This is a continuation of yesterday’s post.
Well, the body is back to normal now which was confirmed with a 31 km sortie last weekend. “Normal” is relative because I’ve always got that chronic big toe pain that only goes away whenever another part of my body is giving me more intense pain.
The month of March will be mostly dedicated to training with only one race, the Bailly-Noisy half marathon, which is run on a paved trail through Marly forest, my home turf which I know like the back of my hand.
In April and May, I’ve got two 50 km trail races that count toward the Natura Trail Challenge. Basically you have to place high in at least four of the six races to earn points. The Hivernal trail is in the Challenge also, but I’m not sure if I earned any points.
In June the main event is the Marathon de Mont-Blanc. Thomas and I did this in 2014 and it took me twice as long as a normal marathon. Yes it is very difficult. I bought some high-speed trekking poles to help get up those never-ending climbs and to keep me from falling head over heels on the treacherous descents.
July is empty for the moment and we will be doing some travelling. I will probably need July just to recover.
In August it’s back to Chamonix for the OCC. The OCC (Orsières – Champex – Chamonix) details are here http://ultratrailmb.com/en/page/217/occ.html. With 55 km in the Alps and 3,300 meters of positive elevation gain (about the same as the Laurel Highlands Ultra) it should be a real leg burner. I’m hoping I can enjoy the amazing scenary.
In September, I want to run the Imperial Trail again in the Fontainebleau forest. It’s 62 km of short up and down hills with lots of boulders to negotiate. Doing that in eight hours will be a success for me.
October has another leg of the Natura Challenge and in November the last leg with the Flambeaux night trail race. I did this one about 6 or 7 years ago and although it is relatively short at 17 km, is not easy given the poor visibility, and usually poor, sloppy trail conditions.
There you have it. It will be an adventure. I will try to do race reports to document it all.