Alpe d'Huez

Random observation: have been filling my head with the Shins again; they fit my current mood(s) perfectly.

Before my long report, here are some photos, a map, and a video!





I love baseball, but I will never get the chance to play on the grass at Fenway; I love hockey, but I probably won't ever skate at the Joe; I love college football, but I can't get (legally) get a pickup game with friends at the Big House (ok, ok, one can sneak into Michigan Stadium without too much trouble). Endurance sports are different. You can pay your fee and ski a loppet with Olympic champions (and a few thousand others), you can run in a marathon with the world record holders, and although you can't actually enter the TdF, on most days of the year you can get on your bike and have a go at its most famous climb. Alpe d'Huez is neither the longest climb in cycling, (13.8km), nor the tallest (~700m up to 1800m); but its 21 hairpin turns, each labeled with a sign commemorating a winner an Alpe d'Huez TdF stage, have seen some great racing and fantastic duels, including "the look" from Armstrong-Ullrich in 2001 (click on the last photo above). It did not disappoint.

I'd been wanting to climb the darn thing since I bought my bike (a sweet, sweet Libera, from ca. 1986) a few months back. Unfortunately there is only one road that goes between Grenoble and the Bourg, the N91. It is a pretty road, climbin up alongside the Romanche through the Gorges of the same name, but also quite busy. The "N" roads are definitely not as friendly for cyclists as the "D" roads I've been using. As a result, I kept delaying and delaying. Finally, last weekend, I decided to go for it. The original plan was to leave work promptly at 5pm on Friday and make it to the Bourg by dark, do the climb on Saturday morning, and ride back that day. I started out around 6pm, stopped at Carrefour to load up on fruit and a hearty breakfast for the next day, but then got very lost trying to get over the Rocade Sud near Echirolles. Then I realized I'd forgotten my lights and all my cold/rain gear. These facts made me a little worried, and started to wonder if I should turn back or check into a hotel as the sun set behind the Vercors. Disasters in adventures like this always start out so innocently, and I imagined myself stuck in the middle of nowhere, sans lumière, biking in the dark next to a busy highway. But I kept pressing on near Vizelle, when bang I heard an explosion then the sound of metal snapping. My back tire, which was very old and thin, had exploded and a spoke broke. I'm not sure if it was the rough road surface, the heat of my wheels (I was whipping along at a pretty good pace which would have heated up my tires and, well, PV=nRT). I took this as a sign that I should go home and try again the next day. I had no idea how I would get home, but when I walked to the next town, I found that there was a 20.48 train back to Grenoble. I ditched my bike near the bike shop and walked home.

The next morning I woke up early, bought two new tires, new tubes, finally found a spoke of the correct length at my third bike shop, installed it (my wheel is not quite true, but I figured it would do; I only need it for one more week), and started out again mid-afternoon. The ride to the Bourg was beautiful, but harder than I expected. From Grenoble, it is about 40 miles and 500m climbing to the base. I met an 86 year old man (the first fact he told me) at a water fountain around mile 20, and he told me it was 31 degrees (about 88F). I finally made it to the Bourg in the late afternoon, shopped for some postcards, bought an IHT, ate a nice pasta dinner, and checked into Hôtel Terminus to watch the Coupe de Monde and get a good night's sleep.

Sunday I woke up, ate my two-day old breakfast of yogurt, bananas, and croissant, and then went to the fastest mass I've ever been to outside of Ireland. It was 28 minutes, and included the priest saying "depechez-vous!" to the cantor at one point. Unbelievable. I guess he had somewhere better to be? After breakfast I went to a café and had two big coffees, had a go at Will Shortz's best, and climbed on the bike around 1. Most of the hardcore riders had gone up in the morning, while the sun was low, and were descending as I started out. Following what I read about climbing from Chris Carmichael's website, I started out deliberately slow, and got some rest in. Surprisingly, the first 1/3 went really fast. I didn't need water, my legs felt great (no knee twinge like in the Vercors, which had reappeared on Saturday, and had me worried... I think a higher seat might have helped). The grade is about 8% average which again isn't that steep, but unlike other climbs, it never flattens out. Pretty much the only relief your legs get are on the hairpin turns themselves. Still, between 16 and 15, there is a long stretch with no hairpins. You're still climbing, but it's a wee bit flatter. I'd read some about this climb, so I knew to expect it and was able to slip down a few gears and make up some time. Otherwise, I thihnk I would have been depressed. The middle section of the course is a blur. I hoped to hold back for the final third, and really for the last 3 turns, but I remember it being really hot, it being difficult to keep the bike straight (when you're going slow climbing, you can lose a lot of energy if your front tire is wobbling), and pouring some of my bottle on my face a few times. Finally, turn 7 came and I felt free to up the pace again. Then 6, a long stretch to 5, 4, 3, 2, where a photographer pops out of nowhere and snaps a bunch of photos and hands you a flyer, turn 1, then into town! Again, I knew that the TdF finish was a ways into town, but I didn't quite realize how far away it would be. Watch the video of Armstrong. The "look" to Ullrich comes at the very end of the climb and he pedals away like crazy to the finish. It still takes him a while to get there. Well, I was not pedalling anywhere close to that speed. But after the roundabout, there's a little downhill (or maybe just flat, it felt like downhill!) and I picked up speed and sprinted through to the finish.

I highly recommend a trip for anyone who likes cycling, especially if you're a TdF fan. Doing that climb is something I will never forget; watching the video now makes me want to go do it again!

Alpe d'What?!

