Trail running

In recent years running seems to have exploded in popularity.  More and more of my fellow villagers drag themselves out of bed at the weekend to pound around our local reservoir.  Last year my wife decided to set a target for her approaching fortieth.  She set her mind on a marathon.  I tried to train with her but a torn meniscus in my knee gave me a good excuse to sit it out.  Despite not being an enthusiastic runner, my wife stuck to her training plan and in early 2015 completed the Geneva marathon.  I was there at the start and the atmosphere of anticipation and adrenaline was infectious.  Once all the runners had left I felt empty and very lonely.  Then at the finish I felt jealous and envious of all the successful finishers.

A few months later these feelings returned as we volunteered to help out with an Ultra Trail near our home in the Belledonne.  The Echappe Belle is not for the faint hearted, 144km and over 10, 000 metres of altitude during three days of trail running.  The race has the reputation of being very demanding.  We were at the finish line and saw the first and last runners come in.  The general atmosphere of good humour and the sense of achievement on the faces of the runners motivated me even more.   I decided that I would try and train for a race.

I picked trail running because of my love of the mountains.  Our family walks a lot, often from our own doorstep.  We have the advantage; some might say inconvenience, of living in the mountains.  So going off road and uphill is pretty much obligatory.  I had heard that trail running is less violent for the articulations than road running.  We are also very luck to have a trail station in the vicinity.

The concept of Trail station was launched a few years ago in the Chartreuse by the company Raidlight, maker of trail equipment.  Each station offers running routes of varying lengths and distances for trail runners.  So great training opportunities.

So with the lazy over indulgent summer ended and the kids headed back to school I have started running.  Just small runs of 6 - 10 kms, three times a week for the moment but I will intensify things from October.  And my goal?  Well I am undecided but the Echappe belle offers a shorter 47km run in a years time so who knows.  In any case I will be charting my trials and tribulations through my blog Time to trail train.