www.lesvosgirunners.com
Only two weeks after Connemara Ultra-marathon I ran a two day race covering 98Km and 3200+ in France. It's been a short trip of 5 days to a region I've often passed through by car, traveling between Belgium and Switzerland, but never visited. We (my wife, daughter and myself) stayed in Niederbronn-les-bains, a small thermal station south of the Northern Vosges. We offered ourself a days visit of the old town centre of Strassbourg and another day in the natural park of the Northern Vosges. We very much enjoyed the local food and excellent white wines the region is famous for.
On a freezing saturday morning, I lined up for the first race of 73K and 2400+. I started of in the leading group of the over 200 competitors at the start. The race takes you throughout the national park, passing by a dozen of ruins of medieval castles. A group of boars took a 100m sprint just aside us, adding an extra doses of adrenaline. I ended 12th that day, placing me at a third place in the ranking of the Challengers (two days racers). One night to recover. Cold showers, pasta, stretching and sleep had to do it.
On sunday morning I had some difficulty getting out of my bed, but as I walked to the starting line, I gradually felt better. The MACVI is a race of 25K and 800+. With about 500 participants at the starting line, it was difficult to tell who was there the day before. I gave myself only one option. Run as fast as my legs allowed me and hope the other Challengers were as tired as I was. The first 5Km were pretty hard. Heavy legs, hard to find my breath, but from then on, I started feeling better and better. In the end I felt like flying of that mountain. Third yesterday, I ended up being Fifth in the final ranking ! So early in the season, this is giving me very nice perspectives. A spaghetti and a couple of beers got me back on track !
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