Corrida de Houilles

I woke up this morning disappointed. The sore throat that had been niggling me last night had not disappeared but had gotten worse during the night and I was feeling down. This couldn't be classed as a real "man cold" but it was serious enough to depress me and to put me off the race today. Even a great curry at lunch time from Jamie Oliver's new book wasn't enough to cure the problem. Only one solution, if I wasn't fit enough to attempt a PB over 10km for me then I'd ensure that Laurence did everything in her power to achieve hers.

And that was it; the decision was taken; my attempts at a new PB for 10km before the year ended were over but a new attempt for Laurence was on. Laurence's record over the distance stood at 49:50 in Vincennes in June and I was sure that she was capable of doing better. The main problem is a lack of belief in her ability and then having structured training to achieve her goals. The training has improved markedly with the interval sessions at the club which has built up her resistance and her pace over the shorter distances. This was the first race to see the progress that had been made.

The race was at 4:30 pm and the conditions were dry, bright but very cold with the thermometer hanging around the 0°C point. Just under 500 runners were tkaing part in the main race which was only open to club runners who could run 10km in under 50:00 for men and 60:00 for women. There were some high class runners taking part too: Micah Kogo, Edwin Cheruiyot Soi, Jaouad Gharib amongst the men and Sylvia Kibet and Christelle Daunay amongst the women. The gun went and we were hard pushed to find a rhythm with the narrow streets to begin with. Laurence was running agressively, pushing her way through the runners and so I followed anxious that she was going to burn out too quickly if she started too fast. We had 3 loops to manage through the streets of Houilles and in the first kilometre was the 350m uphill that would take us to the highest point of the route.

Laurence managed the hill easily and we were cheered by Miguel at the top, who was out to encourage the St Germain runners. We were already up on the schedule as I had fixed a time of 4:52 per km into the Garmin and after 1km we were 12 seconds up. This continued for the rest of the first loop where Laurence ran 4:49, 4:27, 4:32 for the first 3km respectively. The second loop also began well and we could hear the tannoys announcing the progress of the first group of runners who were now chasing us down. They went past at 8km for them or almost 5 km for us. They were beautiful to watch. It just looked so easy as they ran past at over 21 km/h. This seemed to encourage Laurence and she picked the pace up again chasing 2 female runners in front with matching yellow T shirts and another female vet just ahead. We went past them but as we began the 3rd and final loop, they came past us up the hill.

This was probably the low point of the race for Laurence as I could see that she had given almost everything. She was red from the exertion and I remember only too well the feeling around 6 - 7k when you wonder if it's worth bothering. I tried to encourage her through this section and then to stretch out afterwards on the downhills. The 2 yellow T's were out of reach by now but Laurence caught the third female in red and then stuck with her over the final sections.

She lost her in the last 400m as Laurence maintained her pace and the other lady accelerated towards the finishing line but that wasn't important now: all that counted was the time. She crossed the line and stoppped the watch: 47:58. A new PB and a great time considering the hill in the course. I'm convinced that she can improve by another 30 seconds easily over a flat course.

Full race stats are as follows:

4:49, 4:27, 4:32, 4:37, 4:51, 4:44, 4:54, 5:01, 4:47, 4:44

Anyway, I was very proud and enjoyed running the course with her, possibly more than when I'm busting a gut by myself ! Will try and do this more often next year.

Well done love - I hope this encourages you to run more races next year.

P.S. I almost forgot: winner (Micah Kogo) finished in 28:04 and first woman (Sylvia Kibet) in 31:50. First time that I've been lapped by a woman over a 3 lap course !

Matrimonial bliss

Took the day off work today to make the most of the Christmas break. To truly benefit from the day, I went running with Laurence to Chateau du Val through the forest.

We set off at a steady pace and I couldn't help but reminisce on those days when we first went out together and Laurence would sometimes come running with me. In those days, she would begin by putting on at least 5 layers of clothing so that she didn't feel the cold, slip on an old pair of grotty trainers and jog around, breathing only through the nose so as to avoid a stitch. I would always despair, tell her to speed up, to move her legs faster and finally we would inevitably fall out with Laurence telling me that she would never, ever go running with me again.

Those days are long gone and nowadays Laurence is fitter than ever and running faster than I was able to in those early days. Luckily I've improved too or I wouldn't be able to keep up and my male pride would be forever tarnished. We were running at a steady 12 km/h with every kilometre taking a fraction over 5 minutes. The morning was lovely: crisp and dry and the forest had a great wintery feel to it.

Laurence ran well and is a natural road-runner. The sections over the tracks and up through the woods were harder for her and she slowed a little on the pace over these sections. We arrived back at the house after 7.1 km in 36:36. I was then that she announced that her record for the course was 36:15 - if I'd have known beforehand then we could have broken that today without any problem.

Lovely run, very relaxing and a real pleasure to accompany my wife.

Wednesday off

Making the most of Christmas time by having a well-deserved day off work today. Only going back on Monday so the prospect of a nice, long weekend is brilliant and cheering me up immensely.

I set out on the Maisons Laffitte town circuit which I used to do regularly when I was training for the marathon. Since I've been attending the club sessions on Tuesday and Thursday nights, I've tended to run this route a lot less so it was quite a pleasure to go out and blast this one today.

I left the house just after 8:00 am and it was a really foggy day with visibility down to 400 metres. It was just beginning to get light so I left the headlamp in the drawer and set off. Temperature was about 5°C so ideal weather for running.

The legs felt great from the start. I could tell that my stride lengths were long and that the pace was going easily. I felt fantastic and all of the recent stress from work began to leave me. I went through 2km in 8:13 and then maintained the pace through the park, leaving the park in 26:31.

I began to feel that I could now beat my PB at this point as I thought that my best was somewhere around this time and I was still feeling strong. I then forgot about the time as I ran the next 2 - 3 km and jsut enjoyed it, pushing up the hills through town and along the roads, thinking about the race this weekend.

At 10km, I looked at my watch again: 40:48, now I knew that I would beat my PB and ran strongly over the last kilometre to finish the course in 44:43 for 11.1 km or 4:02 per km. Beat the previous record by 30 seconds: amazing !!

What a way to end the year !

Sunday stroll

It was the usual Sunday route through the forest of St Germain starting from the Mesnil le Roi church. Laurence and I arrived at 9:15 and met up with Pierre-Henri, Sophie, Louise and Ralph.
Since Nick was away skiing this morning at the Stade de France (!!), I thought that I would run with Laurence and Louise and just take it easy.

We set off very slowly and I jogged alongside the women listening to the conversation. I can't understand how they can run and talk quite so incessantly while doing so. Anyway, they were not running very fast so I decided that I would head off and run at my own pace. My legs were extremely heavy after yesterday's run and also Thursday night's session. It was hard to pick up the pace above 14km/h so I forced my self to run as fast as possible and to get the legs used to stretching out in order to get them functioning properly again.

I ran to the half-way point on the loop and then headed back to meet Laurence and Louise. Thierry had joined the group with Sophie, P-H and Ralph and was jogging easily with them. I picked up the ladies as they ran along and then ran with them for 5 minutes before heading off at my own pace again.

Kilometre times went as follows:

6:01; 5:51; 4:32; 4:26; 4:13; 4:40; 5:30; 5:05; 4:23; 4:06; 4:19; 4:10

All of the sections over 5 minutes per kilometre were when accompanying the girls. What is unusual looking at the Garmin analysis is to see the average speed higher than the max speed over the lap. This is obviously a mistake and shows the problems of the instantaneous speeds on the Garmin, especially when running steadily.

