Monday, September 18, 2017

Trail Running

Local signposts give the time for the standard hike on the Crete des Serres as 7 hours. Like most signpost times (or guidebook times), it's a bit generous, normally I do in just over 5 hours. But today I did it in 3 hours 20 minutes using a new weapon - trail running.   

The summers in St Andre seem to be have been getting warmer and warmer. In any event I find it less pleasant to be out in the afternoon in high summer. So for most of the summer I've tried to get out in the morning and do some 'high-intensity' exercise and stay indoors in the afternoon. As part of this plan, I've adapted my standard short hikes into trail runs - I'd run part of the way and walk when it was steep going up or down (gotta look after your knees). It was very interesting and I began to wonder if I could apply it to longer hikes. 

I needed to wait for cooler weather and today I got my chance to try it out on the Crete des Serres and it worked like a dream. For most of the long climb (around 800 m) I walked but apart from that it was (slow) running. It's different from hiking - you've got to concentrate on where you're putting your feet. It feels a bit more like mountain biking. I felt great at the end and was surprised I'd gone so quickly. Trail running stresses your joints too much for me to want to do lots of it; but I've enjoyed it this summer and I'm sure I'll do more.