Cross-country training

This was the club session planned for Saturday morning and I didn't want my last experience of this session to repeat itself so I put some boxer shorts on this time.

It was cold but just above freezing so the ground was hard but free from snow and ice this time round. Miguel was leading the session and all of the usual crowd were there: Jean-Marc, Bruno, Fred, Nick, Alex, etc. There were about 30 of us in total.

We did a warm up lap around the course to begin with and I measured the longest uphill on the Garmin just to see how long it actually is. It measures precisely 450m which is pretty measly compared to the effort necessary to get up this slope. The second shorter slope must only be about 250m long at the most but it is steeper and harder to attack.

Miguel had decided that we needed to take it easier than usual so instead of the 3 loops around the course, we were only doing 2. Oh yes, but we had to run the final loop around the lake twice instead of once - so that made it much easier. Not !

We set off steadily and then attacked the first uphill. Jean-Marc and Fred were in front with Bruno and a new runner, Bertrand, just behind. I followed with Nick and Gérard tagging on. The hill is straight-forward to begin with and I felt that the pace could be faster but by the end I was looking at the gate at the top longingly, wondering why it was still so far away, and my thighs were aching with the effort.

We did the second slope and I caught up with Bruno and then around the lake where I was in touch with the 3 in front. Around the lake is downhill on a nice firm surface to begin with and then into the grass and an uneven surface along beside the little conifers to end. Just when you can't push on any more, there are two short slopes that have to be sprinted up to finish. A real killer.

The second lap was similar and I beat Bruno up the hill but he caught me up in the recovery section and set off faster around the lake for the 2 final loops. I was keeping a little in reserve for the final lap of the lake but once I lost Bruno at the beginning, I never made it back to him again.

As I stood panting at the top at the end, I watched Nick come in, white as a sheet, having given everything on the last section of the course and obviously close to chucking up at my feet. He put this down to all the pints that he'd drunk in the UK last week and looking at his face, I could believe this easily.

A good run in a lovely setting. 13km all up and some good hill practise.

I've found a photo of the lake with the conifers that we run alongside. The long hill is in the background going up from left to right.

Lunchtime run

I used the most of the lunchtime to go for a run from the swimming pool.

F-X was having a day off today so I went by myself heading down to Grouchy Castle at a moderate pace for a 45 minute run. The marathon training schedule didn't include anything for today so I added a 45 endurance pace run into the schedule just to increase the weekly mileage.

It was a lovely day with a clear blue sky but a little cold. I felt great running around the grounds and the exercise was good to clear the mind about all that's been going on at work.

4:43 pace average for the distance. 9.2km all up in 43 minutes and a bit. Just right for a little extra on the marathon schedule. Followed this by a few lengths in the pool before heading back to work.

Club session

My marathon bible stated for tonight: thou shalt run for 4x4 minutes at a speed equal to that for a 10km race. Thou shalt not run any faster and thou shalt not slacken neither.

I decided that the club session was close enough to this threshold training and that I would do that instead. This, at least, gave me the chance to run with other runners and to motivate me mentally to put the effort in.

We started with a 25 minute warm-up and then got down to business. The plan for the evening was 5 x 200m off 100m + 1000m + 5 x 200m + 1000m + 1600m. The rest between the 1000m and the next interval was 300m. The 200m intervals were to be run at VMA and then the longer distances at threshold, ie. 10 km race pace.

First problem this evening was that the Garmin decided to die on me. No battery left: I don't know what happened to the watch in my bag but it was dead to the world this evening (thankfully now recovered after a recharge).

Two groups quickly formed for the intervals: Miguel, Thierry and Jean-Marc in front; followed by me, Bruno, José and Fabrice. I pushed the first series of 200m's, leading the second group and then took off on the 1000m to finish this in 3:33. So I was well above threshold pace for the first one. I led the 200m intervals again in front of the second group but all 4 of us were closely packed together which was motivating.

We started the second 1000m interval and Bruno was leading all the way round, with me on his heels. He stopped 100m short of the finish, in his confusion, and I carried on pulling José around just behind me. We finished in 3:35 so a very similar time to the first interval. The last 1600m was very hard mentally. I was hurting already now and my energy and enthusiasm was waning. I'd felt so much better than recently up until this point that I was really pleased to be running well again.

