Snapshots of France: Week 1

As I'm sitting to write a post about our first week in France, I'm a bit overwhelmed about where to begin and what to include. There's been a week packed of delicious food, incredible views, challenging runs and hikes, interesting historical sites, and precious time with family. So I won't even try to mention all of the wonderful things, but here is just a taste:

When we arrived in Paris, we had already been awake for over 24 hours, but we still had to stay up and about for another half-day to beat jet-lag. We were still very excited to be there and see Mom and Dad Garris!

Paris was a whirlwind; we had scarcely been there two hours when some one asked us, "Vous etes de Paris?" "Non." We were hardly qualified to give directions! We had a wonderful lunch/dinner (what do you call the 6th meal you've eaten since you last slept?) and Nathan vowed that from now on, whenever given the option between poulet (chicken) and canard (duck), he would choose le canard because it was so good. We summitted Arc de Triomphe (spectacular views of Paris without the crowds of the Eiffel Tower), sleepwalked through many other sites and subway rides, and finally went to bed!

The next day was more relaxed, and we had a delightful lunch with Ari, a friend and roommate of mine from Duke. Ari had lived in Paris for the past year with her husband Max (congrats you two!) and so she could make a good recommendation for lunch...yummy! It was great to catch up with Ari, and we sandwiched lunch with touring the outside and inside of Notre Dame. Notre Dame was spectacular:
but there were also other little treasures to be found in the crevices of the streets of Paris, such as what I remember to be called the Eglise de Saint Severin, which we enjoyed touring more peacefully without the herds of tourists:

And, of course, we took the obligatory picture with the Eiffel Tower background:

While Paris was fun, we are not city folk, so we boarded the train to Clermont-Ferrrand in the countryside of Auvergne. France is, of course, known for its cheese around the world, and Auvergne is known for its cheese even within France. We selected no fewer than 6 types of cheese at the grocery store, 4 of which were from Auvergne, and most of which we have already polished off in meals that revolved entirely around the fromage.

Clermont lies in the valley of a chain of extinct volcanos, (puys). Thus, it is within a short drive, and sometimes even walking distance of a number of great trails. First we climbed Puy de Pariou with several classes of schoolchildren on field trips, and a couple days later we hiked up Puy de Dome, an even more popular tourist spot and home of ruins of a 2nd century Roman temple and less scenic weather station. There were several folks running up the Puy de Dome trail, which is a very steep and challenging path! One man even started back in town, running twice as long up the mountain to include what we drove to reach the parking lot. If only more folks in the states were so active and adventerous! Here we are on top of Puy de Pariou with Puy de Dome behind us:
We've also been able to visit two castles so far: Chateau Murol and Chateau Rocher. Murol has been restored in places, and several rooms are set up to demonstrate life as it once was there. It was fun to imagine!
As we entered the chateau, we were greeted by the delighted squeals of about a hundred French children. We had arrived at the chateau just as a group of chevaliers (knights) were doing a reenactment. They had fun showing off their armors and weapons and we had fun watching them and the kids' reactions.
We also enjoyed touring the little village of Charroux, selected as one of "Les Plus Beaux Villages en France." We ate in the cafe, shopped at the candlestore, mustard shop, soap store (with soap with a toy in the middle pour les enfants!) and painter's store. We even stumbled upon an adventure race that came through the village, with racers arriving on mountain bike and then scrambling around the town on foot, searching for markers. It was hard not to give them hints, but we did cheer "Allez, allez!"

We achieved our goal of running 30 miles during the week, with 2 runs up to Parc Montjuzet, which Nathan frequented when he lived here before, a run around Lac Chambond in a thunderstorm, a run uphill through the town of Royat and then up a mountain on trail (we can still feel that one in our legs) and then a run on the Tour de Puy de Dome trail here:

Does this sound like a lot of running, hiking, and walking? Indeed it is, and thus we have been able to eat like kings while we've been here. My favorite restaurant has been the Auberge de Mazayes:

A simplified version of my meal there; an aperatif (a mix of champagne and juice I believe, with very light cheese crackers/bread "to tempt the tongue," un vin rouge (red wine), cauliflower soup, pounti pruneaux (tasted like it had spinach, sausage, cheese, prunes, stuffing), canard (with potatoes, cured ham, and yummy sauce), selection of cheeses, and finally fondant aux chocolats. I'm still full. Nathan's entree (more like an appetizer in France) was my absolute favorite (melted St. Nectair cheese!)

I also had a wonderful Cherve Chaud salad at an Auberge at the base of Puy de Dome. The toast on top has olive oil, melted goat cheese, herbs, and honey.

We have lots more pictures of food, but I don't want to taunt too much.

