Training Log Archive: Indiana Jones

Slow jog around the forest with Ginie, enjoyable after a long journey back to Scotland. Everything fairly stiff and tired but feeling better after the jog, couldn't have gone any quicker.

Warm up in St Niklaus. Sun coming out but not too hot.

Zermatt marathon. Great course, lots of fast running on good trails with only one steep climb at the end. Also not much flat running compared to Jungfrau marathon so that was better. Main competition was Patrick Wieser and Isaac Kosgei, I wanted to run fairly hard from the start to avoid a sprint in Zermatt for the halfway bonus and to make it a tough second half. We ran together for 7-8km then Patrick let us go on a steady climb. Isaac wouldn’t let me get away and seemed to be pushing me on all the hills so I kept the effort up and also put in a few faster sections on the flat bits. My stomach wasn’t great from 10km onwards but didn’t have any problem getting gels and drinks in so wasn’t worried. At 17km I finally opened a small gap on Isaac which soon turned in to 2 minutes by Zermatt at 21km. Don’t think Isaac made it to the finish but Sarah T passed him on the final climb looking in a bad way.

After that it was a solo effort, tried to work reasonably hard on the long climb from town to 30km. Enjoyed the final 10km a lot except missing a turn at 33-34km (the marshall watched me go the wrong way and said nothing) then had to retrace my steps and lost a bit of time. Had no idea how far ahead I was so could have eased off a bit more. Once on the final climb I knew it was more or less in the bag and turned out I had a 15’ lead from Patrick. It was steep but managed to run it all and enjoy the views. The only surprise was doing a little loop just before the finish which felt like a big detour! Was glad to make it to the end in one piece. Had a few tight spots from 30km onwards but they loosened off on the flat bits. Overall a great day and one of the best courses to run.

C • Well done. 2

Run along the river from Zermatt and looking at a few bits of the course. Added in some steadier sections to wake up a bit. Feeling fit but still a few tight areas. Probably going to jog a few minutes tonight to keep loosened off and maybe plant a gel or two to pick up on route.

Easy run in Zermatt and a few strides. Keeping the leg stiffness at bay.

Easy run to the lake and around the forest trails. Slightly tired from yesterday but waking up quickly and nothing was particularly tight. Zermatt marathon in two days, hope the legs are fully recovered and work okay!

Easy run up and down the river from Zermatt. Stretching the legs a bit. Feeling quite stiff to start off but getting better.

Warm up with Vajin and Ginie then some strides and cool down on my own after. Legs a bit more bouncy than normal.

3 x 5’ around the lake loop at 1450m. Each time I did about a lap and a half then turned around and did the recovery back to the start. Vajin was probably 100m behind after each rep so could run slower than me on the recovery which worked well. Felt fairly good and happy with how it felt. Had a few small undulations and tight corners to break the rhythm but was ideal.

Short climb from the town then a 12km loop with Ginie on the trails. Everything feeling fairly good today.

Easy run around the lake plus some strides. Legs feeling stiff to begin with then good on the strides. Found a flatter way to the lake after a month of going on the hilly trail every time.

Easy run in the forest from Crans Montana. Legs feeling good after yesterday, was tired for 1km then everything fine. Another hot day, even at this altitude.

Easy run to the lake and back. Legs not too bad.