Looking forward to an easy week now before the race on Sunday. Going to need some rest if I'm to pull off a reasonable time.

Long Saturday

I think it was all due to the sight of my weight gradually increasing every time that I stood on the scales that finally decided me to go out for a long run this weekend. My weight has increased from below 75kg to just above 77kg recently and something had to be done. The lack of swimming due to an increased workload hasn't helped either. I called Nick and asked him if he was interested in a long run and since he seems to have gone down with the same symptoms; a long run it was.

We set off slowly through the forest on the usual Sunday training route. It was pretty muddy underfoot and it was difficult to run comfortably along the horse tracks. I was further weighed down with the camelbak, carrying over a litre of water, some gel and some emergency biscuits. Nick had a water bottle on him too, but had nothing on the energy front. The initial pace was just below 12 km/h, as I'd promised that we were going for a long run and that the apce didn't matter. As we finished the first circuit though and started heading off on the second bigger loop, we'd increased our speed to 12.5 km/h, running each kilometre in just under 4:50.

Neither of us had run over 20km in several weeks, so being a little cautious, I called a quick break at 15km where we shared a gel and took some liquid on board. Off again towards St Germain Castle now and the pace increased suddenly to 4:31 for a km as the gel began to take effect.

Past St Germain castle and the Place Royale and a long run downhill towards the Seine where we crossed the bridge to Le Pecq and Montesson. This was a welcome relief as we coasted down the hill, looking at some other runners as they struggled in the opposite direction. We went through the half-marathon mark and Nick announced that it was his 4th fastest semi ever in 1:42. We were both tiring by now and so we stopped for the emergency rations and wolfed down the biscuits from the rucksack. Back along the Seine to Sartrouville and Maisons Laffitte before running back along the river to home.

Good run of 29.3 km in 2:22 so an average speed of 12.3 km/h or 4:52 per km. Most importantly 2139 calories eliminated. Christmas dinner is feasible now !

Maxing out

Well it was always going to be hard, especially after everyone having taken it very easily on Tuesday, but Miguel planned a real devil of a session: 1000m fast, 2000m, 2000m, 800m fast off 300m recoveries.

We ran the warm-up around the usual route in St Germain and headed back to the track for the hard stuff. Laurence and Nick were there along with the fastest runners: Jean-Marc, Thierry, Bruno and Miguel.

We set off on the 1km course and I went for it as though it was a race. The others didn't understand and took it easily at first, following me around the first 400m. Miguel and Jean-Marc went past then and I tried to follow but they put a few metres on me over the next 400m and it was over the last 200m that I put on a burst and finished the 1000m in 3:16. I was shattered, having given everything.

Miguel then told me that we'd run the next 2km at 3:30 pace. I told him that I couldn't and he replied that that was 15 seconds per kilometre slower than we'd just run. They set off, Miguel, Jean-Marc and Thierry, but I couldn't follow. I dropped off after 200m and tried to find a comfortable pace to finish. I managed the 2km in 7:30 precisely.

The second 2km was even harder mentally to envisage. I could feel my legs tightening from the beginning with the lactate levels rising. I just found a cruising pace and forced myself to keep running despite the fatigue. Bruno went ahead of me here and I just hang on to him overtaking him over the last 200m to finish a couple of seconds ahead of him. This one was slower again though and I only managed 7:40 for the 2km.

This was when I found out that there was still another 800m interval to run. Completely spent now, I walked, crawled the recovery and set off for another 2 laps. I couldn't stay with Bruno or Thierry on this one though and just hang on as best I could to finish in around 2:50.

Very hard but satisfying session: 12km all up.

Easy Tuesday

Tuesday's session would have been a lot easier if I hadn't been so stressed about arriving for the session on time. Another busy day at work meant that I arrived at the club 15 minutes late and so I had to get changed in the car and chase off looking for the rest of the runners.

The planned session was an easy 45 minute run and I found the group by running the warm-up route backwards until I bumped into them.

We ran around St Germain twice and then a few loops around the playing fields totalling 7.25km in 43:46 - nice and gentle.

Corrida d'Issy les Moulineaux

Race day - and what a miserable day it was too. First the alarm rang at 7:10 am and I wondered where on earth I was. My mouth was dry, a slight headache as I moved, a distinct lack of sleep and I felt in no state to run a race. So much for partying the night before a race, must remember never to do that again. Laurence was in the same state and it was with great difficulty that I managed to get her out of bed at all this morning.

We got the boys up and into their running kit too as they were taking part in the first race of the day at 9:00 am. Our race was scheduled at 10:00 am which left us with slightly longer to shake off the previous night's excesses.

We managed to get to Issy on time which was a miracle in itself and the boys lined up on the start line with 312 other youngsters ready to run 3km. The weather was slightly warmer than the last couple of days, thank goodness, but there was a slight drizzle and it was decidely grey. They set off at a steady pace, not letting themselves be carried off by the enthusiasm that grips most of the kids, sprinting desperately for 300m before collapsing into a state of utter exhaustion. Nick and I walked around to the finish to see them arrive and sure enough after not even 10 minutes the first boy came in 42 seconds ahead of the field to finish in 10:00 precisely. This boy has class, so look out for Emmanuel Roudolff in the future, and remember that you heard about him here first !! Antoine, a firend of Paul's, came in first out of our children, followed by Alex, Nick's son, and then Henry and Paul running together. I thought that it was unusual that Henry was so far back in the field, finishing in 15:41. After the race, I touched his forehead, which was raging hot; he had gone down with a good bout of cold.

We lined up for our race next, a 6 km course comprising of 2 loops (the same 2 that the kids had done earlier). I didn't have a very good starting position as there were many people in front of me. The gun went and the first difficulty was avoiding the runner who went down in front of me. There was a little jostling but the road widened and I was able to get into my stride quickly without being too hampered by the other runners. I caught up with Nick after about 500m and waved as I went past. I would have spoken some words of encouragement, but I was already out of breath and concentrating on maintaining a reasonable speed. I looked at my watch as the autolap beeped the first kilometre: 3:34. Not too bad, now I had to keep this speed until the finish.

The race didn't evolve much for me from this point on. I was about 35th in the race and a small group of runners were ahead. I felt that I was in no-man's land for most of the race as they were too far ahead to go and chase and the runners behind maintained their distance. The course was pretty flat and so it was a bit of a surprise to feel a slight downhill from the 2 to 3 km markers. I wondered where we'd gained the height in the first place ! I told myself that I'd have to look more closely on the second lap.

The second lap was quick too and before long I had passed the 5km marker and the group in front of me was beginning to disintegrate. Two of the runners were marines and I concentrated on closing them down. I pushed the pace slightly now, telling myself that it was now or never and that the finish was almost in sight. I passed them and they couldn't follow, clearly tiring visibly from the initial speed. A last effort around the final bends and I could hear a runner behind me putting on a sprint finish. I sprinted too but was too tired now to put all my heart into it. The runner behind me pipped me to the line - damn !

Finishing time was 23:02 and the Garmin stated 6.47 km. Nick finished 18 places behind in 23:51, having managed to beat a guy to the line in his sprint.

Laurence and Anne ran together and finished a great race in 29:41 finishing in 6th and 7th places in their respective categories. Laurence was really pleased with her time, and deservedly so. Anne measured the course at 6.30 km which was probably more accurate than mine.

