Champion from team Salom. I got to run my relay with him in my back slowly coming back on me and this was quiet an experience to be during my relay heading the race with the World Champion on my hills!

London Ultra 50K 13/02/10

Looking for long races to enter in 2010 the London Ultra 50K was one of the first I came across and a very local one...
"Trail Running" as used in french and american translate more in english as Fell Running, so I learned after some time goggling about the UK Trail/Fell/Ultra scene. And from ultra+running "Rory Coleman" came up. And there I was, in the thick of it.
To make a long story short Rory is "Mr Marathon des Sables in the UK", a personal running coach, race organiser and an inspirational runner for many of us.
Since coming back from an 8 months french break where unwanted free time took my running to the next level I had been trying to compensate lack of elevation by more distance...
That is the way I got prepared for this kind of race. Running wild in Epping Forest and getting soon to do as much on my feet that I was the years before on my MTB.
I was indeed relatively well trained for that race but didn't consider until I learned about it the hard way (with an IT band injury) how long distance training can stiffen your body...
And that is from Km 35 that I started to walk. After a wile walking with an other victim we motivated each other to run again down harrow on the Hill, I think... From there I didn't stop till the end and picked up a bit of speed but not without a big frown.
I finished 87th in 5h19.