Glorious Sunday

Woke up this morning to bright sunshine streaming in through the window. Temperature was very clement too, with the thermometer reading 11°C already at just after 8:00 am. Laurence prepared breakfast for us both: a good thick porridge to enable me to keep going over the 2 hour endurance run that was planned for the morning.

We picked Nick up and headed off to the club to have our photos taken in our club tracksuits. We looked like real 'scousers' with our shellsuits on: white tops and blue bottoms. The photos took 2 minutes and then Laurence headed back off to the house running and Nick and I set off with a small group with the intention of a 2 hour run interspersed with 2 session of 20 minutes at marathon pace.

The group were the usual culprits: Régis, Fabrice, José, Yannick, Mohammed, Nick and I. We left the club and headed in the direction of the agricultural school and Princess Road; the road that cuts straight through the forest at Marly. By the time we got to the top of Princess Road after 30 minutes at an easy jogging pace, I was too hot and had to take my top off. It was the start of the first of the marathon pace sessions and so we all set off at around 4:10 pace.

4:10 pace was the general idea as this is 5 seconds faster per kilometre than the marathon pace planned. However, it soon became apparent that we were going a lot faster. First kilometre went by in 4:07, second in 3:46 and I was trying to chase down José and Yannick. José runs on instinct and rarely wears a watch so he has no idea how fast he is going. He's in a different league though and I knew if I went after him at this pace, I would soon be exhausted. The good news was that I was feeling no discomfort from any aches and pains. This was the first run in a long time that this had occured. We carried along the road into Feucherolles and completed the first 20 minute interval, having run just over 5 kms in this time. A 4 minute receovery period and then we set off again.

We headed out along the road from Feucherolles to St Nom la Breteche. With the sun shining and the glorious views over the countryside, the lack of pain in my legs and back, I felt on top of the world. It was a great feeling. Another 5 kilometres later and we were running up the hill through St Nom and back towards St Germain.

Got back at the club after 2:04 and 25 km. Average pace of 4:58 over the distance. Looking forward to the long run next week when I'll head off over some trails in the same direction.

Day was capped off with a fantastic victory by England over France in the 6 nations championship. 29-0 at half-time and it was all one-way. 34-10 final score. Great wrap up to the day.

Nick was happy too despite reaching 40 today: 4-1 victory by Liverpool over Man Utd; England winning the match against France; and a surprise birthday brunch at his house after the run! Happy birthday mate !