Well we survived a four day recce of the whole of the TMB route, well we missed 5 miles off cos we needed a celebratory wine in Chamonix before heading back to where we started in Les Houches. Catherine did the la Plagne race two days before we started, she's completely mad and her legs can vouch for that as she was lead legged for the first day but still managed to keep up with Alex and me on our fresh legs. We did 40km per day and it hurt! But not as much as we thought it would, as we discovered the wonders of trekking poles. Apparently most of the runners in TMB (2000 this year) use trekking poles, so we purchased a pair each of top notch Black Diamond Alpine CF from AccelerateUK website and off we set. We dragged several mates out with us, or was it them that dragged us out! Whatever - we were joined by Mark Hartell, David Wade, Stephen Pyke and Ross Litherland. We also picked up a very nice French man called laurent, he was photographer of the group as he took one every 50 meters we reckoned! (Photos to follow) .They mostly took it in turns to endure our chit chat and we would all meet up for snacks along route or at the pre-arranged huts we booked, not sure they could cope with 3 stick wielding giggly girls. The sticks made trashing of our legs a past, we stormed up hills and even loaped down them! We were nick named "Run Like a Girl, Climb like a Goat". There was severel add ons to that title that are unrepeatable on the internet but included several other animals and references to various activities! The route was fantastic and we can't wait to do the event now, we even have a time set for around 40 hours if all goes to plan and the blisters we have just picked up recover and we are well rested. The recce has definately given us confidence that our training has worked and we are ready. All we have to do now is survive the next 3 weeks without misshap, illness or anything else that could damage our assault on the french racing scene. You will be glad to know that there was no tussocks on the route, no groughs to navigate by and mostly the weather was great! Bring it on! We are ready!

---