August 21, 2010

Lazy and beautiful

Lazy, that's me. Although I managed to post three times in the first five days of August (how very unlike me), I am still supposed to post an account of my July holiday, since, as one may guess, those did not stop to a few bike rides, no matter how steep.

I will use a trick, since (OK, let's start with the lame excuses now) 1. we are already August  21 and therefore July sounds a bit like something out of the Middle Age, 2. I am writing - well, trying to to be precise - from Austria, on an Austrian keyboard, which is nothing like the English nor the French ones and has all the letters in the wrong places and I am starting to feel very annoyed (but maybe should I instead be grateful, to have, this time, have an excuse for typos), 3. I am also already behind on telling about the August break.

That's where the beautiful comes handy. Pictures of beautiful mountains, that´s all you'll get. Oh, and a runner struggling up it for good measure, as we did not hike, just ran this year, since we figured that was the perfect way to spend time in the mountains doing something we liked while spending time with Malo. Like we needed an excuse to run where most people would find it difficult enough to walk AND breath...

Steep uphill running,

 Which will soon be followed by steep downhills...
... very fun indeed, if less friendly for the knees.
Sky running, wearing a skirt, but I felt I was going strong enough to pull it!

One can guess the trail behind what you will admit is a very handsome male
model, doubling, lucky me, as my husband.

Another day, another trail...
... the shortest way is a straight line. Up.

Forget the basics of photography: the important stuff here
is... the background.

Same comment
(and that's lucky actually: so much as foreground that it is not even on the picture
was a much narrower, very airy trail, bordered by a vertical backdrop, which I had to run
because I found it less scary than walking.

Could somebody please tell well meaning hikers thinking of themselves as photographers that
one should not cut people's feet when taking a shot of them, especially if they are RUNNERS.

Martin "icing" his knees after our 4 hour run.


On the way to our target, a 3000m+ summit at the border with Italy. That run/hike could also
have doubled as a sort of recce run, since a race is taking place here, which we would quite like to do...


 Running? Skiing? Skunning?

On our way down, happy bunnies marmots.

Back home, getting comforted if there was any need,
and then assisting Malo with some sporty activity of his own:

Swimming

Adrenaline sports

And finally getting used to waving to the crowd like a champion
(of what is what still needs to be decided).

4 comments:

cherelli said...

OMG that area looks absolutely beautiful!!! What an amazing place for a trail run (though, um, I believe I would be with the oxygen-sucking masses walking :) ) Yep, those photos summarise your trip very well. Thanks, yet another area to get to for the bucket list :)

PiccolaPineCone said...

wow. how gorgeous and hard core. we too just vacationed in Austria near the Italian border, also near the Slovenian border. I spent my time running in the valleys at 1000 m thinking "oh, this altitude is killing me" (seriously, I am that wimpy) and then taking chairlifts up to 2100 m so we could "hike" up to the 2300 m summits. you guys are HARD CORE!!

sea legs girl said...

I thought you were finally going to admit how beautiful YOU are. But anyway, were those the Alps at the Austrian-Itlian border? There must not be another place like it in the world. Not sure it was near where the Trans Apline was, but it reminds me... Looks like such a great trip. And Malo is just so adorable!!!!!

Mapp said...

Cherelli, maybe we do a deal: I come and you show me around Canada (which I have never been to but dream of visiting one day), and I show you the wonders of the French Alps!

PPC and SLG - apologies since my post was clearly confusing: this was in the Southern French Alps, where we spent 10 days in July. It is just that I only got to write about it in August, by which date we were in Austria, visiting Martin's family. Less trail running unfortunately (but Malo got to run with me in the Chariot), but a bike trip as a family, which was really cool and which I plan to write about soon... famous last words...