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.