Sunday run

Another lovely morning, and it was a real pleasure to go out and run with the group in the forest from Le Mesnil. Laurence was accompanying on the bike this morning, as her knee problem has not improved. She's forcing herself to rest,but like all runners deprived of their daily dose, she's suffering from withdrawal symptoms and going cold turkey. Life alongside her isn't always easy.


There was a fairly good turnout this morning with Ralph, Louise, Pierre-Henry, Sophie, Philippe, Yann and Thierry. I set off with Philippe at a steady pace thinking that we were the only two that would be running around the full course, but Yann followed so we slowed down so as not to lose him. I haven't run with Philippe in a while and he's improved tremendously. If he carries on at this rate, it won't be long before I'm struggling behind him to keep up. We ran with Yann until a kilometre before the barrier and then stretched out to about 16 km/h (3:45 pace) to reach the barrier. Philippe struggled at this point, but since he only runs once a week, this is not surprising. I told him how much faster and stronger he would be if he ran even 3 times a week - great potential.


We went back to run with the girls at this point and then set off again faster over the second half of the course. Philippe was determined to catch the other blokes who hadn't stopped half way and he pushed the pace faster than I (or my legs) were inclined. Managed the 11.5 km in 55:00, so an average of 12.5 km/h.


The others stoped after this loop, but determined to increase my mileage, I set off with Laurence on another loop at a faster, more regular pace. It was hard work and the last few days had taken their toll, but I was running at between 4:20 - 4:30 per km, finishing down the road in a last kilometre of 3:58.


All up in 23.9 km in 1:52 or an average of 4:42 per km. Great run on a lovely day.


Some photos of the trail from Friday (thanks to Christèle). Laurence looking good despite the knee.