I am not a cross-country runner. Some people like spending their afternoons traipsing around in mud sudden fields, getting their feet soaking wet and slogging up slopes. I am not one of them. Give me a nice road anytime, where you can find a rhythm, obtain a sense of speed, and just go for it.
The afternoon set off pleasantly enough as I watched Laurence running in the women's race. It was a 6.6 km course for them, one small lap and two medium laps (see attached photo for the laps - prize awarded to anyone who can work out what was going on!). Laurence ran steadily and set off at a more sensible pace for this race, in comparison to Montesson, and this paid off as she was within spitting distance of Aude until close to the end when Aude found a sprint finish. I wasn't able to see the end of the race as I was already lining up for the start of the veterans.
Our race was longer as we had one small, one medium and two large loops for our race for a total of 10.2 km. It had snowed heavily yesterday and despite the rise in temperature there was still a fair amount of snow lying around. Of course, all the snow that had melted had turned the previously grassy areas into mudbaths and then there were the hard forest paths that meant that spikes were most uncomfortable top wear. Well that's the excuses out of the way then so what actually happened ?
The usual suspects were lined up for the start: Eric (who I only ever see at races and is a class above), Thierry, Francisco, Bruno, Nick, Régis, Gérard, Patrick and myself. We got all of our excuses out of the way before the race started: Bruno was still suffering from his achilles, Régis hadn't been training much having returned from skiing, I had been marathon training and not tapering, etc. etc. The sun finally came out and the afternooon began to warm up a little. So shorts (borrowed from Jean-Marc as I only brought tights) and runnig top it was. We lined up, the gun went and we were off.
I set off at a steadier pace than at Montesson too. I wanted to be able to handle the extra distance and keep something in reserve for the end of the race. The Garmin clocked me at 19.8 km/h for the start so I managed this really well. Not.
Nevertheless, I felt good for the first kilometre. The path was tough but not excessively and there were stretches were I was able to lengthen my stride a little and push on. There's something about the mud though that just saps your energy. I slowed slightly and the kilometre times dropped to 4:28 at my nadir around 4km. On the first big loop, in the forest section, Régis pulled alongside me. This took me by surprise as I felt that my speed was improving now (which the Garmin confirmed). I tried to stay with him but he inched ahead and by the end of the third lap and into the last, he had 20 metres on me by now.
I was running in a group of around 6 runners and I concentrated on leading them. I feel so much more comfortable leading a group than tracking others. I tried to pull in the group ahead and was pleased since I wad passing runners in the latter part of the race compared to the last cross-country where I went backwards. Régis refused to come back though and he was stronger and stronger towards the end. I pulled off a sprint finish, just to keep the guy behind me from overtaking and ended in 43:08 in 131st position out of a total field of 224. I turned to congratulate the guy just behind me at the end and he thanked me for the pace-making I'd done throughout the race. Just a nice touch that made me feel a little better about the race. Not enough to make me want to do another though.
So 4th finisher from the club as Francisco pulled out with a sore hamstring on the second lap. Finishing positions were:
Eric (39:41), Thierry (42:14), Régis (42:33), Me (43:08), Bruno (43:44), Gérard (44:50), Nick (45:27) and Patrick (46:23)
I was pleased to be within a minute of Thierry, sorry not to have been able to stay with Régis, happy to have beaten Bruno (again) and surprised to have beaten Nick by over 2 minutes (not normal).
Good training but glad it's all over.
A few photos of my suffering:
Laurence running her race
Photo of the St Germain veterans with Miguel
Me suffering
Régis beating me soundly 
Laurence and Christelle
Just why is Miguel pinching Eric's bum ?
Map of the course courtesy of Google Earth
2 comments:
Jamie - ground looks pretty ideal to me. Nice and bouncy. Not sure what you're complaining about. We'd dream about those conditions over here.
Well done anyway - good base building.
True that the photos shown here don't give the true picture. Large sections were decent as seen in the photos, however there was one section where they forced you up this muddy mound and down through ankle deep mud on the other side. This was followed by a 500m slight climb through mud. A real killer.
Excellent base building though.
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