1,000 feet up over six miles, with a start around the castle, port and pick your own to delay the enevitable climb. Either I'm fitter or the Tartegnin route is slightly less steep. Probably a mix of both.
I was aiming for the tree line then to follow it to Signal-de-Bougy and enjoy the fast clip down from there.
So, I did not mind as time time slipped away and I enjoyed the views and pushed the effort up on the climbs. Turns out I spent 23 mins in zone three and most of the rest of my 1h 38m out was easy. Pace was dire, ave was 10min miles, there was an 11:38 mile in there too! But that one is explained away by stopping to check out Mont-le-grand which was a castle and you can still see the outline of the ruins. Stunning views over the lake to Geneva and back the other way too.
Disappointed not to be able to go faster on the way down, just too steep and dangerous....
Showing posts with label Steep Hills. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steep Hills. Show all posts
Sunday, 18 July 2010
Friday, 14 May 2010
5m and another 1,000ft
Richard from the 1,000ft debacle in Prenovel got me on facebook last night and as he needed to get a brick session done today he agreed to cycle down from his mountain hideaway and go for an easy run with me.
Te he, I fancied my Signal de Bougy route and since I knew Richard was into hills I said nothing, but headed up.
Garmin died so no idea how long it took us, but did get there much more easily than back on Valentine's day when I last did it, check out the hill profile here.
At the top we did a couple of loops of the field, with some pursuit fartlek to make it more interesting. Then we slalomed and skipped our way back down to Rolle.
Richard came in for a breakfast and after some class unrepeatable fellowship with the kids he is now definately part of the familly!
Te he, I fancied my Signal de Bougy route and since I knew Richard was into hills I said nothing, but headed up.
Garmin died so no idea how long it took us, but did get there much more easily than back on Valentine's day when I last did it, check out the hill profile here.
At the top we did a couple of loops of the field, with some pursuit fartlek to make it more interesting. Then we slalomed and skipped our way back down to Rolle.
Richard came in for a breakfast and after some class unrepeatable fellowship with the kids he is now definately part of the familly!
Sunday, 2 May 2010
13.4 miles and 1,000 feet
At the Westlake Church weekend away in the announcements for the outdoor activities "Running with Richard, meet on the Terrace at four pm" caught my attention. Then the Richard dude gets up and says something like, "Just to let you know there going to be some marathon runners on this run so we may need to split into 'A' and 'B' groups." I'm thinking perhaps I'll be an A group runner today....
Just before 4pm I bump into Pattie, who's in running gear, looking for the running group. I nip up stairs to get changed, drop the room key with the kids and head out. By now we are 4 at 4pm - Richard is there and so is Edmund, looking like he knows what he is doing and he is clutching a map.
Edmund is up for a 5-6km loop, but Richard and I are up for more, as is Pattie. 100m in we come to a complete stop at the first sign-post as we do the whole what route thing all over again.
I spot Katja with her group of walkers heading home and that's the childcare handover done - your daughter has the room key, she's in the cinema! Nice one.
Meanwhile back at the sign post some kind of decision is finally made, my input being up first, so we can run down to get home. Deal done we're of at Kenny pace on zombie heart rate run. 9/10 min miles, but hey it is up! And more up. All the trails I spot are denied as we push on up. Here is a typical view of the route.
At 3km the wise Edmund chucks the map at Richard and announces he's heading back. What a great call that turned out to be.
Richard was confidently guiding us with the map. Richard was a star on the first climb, encouraging Pattie to make it to the top, which she does. Turns out that Pattie is also doing the Geneva half next Sunday and she's already done a few halves. Richard has done two marathons and I was treated to a step by step account of them both. I was fatigued just listening to them!
We go over the top and Richard studies the map and encourages us to go for it as it is all downhill from here back to Prenovel. We let rip, after the 10 min miles uphill the 8:30 mile pace on the way down feels very quick. The down feels strangely longer than the climb.
At 6 and a half miles we hit a village and it dawns on Richard we're off the map and have basically failed to loop back to Prenovel, but continued in a straight line over the hill and down into the valley on the other side. Some colourful language ensued that can't be repeated here. A glance at the map feature on my Garmin confirmed that the deal was exactly that. 1 hour out and a mountain to climb to get back. Opps. To give you an idea of what that involves, check the hill profile. We're in the bottom of the middle valley.
We now have 3 miles to climb the 1,000 feet we'd just tanked it down. Pattie was a star. She dug deep and worked the arms and tried to float up the hill.
Somewhere on the hill Pattie and Richard decide to call me Skippy the Kangaroo as I'm feeling light on my feet and bouncing up the hill. I think that was a complement!
