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.
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