81 minutes, 5 seconds for the actual climb. Not the fastest time (anything under an hour is considered exceppent for an amateur; Armstrong did it in 37 minutes a few years ago) but I was happy (a) to have the crappiest bike, by far, on the mountain today (b) to not stop once and (c) to pass a few other people on the way up and not get passed. Full report to come!

Foiled again!

I was about 25km outside of Grenoble tonight when my tire exploded. There is a 3cm long gash and I can see straight through to the chambre à l'air. I also broke a spoke. 

I was lucky to catch the last train back to Grenoble, and then a tram to Meylan, where I stashed my vélo at Decathlon. I'll pick it up tomorrow, change tires and repair spoke, and head back towards the Bourg in the morning. 

Vercors

I'm deferring a full write-up for another day. For now, here are some photos from last week's bike ride in the Vercors. Am still hoping for good weather and a go at Alpe d'Huez this weekend.

Yesterday, I got back to the running grind: 7.75 miles on the river. Ordering two pairs of new 2110s for summer running in Philly. I've been wearing the ones I've been running on here all the time. They never really get a chance to dry out and have gone dead very quickly (just 3 months). I'm getting all kinds of aches and pains in my calves, joints, etc. No good!

Last run in Cam

Did about 4mi on the Cam this morning. Legs are stiff from the weekend! Taking most of this week off for tourism, then biking hard over the weekend!!

Grantchester

Today I did my second favorite run, the Grantchester loop, around 5.25 beautiful miles. It's a beautiful sunny day, everyone is procrastinating (exams for the undergrads start next week). I saw a Williams sweatshirt on my way down Grantchester Meadows; I was wearing some Eph gear as well so we exchanged smiles. Must be a Herchel Smith?

Baits Bite Lock

Check out the resolution on UK satellite maps! Insanity!


Today I ran probably my favorite run in the world, Parker's Piece <-> Baits Bite Lock. The crews were out, prepping for May Bumps, the sun was shining, there was a nice tailwind on the way out (and stiff headwind coming back, ah well). With yesterday's rest my legs felt great. I did 7mi in 50 minutes.

I ran into The Man right near the Grafton Centre on my way out. He was surprised to see me in Cambridge, but I stopped and we exchanged quick hellos. It's funny, since leaving Cambridge, I always see him while running (he runs the towpath too).

Three

Last night: was finally able to get into the INRIA salle de musculation for a circuit. 

This morning: I ran the somewhat hilly 3mi loop up through Parc des Etangs then down on the back farm roads. Must do more hills before I'm back in flat, flat Philly. 

I depart for London/Cam on Saturday morning.  Xiao has hooked me up with some sweet, sweet Emmanuel College housing on Parker's Piece. Hooray!! Tomorrow is a rest day, so my next runs shall be in Angleterre! The great dilemma: do I run Grantchester or Baistbite Lock? Or both?

Six

Morning run of the west river loop: down to the "secret trail" I found last week and back up to the house == six miles and change. I got a later than normal start this morning, so no sunrise, but it was still crisp and beautiful. The sky is 100% blue today, and the sunlight lit up the white limestone (?) bands on all the mountains. Grenoble is stunningly beautiful (when it's no raining).

Morning running is addictive, which is a good for me because it is kind of a necessity in the Philadelphia summer heat. Addictions get a bad rep, but I like having the good ones ("a non-fat yogurt", running at sunrise, etc.)

Quick trot

Ran from INRIA on the river loop = between 3.5 and 4 miles. 

9

I was a lazy bum yesterday. I was going to run before mass, but woke up too late to squeeze a long run in. Then I planned to do it right after, but when I got home I wanted to eat lunch, then wait for the food to settle, then Said's birthday party was on. So instead of logging some miles, I found myself eating cake. Nice right? The mother of the family I'm staying with has decided she has to fatten me up. She keeps saying so and yesterday kept trying to slip more cake onto my plate. Sigh. Anyways, a few ping pong games later, I finally headed out to run, at 9pm. The sun had already sunk behind the Vercors and one mile in, I realized that running in the dark was not going to be much fun, so I packed it in...

... and woke up this morning at 5am to a beautiful blue sky, a glorious sunrise coming up over the Chaîne de Belledone and turning the limestone of the Chartreuse and Vercors a brilliant white. The running felt great. I didn't push too hard, but just tried to keep good form and an even pace for the whole thing. 9 miles total.

Procrastination

I slept and slept and slept today. Then I slept some more. I was out from 12-5.15 and then 6 to 2. Nothing like 13+ hours!

The nasty weather outside helped. Today was one of those days where the clouds and rain are so thick that sun's presence is hardly noticed.  I put off my run until late in the day. I almost wimped out, but finally just put on my ziptop and hat and braved the rain for 6+ miles, at pace, on the west river loop. I feel much better now.

INRIA lift

Did a quick upper body circuit in the INRIA weight room: 3x12 of bench, Sean's rowing thing, military press, curl, tri raises.

Morning run

Thursday = 3.25mi, easy pace. We're supposed to get some nasty storms later today (raining on France's national bike to work day, boo!) so I went for the early option. I tried a new route today. It starts out flat, but has a little elevation change in the middle. I think it's better for these short runs. The first mile is flat down to the river, then mile 2 goes up through Park d'Etangs and up the hill to the N90, then the last mile comes back down on the back farm roads to the house.

Bois Français

Ran about 6 miles, w/o my watch, to the East to the Bois Français sign and back. It is HOT and muggy in Meylan; somebody told me that it hit 28 today. The air near the river is many degrees cooler. The water is melted snow from the Alps so it must still be freezing to make such a difference in the air temperature even 1/8 of a mile away from the bank. The water level is very high and the thing is rushing fast. I'd love to have a kayak!