My splits were as follows:

3:34; 3:18; 3:40; 3:42; 3:40; 3:33; 1:38 (3:30)

The second kilometre is definitely a mistake and I was more likely just under 3:40 at this stage. I was pleased with the times as I averaged under 3:40 per kilometre which was my objective. Good course, good organisation - more food and fruit at the end would have been appreciated. We'll be back next year!

P.S. Just checked route on Gmap and it is precisely 6.30 km, which means that my average speed was 3:39 per km - excellent. Very pleased. Nick will be pleased with his average too at 3:47 per km.

Easy Thursday

Miguel stated that it was a rest day on Thursday - so rested we did.

The plan was to go and run for 45 minutes very easily around town. We set off to St Germain, as for the direction of the normal warm up run for the evening sessions. The usual warm-up takes just under 30 minutes to run 4.5km, so very easy. Since tonight's aim was to run for 45 minutes, we had to find a further 15 minute course to make up the difference.

John set out in front. This is quite ironic since John is usually quite close to the back in the races, yet here he was in training storming away at the front of the field. OK, so storming is an exageration, but John was having fun at the front finding the route and dictating the pace. We finished up by running a good route into St Germain, then out under the railway line to the Lycée International, down to the pony club and then back through the forest along the tarmac path. It took just over 50 minutes which made a few people moan, but I was happy with the relaxing run but also a little disappointed in that I felt I hadn't done enough.

When we got back to the track, I set off by myself running 400m circuits at ever increasing speed until I ran the last at about 15.5 km/h pace. Miguel had then decided that we would do some sprints up and down the pitch 10 times. I was at the front and determined to stay there so what was supposed to be an easy session turned into quite a gruelling work-out by the end.

Great session with about 12 km all up.

Tuesday session

Tough one tonight with Miguel having posted a 10x400m session for the evening.

We did the warm-up session of 4.5km through St Germain and ran back to the track only to find that the surface was completely frozen and as close to being an ice-rink as, well an ice-rink I suppose.

Time to switch to Plan B and instead of running on the track we used the patch around the outside of the stadium. The 400m intervals were switched to 1minute intervals off 1 minute recoveries. The usual crowd were there with Miguel, Jean-Marc, Bruno, Franciso, Nick, Fabien and myself. I struggled to stay near the front and from rep 4 onwards I paid the price for Sunday's race, slowing a little and letting Bruno make a few metres on me on every rep.

Good workout, and made me decide to take it easy now for the rest of the week until Sunday's race in Issy. 11.5km all up.

Easy Monday

Took it easy running around Hexham with Laurence before catching the plane home to France.

Good little bit of exercise in an attempt to burn off some of the calories from the excess of beers and curries I've been indulging in over here.

5.5 km in 29:24 - told you it was easy !! Lovely to run with Laurence though and the temperature was milder than of late. The path by the Tyne wasn't frozen and the only danger on the run was being threatened by a group of ducks who'd taken time out from swimming in the river to menacing passers-by with their beady little eyes.

St Germain Triathlon

Since both Laurence and I were in England this weekend, we missed our chance to take part in the annual St Germain triathlon organised during the telethon weekend.

Too bad, as there are 2 events per year organised by the swimming pool at St Germain, the first a relatively modest affair with about 150 participants that takes place in sunny September, when the tracks are dry, the crowds thin and the competition modest. The other takes place in cold December, in the dark, in the cold, in the mud, with almost 350 participants, and the competition is fierce. Wonder why we went away this weekend, missing out on the fun ... ?

Nick and Andy however were involved and Nick has written his view of the event, so let me hand over to him to explain in more detail how it went ...

"Only 10 Mesnilois this year which was a bit disappointing but good to see a few of the usual suspects with Andy, Didier K and Ralph all there.

A good start from Didier L who dropped half the team in the first 5 minutes but unfortunately for him the ride to the swimming pool doesn’t count in the final time. After a quick check that the swimming pool had water in it this year, we engaged in the traditional pre competition routine of comparing how much training hadn’t been done and swapping anecdotes about anti cramp remedies. As we were in the third and final departure, we watched the 2nd wave before us complete their stage in the pool and took great heart to see how many of them were doing breast stroke.

When our turn came, it was the usual all in American wrestling for the first 50 meters before some sort of natural order took place. My tactic this year was to take it easy in the pool which resulted in me exiting behind Andy and Ralph, as usual, and with a time of close to 11 minutes as usual!!

After a rapid change into my cycling gear, I stormed out of the changing rooms up the stairs to arrive back at the pool. After descending and going up the correct staircase somewhat less enthusiastically, I reached my bike at the same time as Fabien from the FSGL and gently made my way to the entrance of the forest. Here, there is perhaps the longest, flattest and fastest part of the course so it was into a high gear and time to ramp up the speed followed by a rapid deceleration after the first mouthful and eyeful of mud.

The marshal on the first corner warned us to take it easy as it was very slippy, something confirmed by the site of an ambulance crew attending to a fallen rider. I had a quick glance to check it wasn’t Andy. It wasn’t so I’d have to pedal faster if I wanted to beat him this year. The pace of the first couple of laps were governed very much by the traffic on the course but things got better as the stragglers from the first two waves finally started to finish.

As I completed the cycling stage I saw Andy beginning the run and I shouted out words of friendly encouragement. Note that this could also be interpreted as trying to intimidate him by letting him know I wasn’t far behind, but I wouldn’t do that. Probably.

As I began my own run, competitors from the first wave were cleaning their bikes, making the tiles outside the pool resemble a skating rink. Thanks lads. I got into a good pace fairly quickly going past a lot of people, probably from the 2nd wave. I knew I would need to see Andy at the top of the steep hill at the half way point if I wanted to catch him up but as there was no sign of him, I kept up a steady but non suicidal pace to finish in 1.26.12. Andy had finished about a minute and a half earlier. Next in was Fabien, then Ralph followed by the two Didier’s, Philippe and Henri with Martial and Axel rounding things off. Despite a difficult course, I’d improved my time nearly three minutes on last year and Andy by nearly 7 minutes. All in all a good way to spend a Saturday morning. I’ll be back. "

So there's the proof, if ever that was needed, that Nick is as masochistic as they come. He'll need some more swimming lessons and cycling practice if he's to catch Andy, now that Andy has started running seriously. Still, revenge could be on the cards very shortly if we can persuade Andy to take part in the 6km race at Issy this weekend. Busy Sunday Andy ?

Hexham Hobble

Another cold day and despite the late starting time for the race, the sun hadn't had time to warm up the countryside around Allendale before the race began.

Dad and Laurence came to watch the start of the race, Laurence having decided that it was too much to take part after all of the recent races we have done. We arrived at 10:15 and found James already prepared with his race number attached to his running vest. I queued up inside the fire station to be handed my race number and became a mini-sensation as they found I was registered with a French club. "Oh, it'll be another international race this year" as last year some unwitting Spaniard had turned up to take part on his way through the region.

I went back outside and found Nigel too was already kitted up and that Will had just arrived. There were about 140 participants in the race and at 11:00 am sharp the word was given and we set off down to the road to the village centre. Unfortunately, the downhill only lasted about 300m before we took a sharp left-hand turn across the grass and back on to a road heading East out of town. This road was a killer right from the word go: an arrow on the OS maps meaning that it was steep and this slowed the pace down immediately. I was running with James at this point and managed to keep ahead to the top of the first hill, only to be really disappointed as I saw that another steep hill lay in wait just behind. As we reached the left turn off this road and onto the track that would take us over the moors, James had gained a couple of metres over me and was treading confidently over the ice covering the track heading slightly uphill.

