art basel

I'm off to meet my friend Michele at Art Basel, but first a run. Laura and I made a quick trip up Crozet, and then I packed up and walked down to catch the train. A few hours off the mountain, and I joined my friend for a few days of art-seeing. Thanks Michele for sharing your benefits, and letting me tag along to the fair! We also ate some good vegan food, slept in a prison, and spent hours and hours on our feet.

rer

Race report: Run Evasion Rhone

Distance: 22.3 km

Route: Départ du centre sportif de la Queue d'Arve / Rue François-Dussaud / Rte de Chancy / Bois de la Bâtie / Pont Butin / Berges du Rhône tout le long jusqu'à la sortie du bois de Châtillon / Aire-la-Ville / Barrage de Verbois / Réserve naturelle de l'Allondon / La Plaine / Arrivée à la salle polyvalente de Dardagny.

Conditions: Warm, humid, overcast with a very light sprinkle. 556 individual runners and 154 relay pairs.

www.runevasionrhone.ch

The Run Evasion Rhone (RER) offers a beautiful 22.3 kilometers of trail from the city along the river to the finish line in the vineyards of Dardagny. Jess and Laura met us outside our apartment this morning to ride the train together from La Plaine to Geneva for the race. We got our bibs, stretched, waited, jogged a short warm up, and finally, it was time for the 10:15 start. 

I wasn't sure I would run today, but I taped my sore Achilles and decided to see how far I could go. Not exactly easing back into it, I started out fast, surprised that things didn't feel as bad as I thought they might, so I started to run like I hadn't just taken a week and a half off to sit and ice. This worked for the first speedy 5km, and I felt alright for the second five, but was starting to feel that I wasn't going to make it through. Soon it was halfway over, maybe a good place to stop, but then came the 15 km mark, and that's just too close to the end not to finish. I really pulled back in the last few kilometers, and being passed by so many other runners hurt more than my little injury, but at least I would finish. If I decided to quit, I'd still need to walk to the finish line, so it made sense to keep on running, slower, but still going. I was off by about 5 minutes and just as many positions of my estimated arrival, but still happy to make it and crossed my fingers that I didn't worsen the problem in my Achilles. I suppose it would have been better to sit this one out, but it's a nice course, close to home, and just too tempting. I managed to shave ten minutes off my time from last year, so not a total loss.

photos by RER

Go team! We all finished, enjoyed some cider, and a posed with Phil, the overall champion.

Splits: 5k- 22.23   10k- 47.00   15k- 1:11,25   20k- 1:36,40   finish- 1:50, 14

Kilometer splits: 4.14,  4.15,  4:02,  4.40,  5.09,  5.10,  4.54,  4.53,  4.15,  5.24,  4.53,  5.13,  4.48,  4.44,  4.44,  4.40,  4.57,  4.29,  5.54,  5.12,  5.51,  6.10             

Rank: 7 / 47 age category,  10 / 104 women

gimmelwald - mürren

For the second morning, we woke to sunshine after a night of rain. It was even warmer and sunnier than the day before. (We are so fortunate!) Today we rode the gondola up to Gimmelwald and walked through the farms up to Mürren.  

Before leaving the mountains, we visited Trümmelbach Falls. We were amazed by the power and noise of the glacial waters rushing through dark caverns.

We started our drive home, but not until the valley lost it's sunlight.

männlichen - kleine scheidegg

Anyone who visits knows to pack their hiking shoes. With Derek's parents, we rode the gondola from Wengen up to Männlichen and made a short climb to a scenic overlook, a warm-up for the afternoon's high alpine traverse.

We ate a warm lunch while dark clouds gathered and parted, and began our panoramic walk in full sunshine from Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg.

A break for beer and Glühwein with a backdrop of the impressive Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau.

Derek and I were excited to share a place that has become very special to us - the finish line of the Jungfrau Marathon at Kleine Scheidegg. I'm sure his parents feel like they have run it themselves after listening to all our stories and descriptions of the race. We rode all the way back down to Lauterbrunnen on the cogwheel, made dinner at the bungalow, and played cards before bed. Did I mention that Twy and I dominated in both hands of euchre?

désalpe

My in-laws arrived last night, after a trip to Greece, and are visiting us for a long weekend. We didn't give them much rest at our house before leaving in the early morning for the annual désalping at the Foire d'Albeuve. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the cows were decked-out in their flowers and giant bells as they returned to the village after a summer grazing at higher elevations.

We enjoyed their parade through the streets, and crowded into town with bell ringers, alp horns, artisan stalls, flag throwing, and all sorts of treats. 

We left the festival in the afternoon, making a stop to wander in Château-d'Œx, before continuing our winding route toward Lauterbrunnen.

We booked a bungalow for two nights as our base for exploring the mountains, but first, a walk in the valley, dinner, and a great night's sleep at the cozy campsite.

haute cime (3257m)

The alarm sounded too early this morning, so we waited a bit before rolling downstairs for coffee and cereal. We planned to take a hike near Chamonix, but as we ate and watched the light fill the sky, we decided that today was our chance for a long anticipated trip to Dents du Midi. We hurriedly stuffed our packs, checked the route map, and planned to travel light and quick. We were on the trail a little after 10, later than we'd like, but we were there. After parking in Champéry, we started on foot along the road to the trail head, noticing posts for the Trail des Dents du Midi held last weekend. As we began our hike, the trail invited us to jog, so we started moving a bit faster, hiking some, but mostly running or easy scrambling. 

After two hours we reached Refuge Susanfe. Derek couldn't resist the offer of raclette, so we took a short break to sit in the sun beside a sleeping mountain dog and enjoy the view.

We couldn't stop for long if we wanted to complete the trail before dark. We left the hut and continued the jog up to Col de Susanfe, where we pulled on another layer of clothing and began the slow climb up loose gray scree. 

There were several hikers making their way down, and we found ways to maneuver around each other carefully on the sloping scree. I didn't take the camera out for this last section, as we worked our way over an unmarked trail, well worn in places, but easy to diverge into rock slides. For the entirety of the hike, we couldn't see our final goal until we were nearly upon it. After three false summits and a challenging final 800 meters of gain, we spotted the thin metal cross perched on a narrow tooth. What a view! We admired the snowy peaks across the Alps, and vertiginous drops between the rocks. Finally, we achieved a summit over 3000 meters this season!

The descent over the loose scree went better than I anticipated. Actually, I was fearful of the trip back down while we were on our way up, but it was easier to see a worn path and we didn't slip as much as I expected. We were the last ones to reach the summit for the day, and we knew if we jogged, we'd have plenty of time to reach town before dark. We couldn't resist a few photos with a backdrop of Mt. Blanc and crazy rock formations.

A few hikers, also making the descent, cheered as we raced down, down, down the rocky trail, finishing the 26 kilometer outing in about 8 hours including a lunch break and some photo stops. What a memorable day in the mountains!