Crapahuter?

[Chancer]

My first running competition of this season is a cross country race this weekend called la crapahute de ........

Trudge doesnt seem like a worthy translation unless this event is supposed to be a real épreuve like an assault course.

Is there a better translation, a yomp or a blitz perhaps? 

[idun]

crapahute is something to do with rough terrain, it is, isn't it? So it's an endurance race......... surely, rather than say a simple cross country or road race.

[CSV]

My Larousse Anglais defines it as "to plough along" [:)]

(quite appropriate for cross country, I'd have thought)

[Chancer]

[quote user="idun"]crapahute is something to do with rough terrain, it is, isn't it? So it's an endurance race......... surely, rather than say a simple cross country or road race.
[/quote]

Oh dear! I knew it wasnt a road race, I was expecting un trail, this could turn out to be une baptême de feu

Thanks for your reply also CSV!

[idun]

Well if you're lucky it'll just be a cross country race. So that title could be said with a little 'humour', OR a little warning that it could be a bit arduous[Www]

Whatever, good luck![:)]

[Chancer]

In any case it will be good for me, since losing the sight of one eye I have been very wary of uneven ground, I just cant see the changes in level and often trip or run the car up dos d'ânes, I have overcome the fear when trekking and my ankle and leg muscles are much stronger and the reflexes lightening quick, yoga has also helped.

The problem with running is the momentum and the speed with which you must react, the undulating pavements where the downpipes discharge across the trottoir cause me no end of trips.

I had avoided cross country running but then recognised that it was just fear and I had to overcome it so I did and to my great surprise I really enjoy it and have gained acouple of very attractive  regular Sunday morning trail partners, this Friday I am going to hit the other fear head on, we are doing a nocturnal cross country run in practice, if I can manage that then nothing in daylight will phase me.

I remember when I got out of hospital after the string of operations I went on a nocturnal randonée, when it turned dark I just could not walk unaided and was really embarrassed that a kind granny had to hold my hand. It will be a fantastic feeling if I can run iross country in the virtual dark and will open up many more compétitions to me.

Its strange how nearly French men runners around here only want to run on roads and footpaths.

[idun]

You'll have to let us know what the terrain was like and how you did.

Without asking my Dad, maybe, road running is 'easier' on the legs..........and therefore people get better times?

[Patf]

I did jogging once for a few weeks. I found that on the road it really jarred feet and legs. But I think you can get much better footwear now, to cushion that effect.

BTW, another funny word for running is "fartlek"  - swedish, alternating fast and slow.

[Chancer]

They call that fractionné in my athletic club and its a real real killer, unfoirtunately due to other sports classes I cannot train with the athletic club but I see a real difference in those that do which they say is down to the fractionné.

They tell me that there is less impact hors piste and it certainly feels that way to me, I have just bought some dedicated shoes and they have a softer sole, I think its probably better for the joints but worse for the ligaments, sprains etc, it certainly makes your ankles work. 

[idun]

I've just got back from my Dads and he said that the easiest running was road running.  Cross country can your take it out on, him at least, uneven ground, hard ground in summer, or mud.

Have you seen the bare foot runners:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarahumara_people

[soupagirl]

My Collins Robert dictionary says yomp.

It also says bonk as in 'faire l'amour'.

You might get more than you bargained for!

[NormanH]

A romp rather than a yomp?

Knowing that Chancer consorts with language assitantes the mind boggles [6]

[woolybanana]

Out of interest, does it have anything to do with orienteering?

[idun]

Orienteering is course d'orientation, and this doesn't sound like this to me, is it Chancer?

[Chancer]

I dont thinks so, I'll know more after doing it Sunday, I'm expecting an off piste cross country race but dont know just how challenging the water hazards will be, whether there are obstacles etc, I know the routes are balisé (I used to think that meant swept, cleaned, removed of débris but I was thinking of balayer) but the girls have often got lost when they have split up. There seems to be no solidarity once in a competition but I suppose that is logical really.

No Young language assistantes for the last couple of years Norman, how I do miss them but both my long term tenants are Young Professional females one a foreigner which compensâtes to a degree, I hasten to add not the kind of Professional females that my establishment was famous for since it was built and even for decades after the banning of maisons closes [:P]

I havn't told them and I Wonder if any of their workmates have [:D]

[Chancer]

I was both stunned and delighted today to find that the Emmaus warehouse at Amiens had an English book section [:-))]

There for the sum of €1 I found an absolute gem which I recommend to anyone like me who wants to know what obscure words and phrases like crapahuter mean, it is called " Dictionary of modern colloquial french"  ISBN 0-7100-9704-2, amazingly my copy came from my local county Library in the UK, I bet it has a story to tell.