Yesterday I did a couple of miles up into the hills, then called it quits because my calf is acting weird. I don't know why it feels like this!! I doesn't hurt enough to stop running but I don't want to aggravate something that a few days off could cure. Dilemma. Maybe bike instead?

Happiness is:

Only two weeks to a happy reunion in London!

Discovering a secret wooded trail and a hidden lake, both right under my nose...

Running (let me interrupt this post just for a second to record the distance: 5-6mi, no watch=no timing) through a calf cramp and going harder on the second half than the first...

Reading

good

books...

Turning a sweaty face up to the sun setting behind the mountains and feeling the joy expressed in these words:

Late have I loved you, Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you! Behold, you were within and I was without; and there I sought you, plunging unformed as I was into the fair things that you have formed and made. You were with me, and i was not with you. I was kept far from you by the things that would not have been, were they not in you. You called and cried aloud, and shattered my deafness; you flashed and blazed like lightning, and routed my blindness. You cast your fragrance,a nd I drew breath, yet pant for you; I tasted, yet hunger and thirst; you touched me and I was on fire for your peace. —Augustine, Confessions 10.27.38

Catching up.

Fri: also did that little bike ride back to Meylan. After a short, quick climb up to Col de la Croix Perrin, it was downhill into Lans-en-Vercors, through the beautiful gorges, through Fontaine, Grenoble, and finally home to Meylan.

Sat: ran for 36 minutes. 

Sun: ran for 41 minutes. I was going to go longer, but I just kind of wilted in the sun. I've been really tired lately. Not sure what's up. I could have slept all weekend. 

I hope to go for Alpe d'Huez next weekend!!

32:29

Morning run, into Autrans and out behind the little ski hill that pops up right on the edge of town. I was huffing today. I'm not sure if it's the hills, the altitude, or maybe just my (lack of) fitness! Biking back to Meylan--30 miles, but most of them coasting down out of the Vercors tonight...

29:52

Ran out along the D18 from L'Escandille, the converted sanitorium in Autrans where the SARDES seminaire is being held. It felt good to run hard... it's been a few days!

Autrans!

I made it! Total distance from Meylan -> Autrans is just a hair under 30 miles and about 3500ft of vertical climb from the river valley up to the Vercors. I hammered up the climb to St. Nizier (most of the vertical climb) much faster than last time. It's so much easier when you know the turns, how much farther it is. I now know why the pros spend so much time scouting out the stages of their races! I didn't have much left for the little climb from Lans-en-Vercors to Col de la Croix des Perrins.
Autrans is a cute little typical Alpine town. Lots of little hotels serving the local ski areas in the winter! I think it'll be a good first lunch stop or maybe basecamp for my June vacation.

3 and a bit

Tuesdays and Thursdays are a little boring with this training plan: around 3mi, easy pace. But today, I was not complaining at the short distance. My left side is a little tight from Sunday. I should have loosened up yesterday but it was busy going to meet Benjamin in city centre. Today the tightness loosened up after .5 mi, so I went almost to the D11 = a little under 4mi. 

The weather is cold and wet and the storm that ripped through last night left fresh snow on all the mountain peaks. I was treated to an amazing sunset on the return leg today--the kind of sunset that you only get after a big storm when blue skies appear just before dusk, and the reds and purples light up the receeding dark storm clouds.

The group I'm visiting at INRIA is doing a 3 day retreat out in the Vercors and I am leaving by bike at 7am tomorrow. I am a little scared. It's only about 40km away, and the biggest single vertical climb is about 1000m from Grenoble to St. Nizier, but it looks like there's a fair amount of snow up on the ridge. This could be an adventure. I am glad I own some ColdGear :-)

Long Run

I took my east and west river loops, made like GCC (a little geek humor) and fused 'em together. All told, 14.55 miles in 1:54. I was a little disappointed because my original goal was to run it at even 7:30s and I was a bit slower than that. Keeping to that pace felt really slow for the first 4 miles, but I was pleased to find out that I was right on pace as I went past the D11 bridge for the second time at 6 miles. Rather than crossing back over, I decided to stay on the far side of the Isère. Unfortunately, I don't know any landmarks over there (partially because there aren't any; all farms!) so I don't have any splits until mile 12. At that split, after running 6 miles on a shifty gravel farm road, my pace had fallen to 7:45. The last 2.5 miles home were understandable rough and dragged the pace down a few ticks more. But despite my disappointment at the pace, I was pleased to discover, based on my 12mi split, that I beat my half-marathon time from last November by at least 10 minutes, and that it was my longest run ever!

34:47

Whew! My goal was to run 5 @ 7:00 splits; I just made it. I ran the West River Loop. It's cold today, with a steady light drizzle. Not one of those magnificent days that seems made for running, but not bad either. Sometimes I get a little push from doing workouts on crappy days when everyone else is inside hiding from the weather. 

Good luck to C, Danelle, Peter, Kate, and Pavol tomorrow!!! Wish I was running it with you all. Actually, I will be, sort of: tomorrow's workout plan is 10 miles. Kate: no Giro d'Italia, but I'm planning a go at Alpe d'Huez (as soon as I find out from my step-dad if the N91 between here and there is cyclable) before C's visit, and watching the last stage of the Dauphiné Libéré in Grenoble on June 11!

23:13

ugh. not a fun day. my body feels fine, but my head just wants to lay down and sleep. plodded through my workout, not very quickly. today was supposed to be a lifting day too, but somebody at INRIA cleared out the entire room for gymnastics or something, so no dice. 

just at the end of my run, a guy went by in the other direction racewalking. it's the first time i've ever seen someone doing it live, and it's weird stuff. with every stride that he took, his joints--elbows, knees, hips, ankles--appeared to pop out at weird angles. somehow it all worked: the man was trucking. 

