I recently picked a Garmin Virb Elite action camera and took it for a trail run on my local mountain with Amy. The camera is good fun and the form factor makes it easy to carry around. It also has a ‘burst mode’ photo feature which allows you to take pictures even while you’re taking video, which was much easier…
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Author: jamie
Race Report: La Bombarde 2015 – 10km
I only run one flat, competitive 10km race per year, and it’s this one – La Bombarde. Organised by Club Athlétique Veynois, where they have a whole weekend of racing starting on Saturday with a straight up vertical race of Montée d’Oule, and culminating with the 10km on Sunday. This year was the 9th edition and saw 193 runners compete in an event which was…
Race Report: Trail des Contreforts de Piolit, Haute-Alpes, France
After my first race a couple of weeks ago in snow and fog, I was looking forward to a drier and brighter run in the southern Alps, and last Sunday’s Trail des Contreforts de Piolit didn’t disappoint. The race was 17km of pretty much straight up then straight down racing along the foothills (the contreforts) of Le Piolit in the Haute-Alpes of southern…
Race Report: Trail du Dégel – Chichilianne, Isère, France
This year, Les skieurs du Mont-Aiguille have organised the first ever Trail du Dégel, and since it was based in Chichilianne, which is pretty local by my standards, I signed up. Trail du Dégel – the run of the melting snow, thaw trail – however you want to translate it I was looking forward to my first race of 2015. For the past…
Qumox Fetch Dog Harness with GoPro Mount
It seems that nobody can make a cup of tea these days without filming it on a GoPro so the whole internet can re-live in first-person POV perspective. Recently though, both GoPro and a few other manufacturers have started to release harnesses so that the cameras can capture a dog’s perspective when mounted onto man’s best friend. I do so…
Early Morning Madrid
I’m just about to fly out of Madrid Barajas airport after spending slightly less than 20 hours in Spain. Arriving late last night, and staying in a hotel on the edge of town close to the office where I’ve been booked with meetings today, the only way I was going to get to see the sights of Spain’s capital was…
YakTrax Run – Winter Traction Device
It’s deep winter in the northern hemisphere again and for many runners that means snow and ice. There are many options, ranging from taking an off-season and not running at all, sticking to indoor treadmills, or just braving the elements and hoping for the best. A number of manufacturers have started to develop traction devices for this last group and this…
Frankfurt Airport Stopover
On my way back from Mexico City, my stopover in Frankfurt was going to be around 7 hours – from 2pm until my flight to Lyon around 9. Since I would have cleared customs and be in the Schengen zone for my next flight, and would have access to the Lufthansa business lounge (and showers) I toyed with the idea of quitting…
High Altitude – Mexico City
I’ve spent the last 3 years living at 1200m altitude in the French Alps, and anecdotally I’ve always felt that training at this level has always helped me when I’ve spent time running at lower elevations. On my regular trips to various European cities, running at near to sea level, on paved roads with little change in gradient has always…
Race Report: TCS Amsterdam Marathon 2014
Chasing the elusive 3hr marathon Although I live in the mountains and spend most of my time running up and down trails, I surprised myself in March 2013 by running the Paris Marathon in 3:08. Being a spring marathon, my training was heavily interrupted by the Alpine snows, and I spent as much time on skis as I did getting…