Been in Switzerland for a few weeks now and one race under the belt, a few more to go including the World Mountain Running Championships in Slovenia.
First week was spent in the great town of Thyon. Sits high above Sion and resides in the Val d'Hérens. The race was great for me, I got my first race out of the way and now to prepare for the next. Not so jetlagged for the next race and also I will know the course a bit better. The travels and experiences have been memorable so far. I'm a big fan of trying new foods and while in Thyon I definitely tried something I had never even thought about trying, horse meat! It was good, tasted like a steak with a small dab of liver or something along those lines. I was also able to knock off a few feats on my adventure bucket list. I had always wanted to see the Great Dixence Dam, which is the Worlds largest concrete gravity dam. The dam sits on the Dixence River, which we also could see most of the race. The adventure was taken a step further as I found out the race actually finishes on the Dam. The view as you can see from the pictures above were unbelievable. Looked almost as if someone painted a gargantuan portrait.
I'm now in Zinal preparing for my 2nd biggest race of the summer, Sierre-Zinal. Known as one of the most famous and historic mountain races. I was able to accomplish another of my bucket list items in visiting the Hotel Weisshorn. This hotel is notorious to all runners who have competed in the Sierre-Zinal race. This is the point where the course starts to drop pretty hard and also a point in the course where you have literally tore through all of your glycogen stores, and many are hanging on at this point awaiting the dangerous descent ahead. All of the greats have at least attempted the race once or twice. I got a chance to see the course, and what I have concluded, it will be the hardest race I have done to date. The competition coming this year make the race even more of a challenge. A mixture of veterans of the course, European and National Champions coming from all over the world and many who have won the race in the past! Its obvious I'm excited to put myself in this field of runners, take a gamble, play my hand and see what I come out with. The course has some very STEEP drops and also ascents, the final descent is gravity defying and I'm 100% certain many will fall and I have even prepared to take a spill as I'm sure with wet conditions almost everyone in the field will take a spill, one can only pray that its a small one that won't inhibit your race.
I'm now in Zinal preparing for my 2nd biggest race of the summer, Sierre-Zinal. Known as one of the most famous and historic mountain races. I was able to accomplish another of my bucket list items in visiting the Hotel Weisshorn. This hotel is notorious to all runners who have competed in the Sierre-Zinal race. This is the point where the course starts to drop pretty hard and also a point in the course where you have literally tore through all of your glycogen stores, and many are hanging on at this point awaiting the dangerous descent ahead. All of the greats have at least attempted the race once or twice. I got a chance to see the course, and what I have concluded, it will be the hardest race I have done to date. The competition coming this year make the race even more of a challenge. A mixture of veterans of the course, European and National Champions coming from all over the world and many who have won the race in the past! Its obvious I'm excited to put myself in this field of runners, take a gamble, play my hand and see what I come out with. The course has some very STEEP drops and also ascents, the final descent is gravity defying and I'm 100% certain many will fall and I have even prepared to take a spill as I'm sure with wet conditions almost everyone in the field will take a spill, one can only pray that its a small one that won't inhibit your race.
(Left: Diavola!!!
Right: My friends from Mexico, big time sky racers)
Life size Chess in Thyon
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| Finish line on the Grande Dixence Dam |
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