Altitude Training in Chamonix

Ok so I am officially rubbish at this whole updating blog regularly thing! It's now a little over 4 weeks until the big race and lots has happened since the Jurassic Coast run I did back in March. I am going to do a couple of entries to give you the highlights and low points of the last few months. First up was a trip out to Chamonix at the end of May to go and scope out part of the course and get some good mountain and altitude training under my belt. Given that I had never trained at altitude before I was pretty keen to have a training partner for this weekend just in case I reacted badly, so I was stoked when the legendary Steph Case said she'd be keen for a long weekend of running. As she'd just got back from RTP Australia, where she'd finished 2nd woman, I was going to be in good company and was looking forward to getting the benefit of her experience. Unfortunately, Steph was due to have an op on her foot and a few days before flying the op was brought forward and she was unable to make it out. As it turned out this was just as well as the damage to Steph's foot was serious and a weekend of running up and down some mountains would almost certainly have made it worse so it was definitely for the best. However, it meant heading out to Chamonix alone which was less exciting!

Now most of my updates have been about runs but this next bit will all be about the total disaster which was getting to Chamonix at the end of May. Having arrived in Geneva airport I went straight to the information desk to ask about buses to Chamonix and was informed there were none. So I asked about trains and was told there was a train and was informed that if I waitied 2 hours there would be a train which would take 3 hours and 2 changes to do a journey which takes just over an hour in the car. If I'd opted for that I would have arrived at midnight and been unable to get into my flat. So I asked about the more expensive alpine transfer minibuses and was told that they were not running......at all! My only option was to get a cab! This cost more than my flight to Chamonix. Needless to say my mood was pretty dark as I drove up into the mountains and it did not get any better as the clouds descended and the rain started to fall. I was wondering why I had elected to spend my bank holiday running around the mountains rather than be in London enjoying the sunshine, bbq's and beers that all my friends were having!

Having made it into Chamonix and parted with a ridiculously large amount of cash I picked up the keys to my apartment and having dumped my stuff went out to get supplies. First impressions were good, despite the rain this looked like a fun town and I thought I was bound to find a few people to share a few beers with. With my spirts lifted I wolfed down some food and headed out into town in search of my new soon to be drinking buddies. Unfortunately, it now became clear why there were no buses, trains or mini buses operating; 75% of the bars and restaurants were closed! I had apparently arrived in a ghost town! I initially thought perhaps they were closed because traditionally our continental friends like to eat and drink later than we do in the UK. But no the real reason was that I had arrived in the 2 week period between the end of the ski season and the start of the summer season where everything shuts down! Having nursed a couple of drinks by myself in a hotel bar I wandered back to my flat through the rain repeating the mantra "you're here to train, that's all that matters"! Then I passed a bar with a big sign outside advertising a Beach Party the following night and once more my spirits lifted and I headed off to bed knowing that after a full day out on the mountain I could reward myself with some down time at the Chamonix Beach Party - all was not lost!

My first day training consisted of hiking as fast as I could over the first 30k or so of the course before looping back to Chamonix, I covered a good 45k and a few thousand metres of elevation. The sun was out and the mountains looked stunning. To make things better I bumped into a German chap who was training for UTMB and had last year's official route maps so we covered the ground together and made good time to St Gervais where we enjoyed a nice lunch is the town square. Having parted company out towards Les Contamines I was feeling pretty happy about things. The legs were feeling good, altitude wasn't causing any issues and I was getting a feel for the terrain and the Beach Party was only a few hours away! That put a spring in my step and after 7 hours out on the mountain I found myself tearing down the 900 metre descent from Col du Voza into Les Houches singing along to some cheesey tunes!

Having stretched and showered I headed out into town grabbed a pizza and a couple of beers from one of the few open restaurants (needed to line the stomach for the long night's boozing that lay ahead!). I then headed for the Beach Party..... I walked into the trendy looking bar and was greeted by the sound of an Englishman singing and playing guitar to an audience of about 12. I figured this must be the warm up act and took a seat at the bar in front of the 2 rather attractive French barmaids and got ready for things to pick up.....they didn't pick up.....at all. A few more people came in but as the bar capacity was probably around 150, 25 people did not really make for a great atmosphere. All the while the 2 bar girls kept half lifting their tee shirts which was a welcome distraction to the Englishman's cover version of the Chili Peppers Under the Bridge, though I was unsure whether I missing something cultural difference between English and French girls. All was shortly revealed, literally, when the bar manager appeared wearing a hideous pair of board shorts and promptly told the girls to get their tops off. Brilliant you might think, and in other circumstances I would have applauded this move. However, with 3 random guys sitting at the bar and a dozen or so other punters dotted around the place this only heightened the depressing nature of Chamonix nightlife at the end of May! I proceeded to down my beer and marched back out into the rain once again repeating my mantra!

Luckily the next 2 days training were great and I covered a lot of ground and a lot of elevation and I am sure I would have covered a lot less had the night life been better! As it was I returned to England with the best part of 100 kilometres and almost 7000 metres of elevation under my belt and I'd managed to test my kit in rain and sun. So it was not a total disaster!