I started leading over the 1600m and after one lap, José took the lead expecting me to follow closely. I wasn't ready mentally and I let him go slightly with a gap of 2 metres bewteen the 2 of us. The last lap was a killer and my sprint finish deserted me. Bruno came past 200m before the end and then Fabrice overtook me in the last 100m. I finished in 5:59 which was spot on schedule for me based on a 3:45 km.

Good session and my legs are tired again now. Can't help but feeling that all this is doing wonders to the legs and endurance. I really feel that my form is returning.

Good substitute for the official marathon plan. The mix of VMA and threshold training in the one session is a good combination. Switching from 1000 m pace to 200m pace is interesting !

Recovery run

As I wrote yesterday, marathon training has begun and I have a schedule to follow. However, in order for the training to be appropriate I calculated all of the running speeds that I needed to use for the different training blocks during the week.

My maximum heart rate is 192 and I reach this rhythm when I'm running at 18km/h or 3:20 per km. Based on this I calculated the following:

HR % ----- Level ----------- Speed ----- Seconds / km ----- Minutes/km

100% ----- Max Speed ----------18 km/h ---- 200 s/km ----- 3:20
90% ------ Top threshhold ----- 16 km/h ---- 225 s/km ----- 3:45
80% ------ Threshhold -----------14.4 km/h -- 250 s/km ----- 4:10
70% ------ Active Endurance -- 12.6 km/h -- 285 s/km ----- 4:45
65% ------ Basic Endurance --- 11.6 km/h -- 310 s/km ----- 5:10

Max speed is based on a 2 km race speed which for under 7 minutes is the longest time that you can keep your heart rate at its maximum effort. Top threshhold is roughly 90% of this value and equates to your time per km over a 10 km race. Threshhold is the level that you start to run anaerobically and the lactate levels rise within the body. This equates to my marathon speed (slightly above). Active endurance and endurance are training speeds to let the body recover after the threshold sessions during the week. This was the speed for the day.

It was supposed to be an hour's recovery run so I figured on a 13km loop. This involved the normal Maisons Laffitte route with an extra circuit thrown in half-way round in front of the castle.

I took it very steadily and enjoyed the run. What seemed relatively easy to begin with became tiring in the joints by the end. However, I wasn't breathless at any point over the run.

13.3 km in 1:02:30 - perfect. An average speed of 12.8 km/h or each km in 4:41. Spot on !

Marathon training

Well it had to start sometime and since tomorrow I will miss the club session, I planned the start of my Paris Marathon training tonight with the VMA session for the week.

I haven't found a good translation for "VMA" which stands for "Vitesse Maximale Aérobique" - basically a speed session where you build up lactate and thus get your body to acclimatise to harder and harder levels of training. The marathon training I am following over the next 10 weeks has one VMA session, one threshold session, one long run and two recovery runs per week. I am determined to give myself the best chance of achieving my objective this time so I'll be following this plan assiduously.

Tonight's session in the plan for someone wishing to run a 3 hour marathon was 5x400m x 2 series with each 400m in 1:23. The recovery was 1 minute with 3 minutes between the series. I peeked a look at the 2:45 training schedule and this was the same but with each 400m in 1:16. I figured that if I want to run well under 3 hours I should be somewhere between the 2, so I was aiming for 1:20.

I started with a 4km warm-up run at around 4:50 / km pace and then headed to the track. Im glad that I'm determined because mentally I was not looking forward to this. Without any more ado, I set off. I stretched out and tried to run fast but not to the limit with the result that I ran the first 400m in 1:23. "Not good enough" my brain was telling me so I put a little more effort in and tried just a little harder.

The full set went as follows:

1:23, 1:23, 1:20, 1:20, 1:22, 1:20, 1:21, 1:20, 1:22, 1:19

So fairly regular and I was running by myself so I was pleased with the result. 1:16 for a 2:45 marathon is out of my reach though. Perhaps one day in the future.

I warmed down with another 10 minute jog. 12 km all up.

