Sunday slog

Well what a difference a day makes. Having written about how good I felt yesterday running with Nick, today was a different kettle of fish altogether.

The plan was to meet up with the usual Le Mesnil crowd at 9:15 and do the standard 10k loop before runing along to the terrasse at St Germain to see the end of the 18km Paris - St Germain race. I wanted to cheer on the guys taking part in the race and to see who would be the fastest from the club.

At 9:15, only Philippe had turned up so we set off together. The temperature was already a lot higher than yesterday due to the later start time and the humidity in the forest was high. My legs felt like jelly and I had to temper Philippe's enthusiasm by slowing the pace down as I found the going so hard. A combination of climate and the after-effects of yesterday's training took their toll. Philippe was eager to push the speed despite my condition, so we ran at around 4:30 pace for 4 or 5 kilometres. By then end, I had to ease up and was running at about 4:40 - 4:50 pace.

I was melting when we stopped at the end of the loop and I thought to myself that I was glad to be able to run to the terrasse at a more sedate pace by myself. I ran back past Chateau du Val and into St Germain forest parallel to the terrasse. I got to 16 km and had had enough so I walked from then on to the end of the race. I was dripping with sweat and lacking energy, having left the house this morning without breakfast.

I saw the finish line for the race and jogged on to see the runners come up the 1km hill from Le Pecq to St Germain. I didn't have to wait long as the first runner took just over 55 minutes to get to the 17km point where I was. He looked easy and must have finished inside the hour for the total distance. The second runner was a good 2 minutes behind and then a similar gap before the third. The runners started getting closer and then I saw José, sweating buckets as he made it to the top of the hill. I ran with him over the last kilometre and he was happy just to tuck in behind me as we accelerated away from the top of the hill towards the finish line. He ran a good race, beating Thierry, Jean-Marc, Miguel and Bruno in that order.

I was glad I didn't race as the heat and humidity would have been unbearable. Even training was bad enough. 16 km all up in 1:16.

Saturday morning

Arranged to go for an early morning run with Nick towards Cora as is our wont.

8:00 am saw me at Nick's house under a beautiful blue sky and a temperature that was already beginning to climb into the lower 20°C. We set off slowly both determined not to tire ourselves out this morning and just to enjoy the run. We did just that: set out at around 4:50 pace before slowly building up to 4:33 pace around Cora. The pace was comfortable enough to be able to hold a good conversation and it was only towards the 9th km that we began to tire a little as we ran up the slope back from Cora.

I was really happy to be able to get a few more kilometres into the training and started to feel that I had gotten over my illness and was back on track. By the time that we had arrived back in Le Mesnil, the sun had risen higher in the sky and the thermometer was beginning to climb rapidly too. My legs were tiring now but the pace was still very steady.

15km all up by the time I got back to the house, which I managed in 1:11. Pace was constant, and I was pleased with my run. Temperature was ideal in the forest and I need to get out before 9:00 am to run at the moment otherwise the heat and the humidity are too much for me.

Nick is looking in good form and we had a good discussion about the Marathon relay that we're envisaging for the end of October.

Thursday club session

I managed to get out of work in time to get to the club training session on Thursday. As usual, I was the last to arrive and Jean-Claude threw me the keys to the changing room as I entered the clubhouse while the others were having the pre-session chat. When we will they give me a set of keys for my own ?

I set off for the training with Nick and chatted to him easily during the warm-up. There was an average turnout with Miguel leading the session, and Thierry, José and Jean-Marc all there. There was still a lot of speculation as to who would be the first from the club in the Paris St Germain race on Sunday, with the money equally divided between Thierry and Miguel.

For those of us who weren't racing, there was a little interval session of 4' then 8' at 10k speed. I managed the first interval easily enough, staying with Jean-Marc, Thierry and José. When they set off on the second interval, I was already lagging behind after a couple of minutes. The heat and the humidity was getting to me and I found it really hard to put the effort in to tag along. Nick was just behind me and then when he cut a corner around the duck pond, I spent the rest of the interval trying to chase him down. Hard work and first real effort since the infection.

Amost 10 k all up in 55:53. Intervals were run at 15km/h (4:05 per km).

Tuesday run

Following my recent illness, since I was feeling a whole lot better yesterday, I managed to make it out of work on time to make it to the club training session last night.

It was a lovely evening but the turnout was fairly small: Miguel, Jean-Marc, Adrien, Alex and the 2 Nicks were there. I ran around with Nick W and we just took it very steadily which suited me fine. After 30 minutes of easy jogging (6:50 pace per km !!) , there was some debate about whether we should pick the speed up and do some intervals. General consensus was "sod it" let's just take it easy - so we did.

Nick and I picked up the pace slightly on the way back to the clubhouse, even managing to get one kilometre in at 4:24 pace before easing off again. Relaxing run to get back into things after a few days off.

