Week 42: An alpine interlude.

This week started with my first experience of Alpinism.  My wife and I had decided to hire a guide to take us on a trip to 4000m.  The chosen mountain was the Dom des Ecrins.  The first day involved a tough 1000m climb.  The first section zig zagged up a steep slope to the foot of the glacier.  The path was well maintained and easily accessible.  Heavily equipped mountaineers mixed with elderly ramblers.  At the top of the slope the path levelled off as the foot of the glacier rose above us.  After crossing the stream, racing away from the glacier, the path rose again, past a first refuge and then on to the side of the glacier.  We geared up, helmet, climbing belts, crampons and rope before moving into the snow.  Then a hard slog with numerous crests before we sighted our goal the refuge des Ecrins.  Magnificent scenery as we moved along the edge of the glacier, past menacing crevasses.   At the head of the glacier we could see our goal the Dom des Ecrins, a blade of rock, ice and snow cutting into the sky.  The final approach to our refuge for the night was a steep switchback path that led up to the rocky outcrop of the refuge.  As I struggled back and forth, I began to wonder whether we had been too ambitious.  We finally arrived at the refuge, just in time for dinner.  As we would be starting at 4am the next morning, and because of a headache, I hit the sack early.  
The night was short and disturbed.  I finally woke at 3:30 and headed for the outside toilets.  I was surprised at how warm it was even at 2100m of altitude.  The sky was clear and a full moon hung over the mountains, making my torch unnecessary.  After a quick breakfast, we kitted up again and headed back onto the glacier.  Over dinner our guide had suggested we rethought or goal.  He suggested a lower and more accessible peak.  There had been a lot of snow recently and we would have to trace our own path up the Dom.   After listening to ice tumbling down the slopes we bowed to his advice and headed up another peak, called Roche Faurio at 3700m.  It was still a hard slog, but a large group had passed before us and made a path to follow.  After a brief stop to admire the 360° view of the mountains, we headed down for the long slog back to the car.  The sky was blue and the sun beat down on us.  It was somewhat unreal to descend back to civilization after a night and a day on a glacier.  I was quite pleased the next day to find that my legs were not too sore.

Later in the week I paid a trip to a podologist on the recommendation of a friend and I was pleased that I did.  After various tests he showed me that I was walking, and therefore running, on the outer edge of my foot not using my big toe at all.  This causes my tibia to rotate putting undue pressure on my knee joint.  A week later I returned to collect my custom made insoles.  According to the doctor I should see the results in a month or so.  I hope I have finally found the solution to my knee pain.

The week ended with a 12km run where I experimented running for 20 minutes and walking for 10 minutes.  I seemed able to continue for longer but I did find starting to run again tough after the third bout of walking.