Barefoot Pat' Blog

4 heures, 22 kms, 1200m +   http://www.movescount.com/moves/move64242803 Avec Kristof, de sortie de crève et d'orteils explosés (8 sur 10 aux Crêtes du salève) Pour une fois on ne s'est pas perdu et on a trouvé le chemin pour aller à la Muraz depuis l'Observatoire, et on a rencontré un gentil blaireau, pas farouche du tout Et vers la fin, je sentais que la sandale gauche avait un peu de flottement dans le posé. Elle était toute prête à lacher juste en arrivant au parking. Timing parfait car samedi prochain au col de Jalouvre ça aurait été moins fun. Quoique ça ne prenne environ que 10 minutes à réparer dans la nature.

Finally a trail I could run in Huaraches. The week before was wet but not as wet as the week before the Malpassant. So I took my Skechers and my Xeroshoes, and asked the organizers just before the race. They said that it was OK almost everywhere, save for a small portion at the end, in the last leg below the Salève. Indeed, it was damp but OK, save for this last part, with super super viscous mud in the end, I had to run in the dirt and dead leaves after to get my Huaraches to stick again to my feet.   And now, I am ready for the Trail du Gypaete in Huaraches...

After a week of pouring rain, sunshine just for the race. It was so wet and muddy that I decided to wear my Skechers GoBionic Trail instead of my Huaraches. That was a good idea. Trails were turned into streams, and we had to cross mud puddles big enough to drown people in them. It was a child's dream to run through them full speed yelling:"Watch out, it's gonna be wet", to the runners trying to avoid it on the sides....

This time, I had the perfect match in terms of clothing. But the day before, at the Expo... We got the chance to touch a living legend of Running, Scott Jurek. The guy is soooo coooool... Then, we just had to run and then eat and drink...and rejoice... See you next year...

I had a dream, to cross Crete in one day using only human energy, and going through the most beautiful and wild scenery. So the idea was to access the Gorges of Samaria by kayak, coming from Loutro on the South coast, then to hike up the Gorges and run or bike down to Hania on the North coast. We enrolled a couple of crazy friends and tested the feasability of this adventure, timing, water points, etc. Good news, it is realistic to do this in one day. So, now we can plan for another edition with more optimized logistics and options for participants, especially, the choice between bike or run for the last part (a marathon from Omalos to Hania). In green, the kayak, 13 km, in red, the Gorges, 13 km, 1250 D+, in yellow the bike (run) 42.2 km. It took us, 3 h for the kayak (almost no waves and no wind, very lucky), 5 hours for the hike (very slow, can do faster next time), and 2 hours for the bike. With all the "transition times", the total was from 6h45 am to...