37:20

Ran a little over 35 on the west river trail as the sunset over the Vercors. It is a beautiful spring night, and just perfect for running--hot enough so you break a sweat (I love feeling like I'm working; there's nothing worse than running in the winter and coming back feeling drier than when you went out) but not so much that you overheat. I felt like crap though. I think Monday's hills and yesterday's lunges/run/jumprope killed my legs. The first ten minutes were absolute crap and the only thing keeping me going was my iPod. Things clicked just around the turnaround and I was feeling good once I got past the gravely bit of the trail (always hard to run on, so slippery and shifty) when around 27 minutes I opened my mouth to take a deep breath and swallowed half a cloud of gnats. On the one hand, I appreciate the extra protein, but on the other hand, yuck! After spitting out all my saliva (and, I hope, most of the bugs) I made it the rest of the way home, albeit with a very dry mouth.

Short Run

Lifted at INRIA, then ran 25 minutes along the river, then jumped rope.

Long, Hard Run.

A slow-paced, but long, steep, and hard run. I started up with a mile flat warmup, down to the river and back up to the house, then up to St. Victor, then 6X intervals on the last few hundred metres of hill there, then up to the top, around and down the Chemin de Rochasson, and down back into town. About 6 miles in total, nice hilly profile as the photo shows (I like how you can pick out the intervals at the top).

Booya!

My bib number is 494. Only 29 weeks to go! Excited does not begin to describe my present state.

Hills!

I've decided to give up long river runs for a while. What's the point of going to the mountains if you don't take advantage? (Actually, several people have told me that Grenoble itself is one of the flattest cities in Europe; it's just that if you go any direction out of town, you go up.) To that end, I did a 4.9 mile loop: down to the river road for a warmup, then up, up, up to St. Victor, then up about .25 miles more, then back down the curvy road whose name I can't remember, then back through the park. Hills are hard! (But hard is good.) I'll post my route as soon as GMap elevation server is back up.

East River Run

I ran the east river loop today, which, thanks to the new Google Maps data, I now know is exactly 7.7 miles. Unfortunately, I don't know my time because I stopped my watch at 6:52 when I ducked into the woods to take a whiz, and I forgot to start it back up until well past mile 2.

Lifting

I visited the salle de musculation at INRIA and did my normal upper body circuit. Crashing now. Party last night kept me up until about 1, and I was up at 5.15. 

If I get some rest tonight, I'll do a nice long run tomorrow AM. Ooh! Last thing: Google Maps has expanded to all of Europe! 
 

West River Run

Another early morning run. The first few minutes are always brutal--it's still cold, I'm so sleepy, and limbs are stiff--but after that it feels so good to run early! I definitely prefer running at sunrise to sunset. 

I did the 7-8 mile loop along the Isère to the west (i.e., the big bend) in something like between 50-60 minutes (forgot my watch). The sun was just breaking over the Chaîne de Belledonne when I started and the rays of light caught the snowy peaks and turned them all sparkly--beautiful! 

Early morning run

Gave my legs a rest yesterday. Woke up early today (not quite Mair Fox early (!), but still, 5:20) and ran to the bridge and back at a relaxed pace. 4mi+ is a great way to wake up!

Is anyone else using the Blogger Widget on the Mac? It's great!!

Chamrousse

Well, it wasn't pretty, but I made it. Chamrousse, 1750m. I climbed more than a vertical mile today (Grenoble is ~200m, but there were several smaller climbs and descents on the way up). It was very hard, harder than I expected. Crashing now, I'll update this with a full description tomorrow (including details of a tire puncture on the final descent and hitching with retirees!)

Update: Grenoble is nestled in the valley that the Isère and Drac rivers carve out of the Massifs de la Chartreuse et du Vercors, and the Chaîne de Belledonne. I'd done climbs in Chartreuse and Vercors the last two weekends, so I figured this was the weekend to try a mountain in the Belledone. The closest climbable mountain is the Chamrousse. The 'hors categorie' route up the western face was used as the individual time trial in stage 11 of the TdF. I did the southern/eastern route which is slightly longer and therefore slightly more gradual--which is to say that the grade is a constant 6-10% vs. 7-10%--it's still quite steep! I started from Meylan, rode along the river to Domène, and did a short climb up the D11 into Revel. A short descent and another climb along the D280B took me into St. Martin d'Uriage. There I turned onto the D111, following the signs for the ski town of Chamrousse. I felt that my legs were stronger than last week, and much stronger than two weeks ago when I climbed in the Chartreuse. But even so, after about 40 minutes of climbing on the D111, I had to stop for a break. My breathing was not the problem (though, to be sure, climbing is hard work), but the muscles in my legs were like jelly! I've found that toe clips are indispensible when climbing--if you're only push down on the pedals, you wear out those muscles very quickly; if you can pull up too, it gives you a way to keep going and give parts of your legs a rest. So at 40 minutes, I ate some fruit and energy bars and stretched out my quads and glutes as best I could, and kept going up, up, up. The last hour of was really rough: I made myself go in stints of ~20 minutes, then I'd stop, get some water, and let the lactic acid clear out of my legs. Though the climbing was really hard(/slightly miserable?), the scenery was amazing. I was high enough that the trees were all pines and there were (rapidly melting) snow drifts on both sides of the road at times. Looking down into the valley I could see the villages of Revel and Uriage nestled on and between hills below, and far away in the hazy distance, the city of Grenoble, with the (now relatively puny looking) Chartreuse and Vercors looming above.