Sitting down now at the PC to write this up and can feel the tiredness in my legs. This could be due to yesterday's race, the swim session at lunchtime or the VMA session tonight. More likely to be a combination of all three. 10 weeks to go.

Paris XIV - 10 km

Some times things don't always go the way you want them too.

I don't want to make excuses for today's result but I'm asking myself what went wrong today during the race.

Nick and Paul picked me up at 8:00 am this morning to go to Paris for the race. Things got very serious first thing as Paul proposed that we competed against each other using our PB's as the basis for the handicap. The loser was to pay for the coffees for the others at the end of the race. I knew that I wasn't on top form and that my PB was unlikely to fall today, but I'd been telling myself that with the club training sessions, I should be looking for a sub 38 minute time.

We arrived with 40 minutes to spare before the start and the organisation was as good as last year: the race numbers were easy to obtain, the changing facilities excellent, lockers for the bags, etc. We did a short warm-up and then lined up at the start which is the worst part of this race. The start is fairly narrow and we were already situated a good 6 rows back from the front. I warned that the start would be a bit of a scramble and some slaloming would be necessary. The gun went off and we surged forward. There was a little elbowing and a little forcing necessary but overall I wasn't hampered too much. By the first kilometre mark, there were no longer any crowd problems and we'd settled into a good rhythm. I went through the kilometre in 3:44 so I was spot on schedule, especially due to the density and the time necessary to cross the start line.

I settled into my stride and the second kilometre went well too: 3:38. The course is slightly downhill over these first 3 kilometres so this was no real surprise. The surprise was that the 3rd kilometre split on the Garmin was out: 3:54 but the autolap went well after the road-marking (about 60m out). I thought nothing of it and tried to concentrate on the sensations instead.

Just before 4 km there is the first little uphill which I tried to push on concentrating on some of the other runners around me now. This then eases before a slight uphill over the next kilometre bringing you around to complete the first loop. I was overtaken by a woman at this point who had an easy running style and was trying to catch another male runner from her club. I tried to latch on to her but I lost the willpower and mentally my race was shot from here on in.

She only made a few metres on me at first but I couldn't (or didn't have the energy) to pull her back. The gap then grew and I started going backwards. This is always my weakest point in the 10km races at about the 6-7 km markers. From 8 km onwards, I know that the end is approaching and I can manage to concentrate on the pace again. This just didn't happen today. I was overtaken by runners and I lacked the motivation to keep up with them by putting in any effort. I think that I'm still not fully recovered from my succession of colds and am lacking stamina to finish my races correctly.

The Garmin shows clearly that I slowed down at this point running a few kilometres in 3:59 - 4:01 times. I lost interest here and just wanted it to be over. At 9.5 km around one of the last bends before getting to the finsihing town square, I was overtaken by a group of 6/7 runners. What was going on? It was another woman being encouraged by a group of men around her! I maintained my speed and finished the course in 38:30.

I just had time to pick up my goodies bag when I saw Nick arriving. He'd finished in 38:51 beating his personal best in the process. This was an excellent result considering the course is not one of the fastest, it was slightly cold at 3.5°C and there was a nasty headwind in some sections. I was really pleased for him. He hadn't seen me ahead of him, having lost me after the first kilometre but he was within shouting distance of beating me today. Paul finished just afterwards in 41:14, so 1:15 down on his PB. He bought the coffees.

My conclusion: need to build up the weekly mileage again; concentrate on the quality sessions and push these; ease off on the races until the semi in Rambouillet; get more swimming into my weekly routine and lose 3 kgs. It's as easy as that !

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: the first woman who passed me finished in 37:41. I would have been happy with that. Can't help but think about what might have been.

Tapering again

Well it was supposed to be a gentle run through the forest behind the house to Chateau du Val and back but I got carried away. I set off with Laurence and Henry on the usual 7k route through the forest and had decided that I would just take it easy as preparation for tomorrow's race. But it was just one of those days when everything felt great ... the mood was right, I'd been itching for a run, the weather was fine, the forest was peaceful.

