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.
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 !
No comments:
Post a Comment