After my last break, the road circled around the top of one of the peaks, hugging the side of the slope and led me, at last, to the first ski station at 1650m. Sunday was the last day that the pistes were open so the die hards were all out getting their last runs in. From there it was just a short little climb of about 5km to 1750m! Then, finally and mercifully, the slope of the road pointed down, back into Uriage and Grenoble. I stopped and put on some warmer clothes and started in on the descent. I'd only zoomed along a few km when I heard a little pop, then flap-flap-flap-flap. I knew it was the tire, but thought maybe I'd rolled over something sticky and it was being whipped around the wheel. Alas, when I stopped I heard the tell-tale hissing sound. At this point, having forgotten to bring my pump, my options were either to pop a wheelie and try to hold it for the 40km ride back to Meylan, or stick out my thumb. I decided to hitchhike. The very first car to roll by stopped, and a very nice elderly couple took one look at me (I think I looked a little tired!) and said to hop in. The man thought I was pretty dumb, riding alone and without a pump--I kept hearing the words 'seul', 'les jeunes', 'idiot', etc. But they were very nice and went out of their way to drive me down the mountain and back to Meylan!

As always, the pictures above don't really do it justice. I need to fix my camera so I can take some of my own!! Here's a profile of the climb and a map of my route:



I'm still toying with the idea of climbing Alpe d'Huez one of these weekends. I know it will be humbling, but it seems a shame to be so close and not do it! For now, some more training to get respectable climbing legs is probably needed. The Bastille, which hangs right over St Laurent downtown, is a good place to start. It's only a 2km climb, but the grade is ridiculous: 20% average, 34% max!

44:30 and out.

Couldn't decide if I wanted to save my legs for tomorrow's crack at the Chamrousse, or if I wanted a full workout. Set out for the 4 mile loop and felt great at the halfway, so I decided to stretch it out a little longer. Kept along until the Bois Français sign, where I turned back (@ 22:30). Made it back in 22:00. I'm not sure of the exact distance, but I know where two miles from home is, and the first last/two miles were 14:20 and 14:00 respectively, so something like 6 miles?

River run

The river path, newly paved, hard, flat, and fast, was a nice change from yesterday's bumpy, hilly run. I went out fast--:30 faster after 10 minutes to the big bend in the river, and another :25 faster at the turn around than the last time I ran this route. I returned along the farm road, for 38:00.

I just finished this book. It's depressing, but gives a really intimate look at contemporary family life in Afghanistan. The book has been criticized for simply re-inforcing western stereotypes about Afghan culture, and the real bookseller now claims that the book has ruined his life; he is currently writing some kind of reply and preparing to sue Seierstad in the Norwegian courts. But even with all these flaws, I still think it's worth a read. I tore through this book, partly because it was well-researched and well-written (err, well-translated), but also because my dad and his family lived in Kabul while he was in 3rd and 4th grade. They travelled the Khyber pass, watched Buzkashi, and ate lots and lots of lamb. It was interesting to compare my family's stories from that time with how the same period, the 1960s and 70s, are described in modern Afghani memories. In the book, it is either remembered as Afghanistan's last happy time (the history since then has been nothing but war: civil, with Soviets, the cultural war imposed by the Taliban, and the American/Northern Alliance coup of 2001) or as the period of sinful modernism/westernism (by the fundamentalists). Thanks to DV and AK for a great travel gift!

Just hills

Ran for 35 minutes: warmed up with a slow run down to the river road, then up, up, up to St Victor. Then 5X intervals on the last part of the hill there: about 45 seconds charging up, then easy on the way down to recover. 10 minutes run home to cool down.

River + Hills

Tried a new route: the 2mi down to the bridge then back across the A41, up into the hills of Montbonnot, then back across behind the ZIRST, back the Chemin de Beausoir (sp?) and back into the 'hood. It took me just over 40 minutes, so I'm hoping it was at least 5 miles?

volleyball

I am a firm believer in blogging the highs and the lows. Today was another low. Played VB with the ESMT boys. We have 14 this time, and though I started out hot (first 4 or 5 attacks were all strong kills) we faced two strong teams in our next two games and everyone kind of lost it. Then it sucked for the rest of the time. Yuck. Next week will be better, if only because it can't get much worse!

Bridge run

Easter Monday is a holiday in France and Alan invited me to go to Annecy with his family. Woke up early to do a leg stretcher: 4 miles down to the bridge and back. Didn't take my watch, but the pace was slow, plodding; my legs are sore!

Joyeuse Pâques

I did a long Easter morning bike ride today. Last week I climbed into the Chartreuse Massif, just north of Grenoble; this week I checked out Vercors, the range to the east. Last week I felt a little unsafe: out of food and water, up above the snow line, and nothing warm for my legs, so this week I was over-prepared: my wonderful ColdGear tights + ziptop, fleece, and shell; 2.5L of water, 2 bananas, 2 apples, tuna, yogurt, bread. After getting out of town I climbed for about 40 minutes, straight up, to the Tour Sans Venin, and then on to St. Nizier du Mourcherotte. In St. Nizier I stopped briefly to eat some fruit and check out a WWII memorial. The town sits under this mountain that is topped by an amazing cluster of rock-spires. They shoot right up like oversized organ pipes. Anyways... back to the ride; 40 minutes may not sound like much, but to my poor legs, which are more accustomed to running along the Schulkyill or worse on a hamster wheel in Pottruck, it was more than enough for the day. Having climbed about 600m, I was tempted to turn around and cruise back the way I came. But the route I'd planned for the day had me going out to Lans-en-Vercors, so I changed into warm clothes (I was up at the snow line again) and trucked on for another 6-7 miles. Lans is a cute little Alpine sports town with a bunch of cute small hotels/lodging houses and food for active, outdoorsy types (pizzerias! creperies! and a few hunting-lodge-style full-blown restaurants). Then it was time for payback: having climbed to just over 1000m, I had a swift downhill from Lans and through amazing gorges--sheer rock face towering up hundreds of feet overhead. I zoomed back into Fontaine, around the Bastille, and finally back out to Meylan.

