Exploring a new town

We got to Morzine after a long day in the car. First order of business - a long run of course!

It wasn't an ideal time to tackle a long run. It was stinking hot and I'd been sitting in the van all day in transit from La Grave. We'd driven the long way to see for ourselves what the Tour riders had in store on Col de la Madeleine a few days later. Let's just say it was frightening enough in a car.

So, armed with a map of our new home town and my phrase book in case of emergency, I set off in search of 24ks of semi flat terrain. It turned out to be an ideal way to explore.

I headed into the town and made a note of the locations of the boulangeries and fromageries. There were a few to choose from! There were also plenty of cafes and eateries to keep us fuelled up.

I was also keen to check out the status of the town's 50m pool. Would it be appropriate for lap swimming or a bit hit and miss like Alpe d'Huez? I ran down through the sport zone of the town, past not only the pool but also the equestrian centre and trails. My planned swim training didn't look promising in a pool full of holiday makers and children, screaming with delight in the cool water.

I looped around and headed back up towards Montriond until I ran out of footpath, so back down to the main town, then round and round, to make up the Ks.

I'd started my run just after 5pm, so as I got further and further into the run, the bars and restaurants in town were just starting to fill up, mainly with the hundreds of mountain bikers in town. I got a few admiring looks from some of them, so I must be getting down to an appropriate race weight...

I headed up the hill through town for the last time and saw on the town's electronic notice board that the temperature was still a toasty 27 degrees. No wonder this run hadn't felt so good... Here's hoping for milder temperatures when I explore the old town of Regensburg in a few weeks time.