It was from here on that things began to go wrong for me: the ice to begin with meaning that my strides had to be shortened; the heather lining the track if you tried to avoid the ice; and then the snow, the ruts and the mud to complete the picture. I never really managed to get back into my stride from this point on. The hills were steep, the paths were difficult to negociate and the going was tough. I watched as James built a lead over me and then was helpless to latch on to another half a dozen other runners as they came past. It wasn't as though I gave up: a number of times I pushed the pace as a runner came past and I would hold on to get past them again only to lose them completely as the path went steeply uphill once more and the strength in my legs faded.

Rachel, the first lady overtook me after 13km following the last really steep uphill across the final stretch of moorland before the road. I thought that the final stretch of road was longer and that I would have a chance to get back to her but it wasn't to be. She finished about 5 seconds and 20m in front of me after 16.8 km of race.

Total time: 1:22:20 or 4:53 per km and 23rd place. James finished 2 minutes ahead of me exactly in 1:20:20 and Nigel almost 4 minutes behind me in 1:26:08. Will finished in 1:35 and was disappointed with his time as it was exactly the same time as his practise run over the same route a couple of months ago. The conditions were hard today and the times for the course were slower than in previous years.

I'll be sticking to the road in future and challenging the others to a race on my home ground !!
Lovely scenery, great weather: cold but bright and a good course - but it's not my scene. Impossible to get into a rhythm and just too damn hard. It's a bit like the comparison between road cycling and mountain biking - I'm just the road cyclist of the running scene.

Great to see everyone, including Antony who was also out supporting us all.

Full results here: http://www.northumberlandfellrunners.co.uk/html/raceresults/2008/15thHexHobble08.pdf

Saturday training

A lovely cool, crisp day in Hexham and Laurence decided that she wanted to make the most of the morning by going for a run down to Tyne Green. I fancied an easy jog before the race tomorrow and it was a great occasion to go for a run together.

We set off down the streets from Dad's new house and the roads were icy and treacherous. It was a very slippy affair. But soon we were heading down Battle Hill and down past the station to Tyne Green. Laurence announced that she wanted to run about 8 km but when we reached the end of the Green, we were feeling so good that we carried on to Warden. The paths were icy all the way beside the Tyne and the river was very full from the recent rain. We had no rain but a clear blue sky with only the slightest of breezes.

A quick jog up the hill from Warden and then back on the road past the Golf Club and the cemetary where we made a quick stop to go and visit Mum's grave. Mum would have been happy to know that we were exercising when we came to visit so it was with this thought in mind that we ran the last 2 km back to the house.

10.5 km all up in 58 minutes. A lovely start to the morning. We both thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thursday training

Tough session down at the track tonight - 10 x 500m. I told myself that I had to go out and run these fast as punishment for not having done any training due to too much work for the rest of the week.

A quick warm up over 4km and then we were off for the session. Thierry and Francisco led the pace over the first 500m interval with Bruno and I trailing in their wake. We did the first 500m in 1:41 and then Bruno dropped away as he wasn't keen on taking this pace with me alongside him. I spen the rest of the session trying to keep up with Francisco and Thierry until the 7th interval where I was able to run ahead of them. Thierry was pulling in his calves and eased off after Sunday's half-marathon at Andrésy and Francisco was tiring.

They both came past me on the last interval where I had nothing left.

All up 11 km for the evening - good punishing session and I'm now ready for the weekend.

Intervals went as follows:

1:41, 1:43, 1:44, 1:43, 1:43, 1:44, 1:43, 1:41, 1:43, 1:37

Photo at Montfort l'Amaury

Just a quick snap of me taken during the run up to the ruins in Montfort l'Amaury 2 weeks ago for "Les Flambeaux"

Don't you just love the headlamp ?!!

Showdown !

Today was the big one - no that's not true as I'd been telling myself recently that the real big one, the race where I want to do really well is next Sunday on the Hexham Hobble. This was just supposed to be a warm-up.

That was the plan anyway. The plan, however, was well and truly scuppered when I learnt from F-X on Wednesday that he was entered too. Since our challenge series stands at 2-2 at the moment, this race was vital in showing the other who was on form. Laurence had entered both of us for the 13.5 km course at Andrésy, renowned for the "big hill". The distance was fine, it was just the idea that I'd have to go fast over the course to keep up with F-X that was depressing me, especially when I'd been treating it as a last major training session before next week's race.

Nick picked us both up first thing and Andy had decided he was going to take part too, so all 4 of us arrived in Andrésy about 50 minutes before the race began. The weather was fairly lousy: 3°C, a fine drizzle and no sign of a let-up in sight. we picked up our numbers, found a place in the gym to leave our stuff, then set out to brave the elements 15 minutes before the start.

We made our way to the start line and I searched for F-X amongst the faces. I spotted him right at the front of the crowd on the start line so I pushed in alongside him for a quick chat before the start. He asked what my objective was so I told him: to beat you ! No point beating about the bush. The race tactics were to follow him all the way around the course and then to outsprint him over the last 500m.

The gun went and F-X set off like a bullet. I tagged along on his shoulder and wondered if the pace was going to ease. I didn't look at my watch as I told myself I didn't care: the sole objective was to beat the man in front of me. The course comprised a first small loop of just under 6km, followed by a longer loop of 7.5 km which included the infamous hill. We were in the first 15 runners in the race and the pace over the first loop was sustained and I didn't feel as though I could go any faster. I began to wonder how long I could keep this up, especially when there were times when F-X would up the pace slightly and I would just try and tag on. We went through 7 km and to my surprise F-X turned and said to me to carry on as he couldn't keep up any more. As he eased off, I pushed a little at this point and tried to catch the runner immediately ahead of me. In fact, I wasn't to see F-X for the rest of the race despite my fears that he would recover and start chasing me down in the final kilometres.

We attacked the hill just after 8 km and my pace slowed, luckily it wasn't as steep as I'd imagined and it didn't seem to be too hard an obstacle. We turned right and downhill over 150m and then took a sharp left-hand bend. Oh my god! That's the hill - I was taken by surprise to see this 15% slope rising before me for 300m. I shortened my stride, put my head down and just forced myself to keep running. My heart rate must have maxed at this point and the effort was tremendous. Once at the top, it was just a question of holding on and counting down the kilometres to the finish line.

I kept it steady, tried to catch up a few places and finshed the 13.5 km in 21st position in a time of 52:42. An average speed of 15.37 km/h or 3:55 per km. I was pleased considering the hill to have managed this speed over the course. F-X finished 4 places behind me in 53:54. 3-2 in the challenge to me: I'm on a roll!

Splits were the following (thanks Tom for the tip):

3:34, 3:45, 3:54, 3:50, 3:53, 3:53, 3:56, 3:59, 4:43, 3:58, 3:50, 3:44, 3:53, 1:43

Guess where the hill was ?

Other results: Nick finished 64 in 56:59; Andy 150 in 1:02:41; Laurence 259 in 1:08:08.

Laurence ran a great run despite her Garmin letting her down after 6km and then concentrated on picking off runners ahead of her. She managed a great sprint finish to beat another female runner on the line.