8.5 km all up in 55 minutes so no great strain.

Buster Gonad

Haven't been running for 10 days now since I fell ill with a urinary infection after looking after the tail-enders on the mountain bike at the Foulées Royales on June 14. Not sure if the two events were related.




Found a picture of how I've been looking recently though. Credits to Viz for the picture.

Saturday long run

I ran twice around the normal Sunday training route in order to get a long run in this weekend.

It was another warm morning with the Summer finally arriving here. I was pleased to be running in the shade and even with the cap on, I could feel the heat of the sun on my head.

I set off at a comfortable pace and soon settled into a steady rhythm of 4:30 per km. In fact, as the Garmin beeped at me for every kilometre, I was impressed at how regular and steady I was.

I ran the total circuit in 1:43:26 for just under 23 kilometres, or an average of 4:31 per km.

I weighed myself both before and after the run, just out of interest: 77.9kg before and 76.0 afterwards (having drunk 1/2 litre of water on my return). So I lost almost 2.5 litres of water in sweat during the run. No wonder I have to watch my water intake so closely over the marathon. This was a real demonstration of the levels I need to be consuming: 2.5 litres for 23 km equates to 4.5 litres over a marathon.

I can afford to lose 2 litres without it affecting my performance too badly, so I need to drink 2.5 litres over the race, on a warm day, or 325 ml at each of the 8 feeding stations. This is a small bottle or a can at each stop. I've never done this in the past, but will take more care in the future.

Avignon (pas de pont)

Well, it was close to Avignon anyway and another early morning run at 6:30 am before the training session for work.

I ran with Armel and Jean-Charles. Armel is an iron-man finisher and trail runner and we both ran at around the same pace. Jean-Charles found the going slightly harder and we had to help him around at the end.

We ran 10km which is the furthest that J-C has ever run. All up in 48:40. Lovely countryside but hot and humid even that early in the morning.

Wednesday morning run

Another busy week and no blog write-ups all week. I'm ashamed at how slack I'm becoming. It's already hard enough to get out running but now I'm also finding it hard to write up my runs at the end.

I missed Tuesday night training session with the club and went out for an early morning run the next day instead. It was a lovely morning and despite being caught short at just after 3 km into the run, I managed to run each kilometre in around 4:15 or thereabouts.

I ran my old route down by the Seine and through the park at Maisons Laffitte before coming back via the Church in Le Mesnil and down by the town hall.

Finished with a burst at over 15km/h. Good run. All up in 47:19 so no record for the 11.1km but a good time nevertheless.

Orgerus

Nick and I had decided that we would run Orgerus this weekend, after Nick's disappointment with La Pastourelle and my objective to beat the hour over a 15 km course.

My training during the week had left me feeling that I was capable of beating my goal over the course despite my quick research on the web with runners saying that the course was not the flattest in the area. We arrived in this little village in the south of the Yvelines well in advance of the start and we picked up our numbers and had a quick warm-up around some of the little roads in the area.

The weather was perfect, with the temperature around 13°C and some sunshine in between the high clouds. We lined up for the start facing down the slight hill that we would set off down for the first kilometre. I told myself that I had to control my start in order to run as consistently as possible over the course. The whistle went and we were off down the hill. It was a dense pack and I had to be careful to avoid other runners feet over the first 500 metres. This then thinned out and I found myself in the first 40 runners. I could see Miguel, Thierry and Jean-Marc ahead at this point and then we turned right and started running uphill. I passed a group of around 10 runners at this point as I felt strong on the hill (probably improving from La Pastourelle) and then reached a no-mans land point where I was on my own. This didn't last long as I was joined by another runner at this point and we set a steady pace together.

The first 5 kilometres went by easily enough in 3:44, 3:57, 3:57, 3:57, 3:58. This was despite the rises in the terrain. My partner would push the downhills and leave me slightly and I would push the uphills, giving him some food for thought.

At 6 km we passed another lone runner who he obviously knew from Issou and he made some remark about too many races to him. I still felt good but I could feel my legs now and was starting to tire a little. The undulating countryside, although very pretty, was tough going and I knew that last weekend's efforts were having an impact.

We stayed together, just the two of us, maintaining the rhythm: 3:45, 4:01, 4:02, 3:54, 4:06.

We went through the 10km marker in 39:43 and I knew that I didn't have much room for manoeuvre in slowing the pace. My only consolation was that I had looked at the map of the course with Nick prior to starting and knew that the last few kilometres were mostly downhill.

I began to tire considerably now and mentally I was strained. As if he could hear my thoughts, my partner took off at 12km, leaving more more vulnerable than ever. I could see him catch one, then two runners ahead of us, while hearing others catch me up behind. I had nothing left to give and was just counting down the minutes to the arrival. 2 km - 8 minutes to go; 6 minutes to go - OK it's just like an interval session, 1km - 4 minutes to go.