All told it was a really fun day! I was really glad that I continued on to Lans: it's a really cute town and seeing the gorges was an unexpected bonus. Next weekend, I think it has got to be the Chamrousse (the other big collection of mountains, situated to the south west).

No pictures (my camera is still broken and sitting completely unassembled on my desk... trying to get the gears that extend the lens to work again, but no luck yet, sigh) but here's a Google Earth view of my route into Lans on the right and the gorges on the left.

5.4

Did a reasonably quick (36:00) 5.4 miles along the river today. I came home and discovered that Saïd, a Moroccan guy who rents the other room from the family I'm staying with, had made an awesome tangine: potatos, onions, peas, lemons, beef, all cooked in the clay pot, the juices carmelizing and covering everything with a wonderful tangy sauce. I just ate the leftovers on a bed of hot eggs (whites)... absolutely delicious.

10 minutes (!)

It was not meant to be today. I tried to go out for a quick trot and felt like crap (actually, more like puke, but who wants to get into that?!) So, I just packed it in and jogged home. Grand total: 10 minutes on the trail.

Long run!

Longer than I wanted, over 70 minutes. Crossed the river to explore new territory. Made it two towns over, then ran up some hills, then back along the river. Started out running on uneven ground--muddy, bumpy paths through farmer's fields, then a forest trail--but then pushed hard from the turn around all the way home on the hard, packed towpath. Not sure of the distance but I hope 8+!?

Lifting, Sleep!

I did a quick upper body circuit at the INRIA gym, then headed home planning to do a short, intense run. Instead I fell asleep for approximately 9 hours. The reason? I've been reading like crazy. I've already plowed through all my copies of The Atlantic, 1776, and about half of Collapse. But two nights ago I was up late tearing through this (grabbed during our visit to Ann Arbor from my step-dad's pile of throw-away books before their big move to Boulder):

At the age of 37, bestselling author and journalist Bill McKibben stepped out of the ordinary routine of his life to spend a year in "real training" as a cross-country skier. With the help of a trainer-slash-guru, McKibben took on a regimen equivalent to that of an Olympic endurance athlete's, running and skiing for hours every day in preparation for a series of grueling long-distance ski races. What prompted this successful writer with an admitted aversion to competitive sports to push himself so hard, for so long? Partly it was pure selfishness; after a decade as an environmental writer and activist, I needed a break from failing to save the world. But mostly it was curiosity that drove me. By year's end I hoped I'd have more sense of what life lived through the body felt like.
If Long Distance begins as a story about the transformation of the body and what it means to challenge one's physical limits, it evolves into a thoughtful lesson about a wholly different kind of endurance. Halfway through McKibben's training, his father was diagnosed with the most virulent form of brain cancer. As McKibben was reaching peak condition, his father's life lurched toward an end, forcing McKibben to snap out of his self-inflicted self-absorption. He had tried to think of endurance as "the ability to fight through the drama of pain. But now I understood it, too, as a kind of elegance, a lightness that could only come from such deep comfort with yourself that you began to forget about yourself." And the elegance of Long Distance is in its ultimate lesson that each of us has a mind, a body, and a spirit, and we must find our strength in all three realms.

I was captivated by it--not for the athletic bits, which are a somewhat disappointing, but for the bits where he talks about the 6 months from when his family finds out his dad has brain cancer to his death. So many of the descriptions and emotions were things that I felt and saw felt two winters ago when I was going down to Rockland house all those weekends to be with my grandfather in his last 5 months... and it makes me want to take up skiing. Anyone up for doing a loppet? I love cowbells.

VB

i played 3-on-3 with the boys from ESMT again tonight. i felt much better than last time. maybe regaining some speed, more more importantly just playing with a bit of focus/smarter. legs are already feeling it again, but that's good--means they'll get stronger!

i feel the need to add an underwear report to dispell certain myths that are going around about a certain favorite pair of (if you believe the myth, probably also toxically bacterial) underarmour microfiber boxer briefs. aujourd'hui: les grenouilles verts, et sans chaffage!

quick one

after 11.5hrs at INRIA, did 4 miles along the river: 1 mile warmup, 1 mile pushing hard, 1.5 miles short sprint intervals, jogged back from the river to the house.

Update: I finally got caught up with my YTD tracking. I'm through Pittsburgh. As the satellite image shows, when I reach Ohio, the scenery will aparently turn from brown to green. Well I've been there, and let me tell you, this is flat out wrong; Ohio is the armpit of America. The only reason to go to Ohio is to pass through to Michigan. Or Indiana.

Slow Sunday run

Wanted to have an easy day but still get some miles in so I ran the west river loop at a nice easy ("conversational", I think your man Hal would say) pace. Listened to wonderful slow music (Wilco and Sufjan) and just watched the river go by as a gloomy Sunday turned to dusk. Total distance: 7.9 miles in a little less than an hour...

My first two Cols!

Went for a long bike ride today around the mountain that sits behind Grenoble. I'm too tired/hungry to give a full debrief now, but (a) I was high enough that there were still snow banks on the side of the road at the top (b) hitting the little sign marking the Col at the top and seeing that it was more than 1100m was AWESOME!

Biking is the new black.

