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.
Footing
10 years ago
2 comments:
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.
Still a good time Paul. You just need a bit of luck on the day.
Congratulations James on coming 2nd in the Yvelines Marathon in the Yveliners category or whatever we are called.
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