Anywayn Crapahuter is in there, it says: to go on manouvres, to carry out military exercises, to have a tough work out, to do strenous gym exercises, looks like my gut feeling of yomping was not far off which is often the case when you just go with the "feel" of a conversation.

There are literally thousands of real gems in this book, I am going to read one page each night, I am going to share one with you to give you a flavour of the diversity of just one colloquialism.

Motte:

Faire la motte: To go fifty_fifty

Se faire défoncer la motte: To engage in passive sodomy [:-))] 

[NormanH]

Abe has that book, also at 1€ but look at the postage [:-))]

http://www.abebooks.com/Dictionary-Modern-Colloquial-French/10681895676/bd

As a matter of 'interest' the maison de repos where I spent a couple of months recuperating i 2011 was ....

à la Grande Motte [blink]

[Chancer]

I think the price and postage is very reasonable, its a large hardback book, an inch bigger all round than my large Collins Roberts English-French and at least half as thick, bet it would cost €20 for me to send it to you within France so $5 is a bargain.

The name of your rest home? Very apt given your condition [:D]

[suein56]

[quote user="Chancer"]

I think the price and postage is very reasonable, its a large hardback book, an inch bigger all round than my large Collins Roberts English-French and at least half as thick, bet it would cost €20 for me to send it to you within France so $5 is a bargain.

[/quote]

Amazon.fr has it both new and secondhand it seems. The ex-library copies might be paperback, though at 1€80 plus 2€99 postage that seems v reasonable to me.

http://www.amazon.fr/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_fr_FR=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&url=search-alias%3Denglish-books&field-keywords=Dictionary%20of%20modern%20colloquial%20french

Sue

[Chancer]

Interesting that all the cheap sellers, and what makes them cheap is the postage, are UK bookshops selling into France.

The French sellers seem to think that the €46 cover price is more correct.

[soupagirl]

This site is interesting, it's not just slang but idioms etc.

http://www.languagerealm.com/french/frenchslang.php

[idun]

So if that is what your book says Chancer, I'll stick with it being an endurance race, and as I said before, maybe crapahuter is said a bit tongue in cheek........? perhaps, so it may not be 'that' hard.

[Chancer]

Well I did it and I would liken it to a test of endurance, not exactly an assualt course but very very challenging conditions and very hilly.

Your Father is right Idun, it is very hard on the body, not just the ankles and legs, they are more or less recovered and will certainly be so after a good nights sleep (I'm going to bed now!) but its all the core muscles and my fesses that are aching, I know if I get muscle pain before 48 hours (when it usually appears) then I have really overdone it and in 48 hours things will be really bad.

Glad I did it, it has boosted my confidence and done wonders for my dynamic balance, I did fall once, face first into a muddy pit like bog snorkelling but all the other times I did some dramatic saves, probably why the core is complaining, I'm so glad to have been doing yoga for a few years.

I feel like I have done double the distance at least, I wasnt tired, plenty of energy and carburant left but in the final kms my body was screaming stop.

I could see straight away it was a hard core event, all the competitors were seriously fit, no fun runners, I was 59th in class whereas I have been 2nd in class in local events,  what made this trial famous, or perhaps infamous was the year all the snow fell they were the only sporting event that wasnt cancelled, FR3 Picardie went along and it was on all the news channels giving it now a reputation of a serious challenge, une baptême de feu for me though.

[NormanH]

Congratulations. I confess to smiling at the description of what you fell into thinking that the title sounded very appropriate.

Crapahunter wasn't it? [6]

Your progress in physical fitness is in parallel to the progress you made in French, but whereas I could imagine emulating the language I could never, even before being ill, have done what you have done in sport.

[Chancer]

Neither could I Norman, not in my wildest dreams and it is all thanks to the generosity of someone who used to be on this forum, they invited to stay at a boutique weight loss boot camp as a case study and if successfull allow them to use my video diary for their marketting, it was successfull beyond my dreams, OK I have put the work in beyond my time there but they gave me the tools to do the job, the knowledge, the hunger (I want to say envie) and it now brings me great pleasure to do something that when I have tried before, at school etc brought me nothing but grief and humiliation.

I felt very humble this morning at the depart with over 500 licensed athlètes, I had to pinch myself, part of me was saying that you dont belong here, the part of me that has been conditioned (by myself) all my life.