Update: the bike i bought last week at the "bourse aux vèlos" is a liberia brand (french) from ca. 1983. it looks like it still has many of the original components (e.g., the pedals are those heavy shiny metal kind popular back then). but it was also very well maintained / it looks like it probably sat unused for years in someone's garage. there's a nice english language grenoble cycling page that has details of all these local climbs. i decided to start with the easiest one: a tiny 600m climb over the col de la clémencière, about 15km from my house. i looked on a map and it looked like there was a loop where i'd do the climb, decend, pop out between two mountains west of grenoble, and head back home. so i hammered up the col, stopped at the top to admire the view, eat a banana, and drink some water, and then i flew down the decent. then the road started to climb again! i stopped to look at my map and realized that i'd missed the turn off (it was a tiny road) and that i was headed for the next town (dèviation!). i kept climbing and climbing and climbing... then the trees turned to pines, i noticed snow banks by the side of the road, and worst, the sun started to set... i was getting a little bit worried but i'd remembered the story of my mom and step-dad's frozen day biking in france last fall (they spent all of september climbing in provence including le mont ventoux!) so i'd packed my ziptop, a fleece, and a shell (though no pants, should have brought running tights). i just kept going and hoped i wasn't headed off towards switzerland (you know how there are signs pointing to the next city on the freeway? here those signs say geneve)... at one point i tried to slip into my lowest gear on the rear shifter and the chain shifted right off the gears. i stopped to fix it and another cyclist came up behind me right as i re-mounted. he asked me "ca va?" and i said (in french), "i'm fine, but the bike is lousy". he, riding a fancy look-brand bike glanced down and said "ah! liberia! i used to have a bike like that. then i got this real bike". i laughed, and told him that the real problem was the state of my legs! he laughed, then told me that i could get home by going over the next pass... so i ended up doing a second col (i think col de porte... about 1100m? when i finally got to it i glance at the sign and elevation and can't remember now what it's exact name was). i hit the top right as the sun was about to slip behind the vercours range and flew through several small ski towns down the long, long decent back into grenoble.

Sundown trot

Did the loop to the second bridge = 7 3/4 miles. Going to bed!

Biking around Grenoble

My legs still feel stiff so I decided to mix it up and bike. Did about 90 minutes of riding, but it was stop and start through town with all the traffic lights. I went around to north edge of town to the Bastille, back through Gieres, and a pitstop at Carrefour for some groceries. Hit one nice hill going up towards the Bastille. There's a real Col a few miles further, I'm gonna go back when there is more sunlight.

The skies cleared up today and as I was cycling back to Meylan (west) the view of the sunset hitting the mountains was magnificent.

Did you know that "Mr Clean" is "Mr Propre" in France? Heh. That cracked me up. I know laughing at stuff like that means I'm a wide-eyed tourist (I used to sneer at the Americans noting silly things like that in England).

Two, two, two days in one

Yesterday: played 2.5 hours of volleyball with four guys from the Meylan club. We played beach on an 8m x 8m court. Having not played much in the last few months, I was quite rusty yesterday and sore today. They were really friendly though, and I'm looking forward to next week!

Today I did the same upper body circuits after work as on Monday, then ran 4 miles at sundown to loosen up my legs. 1 mile very slow/easy warmup then pushed as fast as I could go to the turnaround at the bridge. Then on the way back I did a hodge-podge of invervals at varying lengths (~100-300m?) for the first 1.5 miles and jogged the last half mile in as a cool down.

Mixing it up

Lifted arms after work (bench, rowing, curls, military press, tri raises) then ran 5k and jumped around a bit.

First volleyball with the Meylan club is tomorrow night!

soixante-trois minutes

Ran along the river, not very fast for about 8 miles, I think. Legs were hurting from biking straight up hill to church this morning... I'm weak! I need to work more resistance training into this blog.

Quick One

Ran just over 4 miles (if GMaps is accurate! I wish Mappy had a pedometer!) at a hair faster than 6:45 pace, for 27:50 total. This time I was faster going out (13:38) than coming in (what's that leave, 14:12?). It was a beautiful, crisp late spring evening. Maybe I was distracted by the beautiful view of the sunset over the mountains behind Grenoble on the way in?

Tomorrow I launch Operation Vèlo. The local cycling club is having a huge bike sale down at the high school so I'm going to take my 50 euro and see if I can find a scrappy road bike to toot around on for a few months. I'd like to have something light enough to do some of the local climbs. The Tour goes just south of here in July and it'd be fun to go ride on some of the same roads. (Alpe d'Huez is only 65km from here, but I don't think I dare...) Is it silly that my helmet cost ~3X more than either of my bikes will be worth?

Hills again

"Ran" or something, about 5 miles straight up through the low-hanging clouds up the Chartreuse plateau again (a little more than 40 minutes). I went further than last time, all the way up to where the last house is at the top of the road overlooking the Isère valley, and didn't stop to sprint, just chug, chug, chug. I got to the top right as the sun was setting in the west, leaving a beautiful alpenglow on the range to the east, not unlike the photo.

I can't plot my route on GMaps or get an accurate distance measurement because I can't see the road on the low-resolution satellite image, but check out the elevation change!! YTD

River Bend

Ran towards Grenoble proper today, around the big bend on the river, then back into town to buy some groceries. 6.9 miles total. YTD

Long run

I discovered that good ol' Google Maps works in France too! Who knew?

I did 7.76 miles flat, fast miles along the river to the second bridge east of Montbonnot.

YTD

hills!

ran for 38 minutes, straight up the road going up the Chartreuse. Did 17 minutes then had to take a breather. ran the next 3 by sprinting up the straightaways and walking around the hairpin turns. only 14 Minutes down, but that says more about my lack of pace on the way up than anything!