I set off easily enough going through the first kilometre in 4:47. I entered the forest and managed the 2nd kilometre in 4:36 and it continued from then on, peaking at 4:21 on the road back from Chateau du Val on the downhill stretch. So much for taking it easy but I arrived back at the house feeling great and not too tired nevertheless. We'll see what impact this has on the race result tomorrow. Total time of 32:40 for the 7.2 km. This wouldn't have been possible a year ago and today it felt easy !

Henry came back next having left Laurence at the half-way point. He didn't want to go out first of all (as usual) but once he's out he's beginning to enjoy it. At least he is able to see the good that it's doing him as he was first in the sports lesson this week. He even spoke about the school cross-country race coming up. There's hope yet.

Laurence is saving herself for a long run (26k) tomorrow in preparation for the start of the Paris Marathon training which begins next week.

20 x 200m

A speed session had been planned for the evening with Miguel. 10 x 200m off 100m rest x2 with 400m rest between the series. The weather was fairly lousy with drizzle and a bit of wind blowing. Despite this, I hadn't seen quite so many people turn out for a training session in a while. There were at least 40 people ready for the session with quite a few faces I hadn't seen before.

We warmed up over the usual course around St Germain and then straight onto the track to begin the series. Miguel laid out the same plan: the first series to be completed quickly and then the second series to be done at full speed - simple !

I set off behind Miguel, Jean-Marc and Thierry over the first few distances. Francisco and Bruno were both with me but both are still recovering from injuries. Fabrice pushed me most of the time and whenever I felt like slowing up, he was on my shoulder pushing me on. I was running the first series in 38 seconds and I felt as though I was giving it everything. On the second series, the 3 runners at the front sped up and I did too, averaging the second series in 36 - 37 seconds.

Tired at the end, but I enjoy this workout and it should stand me in good stead for the 10k at the weekend.

Montesson

I had a lovely night's sleep prior to the race today but that didn't stop me dreaming and fretting about how I was going to manage in the race. The race strategy was to set off with Bruno and to try and stay with him over the distance.

The veteran's race was the first race of the day and there was a good turnout for the club: Thierry, Bruno, Nick and I with Alex, Philippe, Régis, Patrick, Jean-Claude et al. Some other good runners turned up for the race that we don't usually see in training such as Eric and another Bruno.

The weather forecast had promised heavy winds and rain, but most of the storm had blown through during the night so the weather was a lot better than expected. We lined up for the start after a quick warm-up and we were off. I set off fast and quickly pulled ahead of Bruno with my race strategy flying out of the window from the word go. The ground was very heavy with the rain during the night but we set off fast nevertheless. I managed the first kilometre in 3:47. The rest of the race was downhill from then on. Well actually it was very varied in terms of terrain but I struggled until the finish despite the encouragements from Laurence and the rest of the club scattered around the course.

Somewhere around half-way on the second lap, someone was shouting out the positions and I was in 45th place. From then on home though, I just lost place after place as I struggled to find the strength to maintain my speed and to push off after each little hill and bend. The mud and water were hard going too and the effort to run was intense.

I finished 62 and qualified for the next level, the departmental cross-country in Franconville in 3 weeks time. I was 4th in the team and so helped the team to 7th place. Even if I had finished 10 places higher this wouldn't have changed anything to the team's result so that helped me feel a little better.

We went back in the afternoon for the women's race and by now the course was far muddier and harder. Laurence ran a cracker of a race, just finishing a few places behind Muriel, and beating Aude who normally finish well ahead of her. I was thrilled and running all around the course to cheer her on. She said that this helped although by then end I could tell that she was fed up with me !

By the way, I beat Bruno so was thrilled with that. The fact that he was suffering from an Achilles problem might explain this however. We'll see in the next round.

A few photos of the event attached:

Easy Saturday

Since I was running in the area cross-country championships on Sunday, it was jsut an easy run around Chateau du Val for today.

I wanted to take it easy just to see how I was feeling, and not to wear myself out for the race the enxt day. As it was, I felt really good from the start and just coasted around in 4:40 per km pace. It felt very comfortable and I finished the loop in 33:24.

Just over a year ago, I would be going flat out to achieve this. It's amazing the improvement I've made with a bit of serious training. Lovely to be in the forest on a bright Winter day with the temperature a very moderate 8°C.

