Training Log Archive: Anwen

Now in Grindelwald! Decided on a little explore and ended up going to see the Eiger, Monch and the Jungfrau! Ran up to Kleine Sheidegg. Realised from there that I could get onto the Eiger trail so ran a bit higher then back down along the foot of the North face of the Eiger :D it was pretty spectacular :)

C • Grindelwald 2

Morning run up one of the valleys then to Furi and back through the woods :) really nice :) legs tired but no soreness!

More walking this afternoon too!

Not feeling too bad! Abs felt the worst!? Went for cable car adventures with Sophie and a lovely walk to some lakes :)

Matterhorn Ultraks!

So first ultra and a lot of hills! I didn't GPS the race which was a bit strange but also quite nice!

Nice start up through the woods on a big track, feeling quite good and plodding along quite nicely :) very misty so no views but pretty atmospheric regardless! Dropped down before the main climb up to Gornegrat (3135m). The top was pretty cool! We ended up above this incredible cloud inversion which was beautiful! You could see huge mountains all around, it was bright sunshine, and the Matterhorn was super impressive!

Started feeling a bit woozy though at the top, I've never really been affected by altitude but it's all I can really think that caused it. Just made sure to slow down a bit and keep eating and drinking - gave me more of an excuse to admire the fantastic views!

It was then a descent almost back into Zermatt - we met up with the shorter courses which was a little demoralising as they were so much speedier that I was (having done about 1hr 45 less and not been up Gornegrat!). After a slightly scary run across a suspension above a pretty big gorge it was the start of the climb to Schwarzsee.

I really struggled towards the top here, started getting a little cold (mist was right down) and my legs were pretty hammered. Struggled up to the top trying not to lose too many places then quite enjoyed the run down the other side - easy tracks and not too steep!

I was lucky on the penultimate climb that I got into a small group going at a steady speed and just tucked in. At times I felt I could have worked a bit harder but thinking of the bigger picture I wanted to get to the top in good shape. I sneaked to the front of the group at the top and felt good running along the flats and downs :) this was a nice narrow path along the hillside and I even started catching a few guys in front!

Arrived at the final checkpoint, took my time filling up my bottles, had some food then set off up the last climb. It's not a big one but after 6hrs of running it feels huge! Made it up well mixing up running/walking then once we started heading down I finally started to believe I was going to actually finish it!! It felt a long way down, steep zigzags, my toes were crushed! Finally I could see Zermatt (a long way down!!) and knew that I was never going to catch the lady in front and lady behind was far enough back that I could just do a bit of damage control and make sure I made it back in once piece!

Running back through Zermatt was fab, I couldn't stop smiling! Sophie found me at the end and I was absolutely buzzing!!!! I was so happy to see her!

It was hard, it really hurt at times but I'm so glad to have done it! I am under no illusions that I have a lot of training to do this winter before DB but I'm so motivated! Happy :)

C • Wow 2

Exploring the paths from Zermatt! Supposed to be flat oops!! Loooovely :)

8 - 8 then on the train to Edinburgh as off to Zermatt tomorrow morning!! So excited, a bit scared but more excited I think :D :D :D :D over a week of exploring mountains!!!!!!! :D