If you're wondering why we suddenly have pictures on our blog, it's because we've been spending the week with our own photographer, Dad Garris! We're so grateful to have pictures!

Tomorrow we're off to Chamonix (and Mont Blanc) for a few days of even more fun. Thanks for reading!

-Jordan

Enoree Passage 40 Miler

Yesterday Nathan I and drove (okay, Nathan drove, I napped because it was 4 AM) to Whitmire, SC where I ran the first race in the SC Ultras on Trails Series for 2011, the Enoree Passage 40 Miler. Nathan did a 20 mile training run heading south while ~70 other runners and I ran north for 20 miles on a portion of the Palmetto Trail. This race was a first for me in that I ran with the intention of completing it as a training run, something I have shied away from doing in the past because I worried I would exert myself too in the "race" atmosphere. I wanted to cover the distance of 40 miles with preparation for Burning River in mind, and then be able to have a normal training week of at least 60 miles immediately after.

I had heard good things about the races organized by Terri Hayes, a 67 year old ultrarunner seeking to give back by putting on low key SC ultras (which she also runs) with no set entry fee. The only negative thing I had heard was that people often got lost in the races. I thought it would be ridiculous for some one to get lost in the Enoree Passage race--you just stayed on one trail for 20 miles and then turned around and came back. However, the word "trail" means different things to different people. Much of it was quite overgrown, and my legs and even my arms are covered in scratches from all the plants I ran through (no verdict on whether I contracted poison ivy yet, but it will be a miracle if I didn't). There were several points where I had to stop and look around for awhile to figure out which way the trail went--it took a lot of concentration to stay on the right path. So some folks did take wrong turns, and thus earn "bonus miles."

When it was 7:30 and time to start, Terri urged the speedy folks to line up closest to the trailhead. Nobody budged and everyone was still standing in clusters well behind the line she indicated. After waiting a few seconds for some one to move, she finally just said, "Okay, well, go!" With that, we were off on the most abruptly started race I've been in.

The beginning of the race was beautiful. The temperature was in the 50s, and the horse poop was fresh (we only had 1/2 mile of that though). I was running with a woman named Traci and really enjoyed her pace and her conversation. Nathan would make fast friends with her husband, a fellow cyclist, while waiting for me at the finish line. Unfortunately, I needed to make a potty stop so I ducked behind a tree and told Traci I'd catch up with her soon. Ha! I wouldn't see her again until the turnaround at mile 20. So I kept running on my own, waiting for a tough hill or a technical section to tell me to walk. Nothing. Hmm, running this whole thing would probably not qualify as keeping it easy. I forced myself to walk a couple hills and cruised into the 5 mile aid station having hardly walked at all.

Next we had about 1/2 mile of road with some fairly significant hills. I knew I should walk at least some of the hills, even though it would be easy to run them. Everyone around me was running everything, and I worried that I was too far up in the pack. It's not too fun to keep getting passed by people, but I resisted the temptation to pick up the pace and run with them. I spotted a man just ahead of me who was also walking some on the hills, and caught up with him. His name was Mike, and he was also training for a July 100 miler. We both were quite comfortable at the same pace, and enjoyed the company as we usually run races alone in the gap between the fast folks and the cut-off beaters. The course was so beautiful at this time, with a number of wooden bridges and boardwalks, lots of huge logs down that made challenging obstacles and some more open areas that we knew would be hot later. We hit the 10 mile aid station and set off again.

Unfortunately, I had to pee again, so I let Mike get a little ahead to take another stop. I definitely wanted to catch back up and keep running with him. When I started back running, I could see him ahead in the woods, running so fast that I thought he was a mountain biker. I tried to catch him before giving up-my legs were already starting to get sore. Since this was the second time I had lost my running buddy for this reason, I had learned my lesson: People will smoke you when you stop for the bathroom. The next three or four miles were rough because it was the hardest section of trail to navigate and I didn't have anyone with me to help me decide which way to go or call out to me if I made a wrong turn. Some one came up behind and I was so excited to have some one else to run with, but he actually just wanted to pass me. Finally I caught up with runners Wendy and Jason. They were walking in a section I wouldn't have chosen to walk, but I just wanted a social moment so I chatted with them for a few minutes before I went on ahead. After that, I felt much better as I entered the 15 mile aid station, where I think my watch read a time in the low 2:50s. I was hoping for a time around 8 hrs, and I thought that was quite reasonable since I was likely to hit the turnaround point in under 4 hours.