Birthday treat

As a special present for me today, the railway staff on line A of the RER and all the railworkers using the Saint Lazaire station decided to go on strike.

The chaos that this caused today was devastating. It took me 2 hours 10 minutes to drive the 16 km between the house and my meeting with a dealer candidate this morning, causing me to arrive almost an hour late.

I left work with plenty of time to get to the club session tonight and arrived half an hour after the session had started due to the gridlock on the roads. The roads around St Germain were jammed solid with cars and I've never seen so many pedestrians on the roads before. It looked like a scene from a horror movie. Zombies had invaded St Germain and were walking the streets, polka-faced, staring into the distance, totally distressed by the situation most probably.

As a result of my arriving late, I missed the warm-up and headed straight to the track, wearing my lovely new thermal running tights and top (thank you so much Laurence - but don't think that it'll get you out of massage duty next time the frostbite occurs though). Tonight's session was 5x200 with 100m recovery followed by 1000 then 1200m off 200m recovery.

I managed to stay with Miguel for the 200m sprints but when he set off for the 1000m at the same pace, I just dropped back and did as best as I could. The 1200m was the same story but I'm lacking the oomph at the moment to stay the course. Fairly sure that this is down to the cold that I still haven't shaken off. Sunday will be the moment of truth.

Gridlocked even to get back home from the track. Who sells all of these cars anyway ? Don't they realise that they're destroying the planet ?

Running religion

Usual Sunday route with Paul and Nick and the ladies this morning. Nice running through the forest in the snow with some pants on underneath the tracksuit trousers to avoid any thermal incidents today. Laurence and Anne ran 2 loops for their marathon training and as Paul asked, we felt no guilt at all in heading for home after one loop ourselves.

As we jogged home, we passed some friends with their families all dressed up smartly in several layers on their way to church.

Paul commented on their diligence in getting all togged up just to head to Church. I pointed out that our own efforts in going out on Sunday morning where almost as ridiculous. Running is our own religion where we beg forgiveness for our sins in eating and drinking too much throughout the rest of the week. We go running on Sunday and don't feel half as bad afterwards as we tuck into a good, solid breakfast and then Sunday lunch later on.

As a religion, it's far more direct and immediate than heading off to a place of worship for ultimate forgiveness in the afterlife.

Frostbite

Saturday morning training had been organised by the club for those who were entering the cross-country races over the next few weeks. Nick had rung me up to organise the transport to Marly where it was taking place, but as I got up that morning I beagn to feel that it was a bad idea.

I hadn't been feeling well all week and my cold was still hanging around like a bad memory. To make matters worse, it was early on a Saturday and I felt as though I could do with a good lie-in. And to cap ita ll, having made my way down to the kitchen I looked at the thermometer and it was reading -11°C. Marvellous.

I put on some running tights, 3 tops, a hat, a buff for my neck and some gloves. That should see me through the ordeal I thought. I picked Nick up and drove to Marly park where we got out and met the others. There were a surprisingly good number of runners that had turned up, at least 20. Miguel, Jean-Marc, Thierry, Bruno, Mireille, Regis and Fabrice were there so I didn't have the excuse of taking it easy either. As we set off on the warm-up jog around the course, I could feel the chill around my legs and the cold on my face. My gloves were as good as useless at this temperature too.

The warm-up lap involved a flat stretch through the park and then a long pull of about 500m up a steep slope before going back down and then attacking a steeper slope for about 250m of uphill. We then ran back down before a 1.5 km stretch around the lake running through some powder snow on the far side along an uneven surface. That was the warm-up lap - we now had to run this 3 times pushing the uphills and the last stretch around the lake.

I managed the first lap in an approximate fashion trying to hold on to the leaders. The second 3.75km lap was a lot harder and the uphills were agony. My face was freezing and I lacked the willpower and the strength to stay with them drifting off the back only to catch them on the faster stretch around the lake. The third lap was the killer though: drifting off the back up the hills and losing touch completely, having to run by myself around the lake.