Montbonnot

Ran just over 30 minutes the other way along the river this time. 16 out and 14:40 in!

une demi-heure

Just a leg stretcher today. Half an hour, medium pace/effort. I got caught in an unpleasant downpour on the way home so I was glad that it was a short one. The photo shows the bend of river I've been running.

une heure

actually, only 57 minutes... got a little lost. no idea about distance. have a nice post to write, but not tonight, not on this funny french keyboard!

Update: Ugh. The home I'm staying in has broadband, but something changed and I can no longer hook my laptop up to it! Typing on a french keyboard is painful (the 'q' is where the 'a' is, 'm', is way off to the side, you have to hit shift just to type a '.' or any number. talk about crazy!)

After taking a week off I planned to ramp back up into running slowly; I thought maybe do a few 3-5 mile runs for a week before trying anything longer. Last night didn't quite go to plan...

I didn't leave work until after 6 so by the time I'd gotten home, undergone a little glucose therapy to get ready to run (these delicious little butter cookies from Nantes! I'm going to have to start importing them), and changed it was already 7. It gets dark between 7.30 and 8, so I thought I'd do 5, maybe 6, miles tops. I ran down to the river path, avoiding the detour through farm fields that I took last time, and got to push a bit further down the beautiful wooded dirt trail that runs alongside l'Isère. The scenery was stunningly beautiful: the sun had finally come out yesterday afternoon and burned off the cloud cover that's been hanging over us all week, and for the first time I could see the peaks of some far-away mountains over Grenoble (Chartreuse, the giant massif in the photos from last time looms over Meylan; I live in its shadow). I ran down to the end of the trail, looped around, and saw another beautiful scene: Grenoble and Meylan, a giant dark trough separating me from the lights of the cities, built up on the hill. It's weird, the Isère valley is quite wide here, but from where I was it seemed like the cities wanted to be as far as possible from it. Or maybe the land close to the river has always been farmland, to take advantage of the wet silty soil. Regardless, it gave me the sense of being far away from the busy city and reminded me of running in Western Massachusetts: Gale, Ide, Blair, alongside the Deerfield on Rt 2, up and down the Oxbow...

Came back towards the city on a different path but, at around 40min, found myself on the wrong side of the A41 motorway. Ran alongside it, going away from home still and finally found a path going under it but it left be in the median between the A41 and the 87 (an even bigger motorway!) Ugh. Kept going further but didn't see ANY more openings. Quelle disastre! With the sun now completely gone and dressed in black, I decided it was time to double back. Ran alongside the A41 until I found a bridge over the motorway, and made it back to the house in just under an hour.

La Poste

Early morning (7.15am) 5km into town to the post office and back pour acheter des timbres.

Some stock photos from around Meylan and an aerial photo of the bend of the Isère I ran yesterday:

Running in Meylan

Did my first run in a week! In that time I've moved out of my room and traveled to London, Cambridge, Paris, and Grenoble. Note sure of the distance, but by my watch and with a conservative estimate of my pace, I'd say 6 miles (=10km, since we're in Europe)? The route is BEAUTIFUL. About 1km out of town you go under a bridge and find yourself next to the Isère river (yes, the one that starts at Val d'Isère). There's a running/biking path that goes alongside it, evidently for many miles. The kms are marked off but I got a little lost today so I spent more time running through farmer's fields than on the official path. I'm very excited to be running again! Next I want to investigate some hillier routes.

River shiver

Windy day on the river. Ran 5mi up to the bridges and back. Thought it was warm and headed out in shorts and a t-shirt. Am quite cold now! Had major wind-assistance for a fast trek home.

Catching up

Been a while since I blogged.

Thursday: played VB at Washtenaw County Rec Center, then lifted arms

Friday: 4-5mi run through Bird Hills Park, up Huron River Dr, up Foster Rd, back down Newport

Saturday: same run again

Monday: 5mi run up past boathouse row to the second bridge (Girard Ave?)

YTD

River run

Did a 5.5mi loop up to US Grant and back on the river path. Wish I was doing BSR!!

Evening run

Ran 5K+ up 22nd, around the Art Museum, back on river trail. Took first mile slow (legs a little stiff from sitting all day) then kicked the last 2. YTD

Morning run

Got an early start this AM. 4 miles at Pottruck to start the week @ 1.0 incline in just under 27 minutes (so, ~6:45min/mile pace).

Despite my early start, I ran into an even early starter--the chair of my upcoming my prelim--coming out of the locker room as I was on my way in.

Not a slacker

I'm not actually as much of a slacker as this blog suggests. I was working on this and only slept 4 hours on Tuesday night and 3 on Wednesday. Then I slept all day Thursday and 10 hours on Thursday night. But didn't have time to blog. Anyays, here's the rest of my week.

Tuesday: ate at Rembrandt's with Mike, Meredith, and C in lieu of workout.

Wednseday: Ran 4mi with C @ Pottruck. Was a zombie. Hadn't slept, hadn't eaten, but did 4 miles @ 1.0 incline in ... can't remember but it was around 7min/mile pace.

Thursday: Slept, slept, and slept some more.

Friday: Gym date with C. Ran 4 miles @ 1.0 incline in 26:40 = 6.40min/mile pace; did 3 sets of leg press (15 reps of 255, 255, 275); wrapped up with 3 sets of jumprope circuits (100 jumprope, 20 block jump, 10 attack jumps)

Saturday: did an early morning run on the river with Pavol and Jack's Yacs. About 7.25-7.5 miles up past the rowing shell about 1/2 way to Strawberry Mansion bridge at around 8min/mile pace.

YearToDate