Tuesday 20 August 2013

The panic button

One week before the "A" race: you know that  race, the one you've prepared for ages, the one you set yourself to give it all. For me, it is the trail de l'Etendard. A 63 km, 4100m of ascent in the beautiful mountains of Savoie, France.

Trail de l'Etendard Route View

But I've hit it. The panic button, the one which makes everything fall apart. I'm sure we've all been there, we pressed it and fell in the black hole of self-doubt.


Why? I should have no reasons for it: I had faced the unknown when running the Mont Blanc back in July, I know what I am about to face. I've carefully prepared myself to make it feel like an "organised" run in the mountains where nothing can faze me.This time, it felt like the expectations set seemed reasonable. Like when you tell yourself: no worries, you've done the race before, or nah, you'll be fine,you've completed the distance, or/and no sweat mate, you've trained hard, put the hours in, change your diet...all and all, it will all work out!

Darn! stupid button!

For ages, everything seemed fine. Training was going according to Mick's plan, experimenting with low carb diet was not as traumatising as I first believed, I had been able to keep that little voice at bay.  But as I sit there looking through the window of the Eurostar, reflecting on the last few weeks effort, this little voice shout outs: for this race you need to run better than ever before. That's it, nothing else, no ugly thoughts telling you that you can't do it, just that : you better run better.
And as the mind impregnates these words,and start looking for reassuring thoughts  only one thought prevails : I'm not ready. I'm one week before the race and I haven't ran once last week, I had painful runs the week before, and next week looks brutal.  Fatality comes crashing down: there is no point, this is never going to work the way others are going to expect it. These expectations are so high, what was I thinking believing it's ok!




What felt like an eternity later: Reason started kicking in, asking me if I was going to feel this way every time a race is about to start?! So dramatic! There must be a reset button after you hit the panic one, how and when do you hit reset?

So I decided to try a few things I've read in the past and made fun of (sorry) Breathe:in this short laps of panic, I actually held my breath for so long, that the guy beside me started to panic! So at each deep breath, facts started flowing in: I'm a runner, I love the mountain, I have prepared, it's all going to be fine.
Physical Check up: Then I checked myself up. No pain, legs don't look as I've lost any muscle! I can still go up the stairs without breathing hard, I've walked alot without being tired. And you know what, you don't loose physical fitness because you stop running for a week, even 2 weeks, especially if you are doing other activities such as biking or shopping ( yes shopping ladies!) so there! hum...ok, I feel a bit better
Mental Check Up: As Stuart Mill aka UltraStu says: it's all in your mind! If I take this race as a journey goal where what I want to accomplish is getting to the end, then I just need to complete the race and I'll be ok! It doesn't matter the way I would feel before, during or after the race, if I've decided it's a journey goal then so be it! screw the bigger expectations! Now if I take this journey as a "bad ass journey", then mastering  self doubts is the battle and acknowledging that confidence tempered with humility is what makes the difference between a good finish and a bad one, then so be it!


So...it's now less than a week before the race, if I get lucky I might get to run tomorrow, if not then heh! at least I've looked at the course profile and I've decided that I'll start the race as a bad ass journey and will see if I finish it this way or if I get to finish it as a journey goal. As I am reading others' blogs and finding out about their journey, I can see that we all have one thing is common: We all freak out at one point in our running journey, but it looks like the key is finding our own ways to reset our mind and think that whatever the little voice says, I've signed up for that race, and whatever it takes I'll finish it!


Sunday 4 August 2013

Destinations to run before we die: Reunion Island


Before calling myself a runner I used to have a list of places I wanted to visit before I die.

Since I'm a runner, I now have a list of the places I want to run and race before I die and well, I thought I would share it with you and see if you knew other places I was missing out on. I've split this list in different posts so don't worry it won't be super long and you'll have time to comment :)

Destination 1: My Island

http://www.reunion.fr/en/

OK, it's not mine per se, but it is where I am from ;)


Reunion Island is a volcanic island with a sleeping volcano Le Piton des Neiges, its highest peak (3070m, 10,070 ft), an active volcano La Fournaise and 3 calderas: Cirque de Salazie, Cirque de Mafate and Cirque de Cilaos.



In one go, you start your run in a sugarcane field, meet up giant bamboo trees
St Suzanne Trail


  Go up to a forest type like trail with waterfalls, rivers, and root trees. With temperatures changing like the clouds in the sky.









And finish your day by follow the beach path trail for a rewarding dip in the Indian Ocean Lagoon.
 
 

Races

You have the infamous Diagonal des Fous, a trail race of 162 km and 9643m of ascent, in October, loved by Kilian Jornet, who won it twice!


Diagonale des Fous Profile
If the kilometres are a bit too much, you also have la Cimasalazienne in August a trail run of 53 km with 3700m of  vertical gain, covering the 3 calderas. It's a beautiful route where you will come across some of the best canyons and nature jewels.
View of Mafate Caldera from Salazie Caldera




















More: the other Grand Raid de la Reunion, le Raid 974, a 101 km with 4500 m of vertical gain, in July. This route crosses the west side of Reunion, with beautiful views of the Ocean and 2 of the calderas. You have the 53 km shorter option with as much as vertical gain that you could also attempt.

So this island is a concentrate of every thing you could wish for: weather, trails and rewards!


So what do you think?

Best time of the year to go there: March to November as it is the winter. Days are shorter but you get a nice not too hot weather. From November onwards, it's the summertime with loads of rain and hot temperatures
Places to Stay while there: The South West side as it the less raining side
Foods to die for:
Fruits: Ananas Victoria (Victoria Ananas), tiny bananas, goyaviers, letchis, longani,
Meat: sausages from Salazie, boucane from St Suzanne, duck from le Tampon
Meals: Rougaille saucisse, boucane bringelles, vanilla duck, carry tijaques
Deserts: Anything you fancy from the Patisserie
How to get there: You can either take a plane to Mauritus and another to Reunion Island. Or you arrive in Paris, and take a plane to Reunion.
Recommended minimum time to stay: 3 weeks