Official times here: http://www.topchrono.biz/course.php?idc=3585&cr=13km500&an=2008&cr_nom=20%20Bornes%20d'Andresy

Looking forward to next Sunday's race now against the lads.

Amsterdam run

Was in Amsterdam this morning, and since F-X was with me, we went for a training run together around the hotel before the business review.

It was well lit around the industrial zone when we set off at 7:00 am for our jog. It was supposed to be a jog anyway, and F-X told me that I could set the pace. The only problem is that when we start like this, there's always one of us urging the other on and soon we were running around at over 15 km/h, with our fastest kilometre in 3:53.


However, it was a good method of evacuating the stress before the meeting and we did a couple of laps around the block, completing 8.5 km in 35:24 or 4:09 per km. Having finished the jog outsides, we inspected the gym in the hotel which was absolutely fantastic and fully equipped with all the latest equipment. We ran another 1.5km on the treadmill at 14.5 km/h just to wind down !! 10 km all up.

Some photos of my feet before and after toenail removal - just for your viewing pleasure. Who said running was good for your health ?

Les 4 Chateaux - Chevreuse

One of the most enjoyable races that I've done in a while: a great course; good atmosphere and a fantastic organisation.

The worst part of the race was the early start, especially for a Sunday. I's almost criminal to start races this early on a Sunday. Laurence and I were both taking part and we turned up at the club at 7:30 am to meet with the others entered from the club. It was very cold (-3°C) going through the forest this morning, and the prospects of running at this temperature were not appealing.

We arrived at Chevreuse with plenty of time to spare as the women were setting off at 9:30am and the men 15 minutes later for the 18.5km course. We hang around as long as possible in the gym before braving the cold and crossing the playing fields to the start line in the centre of town. I wasn't taking any risks and had both my ski hat and my neck warmer on. Even with these on, it was still too chilly to hang around and we all eagerly set about our warm-up routines.

I gave Laurence a kiss for good luck as she lined up at the start, the gun went and the women's race set off; all 700 of them. The men lined up now and there was a lot of chatting and banter before we set off in turn , 15 minutes afterwards. The total field amounted to just over 2 400 runners and a good number had dressed up in fancy dress for the occasion. First prize to the "Joker" for his outfit, which was spot on, face paint and all.

I set off steadily, passing many runners since I was fairly back in the field when the gun went. I didn't want to tire myself out early so I used the same tactics as last week's race and sped up as the race went on. I didn't take any splits and didn't even look at my watch until 15 km had already gone. I even forgot to set the automatic lap marker after every km that Tom had explained how to do on his blog.

The course was very scenic with 60% on tracks and 40% on the road. The big hill was from 6km to 7.5km and this wasn't as bad as I had imagined. It was just a case of shortening my stride, not pushing it so hard that I was breathless and trying to hang on to my position. I had set off on this portion in about 85th place as a man was shouting out the positions as we went past. It must have been fairly complicated as we had begun to catch the last of the women's race at this point and there was a lot of mingling.

Having caught the tail end of the ladies race was very motivating as I was now chasing Laurence down. I knew that she was running well when I passed the 11 and 12 km markers and there was still no sign of her. I cheered on the other St Germain runners as I went past and their shouts of encouragement in return were most welcome. I finally caught Laurence at 13 km and wished her good luck as I ran past. 2 km later, I passed Muriel and Catherine and I looked at my watch at this point 1:01 for 15km, I was going well and very pleased.

The last 3 km were the hardest as we left the forest again and hit the open road, slightly uphill to finish. I concentrated on trying to catch a couple of men runners ahead of me at this point but I was too spent to make any more efforts. Past the 18km marker and a final burst to the finish: all up in 1:14:48 at an average speed of 14.5 km/h. This was a good performance when the uphill is also considered of almost 300m. 66th position and 23 V1 out of 1713 men.

Laurence finished in 1:35:47 in 120th position in the women's race. She was also pleased with her run and the race.

Profile of the course shown here:

Short Maisons Laffitte run

It's the weekend and the work still hasn't let up but I managed to take a few minutes to go running with Henry around my old route through Maisons Laffitte and the park

Henry had the choice of the town or the forest route and since he's now an urban teenager, the town route it was. This is my old 7.7 km path down to the Seine, behind the castle, back through the park and skirt around the back of Maisons Laffitte to Leader Price and then home past the cemetary.

I was pleased to see that we went through 2 km in 11:00 and then we slowed slightly to do 4km in 23:30. All around the loop in 44:59 and not one complaint from Henry about any pains or the run itself. Praise the Lord - a miracle !!

Maisons Laffitte run

Another busy week in perspective, causing me to miss all of the training runs with the club this week. I've had to programme in my early morning runs again between business travel arrangements just so that I don't lose out on the mileage front.

Left at 7:00 am on the early morning route around Maisons Laffitte park in the dark. I felt good from the outset and was happy to be running since the last training on Sunday. I went through 2 km in 8:31 and felt very easy and comfortable. I wondered how long this would last, but wasn't worried as my main objective was to enjoy myself. I seemed to have too many races planned at the moment: 1 per weekend for the next 3 weekends and I need to go easier on the mid-week training.

I left the park in 27:10 and I knew that this time was one of my best over this course. I had been chasing another runner through some of the streets through the park and was disappointed when he turned off my route before I could catch him.

I relaxed running back through Maisons Laffitte and up to Leader Price where I looked at my watch again: 34:34. I know that it takes under 11 minutes to run back from this point and that my PB for the course was 35:xx so I thought that I'd be in with a chance if I pushed it. So push it I did, clocking a 17.8 km/h running down the hill to the town hall and then a steady 15.5 km/h over the last kilometre back to the house.

45:12 all up for 11.1 km so an average of 4:03 / km. Felt good all of the way round and set a new PB over the course, beating my previous record set in September by 5 seconds. Interesting to note how much faster I finished today compared to the last record run.

Toto Vermet

Toto Vermet was the first president of St Germain's running club and every year there is a cross country race organised by the club for all members in memory of him and his contribution to the founding of the association.

Laurence had decided that another run after last night's efforts was too much and she went back to bed after I left with Nick this morning for the race. The race was to take place in the St Germain forest over a 3 km circuit for which the ladies had to run 1 loop and the men 2 loops.

We warmed up for the race by running slowly to the start from the clubhouse and then running one loopof the course to show everyone the circuit. So, a 5 km warm-up before we'd even started racing. It was a warm day and I stripped off down to my running vest as I was already sweating buckets after the warm-up. All the serious competition was there: Jean-Marc, Thierry, Francisco, Bruno and some others that I didn't recognise. I joked around with Nick before the start and he told me that his initial tactic was to stay with me until I tired (probably quickly after last night's race) and then beat me to the line. He decided against this as he knows that I tend to start fast and he would probably explode before he could start his sprint for the line !!

The gun went and I did start fast as the course was slightly downhill to begin with and I felt good. This feeling was to fade rapidly though and by halfway on the first loop, I could feel how tired my legs were and I had nothing to respond with as Bruno and Fred went past. I was in 7th place now and this was how it would stay until the end. The gap between Bruno and me grew and I finished the first loop in 11:19.

The second loop was worse and all the uphills became a painful exercise for the legs and I just wanted it all to end. As I was on the last km of the race I could hear footsteps approaching from behind and it was all I could manage to put in a little extra effort to stop the runner from coming past me. I finished the course in 23:34 for 6.05 km so at an average pace of 3:56 per km. Not bad after last night's efforts and just enough to hold Nick off who finished not long after me.

