Thursday town session

When the alarm rang at 6:30 this morning, I can't say that I was thrilled with the idea of getting up and racing around the town at top speed. This is my usual 7.6 km route around Le Mesnil and Maisons Laffitte (route map here : http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2002846 ). The sky was overcast and pretty miserable, the forecast was for rain today so the prospect of going outside was not tempting.

I started off determined to run the first mile quicker than on Tuesday, as this is probably the "make or break" part of the course. Unfortunately, it is also one of the hardest stretches of the course and as I am barely awake as I leave the house, it is extremely difficult to motivate the legs to move as fast as I would like them too. This morning was far better than earlier in the week and I managed to do the first mile in 6:51. From here on my French half takes over and I begin to calculate in kilometres. Next 2 kilometres to my marker in the park in 7:53 and I'm flying now. I'm beginning to feel very good, my watch is telling me that I'm running faster than 15km/h and I'm still feeling comfortable. Through the park and down to the river and I'm still covering the ground quickly, another 2 km in 7:41. Only 2 km to go now and 8:40 to do them in if I'm to beat my record for the course. This is the hardest section as the path climbs the hill from the river. As I struggle up the hill, my heart feels as though its going to beat its way out of my chest. A final sprint down the road to the front gate and I stop the watch - 30:43. Last 2 km in 8:18 despite the hill and a new personal best. What a great start to the day !

I've been improving steadily since my last 10km race 10 days ago over this course and in 4 runs, I've beaten my PB 3 times. This really bodes well for the 10km race on Sunday and my attempt to achieve 37:30. Let's hope that Nick can achieve his aim of beating 39:00 and Paul 40:00 too. Laurence is feeling a bit unwell today but with a little luck this will have cleared up by Sunday and she'll be out to beat her best of 49:42. Roll on Sunday and another airing of the race shoes ...