I was trying hard to keep them running (I did not fancy walking in the woods in the dark much) and zipping between Pattie and Richard trying my best to encourage them with running stories and positive metal images.
In response to the early days Kenny chatting on the hill story, Pattie smiles at me as says, “I’ll be Kenny!”.
I told Richard there was an angel gently lifting him up the hill. He looked me in the eye and replied, “yes Niall but can you tell her to stop sticking that sword she carrying into my left calf!”
By now they've probably worked out that my kms are actually miles and I'm using the Garmin to make sure we get home on the exact same route we took out.
Finally, I get Pattie back to the centre and it is around a mile back to the last junction so I need to run hard to get back and make sure Richard takes the correct turn and no matter what I say or do he simply refuses to run anymore. He is adamant he's left his last bit of strength on the hill, miles ago.
Total distance was 13.4 and time taken was 2hours 20mins. The statistic that I loved was the total climb, 1,014 feet! On a typical Harpenden run I was lucky to get above 300, so that was some pretty serious hill running we did.
But lots of fun, lots of great stories and what a great way to get to know someone! Richard is a top bloke, even in agony and after the intro about the standard for the run, he kept smiling all the way back to the centre. That's something he can be seriously proud of!
Guess who's organising the running outing at next year's weekend away? I’m thinking I might volunteer for that job.
Just before 4pm I bump into Pattie, who's in running gear, looking for the running group. I nip up stairs to get changed, drop the room key with the kids and head out. By now we are 4 at 4pm - Richard is there and so is Edmund, looking like he knows what he is doing and he is clutching a map.
Edmund is up for a 5-6km loop, but Richard and I are up for more, as is Pattie. 100m in we come to a complete stop at the first sign-post as we do the whole what route thing all over again.
I spot Katja with her group of walkers heading home and that's the childcare handover done - your daughter has the room key, she's in the cinema! Nice one.
Meanwhile back at the sign post some kind of decision is finally made, my input being up first, so we can run down to get home. Deal done we're of at Kenny pace on zombie heart rate run. 9/10 min miles, but hey it is up! And more up. All the trails I spot are denied as we push on up. Here is a typical view of the route.
At 3km the wise Edmund chucks the map at Richard and announces he's heading back. What a great call that turned out to be.
Richard was confidently guiding us with the map. Richard was a star on the first climb, encouraging Pattie to make it to the top, which she does. Turns out that Pattie is also doing the Geneva half next Sunday and she's already done a few halves. Richard has done two marathons and I was treated to a step by step account of them both. I was fatigued just listening to them!
We go over the top and Richard studies the map and encourages us to go for it as it is all downhill from here back to Prenovel. We let rip, after the 10 min miles uphill the 8:30 mile pace on the way down feels very quick. The down feels strangely longer than the climb.
At 6 and a half miles we hit a village and it dawns on Richard we're off the map and have basically failed to loop back to Prenovel, but continued in a straight line over the hill and down into the valley on the other side. Some colourful language ensued that can't be repeated here. A glance at the map feature on my Garmin confirmed that the deal was exactly that. 1 hour out and a mountain to climb to get back. Opps. To give you an idea of what that involves, check the hill profile. We're in the bottom of the middle valley.
We now have 3 miles to climb the 1,000 feet we'd just tanked it down. Pattie was a star. She dug deep and worked the arms and tried to float up the hill.
Somewhere on the hill Pattie and Richard decide to call me Skippy the Kangaroo as I'm feeling light on my feet and bouncing up the hill. I think that was a complement!
I was trying hard to keep them running (I did not fancy walking in the woods in the dark much) and zipping between Pattie and Richard trying my best to encourage them with running stories and positive metal images.
In response to the early days Kenny chatting on the hill story, Pattie smiles at me as says, “I’ll be Kenny!”.
I told Richard there was an angel gently lifting him up the hill. He looked me in the eye and replied, “yes Niall but can you tell her to stop sticking that sword she carrying into my left calf!”
By now they've probably worked out that my kms are actually miles and I'm using the Garmin to make sure we get home on the exact same route we took out.
Finally, I get Pattie back to the centre and it is around a mile back to the last junction so I need to run hard to get back and make sure Richard takes the correct turn and no matter what I say or do he simply refuses to run anymore. He is adamant he's left his last bit of strength on the hill, miles ago.
Total distance was 13.4 and time taken was 2hours 20mins. The statistic that I loved was the total climb, 1,014 feet! On a typical Harpenden run I was lucky to get above 300, so that was some pretty serious hill running we did.
But lots of fun, lots of great stories and what a great way to get to know someone! Richard is a top bloke, even in agony and after the intro about the standard for the run, he kept smiling all the way back to the centre. That's something he can be seriously proud of!