Still no place on the podium with a trio of very good veterans ahead of me: Francisco, Thierry, and Bruno. If I had been on form, I should have been able to give Bruno a good run for his money. Another target for the next race.

Photo of Bruno beating Fred in a sprint finish. You can just see me as a dot on the far left of the photo, 40 seconds behind !

Montfort l'Amaury - Les flambeaux

My first race in the dark and what an experience. Laurence, Anne and I arrived at Montfort l'Amaury about an hour before the start and picked up our numbers ready for the race.We waited in the warmth of the gym before the race started and looked at the growing number of runners preparing for the event. 2 races had been organised, the first, over 18km with 400 participants, set off at 8:00 pm and the second, over 10km with 300 entries, 15 minutes later. To further complicate matters, in the 10km race there were runners and walkers.

We listened carefully to the brief and then went outside to line up at the start. The start line was at the foot of the town and the route set off up through the town to the towers. The route was lit by flaming torches and the sight of this initial climb was most spectacular.

The gun went off and I started easily. My race plan was to take it very steadily over the start of the race and not to tire myself on the climbs. I would then see how I felt and take it from there later on. The first climb was very steep and the roads through the town were slippy from the drizzle that had been falling during the afternoon. The streets were cobbled which didn't help at all. At the top we ran past the towers and then down the steps back through the town before heading out on another road that was a long drag back out of the valley.

Having taken it easy to begin with, but having managed to avoid the bottlenecks too, I now began to pick up places as we ran along the road. The road then became a muddy path and visibility even with the headlamps was poor. The sight of hundreds of headlamps bobbing along through the night was very pretty and the whole atmosphere was quite special. I settled into a comfortable pace and was still picking up places regularly, catching runners who had set off too fast and were now paying the price. The terrain was varied from flat to steep downhills followed by steep uphills, all of which took a heavy toll on the legs.

By 5 km, I reckoned I was in the top 15 places and was chasing down a small group of 4 in front of me. It was here that disaster struck. We hit a sharp incline and I pushed the pace to catch them on the hill, by the top I was just behind but then we hit a road at the top and the way wasn't clear. We asked a marshal whcih way to go and if we were on the right route for the 18 km race. She replied in a positive manner and we followed the road down the hill. It was now apparent that this wasn't the route and we had a further 50 runners who had followed us making the same mistake.

We carried on back into town and around to the track where we had begun the race. We had run over 8 km by now and it was obvious that the race was finished for us. There was some discussion as to what to do and I set off back on the 10 km loop with some other runners just as a training run. We quickly caught the walkers on the 10km loop as they had set off 15 minutes after us. I pushed the pace and left the rest of the group behind with just 1 runner following me closely. We then began to catch the tailenders of the 10 km race and the fun began. They were really enthusiastic about the obstacles, shouting "Careful mud!" or "Watch the barrier", "Hole" etc. We overtook them and I had an amazing impression of speed as we flew past on narrow paths in the middle of the night.

The rest of the run was very good, with some great paths through the forest in the middle of the night. I completed the 10 km course in 1:18:10 having completed 16.36km. There was some discussion with the organisers as to the marshal who had left his position causing us to miss the turn on the hill, but there was nothing to be done. Very frustrating but unfortunate.

Laurence and Anne finished the course in 2:02; Laurence having lost her shoe at some point in the process causing Anne to light up the mud bath while Laurence went fishing !

We'll be back next year to do the race again properly and I might have a shout at achieving a podium if I find the route around next time.

Picture of the route with the marker showing where I ran straight on instead of turning right.

Back to the park

Woke up this morning and wondered why on earth the alarm had gone off so early. Then I came to gradually and remembered that I was supposed to be going for an early morning run. I put my running kit on, including an extra warm top so that I was prepared to face the cold and went outside.

It was still pitch black outside so I turned the headlamp on and headed down to the river. My legs felt heavy from the interval session so I decided very early on that I would just take it easy and enjoy the run. The 2 km mark was passed in 8:36 so despite all my efforts, I couldn't bear not to look at the Garmin. The rest of the run was very steady though. I left the park in 27:51, which was fairly average and this was the last time that I looked at the watch.

I remember running up the road towards Leader Price thinking that even the slightest hill was painful to climb so what would this Saturday's race be like. Laurence and I entered the 18km night trail at Montfort l'Amaury yesterday and then read some of the accounts of last year's run on the web. Good job we didn't read these first as we may never have entered !

Anyway, a quick run down the hill to the town hall and a good pace to finish. 11 km all up in 46:51 so no great shakes. Conclusion: still too warm to necessitate 2 running tops - far too hot and uncomfortable; 4:16 per km feels comfortable now.

Bank holiday Tuesday

The club session for today had been set for a 9:00 am start due to the bank holiday today in France. Laurence had persuaded Anne to take part so Nick and Anne picked us up this morning to take us to St Germain.

Luckily the wind had calmed this morning since lat night it had been blowing a gale and frankly during the night there were times when we wondered whether the roof would stay on the house. Laurence heard a few tiles moving during the night and slept badly as a result. When we checked this morning, everything appeared to be alright though.

It was an excellent turnout for this morning's session and a good 70 souls had decided to exercise rather than spend the morning in bed. The programme for the day was 7 x 1 minute twice. We set off easily and chatted to the usual faces as we warmed up over the first 4.5 km. The hard work then began and I tried to stay in the leading group with Thierry, Francisco, Miguel - the trainer, and Bruno. There were a couple of other faces who were also pushing at times and the competition was fierce.

The first set of 7 were extremely tough and I was very tired when we finished this block. According to the Garmin, I managed to achieve 25 km/h during the first set on intervals 3 and 4. This was the impact of Miguel who was pushing Thierry and Francisco and both Bruno and I were hanging on due to sheer determination only.

The second set was less rapid as I was already spent by then. The big hill on interval n° 3 didn't help either. My heart rate must have maxed at this point and for once it would have been interesting to have a cardio on to see what I got to. Anyway it was a relief to finish the set and to jog back to the clubhouse with Nick.

Laurence and Anne had had a good time and Anne had enjoyed her first session with the club, chatting easily to the other members. Highlight of the morning was having breakfast afterwards at Nick and Anne's house, relaxing with a nice coffee.

15.3 km all up in 1:28. Nice way to spend a bank holiday morning.

Guest speaker - Nice to Cannes Marathon

Paul's account of the Nice to Cannes Marathon deserved a lot more space than just a comment on the back of one of my daily entries, so I've introduced the concept of a "guest speaker" message and this one is dedicated to Paul.

"Marathon Alpes Maritimes

Nice to Cannes – 42.195 KM

Since the day after Prague Marathon in May i decided i would do another marathon this year with the objective to crack 3 hours 30. The Nice Cannes marathon was in its first year and was attractive given the route following the Cote D’azur and of course being reasonably accessible to Paris.

Training seemed to go quite well – a long run every weekend during September and most of October, 2 or 3 other weekly runs combining pace and intervals. I also competed in Paris Versailles and Saint Denis half marathon posting times of just under 1 hour 10 (13.99 kmh) and 1.29.58 (14.07 kmh) respectively. Surely i was prepared!

