Week 31: Just enjoying the trial

Thank god that weekend is over.  Between setting up the village fete, helping at my son's rugby tournament, and discovering someone had stolen one of my beehives, I had little time to myself.  I finally managed to get to the gym on Monday and work out my frustrations.  Tuesday I went for a very unsatisfactory and short run.  Maybe it was better than nothing.  Luckily the next day the weather was great and I went for another run that was much better.  I didn't worry about length, pace or time and just ran.  I wasn't entirely satisfied as I had to walk a fair amount, but when I got back and analysed the run I was no worse than usual.  Maybe that is the key to my problems at the moment.  I need to relax and just go with the flow.  If I worry too much I am going to lose the pleasure of just running.
At the end of the week I went off for a long run and decided to ignore my watch.  I chose to do one of the routes at the local trail station.  I chose the "Sentier de Fer", which follows a historical path that was formerly used to carry iron ore from mines in the mountains to smelters in the valley.  I did the course in reverse.  The first section rose gradually to the village of Pinsot, where there is a hydroelectric installation.  I ran and walked at a fast pace.  After Pinsot the path rises steeply in zigzags and I found it hard work.  I got lost in the vestiges of the iron mines for 10 minutes or so.  The path is a little complicated as there are a multitude of panels directing tourists in loops around the historical site.  The path culminates at 1000m and levels off on forestry roads for about a kilometre or so.  As I dropped down the other side of the ridge I was surprised by the drop in temperature and the clouds pushing up from the valley floor.  Nevertheless I was running well.  I veered off the set course towards St Pierre (my village).  By the time I arrived at the bottom, I had finished 16 kilometres and gone up and down 920 metres.  I decided to walk the final 2 kilometres home to stretch my legs and warm down.
My run times were in line with past performances so not thinking too much is obviously the right solution.  On Sunday I did a long walk to prepare for my mountain guide qualification.  There was still a lot of snow so I was in snowshoes.  The walk followed part of the trail race route that I will run in August so it was a good reconnaissance for that, as well as counting toward my physical preparation.   It was an interesting walk along an old moraine up to a pass at 2000m, and in the menacing shadow of the north face of a mountain.  I managed the walk in 4 hours instead of the 6.5 hours noted in the guidebook.