Holiday *Long Post Warning*

I like holidays, me..!!

All the Pictures can be seen here and here

For those who don't know, last week I went skiing with a group of people who, if you drew lines between those who knew one another and those who didn't, all linked up in the end.
There were 5 skiers and 4 boarders, of varying degrees of ability, experience, and bloody-mindedness, which made for a really great group.

Day 0
We left Blighty at Stoopid O'Clock on Sunday (Taxi/minibus to airport at 02:00!!)
A delayed flight and a 3 hour transfer got us into resort in the afternoon - those hiring equipment had to go and collect it, and we were fed and went to bed somewhat jaded!!!

We were in a Chalet for 20 - and made up by far the largest group there
:o)
The first two days were a bit windy and the light was quite flat, and the wind had two effects - it blew away quite a lot of the snow cover (but not enough to make it too thin, for the most part, for reasonable conditions), and it filled the lee slopes with avalanche-prone Wind Slab. So in the early mornings we could hear the piste-guys setting off avalanches in certain parts of the resort, to keep it as safe as possible. That said - there were a group of people killed while we were there, including a piste-guy, on one of the out of the way black runs.
Goes to show that you have to treat nature with some respect - because it's much bigger than we are..!

Day 1
...was spent skiing with Karen.. We kind of lost the others at the start of the day, and it's a huge place, so we decided that we'd just do our own thing. Lovely. A combination of legs that had almost forgotten how to ski, flat light, a blue run that was really a red, and a lack of concentration, led to a fall towards the end of the first day, and a binding that didn't release, meant a twisted knee (don't think it's anything worse than that) for me
BAH!!!!

Day 2
...was spent in't chalet, drinking beer - icing - maximal dose anti-inflammatories (don't you love going on holiday with running people!!!!) and thinking about what I might do if I couldn't play on the slopes for the rest of the holiday.

Day 3
I got up early, before the lifts opened, and before breakfast, to walk up a pisted path by the chalet to test out Mr Hurty Knee, and find out if I'd be able to ski on it. What I found was that as long as there was no twisting motion (and I turned 'properly') that it was OK... so decided to take it really easy - stick to the Green slopes high on the mountain, where the snow was in good condition, and see how it went. I skied very defensively, and had a really nice morning - by which time I'd warmed up a bit and was feeling a little more confident about Mr Knee. I was even sensible and took a long lunch, back at the Chalet with Karen.
This was the chalet staffs night off - so we had booked a restaurant just a couple of minutes walk from the Chalet. Incredible food - good value - Mmmmm Mmmmmmm. Even if one of our number did fill the place with essence of incinerated meaty stuff at one point
:o)

Day 4
...was the Curse of the Val d'Isére Belly syndrome. A bit of a 24hr D&V thing had been rife in the resort for a while (according to the chalet staff) and it got me on this day - woke horribly early with gripey gut and the overwhelming need to empty it!!!
...and it's amazing how washed out that makes you feel.
And I had NO appetite. A sure sign that all is not well. I eat food, me - lots of it.
Not today though - really couldn't face it!
Went skiing anyway - you have to really don't you!!
The Four Not Beginner Skiers en masse - excellent.
Stopped for an early lunch, but was so tired by early afternoon, that Karen accompanied me back to base for a rest - didn't have much to eat that night either. Which was a bit of an irony, because the only complaint we really had about the holiday, was the amount of food we got in the Chalet, and following a particularly poor portion size last night, the veritable feast we were served just had to be eaten.......
fortunately the other gannets made pretty short work of the majority of it.
:o)

Day 5
...and The Four Not Beginner Skiers set off as a group again. We covered a huge distance today - and It was Fabulous. I'd had a huge breakfast - feeling better and absolutely ravenous. We covered pretty much most of the high level part of the area (There and Back), and finished off with a run down 'Face' an outstanding, steep and wide Black Run. It was absolutely amazing - couldn't stop laughing at the bottom - legs were tired though!!!!!!
The Green Goblin had a bit of a slip up about 2/3 of the way down, and made like a very graceful Piste-Basher, for about 150m - all he lacked was the flashing yellow light on his head (as he dryly pointed out sometime later!!!)
Stunning day


Last day
...and the 'Four' set out again in the morning in the company of the two experienced boarders. (So that'll be The Six then!!)
The snow making machines had been hard at work overnight, so there was more artificial snow about, and quite a few of the runs which had been errrrr..... less than optimal yesterday and the day before, were in much better condition today. A great morning was had by most, except Mr. Experienced Boarder, who had succumbed to Val d'Isére Belly, looked positively translucent, and sensibly bugged out just before lunch. We had planned to meet everyone at a particular restaurant for lunch, and it just happened to be at the top of 'Face'..... So Four became 3, Karen didn't fancy it, and I borrowed her hired modern carving skis - to ski said Black run!!

What a laugh.....

I'd finally found my 'ski-legs' and really enjoyed facing down the hill and actually skiing the piste rather than traversing it. Really exhilarating, and such fun

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..!!!

Back up the telepherique then for lunch... where we all got together and decided to go all together back towards the part of the mountain that finished by the chalet..

Another quick blast down 'Face' - which was still superb - just a bit harder and icier than it had been earlier in the day - and met up with everyone to have a group ski/board.

A final run from the very top of the mountain to the bottom - which reduced the group to 3 was one of the nicest of the week, and a great way to finish off.

And the best thing to do having been skiing for a week....????

Run a half marathon of course!!!!

I'd planned for Watford to be my attempt at something close to a 1:30, but the tweaked ligaments in my knee suggested otherwise, so made the decision to make it a nice gentle run instead. A friend of ours (Sezz from RW Forum) was running too - and I asked if she wanted someone to run with her and 'pace' her. She agreed, and so that's what happened. She ran a 4 minute PB, I got to test out my knee, and it was thoroughly enjoyable day!!!!

This was the run - there are 3 (or so) 'proper hills on this course - so it was one I really enjoyed running - and Sezz ran fantastically well to acheive her PB. It was great to be there
:o)

Distance: 13.1miles

Time: 2:05:33
Pace: 9:35 min/mile
AvHR: 154 bpm

Mile	Pace	Time	AvHR
1	8:56	8:56	136
2	9:28	18:24	148
3	9:21	27:46	149
4	9:34	37:21	154
5	9:43	47:04	155
6	10:09	57:13	157
7	9:51	1:07:05	156
8	9:05	1:16:11	151
9	9:58	1:26:09	155
10	9:43	1:35:52	156
11	9:19	1:45:11	157
12	9:40	1:54:52	163
13.1	9:43	2:05:33	166
Race	9:35	2:05:33	154