Col de Jambaz - Sunday run

Laurence and I decided to make the most of the first day of the holiday here by running a longish run up to the Col de Jambaz and back. This is one of the staple long runs that we do while we here and my account of last year's run is here when I ran it in just over 1:20.

Well, this year just before I set off I discovered that the Garmin had completely run out of battery, so I left the watch behind and just ran how I felt. Laurence had set off 10 minutes before, so I thought that if I ran well I should be able to catch her by the top of the col.

I felt really good running up the hill, just taking it steadily. I guess that I was running around 4:40 pace and I caught up with Laurence with around 300m to go before the top of the col. She told me that she'd made it up in 52 minutes and she'd set off 10 minutes before so the 4:35 - 4:40 pace for 9.2 km was about right. The difference in altitude between Onnion and the col is 250m so I was pleased with the pace.

I chatted to Laurence for a couple of minutes and then set off back down the hill to the centre. I tried to let gravity carry me down and increase my stride length but the flattish section around Megevette was hard going and I tired a little here. When I got back to the centre, I just managed to grab a seat and sweat profusely for a few seconds before the clock struck 10:30am so I'd been gone for 1:20, probably just faster than last year.

Gmap pedometer route maps the distance at 18.1 km which would put the average speed over the run at 4:25. Pretty good going and I'm really pleased with this performance. I feel so much better than of late and with a few more intervals, I should manage a good time next month.

Laurence was thrilled with her run too - 17 minutes faster than 2 years ago in 1:38 !