Guess who's organising the running outing at next year's weekend away? I’m thinking I might volunteer for that job.
Sunday, 14 February 2010
The only way is up! Signal de Bougy
I know that somewhere above the tree line, somewhere above the snow line, lies a very pleasant place called Signal de Bougy, where children play in water parks and lots of interesting animals wander around their enclosures and even more useful there is a network of off road paths all around the site. For those who have never been click here.
The only thing separating me (in Rolle) from this promised running wonderland was the rather steep looking hill. Compared to the mountains all around, especially the ones on the other side of the lake, this is definitely a hill. But what a hill.
I set of following the yellow diamonds and soon enough one of the yellow signs mentions Signal de Bougy, 1h. These signs are given in the time it would take a reasonably fit adult to walk briskly to the destination. So I figure I can get there and back in one hour. After half a mile the route swings left directly up hill and it hurts. I ease off the gas and to keep moving forwards without the heart exploding I need to go at sub Kenny pace.
The ice at the side of the waterfalls is stunning. I run through vineyards and past detached mansions with views over the lake. By now I've decided 30min and I turn back. Just as I get to Bougy-Villars there is snow everywhere and it starts snowing. I'm at 25mins and suddenly there is a sign on a tree with a map of Signal de Bougy.
On the steepest section I rack up a 14 minute mile. I turn the corner and the road is completely covered in 5cm of snow on top of ice and the 100m to the top looks like it is vertical. Some deer check me out from a snow covered field and decide I'm nothing to worry about. I have to zig zag as it is too steep to go straight and just before the top I recognise a building - I sneak through a gap in the trees and hey presto I'm on the stage of the open air theatre! Judging by the tracks in the snow the only performance here for a while has been by animals with paws and four legs. I add my tracks to the mix and loop back to the top the road I'd been trying to climb. The top is completely blocked off by a 6ft snow wall so I clamber over that and make my way down, instantly putting to good use the frolicking technique so loved by my good buddy Paul.
I enjoy this thought and the speed until the first hairpin when I nearly don’t make it around the bend! I slow down again and decide to wait until I am below the snow line before picking it up again. I do, but it is tough not go too fast when the downhill is so steep, I can feel my back and knee taking a thumping as it is very hard to land mid sole on such an incline, I revert to more frolicking and zig-zaging.
Take the high road back long the railway and am amused to find the total time was 48:47 with 30 of those taken to get me to the top and only 18 required to get back to the bottom.
This one is worth looking at in the fly by video, pause it at the top, zoom out, spin around to look at the lake and admire the view.
The only thing separating me (in Rolle) from this promised running wonderland was the rather steep looking hill. Compared to the mountains all around, especially the ones on the other side of the lake, this is definitely a hill. But what a hill.
I set of following the yellow diamonds and soon enough one of the yellow signs mentions Signal de Bougy, 1h. These signs are given in the time it would take a reasonably fit adult to walk briskly to the destination. So I figure I can get there and back in one hour. After half a mile the route swings left directly up hill and it hurts. I ease off the gas and to keep moving forwards without the heart exploding I need to go at sub Kenny pace.
The ice at the side of the waterfalls is stunning. I run through vineyards and past detached mansions with views over the lake. By now I've decided 30min and I turn back. Just as I get to Bougy-Villars there is snow everywhere and it starts snowing. I'm at 25mins and suddenly there is a sign on a tree with a map of Signal de Bougy.
On the steepest section I rack up a 14 minute mile. I turn the corner and the road is completely covered in 5cm of snow on top of ice and the 100m to the top looks like it is vertical. Some deer check me out from a snow covered field and decide I'm nothing to worry about. I have to zig zag as it is too steep to go straight and just before the top I recognise a building - I sneak through a gap in the trees and hey presto I'm on the stage of the open air theatre! Judging by the tracks in the snow the only performance here for a while has been by animals with paws and four legs. I add my tracks to the mix and loop back to the top the road I'd been trying to climb. The top is completely blocked off by a 6ft snow wall so I clamber over that and make my way down, instantly putting to good use the frolicking technique so loved by my good buddy Paul.
I enjoy this thought and the speed until the first hairpin when I nearly don’t make it around the bend! I slow down again and decide to wait until I am below the snow line before picking it up again. I do, but it is tough not go too fast when the downhill is so steep, I can feel my back and knee taking a thumping as it is very hard to land mid sole on such an incline, I revert to more frolicking and zig-zaging.
Take the high road back long the railway and am amused to find the total time was 48:47 with 30 of those taken to get me to the top and only 18 required to get back to the bottom.
This one is worth looking at in the fly by video, pause it at the top, zoom out, spin around to look at the lake and admire the view.
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