I was spent as I stood at the top of the slope waiting for Nick and their group to finish before heading back to the car. The cold was unbearable once you stopped and I could feel (or rather not) in some areas of my body, most noticeably my crotch. The pain became intense and I was almost doubled up with agony as the blood started flowing to all the extremeties once I got back into the car. It was like being hit in the testicles but permanently.

Laurence refused to help in any way, shape or form despite my pleading once I got home. So much for body warmth. I won't be going on a Himalayan expedition with her in the near future.

Asked Dad for some thermal running tights for my birthday instead !

Stress reliever

It's been a hell of a week workwise, coupled with the fact that the weather has been literally freezing (and I'm talking -12°C now) meant that I hadn't run all week.

Felt bad about the lack of training so as I came back from work early today, I went out on the 11 km usual course around Maisons Laffitte. The aim was just to take it easy, to release all the stress from the week and to enjoy the run.

I set off and the sun was low in the clear blue sky. The snow from the beginning of the week still hasn't melted due to the mercury remaining below zero throughout the day and dropping well below during the night. France has been using the highest levels of electricity ever recorded, just keeping the economy ticking over and letting people heat their homes at night. They've even had to import electricity which has caused a small ruckus as they're proud to be known as a net exporter usually.

I set a comfortbale pace and really enjoyed the run along by the river, letting my thoughts wander back to work and forgetting that I was even running in the first place. Very uneventful all the way around, but the fatigue could be felt in my legs and breathing by the end, despite the easy pace. I really had lost a lot of energy with the stress and lack of sleep during the week.

Finished in 48:55 at an average pace of 4:26. Good night's sleep tonight and I'll be ready fro the X-Country training with the club tomorrow morning.

2008 in review

I thought I'd list some of my most memorable running achievements of last year, now that the year has closed, so that they can be listed for posterity :

The 3 most memorable races :

10km - Paris XIV (January 2008): This was the first 10km race in which I managed to go sub 40 and was the spur to get me to start training more seriously. It all started thanks to a bet with my brother - thanks Al !!

Marathon - Paris (April 2008): My first ever marathon and I didn't know what to expect. I ran comfortably just about the whole distance, but the atmosphere, the crowds, the excitement of it all made it a fantastic memory. A marathon is something special and is the reference for all non-runners.

10 km - Conflans St Honorine (September 2008): My best 10km race of the year and just the race where everything seemed to go right. I wasn't too tired, the weather was good and the course is fast and flat. I loved it. The first signs that I was capable of further improvement with suitable training.

Records achieved:

10 km - 37:28 at Conflans in September (see above)

15 km - 1:03:33 at Le Puy in May. This record will fall this year if I can find a 15km race to run!

Marathon - 3:07:15 at La Queue Lez Yvelines in October. An achievement, yet a big disappointment at the same time. This record has to be beaten in 2009 by a sub 3 hour run.

Other achievements :

Improving my 10km PB by 5 minutes 47 seconds over the year. This is unrepeatable!

Seeing Laurence improve her running too and beginning to believe in herself. 10km race at Houilles last week was brilliant in this respect. First marathon for her this year will be another memorable experience.

Taking pleasure from other running friends achieving their objectives too: Nick in running all those races with me over the year and improving with each one; Paul in beating 40 minutes for 10km and 1:30 for a half marathon; and Andy taking up running seriously again and entering his first running race in several years.

Thanks to all of you for the fun we've had together. Looking forward to another great year, this year and to another load of race memories. Vive la course à pied !

New Faces

First Sunday run in the New Year and what a cracker it was.

Laurence and I prepared as usual with a quick glass of orange before we left and a glance at the thermometer just to check what clothing was necessary: -7°C. Ran back upstairs and added another top before venturing outside. The shock after leaving the warmth of the house was huge. The cold took your breath away and it was actually a relief to start running to try and get some warmth back through the limbs with the blood circulating fully.

We ran up to the Church, the usual meeting point, before deciding that the cold was excessive and took shelter inside Sophie and Pierre-Henri's kitchen instead. Ralph and Louise arrived and then Philippe so we left the house and we joined by a new face, Fabrice. We had met Fabrice at a prty the night before and soon began to talk about running so we invited him along - must be keen to venture out at sub-zero temperatures. We set off slowly and Paul caught us up, having returned from his Christmas break the previous day, so 9 of us in all.

