the beginning and la fin… Written on November 14, 2011, by andys.

Au revoir UK Salomon team

The 2011 running season started and ended in a weekend for me. After a year of ITB niggles I finally managed a good race at the Templiers, becoming the first Brit to take the win in the event’s history. But after one warm up race (Husky), followed by an incompleted training race (Cavalls) and finally this great result, it’s time to draw curtains on 2011 and in doing so say au revoir to the UK team.

I’m going to take this opportunity to thank Tim, Matt and all the runners for the awesome time I’ve had as part of the UK Salomon set-up over the last few years. It remains to be seen whether the French team managers will go to the extraordinarily lengths of getting up at 4am in pouring rain to serve us porridge at the tent door before a 50km mountain run!… – They certainly have a high standard to live up to.

Next year then. As part of the French Salomon team I’ll be focusing on this country’s trail scene, with a few escapades onto the higher mountains of the Sky Running series. After some long hard consideration I finally decided not to do the San Fransisco 50 miler in 3 weeks time, opting instead to save my legs for 2012, kick starting at the Romeufontaine up in the Pyrenees in mid Jan. Despite my only race being 72km this year, next year I’ll be focusing on more moderate distances, 30-40km. The advantage being that these now feel like quite a sprint.

I leave this blog with an extract of an interview I did for a Spanish mag a couple of weeks back.

Salut then!

Interview with Andy Symonds

After a year, you won a race again. How does it feel?

The last year has been a good one on many perspectives, with a move to the south of France, a new job and the birth of our second child, Léonie, in July. But on a running front it’s been a nightmare. Shortly after Cavalls del Vent last year I raced and won the Original Mountain Marathon, and until two weeks ago (les Templiers) that was the last time I raced competitively. So to come back and win a race with very little build up other than a couple of months of enjoyable running in Provence – it feels very good indeed!

Tell us about your recovery. How did you work on it?

When you’re injured for such a long period you obviously try a lot of things to make it right. I did all the usual ITB stuff, stretches, one-leg squats, tons of massage etc etc. I even rolled about on a foam roller (often with my 2 year old son sitting on top of me) for several months. But all of that was to no avail. Eventually I tried a cortisone injection and instead of reducing the inflammation I had an incredibly bad reaction to the jab and was suddenly unable to even cycle any distance without excruciating pain. The final cure came in July this year when I tried some insoles which were custom made by the Salomon podiatrist – as soon as I wore them I could run pain free, it was quite a strange feeling!

What was the hardest part of it?

The hard part of dealing with long term injury is that you never know when it’s gong to clear up. At least when you’re ill you know it’s short term and within a few days you’ll bounce back. Psychologically it’s very hard to watch a season of races pass by, races that you want to participate in, not knowing when will be your next. But it’s not just that – for me running is a perfect means of clearing the mind, it’s the ultimate down-time, and to not be able to practice my favourite hobby was tough.

How is your training right after a recovery like that?

Slightly apprehensive of the injury flaring up again, I was cautious in my return to full training. Starting with 20 minute jogs I built up to 1-hour slow runs and after a couple of weeks was running on the mountains again, after a month I could run 3 hours on the hills and started pushing the pace a little – that’s when I knew that I really was on the road to recovery. I only started doing speed work two weeks before the Templiers race, managing to squeeze in three good sessions which I think made the difference for me in that race.

What would you tell a person who has a year of recovery after an injury, like you had?

Move house and country, change your job and have a child – it’s the best way to keep your mind off the frustration of not being able to run.

After this victory, what are your next projects in trail running?

It’s really the end of the season (even though I’ve only done one race), so I’ll enjoy a bit of a chill period, making sure I fully recover from les Templiers before building up the training again. Next year I’m going to make the most of my relocation to France by competing in a lot of French races and using them to explore France a little. I’d also like to get over to Italy and possibly Spain once or twice to compete in some of the classic Sky Races. For me nothing beats the high mountain races.

Now you are currently living in France. What are the differences between France and Great Britain in trail running?

The difference between the running scenes is huge. In the UK I describe myself as a fell runner. We race up and down hills all over the country. Usually there is no strictly predefined route, and you may not even be on paths of tracks, so you have to find the best route to and between the tops of the hills and back to the finish again. As a result it’s often a wet and muddy affair and hence I’ve been working with Salomon over the last year or so on the FellCross – a shoe specifically designed for this type of terrain. In France however the races really are on trails, only here would I truly describe my sport as “trail running”. Much as I love the British hills, I have to say that it is quite refreshing being able to go out running for several hours and come back clean and dry! The down side though is that I’m not getting to use the FellCross shoes very much!

This year we saw you in Cavalls, but you are a great specialist in stage races. What kind of races do you feel more comfortable at?

It’s a hard question as I’d really describe myself as a big mountain runner. The bigger the hills and the rougher the course, the better for me. And yes, I have had a lot of success with the stage format of the Transalpine run. That said, les Templiers is a very runnable course with very little in terms of real technicality. So I think I’m quite adaptable to different formats really, so long as I do the right training in the build up.

I do love the Cavalls race and will certainly be returning to that race in the future. It’s got some good big climbs and some cracking sections of single-track. This year the plan was always to use it as a training run in preparation for les Templiers, unfortunately I had stomach issues on the day and was unable to finish this year.

This year, Spanish runners made a great race at Transalpine Run, race that you won twice. What is the secret to succeed in this kind of races?

The Transalpine race (especially the western route) is like eight Sky Races back to back. You have to be fast enough to move at speed on the flatter sections, comfortable on rough mountain terrain, willing and able to throw yourself down at a good rate and most importantly able to recover sufficiently to do it again the next day, and the day after, and after and… We saw this year that Jethro and Joe (my brother) were rapidly catching the victorious Spanish team in the later stages – really highlighting the importance of getting the pacing right from start to finish. The Spanish team were obviously incredibly strong this year, but there is no doubt that they were suffering at the end!

If you could choose, what race would you like to win?

There are a lot of races I would like to win! For me, running is a means of exploring different environments in different parts of the world, so I like to change my calendar each year and take on new challenges in new places. That said, there are a few classics which will never loose their attraction for me, such as some of the classic Italian Sky Races.

Trail running is becoming more and more professional. What is your vision of our sport?

Trail running is becoming more “professional” as a result of more people doing it. As a sport develops and starts to attract a wider audience, as trail running is doing, more people invest in the products and more people enter the races. As a consequence a lot more money now circulates around the sport and it is only natural that the top athletes get a share of that. It doesn’t seem right that organisers can draw full blown salaries from events where you’re awarded with a kilo of cheese if you win the event. Most of the big races are now offering prize money for the top runners, along with expenses etc and for me this is normal for a sport which generates a certain level of interest, publicity and cash. It would be great if athletes could benefit sufficiently from their sport to be able to opt to work part time or not at all in order to focus on their running.

Where do you see trail running in the next years?

The races seem to be getting more popular and many of them longer as well. Personally I would love to see a few more real mountain races out there, races where you run up proper summits, even if they are steep, rocky and contain what some might describe as ‘dangerous’ sections. Sadly I think that with mass participation a lot of organisers don’t want to risk treacherous courses and the direction is more towards the safer option of ‘big track running’. Mountain running has really suffered in this respect. The World ‘Mountain’ Running Championship doesn’t go anywhere near mountains – it’s turned into a tough cross-country event (whilst the world cross-country event often resemble road races).