Friday stroll

Celebrated the annual bank holiday here in France by sending the kids packing and by having a fantastic day relaxing with Laurence.

Apart from watching the Olympics and doing a little work on the front patio, it was such a lovely evening that I decided to go for a quick run around 8:00 pm.

"Just a slow easy run to Chateau du Val love"
"How long will you be gone"
"Oh. I'll just take it easy so around 33 minutes"

The Chateau du Val route is a 7.2 km run through the forest and one of my favourites. I set out on this lovely evening with just the thought of taking it easy and enjoying myself, not having worked all day and looking forward to a quiet meal with Laurence afterwards.

Up the streets towards the forest at a gentle pace, making sure that I didn't get knocked down by a car as I crossed the village centre like last time. As I entered the forest, I was feeling so good that I just lengthened my stride and enjoyed the peace of the forest. I felt good so I carried on pushing the pace until I was in full flow. I hit half-way point and looked at the Garmin: 15:04. This was a record and from then on, all thoughts of an easy run flew out of my head and I set into record breaking mode.

The second half was relentless. I pushed the pace permanently and stretched on all the uphills, enjoying the feeling after the recent training in Onnion and Aurillac. I didn't look at the watch again until I hit the finish line: 28:59 a new record by almost a minute. I knew I was running fast but this time thrilled me. I've never been so elated after such a brilliant run. 4:04 per km in training. Roll over Usain Bolt - I could take you anyday !!