I felt great leaving the aid station, and I found myself running with a sort of sense of urgency, which was just silly. Maybe it was because I could feel the heat coming and this section was very open, so I wanted to get it done before the temps hit the predicted 80+ degrees (running in the heat is definitely a weak point for me). Or it may have been because I wanted to see how far I could get before I saw the lead runners coming back the other direction. Finally I calmed down, and enjoyed cheering the returning runners on. The lead female looked very strong, and I enjoyed the snippet of conversation I heard from the two men behind her trying to determine whether it was even possible to catch her. I finally guessed that I must be within 5-10 minutes of the turnaround when one of the runners headed the other direction told me I had about 1 1/2 miles. What?? I couldn't believe that the last section was the longest one. Finally I saw the aid station beside a lake, but no real clear trail to get there. I could easily run directly to it, but I didn't want to cut the course. So I started running in the opposite direction around the hill I was on. "Jordan, this way!" I heard Mike yell. Oh good, I can just run straight there.

Leaving the aid station I saw Traci coming in with two other women. She had taken a wrong turn and earned herself a bonus mile. This was even her first race past 34 miles. She didn't seem too worse the wear for it though, and I hoped she would catch me soon (she ended up finishing about 30 minutes or so behind me). My time as I left the aid station was 4:01:47. Hmmm, I could try for slightly negative splits to finish in eight hours, or I could respect the heat and keep my promise to myself to run easy. I chose the later which was a good call, because the heat made tasks such as figuring out which way the trail went and climbing over downed trees take much longer for my fuddled mind. I estimate it took me an entire minute to get over most of the trees--they were just too big around. I was surprised at how many people I was passing, especially since I had just seen how far ahead of me they were at the turnaround. Many of them had passed me or dropped me on the way out. My legs really didn't feel sore at all anymore, and my main concern was the heat. It was a nice mental advantage to be running trail I had already run before-I could check off the 15/25 mile aid station, then the big bridge, then the jeep trail....it gave me a sense of moving forward. I hadn't realized just how much of the course wasn't shaded until now, when it was probably 80 degrees and mostly sunny.

I was hot and my water bottle was empty when I hit the 30 mile aid station. I stood staring at the food for a couple minutes, trying to figure out what if anything I could possibly eat. Nothing. I had a couple swallows of gatorade and decided I would just try to eat my shot blocks on the course, which ended up being fine. The 30-35 mile section presented a new problem. My IT band, which had been a little sore for the majority of the race, was now quite angry at me, probably for running 40 miles on uneven trail without bothering to taper first. It was even to the point that I was starting to run with a bit of a limp. I realized that if it got any worse, I might need to drop at mile 35, even as pathetic as it would be to quit 5 miles from the end. But this wasn't my goal race, and hurting myself to set back training for Burning River would be just stupid. Regardless, I would definitely take some ibuprofen at the aid station. We hit the 1/2 mile road section and there was a pretty big hill up ahead that I realized I should probably walk, but I wanted to catch up to the guys ahead of me first for the company. However, once I started running up the hill, my knee suddenly felt great, and my legs still really weren't very sore so I just kept running. I cheerily entered the aid station and a volunteer asked me, "Do you need anything?" "Nope! Just water." "Okay...ibuprofen...-" "OH YEAH! Ibuprofen, please!"

Onto the final section. It had seemed so easy on the way out--oh, maybe that's because it was more downhill then and thus more uphill now. No matter, my knee still felt great and I was going to finish. I was running along cheerily, fighting through sand I didn't remember from the way out, following the orange blazes...hang on: I'm supposed to follow orange FLAGS but YELLOW blazes. Whoops, okay backtrack to the main trail.

Usually the last 5 or so miles of the race are always the worst for me in terms of walking too much, etc. It's got to be mental: When I run a 50 mile race it's 45-50 that are terrible but if some one tricked me into thinking that the race was 55 miles, 45-50 would be fine. But, amazingly, this section felt much the same as the others. And for the last 2 miles or so, I was able to run without a single walking break, even with a little kick at the end. I finished with a final time of 8:15:52, and I'm pretty sure I was 4th female.

All in all, I think the race was a great success. My legs felt pretty good last night and today (though the true test will be when I go for a run tonight) and I had a lot of fun. The temperature was really nice for sitting around, so we enjoyed hanging out for an hour eating pizza and watching friends I had finish. When we got home, we went out to Applebees for margaritas and bacon cheeseburgers...yummy yummy. The entire day was wonderful and a great way to celebrate the end of a block of medical school. I'm very excited to do the Chattooga River 50k with Nathan for our anniversary!

(What I ate: 5 packs of shot blocks, a couple ritz crackers with PB, probably a full banana broken up over the race, some PB and J, some ruffles potato chips, a rice cake, a couple pieces of salted boiled potatoes, and some gatorade)

Thanks for reading and congrats for making it through my lengthy report! I think Nathan will be writing up his run as well.

-Jordan