I hit the outskirts of the village and gave it my last. The end was in sight and my objective too. I pushed on and managed a semi sprint finish (19.2 km/h according to the Garmin) to end the agony in 59:45. Too tired to celebrate, I just collapsed in a corner, recovering with my head in my hands.

Nick finished a couple of minutes later in 1:02:30, pleased with his time too. Really pleased now that I've done it, but it was a real effort and bloody hard work.

Finished in 27th place and 11th veteran. Will post a link to the results when they're out.

Poitiers - Futuroscope

Poitiers has one of the biggest permanent cinema exhibitions in France and was the site of our training on Friday.

I went for another early morning run and left the industrial zone of Chasseneuil-du-Poitou to find some more pleasant scenery.

I was just beginning to wake up as I left the zone and found a little path heading off into the forest. I followed this as it meandered around only to find myself beside what appeared to be a large pond. The path promptly disappeared, forcing me to fight my way through nettles and the undergrowth, before I found myself back on a track again.

7.5 km all up in around 40 minutes. (I'd forgotten to pack my Garmin in the hurry). Oh and the large pond turned out ot be a river, so it would have taken me a while to have run around it ;o)

Reims Cathedral

Busy with work all week so took my running kit along in order to keep up the training despite being away.

Late night and then an early start as I left the hotel (frankly, one of the worst places I have ever stayed at - don't believe the photos on their website) at 6:20 to go for a run around the city. Reims city centre is well worth visiting. It was just a shame that most of the streets seemed to be in the process of being dug up for repairs. It made for a harder run as I kept having to change pavements.

10.5 km all up in 46:31 or an average of 4:30 per km. Good run and a great way to wake up for the day.

Sunday - St Simon

Decided that despite having run the Pastourelle yesterday that I would take Nick out around my favourite route in Aurillac, the old road to St Simon and then back along the new road. A 9km circular route.

As soon as we got outside, I realised that the mental energy I had was great. Unhappily, the physical energy was no match. I had even thought about extending the normal course to add on some cross-country sections from St Simon. A kilometre along the road and all ideas about running any further than 9k were banished from my mind.

We set off steadily enough at around 5:15 per km and then slowed as we went up the hill. We pushed on a little once we got to the top and wrere running at around 4:30 pace. Laurence and Anne caught us up on the bikes at this point as they coasted down the hill. Over the bridge at St Simon and back along the new road. We picked the pace up again, accelerating to 4:13 then 4:09 per km.

All up in 42:33, well outside my P.B of 38:30, but then again I hadn't run a 31km race the day before !

La Pastourelle

It's been a busy week and I've only just got around now to writing up my running diary for the past week.

La Pastourelle was the big event of last weekend, with a 32 km race in the Cantal around a circuit comprising of over 1000m of uphill.

The profile of the course looked like this. The big challenge was between kilometres 3 and 11 with 8,5 km of climb and 850 metres height to be gained, so an average gradient of 10%.

The day turned out bright and hot. Laurence, Anne , Nick and I had all travelled down together and arrived at the start an hour before the off. Having picked up our bibs, we spent the next 10 minutes appltying the sun cream liberally to protect ourselves from the afternoon sun. It was about 22°C, so too hot for me and I promised myself that I would take it easy over the course.

The start was given and we were off. The beginning was easy enough with 3 kilometres of downhill and I coasted at around 3:46 per km. At the foot of the moutain, we left the road and starting heading up a small track. I ran for about 2 km before starting to walk for a while and then started running again. At this point I was overtaken by the first woman who ran up steadily with small paces, never pausing in her stride. Mentally, I couldn't keep this up as the effort and the heat was too intense. Only an hour and 20 minutes later was I finally at the top of Puy Violent and ready to run the 22 km back to Salers.

Unfortunately, this is where I made my second mistake. I had assumed, naively, that once on the top I would be able to pick up speed easily and run downhill at a regular sustained pace. The reality was totally different, with a narrow track, steep downhill sections with large boulders, and worst of all: more uphill ! The uphill sections proved to be too much and I ended up walking many of them, further slowing my average speed. The tiredness increased and the afternoon heat too. At least on top, the wind had cooled me down substantially whereas with the descent, the breeze dropped and I began overheating. I was very careful to avoid a repeat performance of the marathon, so I stopped at every feeding station to take on liquid and food. These were well organised and situated every 3 - 4 km along the route.

I finished by walking up the steep roads into Salers, applauded by the spectators. Even the thought of the finish line was not motivating enough to get me to run. Total time for the course was 3:14:32 in 62 position out of 556 finishers. Laurence and Anne finished in 4:40 and Nick had to be helicoptored off the mountain after his heart began racing (tachycardia).

Great scenery, lovely course but very demanding. I'll be back next year to improve on my time and will be better prepared mentally for the effort necessary.