Allie and the kids provided my support team and we arrived in Nice on Saturday for the Sunday run and spent a nice afternoon and evening in sunny weather and temperatures around 16 degrees. I slept a little restlessly and had the normal dreams of missing the start and forgetting my shoes.

The morning brought clear skies and whilst a little cold first thing the temperature was rising steadily as the start approached – my plan was a first half in about 1h 38 and then 1h 50 for the second.

I settled after the first couple of KM into a steady rhythm (13 kmh ) running about 50 metres behind the 3h 15 flag man – this would take me through the half in the pace i wanted – the 5, 10, 15 km marks were all well on target and i felt pretty comfortable. Just before half way Allie and the kids were road side and handed me my hat (which was now quite necessary) and extra rations. I went through the half in 1 :38:57 and was pleased. The course at this point got a little more difficult – it was marketed as flat but around the CAP D’Antibes it reared up with a number of short but seemingly stiff hills – although it did also provide the view of the day looking back over the bay towards Nice with the snow capped mountains sitting behind – absolutely stunning.

The 25 k feed station was at the start of a hill and perhaps this was the point at which i felt my legs for the first time. However my pace remained good and upto 30 km i was solid and clocked 2:24:30

Then i crumbled!!

It was a fairly rapid tightening starting at the hips and the back of the thighs and i struggled to keep a good pace i was still calculating for 3:30 and was hoping to give myself an hour for the last 10 k – at 32 km i had 54minutes! In my head i knew that was now a tall ask and a short rise to go over the railway lines at about 34 km felt like a mountain. From the 35 km feed station i was under no illusions that i would miss my target but i was hanging in at 10-10.5 kmh and grimacing a lot. The final sections before hitting the Croisette in Cannes seemed to take forever, i went through 3:30:00 exactly at the 41 km line, but the crowds on the croisette were brilliant it was like a mountain top stage in the tour de France. A wave to Allie and the kids in the last 500 metres , a red carpet finish and 3:37:23 – really disappointed with a new PB !

I would say that the course was great, really enjoyable and scenic, and the crowds were numerous and very supportive. The centre of each town provided a real spring to my step with the encouragement. And as a first effort the organisers got pretty much everything right.

Anyway back to the drawing board on how to maintain my pace for longer."

Thanks for the detail Paul. Great run and a very similar experience to mine. We need to work on the longer runs still prior to the next marathon attempt if we're to break our objectives.

Sunday run

Went to bed too late last night, so it was a real effort to motivate Laurence and myself to leave the comfort of the duvet and our bed this morning to go for a run. In fact, we spent so long debating who was going to get up first that we almost never made it at all to the 9:15 am rendez-vous.

I jogged up to the church with Laurence and I could already feel the tiredness in my legs from yesterday's run. I was hoping that Nick would be tired as well so that we could take it easy but it just wasn't to be. As we ran up Rue de la Marne, we saw Nick and Anne ahead so I sped up to join them as they jogged slowly along. Nick was in fine form and had run everyday this week, so running slowly today wasn't going to be a problem for him: the problem was elsewhere.

We were 8 at the start: Nick, Anne, Laurence, Louise, Ralf, Sophie, Philippe and myself. We set off at a moderate pace and then Nick and I sped up a little with Philippe just behind. It was the usual tactics, understand by both of us, of racing to the barrier at 5km and taking the second half of the course easily. We got to the barrier in a record speed of 21:27, leaving Philippe about 50m behind by then.

Philippe took his revenge on the second part of the course when he pushed the pace most of the way around and I had to work hard just top stay with him. A quick blast at the end and I finished at around 16km/h. It was a good run considering yesterday's efforts. 13 km all up.

Saw Paul's marathon time on the web this evening for Nice - Cannes and he managed 3:37 which he will probably be disappointed with. Judging from the splits, he was bang on schedule until 30km and then tired at the end. Hard luck Paul on the objective - missing by 7 minutes isn't so bad: I can tell you about it !! Feel free to comment. Would love to have your news on the race.

Long Saturday run

It's been a busy week at work and I seem to have spent most of the week having big business lunches or dinners with different business contacts this week.


I got up this morning and knew that I'd put on wait what with the dining out and the lack of training. There was only one solution - a long Saturday run without breakfast and burn into the fat reserves that had built up.


I grabbed an orange juice from the kitchen before I left and then headed outside into a cool, bright morning. I had decided to run 2 loops of the usual Sunday run course, intending to run just over 22km to get back into some long run training since it was now almost 2 weeks since the marathon. I intended to run these fairly easily, working my way back into it and just seeing how I would fare.

I headed up the road towards the forest, my head full of thoughts about work and the tasks that lie ahead. In fact, it was a combination of early morning tiredness and preoccupation with the job that meant that I ran 2 km before really waking up and seeing how I was doing. The recent rain didn't help either as the horse track in the forest was very heavy underfoot and it was a bit of a slog avoiding the largest puddles and the heaviest, sandiest areas. As soon as that section was over, I stretched out a little and enjoyed the sunlight filtering through the trees.

I felt very easy all of the first loop and I knew that I was running well. I passed Thierry Mazoyer from the club on his morning run and we encouraged each other as we passed. I managed the first loop in 48:30 so it was confirmed that I was running well. With Nick we usually do this in around 48 minutes but this time I'd run an extra 1 km to get to the forest to begin with.

The second loop was harder than the first. I could feel that my legs were tiring now and a few niggles began to show themselves: a tension at the top of the right thigh in the groin area and a sore left foot, convincing me that as soon as I have a few euros (that the tax man doesn't grab from me - as is his wont in France at the end of the year), I will invest in a new pair of trainers.

Despite this, I carried on and went though the half-marathon mark in 1:29:40. I was thrilled as I was still running at my marathon pace in training. I must surely be capable of going sub-3 with a little more endurance ! I got back home in 1:36:29 for 22.7 km - an average of 4:13 per km or 14.1km/h. Felt good then; shattered now !

Lunchtime workout

It's been a quiet week on the running front and a very busy week on the work front hence the lack of messages on the blog this week.

On Tuesday, I knew that I wouldn't be able to get out to the Tuesday night session with the club so I asked F-X if he wanted to go for a lunchtime run around the Grouchy castle grounds. Luckily, he had his kit with him so we set off for a run from the swimming pool with the idea of doing a 10km run.

I told him that I was still recovering from the marathon so we weren't to run too fast and we then promptly set off down the hill at warp 9. I wasn't too aware of the pace until we passed in front of Grouchy castle and F-X asked if we shouldn't slow down a little. I looked at the Garmin to see 1.94 km in 7:45 or something close. We were averaging around 15 km/h when we were supposed to be taking it easy. We eased off a little from then on but the pace was still brisk. The day was ideal for a run: gloriously sunny, just warm and bright blue skies lighting up the Autumn leaves on the trees in the castle grounds.

On the third lap, F-X had to stop or slow down for a breather and he told me to continue and that he'd catch me up. I carried on back to the swimming pool and stopped the watch: 9.4 km in 38:51 so an average of 4:08 per km or 14.5 km/h. Not really the relaxing training I was expecting but I was really pleased to find that I was happy training at this speed.

Shame I couldn't enjoy a power-nap to recover in the office that afternoon !

Sunday classic

Just the usual Sunday run through the forest with the gang before heading back to the house to celebrate Henry's birthday today.

