Back to Grouchy

Grouchy by name and grouchy by nature today.

Depressed by work both for specific and general reasons, which I won't bore you with here, I decided that I would make the most of the opportunity of the midday run to burn off all that frustration and anger and convert it into speed and accelerations. Well, so much for the plan.

The reality... went running with François-Xavier on our usual swimming pool run. The day has been cooler than usual and it is very overcast. Perfect weather for running, we decided and despite F-X's pitiful attempt to convince me that he was feeling a little tired after yesterday's run and that we shouldn't force the pace too much today, we set off at a lively canter.

Down the hill from the pool into Osny centre and then the first effort as we climbed the hill on the far side to go up to the Chateau. I pushed the pace up the hill just to see how F-X was really feeling (I know - I'm a nasty piece of work...) and then we coasted around in front of the Château for the start of the first loop. I was feeling really good: the pace was comfortable; the temperature was pleasant; and the scenery is lovely in the grounds. At the end of the first lap, there is a sharp rise back up to the entrance of the grounds and I could feel that F-X was lagging slightly on the hill.

The problem running with F-X is that there is never any rest periods. Normally, on a solitary run, whenever the going gets tough you reduce the rhythm and catch a breather. Not so today, whenever I tired, F-X would pick up the pace and I'd be obliged to show him that he wasn't going to drop me. I'd then feel a little better and push the pace myself, and so it went. By the third lap F-X had begun to warm up and we pushed it hard up the hill at the end of the castle grounds and onto the final stretches on the road.

The effort was constant now and the final 1.5 km went by far faster than the previous kilometres. We both pushed hard to the roundabout before making the U-turn and down the other side of the railway track back through the town. The last 300m is a killer as we turned up the final hill back up to the pool. I used my last bit of energy to pull away again in my best effort at a sprint finish. All up in 46:42 so another 17 second improvement on last week's run. What on earth made me decide to take part in the hill run this Sunday?

Best part of this run is the cool down in the pool at the end. I definitely need to invest in a 25m pool at home - now where's my Loto card gone ?