I’m in London for the week and went out this morning for a run around Hampstead Heath and then down into our Soho office. The weather has been terrible lately with no discernible summer in the UK. However I was treated to a great view of the city from the top of Parliament Hill, before heading back down into town.…
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Category: Training
Eagle’s Peak Loop
My house is in a valley, and directly opposite, above the Via Ferrata route and rock climbing crag, is a steep mountain face, topped out by a little nubbin known as Pic de l’Aigle, or Peak of the Eagle. I can understand why it got this name, we regularly see golden eagles circling in the area, swooping down for hares…
Mad Dogs and Englishman
Well, it wasn’t quite the midday sun but it was definitely hot enough at 11am to make me think twice. Summer is definitely well underway in French Alps, the flies are out and the farmers are making hay while the sun shines. I was out with our Border Collie, which are a notoriously heat intolerant breed so he struggled a…
Grand Ferrand Traverse
Location: France, Rhone-Alpes, La Jarjatte Summary: Mountain trail, moderate effort At the end of our valley is the largest mountain in the area – the Grand Ferrand. At 2,758m its not the biggest in the Alps, but at over a vertical mile above our valley floor, it presents quite a challenge to the aspring trail runner, and has quite an…
Still Too Much Snow
I’ve only been running in the French Alps for a couple of months, and so far I’ve not ventured up high as the weather has been poor and there’s too much snow. However we’ve had a few weeks of fine, warm and sunny weather, and all of the snow has gone from valley level. Looking out of my office window,…
First Ride of the Year
Since moving to France, both my road bike and mountain bike have been sat still in packing boxes in our barn. This week was beautiful sunshine, warm days and dry roads, but work commitments made it impossible to get out. Bad weather was on its way (heavy snow) Sunday, so I took my chance and headed out to the local…
Spring Run
Since moving to France, and despite now living in a trail running Mecca, I’ve completely neglected to get out recently. So after working three 18 hour days in a row, and the weather being beautiful, warm and sunny all week I forced myself to get out for a lunchtime run. It had been a few weeks since I last ran…