Since it was the holidays, the turnout was a little smaller than usual with only Ralf, Louise, Philippe Gendre and Laurence along for the ride. Ralf had to run the long loop since nobody was prepared to do the short-cut with him today as Pierre-Henri was away ! He suffered as a consequence and wasn't comfortable running with Philippe and me despite us slowing a little. I don't often run with Philippe but he has a lot of potential and with some more training could be a far better runner than me. Anyway, we enjoyed the normal Sunday loop getting to the barrier in 23:12 before running back to pick up Louise and Laurence.

We took the second half of the course easily bumping into Paul part way through, out training for one of his last runs before the Nice - Cannes Marathon next Sunday. Best of luck to him as he tries to beat 3:30 over the course. Speaking to him afterwards, I am convinced that he will do it, bar an incredible upset on the day, as he went under 1:30 for the half-marathon a few weeks ago. I was told a nice rule the other day to work out potential times: every distance that you double, take off 1 km/h. For Paul, this works out at a 3:15 marathon which seems feasible. McMillan says 3:09:54 which seems a little optimistic. Best of luck anyway Paul.

I enjoyed the end of the run particularly as Philippe ran ahead up the last slope and pushed the pace. I think that he thought he would show me as I had said I was still recovering from the marathon. I wouldn't let him go though and caught him up and then pushed hard until the finish, catching Ralf in the process. Philippe finished a good 90 seconds after me ;o)

I can't let that competitive instinct go, even in training !

Easy Saturday

Still not back into a full running schedule after last weekend's marathon. I decided that I would take it easy on my legs (not so easy mentally that's for sure) by taking Henry out on his weekly 7 km run through the forest.

We set off easily but he had already started moaning after 500m. He complained that we were going to fast and I had to reassure him that we were not. We went through the first kilometre in 5:48 which was proof that the pace was definitely not too strenuous for him ! By 2km, Henry was complaining of a stitch and a sore stomach so we slowed down again. This was to continue for the rest of the course but during the intervals when he felt alright, he was able to show a good turn of speed.

We finished the 7.2 km in 42:14 so not a record for him but a better than average performance and one that I hope he will soon improve on.

Warm down

Despite my horrendous injury, I summoned up all my courage and went to the club's Tuesday session last night just for a quick jog around with the other runners.

I arrived late and Miguel had just been telling the group about my marathon time on Sunday, so I was welcomed with a round of applause. (I finished in 39th place and 14th vet) My head swelling with pride, I rushed off to the dressing room to get changed into my running kit. In the hurry, I forgot to pick up my Garmin so I wasn't able to record the distance, but since it was only a jog anyway, what the heck !

As we set off, Franck, who I'd been with at the start of Sunday's marathon came over to see me. We chatted about the race and he told me that having read my account of the race on the club website, that he was really upset since he abandonned at 32km. I'd explained in my account, that my pride wouldn't let me give up as it would have meant telling all the others at the club. This was Franck's first 'DNF' in eight marathons, so he was disappointed in his performance. I was slightly comforted that I wasn't the only one to find it hard !

We ran together around St Germain for about 4 km and then back to the track. The rest of the club then did a 10 x 300 session with 100 rest while Franck and I jogged around the track.

A quiet evening to recover gently and it really helped the aches in my calves and thighs. About 8 km all up.

Oh by the way, the horrendous injury I'm suffering from is my left big toe nail which has been hammered into the toe causing an infection. Fine to run in large trainers, hell on earth to wear work shoes. Seriously contemplating wearing trainers to work tomorrow !!

Marathon des Yvelines

Well it was the big one. The one I'd been training for and my first real attempt on the 3 hour objective for the marathon. So what went wrong ?

I did everything I was supposed to: easing off on the training runs the week before the race; drinking the malto supplements for 3 days before the event; even eating the carbo cake 3 hours before the race - it just wasn't to be.

I got up at 6:30 this morning, ate my cake and had a cup of tea. I waited for 40 minutes and woke Laurence with a cup of tea as she was accompanying me on the bike around sections of the course. We hopped in the car and headed off to La Queue Lez Yvelines, a small village in the south of the county for the race. The weather was overcast, misty and windy. We hung around in the gym next to the start for as long as possible before facing the elements. I checked the number of runners entered for the race: 460 individuals and 65 relay teams. So not a huge race and the entries were very similar to last year's event.

I eventually lined up at the start and waited patiently for 5 minutes before the gun went and we were off. Having set the garmin to 4:10 per km, I watched the virtual partner all the time at the beginning of the race. I was running with another runner on his first marathon who was also aiming to beat the 3 hour barrier. At about 4 km, he must have decided that he was feeling fresh and he accelerated slightly and left me. I wasn't going to follow him as I was already about 8 seconds up on the watch which was set for a 2:56 total marathon time. This continued over the next 10 km and by the feeding station at 15 km, I was 30 seconds ahead of my VP. I stopped for a glucose drink losing about 15 seconds in the process and set off again. There was a group of 4 of us running together now and this was to remain like that for the next 10 km. We left the shelter of the forest after 18 km and had to run 3 km head down into the wind until the half-way point at Les Bréviaires. I went through the semi in 1:28:06 (almost setting a new PB in the process) and I could feel that I was tiring but I thought that I would be able to hold the pace for a while longer.

Big mistake. By the time I saw Laurence again at 24 km, I knew that my energy levels were dangerously low and she gave me a gel to replenish them. This helped slightly but it wasn't enough and after the 25 km feeding station our group of 4 runners had disentegrated. By 28 km the situation had worsened distinctly and I felt like giving up at this point. My pace was slowing and I switched the Garmin to timer mode, refusing to look at my VP racing off into the distance. I went through 28 km in 1:57:34 so the sub 3 hour course wasn't unfeasible but was looking decidely optimistic now. I spent the next few kilometres walking at times, stopping at the feeding stations for dirnks and progressing slowly. My legs were extremely tired and I couldn't manage the pace. I really was a whisker away from giving up completely but thought that if I slowed at least I could have the satisfaction of finishing.

At 33 km, Laurence was still cycling beside me, offering me water when necessary and trying to encourage me. I was angry and disappointed with myself and fed up with the whole affair. Then Nick appeared. He had promised to turn up and run the end of the race with me and it was a real pleasure to see him. Unfortunately, it didn't help me find any more energy but it did put all thoughts of giving up out of my head. He described the road ahead (flattish) and the hills to come (steep). Marvellous !

I struggled to keep up with him and he had to slow frequently not to lose me. I was cramping in my legs now: first the toes, then the calves; and finally the thighs. The hills were an agony and I had to walk up the last of the steepest. I was conscious that if I pushed too hard the cramps would become too much to bear and I would be forced to abandon. A quick stop at the 40 km feeding station and then the last 2 km down hill to the finish. What a relief. I crossed the line in 3:07:15 and promptly sat down to rest my legs.

So a new P.B. but still a disappointment with the objective not reached. I was on target at the half-way stage and the pain as it slipped out of my grasp was immense. Still I gave everything and the course was hard. It's not the flattest marathon and I had been warned. I'll have to wait until Paris in April 2009 for the next attempt.

Thanks to Nick and Laurence for their sterling efforts. It was a pleasure to have you with me. I'm not sure that this was reciprocal as I wasn't much fun out there today.

Here's a few photos to put you all off thoughts of marathons in the future:

The small group of runners at the 24 km mark

A view of my lopsided running style at 25 km

Beginning to look tired at 25 km
Nick looking decidely worried about my ability to complete the course !
One of the last sections of hills at 39 km.
The advert against ever running a marathon !