Running to Arc 1800, the Road to Zermatt

From our campsite base in Bourg-Saint-Maurice, there are a couple of obvious hill runs available to anyone feeling the (admittedly masochistic) urge to jog up a mountain. To the east, the D1090 comically squiggles up to the ski resort of La Rosière, while to the south the D119 switchbacks its way to the various heights of Les Arcs, more custom-built ski resorts. I eyeballed the La Rosière route for a while. From here it’s a marathon: 13 miles uphill, then and 13 miles back down. I **might** just make it, but **might** then be too broken to properly get up the much-steeper/high altitude Zermatt Half Marathon next weekend. So I copped out and ran up to Arc 1800 instead.

Up to Arc 1800. These km markers are everywhere on France’s Alpine ascents, they’re really useful.

It’s getting fairly warm down in the valley here, at the moment, into the 30’s (ºC) in the afternoons, so I got up and headed up the hill about 9am. Back in my 20’s I always made sure I ate a couple of hours before a longish run, but I’ve now taken to doing these runs on an empty stomach, so no need to be up eating at 7am. I’m also avoiding using gels, energy drinks or other sugary stuff, in an attempt to get my body used to powering itself with fat, in preference to sugar, and that *seems* to be working well too. I’m just carrying my phone (with maps.me installed in case I get lost), a litre or a so of water, some figs (which I don’t usually eat), and some warmer clothing (in case I have to sit or walk).

The view down over Bourg-Saint-Maurice on the way up to Les Arcs

The training’s about maxed out now, having now done five mountain half marathons in the past couple of weeks, including running up the Col du Galibier and Col de L’Iseran, and I could feel it on the run yesterday. Unlike those earlier runs, the road up to Les Arcs is mostly in forest, so the mind-blowing vistas are missing, replaced with thundering lorries carrying building materials up to the resorts, or bringing logs back down into the valley. Being a busy resort road, it’s easily wide enough for a couple of coaches to pass, so not an issue in that respect: there are no tunnels, or narrow cliff sections. Nope, it’s just a steady plod up through the trees with occasional views over the town and villages below, and Mont Blanc in the distance.

A distant Mont Blanc from the road to Les Arcs

With just a single cyclist for company, it was a lonely 9 miles up to the Arc 1800 resort, a steady 6% to 7% all the way. The previous runs have served to convince me my body can do this stuff though, even when my mind’s weak and urges me to stop, so I jogged up there without any real issues.

Topping out at Arc 1800

The jog back down was weirdly hard work, with a stitch after only a mile or two keeping me company all the way down. Belly breathing helps, as does slowing down. Getting back to the campsite I’d done 18.79 miles over 3 hours and 16 minutes, and I was pretty knackered, aching and felt dehydrated, even though I’d drunk steadily throughout.

Running route up to Arc 1800

The steady running incline up to Arc 1800

That’s it now, I think, in terms of long training runs. I **might** do another half depending on how I feel later this week, but otherwise it’s shorter runs just to keep the legs turning over. The next of these posts will (hopefully) be about the race itself.

In terms of sponsorship, I’m absolutely delighted we’ve hit our £500 target (the screenshot below’s a bit old), even with ten days left to go, get in! That’ll pay for a few nebulisers, easing the discomfort of COPD for a few folks like my Dad. If you want to read more or chuck in a bob or two, please click here or on the image below.

Cheers, Jay