Liz Yelling Camp continued

On Wednesday after a 8am Breakfast we drove to Plateau des Glieres, a fascinating, beautiful, plateau which was the centre of the French resistance; from 31st January to 26th March 1944; less than 500 French Resistance fighters defended the plateau hemmed in by snow and the Vichy reinforcements. They left just before 7,000 men of the German 157th Division launched an assault, 149 of them were shot, executed or died whilst being deported. On 1st August more than 3000 members of the resistance gathered on the plateau to receive a huge Allied parachute drop which, on 19th August 1944, helped the maquis to liberate the departement before the Allies arrived. A National Monument to the Resistance was built in 1973 at the initiative of the Survivors of Glieres, there is a History Trail, in the middle of the plateau which traces the daily life of the battalion and the way that it was organised during the Winter of 1944.

a not very great image of the map ..

but we were here to run ..

Stephanie, from Chamonix joined us our Mountain Guide for the day

we started with a short warmup

Sue

Liz in her 'Alpine mode' with John, Susan and Andrea

Vicky following with the pushchair ..

Fiona

Steph gave us some tips on hill Climbing then it was time to try them out in Practice; first a steep hill climb section then a long loop around the plateau ..

Steph - our Guide - at the top of the 1st climb

Beautiful views - it is impossible to appreciate the scale from a photo ..

Rachel on one of the long hill sections

followed by Jenny Tamsin Brian and Sue ..

a panorama ..

Steph in photography mode..

Steph and Hayley, striking a pose?

wooded sections  - Jenny

Hayley Sue and Tamsin

we were joined by a herd of goats - with Brian

we thought initially that they were going up to the farm to be milked

we couldn't get past, but at least it was an excuse to hike for a while..

the end of the climb on the loop.. second time around ..

We returned to the Chalet for lunch then another recovery run up the valley. The weather was gorgeous but hot..

Mont Blanc was in full view so some of us run to the Hamlet at the top of the valley, getting very warm - I left my trainers and shorts on ..

but actually it turned out that the view was better further down

and we were looking for the perfect shot!

Thursday was track day in Thones; after a warmup 1x1mile, 8x 300metre at threshold followed by 1x1 mile at marathon or half marathon pace.

part of the warmup

finishing one of the 300 metre reps 

full speed?

smack down with Tamsin!

Fiona and Brian ..

We went to an excellent local restaurant that evening where in the grand tradition of Liz Yelling's camp I shared a 1Kg Rib roast steak ..

Friday was our last day, I had a later flight to Gatwick so whereas some had a 6.30 run with breakfast at 7.30 I ran at 8 with breakfast at 9. There were a few sore heads after the party but these soon cleared with the morning sun and moving in the mountains..

leaving the Chalet

long shadows - airliners overhead

up the hill

Mont Blanc

striking the pose

sunrise over Mont Blanc

Rachel -serious star jumps

the Cross

Jenny - felling happy!

more star jumps

Rachel Rob and Jenny - final photos before the descent

Rob Rachel and me

a final view of Mont Blanc

With many thanks to Liz and Hayley and all the other guests and staff for such a fantastically enjoyable week in the Alps - hopefully we will meet again soon and I am looking foreward to the wedding in Cork..

I ran the Queen Elisabeth park run on Saturday at a tempo pace 23:48 - a slow one on tired legs .. waiting for the legs to heel for the UTMR Camp 150k in 4 days next week. 

Watch this space!