It was too cold to hang around so we ran the first 5km as a group of 4: Paul, Fabrice, Philippe and myself. Philippe set the pace most of the way at around 4:20 per km before I picked it up and pushed on to 4:15 pace. I got to the barrier in 21:30 which is one of the fastest times ever, thanks mostly to the fast start and consistent pace. I went back to find Laurence and Louise and accompanied them to the barrier, before running the second half of the course with Paul at a more moderate pace.

All up 13.5km in 1:04. Laurence arrived back with her hair all frozen and glistening white with the frost. She could have played the starring role in the Ice Maiden.

Good to see Paul again and to chat about marathon training. This begins in earnest for me at the end of the month, using a 10 week programme aimed at achieving a sub 3 hour performance. This is my main goal for the year, with a sub 1:24:30 for the half and a sub 37 10km race as extras !

Long Saturday session

I had organised with Nick on Thursday to go for a long run on Saturday in order to try and increase the average kilometres in my weekly schedules again. I thought that the cold I had been battling for the last week would have gone and that I'd be able to enjoy a long run in good conditions.

Big mistake.

Last night, my cold came back with a vengeance and coupled with the fact that we went to bed late meant that I'd had very little sleep when I got up at 7:30 to go running. I met up with Nick at 8:00 am and he wasn't faring any better. He had the beginning of a cold too and was suffering a little from asthma.

The plan was to run down to the river, cross over the bridge to Sartrouville, run along to Le Pecq and then up to St Germain and back through the forest. I would then run another loop of the Sunday course and Nick would decide how he was feeling before joining me or running straight home.

The plan was simple but we never made it that far. It was -3°C when we set out and Nick was suffering from the outset. He had trouble catching his breath and after a little walk and then jogging for awhile, he decided it wasn't going to improve and so he headed back. I carried on along the river, picking up the pace slightly to 4:20 per km. It was just beginning to get light now, and with the extreme cold, it was very still and quiet down by the river. I crossed the bridge at Le Pecq, running up the 1.4 km of hill to St Germain. This slowed the pace down and I concentrated on catching another runner in front so as not to slow down too radically. This took a lot of energy from the legs but I was able to recover as I went past the Chateau and then alongside the swimming pool and back into the forest.

I was back on very familar ground now and I then ran the 1.5 loops of the Sunday run at around 4:30 pace, slowing down a little towards the end with the tiredness.

28.5 km in all in 2:09 so an average of 4:31 per km. I was fairly pleased but as I soon as I stopped, I began to cough my lungs up and only then realised that my cold had definitely not gone yet. The other problem I experienced was with the camelbak that I was carrying with sugary water inside. I was unable to drink anything over the last 5km as the contents had frozen !!

New Year's Day Run

Celebrated New Year's Day by going for a run with Nick, Jean-Pierre, Isabelle, Anne and Laurence.

We were just planning to do an easy run through the forest around 8-9 km. We started by running to Chateau du Val and then down the steps and up the hill on the St Germain terrasse (using the same hill as the triathlon course). A quick stop to check that Eloise and Alex were OK on their bikes and then along the terrasse to the first gate in the wall and down back towards Chateau du Val.

Final stretch home was along the route taken by the Sunday forest run, with the men going down by the wall to finish and the ladies taking the shortest route back. Most enjoyable run and meant that we were able to sweat off most of the alcohol from the previous night's party.

11.2 km in 1:04, so a very comfortable outing.

Tuesday session

It must be the time of year but the writing up of my runs on this blog is taking almost as long as the runs themselves.

We were only about 10 brave souls on Tuesday night with Miguel for the session and instead of the 90 minutes steady run as planned, we did 2 laps of the usual warm-up run through St Germain. It was extremely cold and the hardest part of the run was not slipping over on the ice in the streets.

8.5km all up in around 45 minutes. So not quite as easy as planned for some of the runners but an easy stretch for others.

Spoke to Miguel most of the way around and found out that he used to concentrate on 5km and 10km races and track sessions. PB of 8:44 for 3k, 31:50 for 10k - not bad !