Venitian mosquitoes

I almost changed my mind about going for a long run early this morning. I was in half a mind to stay in bed and sleep for a little while longer all because of a few little insects. The said insects, mosquitoes, woke me up at 3:30 am and I felt obliged to kill all the little b**tards in order to stop them buzzing me with a fly-by every 2 minutes.

It had been so hot yesterday, that we experimented with the window open last night to try and let a little fresh air into the bedroom: bad move. With the fresh air, there was a small squadron of the little b**tards, that also decided to share our living space. Early this morning, it all became too much for me and I decided that I'd rather die of heat exhaustion and suffocation that be sucked to death by a bunch of b**tard insects. I closed the window, went on a killing spree, spraying the bedroom walls with our own blood, which is rather satisfying since at least you know that you've achieved pay-back big time !

The alarm rang at 7:45 am and I hit snooze. 9 minutes later it rang again and this time I thought that I'd better do something about it, so I got up. Half asleep with the early morning exploits, I dragged my kit on and my carcass out of the flat to go for a run. I set off in the same direction as usual, heading for the north of the city and Piazzale Roma. The morning was hot, despite the early start, and the effort to run at 4:40 pace was intense. There was no air, not a whisper of a breeze and the humidity was also very high. I struggled down the quays to Punta della Dognana and the 5 km mark before heading over to St Mark's Square and the Bridge of Sighs. Due to the early start, the Square was virtually empty and the run towards the public gardens and the Biennial exhibition was easier since there were no crowds to avoid. I still suffered at the 7 - 8 km mark though feeling the heat and the exhaustion in my body.

I slowed the pace down and ran around the public gardens to St Elena at the farthest end of the island and then started heading back. The most wonderful sight appeared at exactly 10 km when I came upon a water fountain in the park. I was able to fill my cap and pour the water over my head 3 times, before carrying on the run. Back up to St Mark's Square, then over Rialto bridge before back home thoroughly exhausted.

13.5 km all up in 1:05:05 or an average of 4:48 per km. Faster on the way out and then struggling to finish in 5:15 pace. Pleased to have run anyway as I'm sure that runs like this do wonders for my endurance.

Now where's my mosquito swat ?
Picture of the little b**tard!

Venice duo

Laurence and I ran together this morning again. I managed to wake her slightly earlier this morning but by the time that I'd dealt with 2 phone calls from my boss, it was 9:40 am when we left. It's frightening how much contact I still have with work when I'm supposed to be on holiday. How will they manage in a couple of month's time ?

Another fantastic day weather-wise: blue sky, 30°C, and high humidity. It's easy to tell that the humidity is high since having washed the towels after yesterday's excursion to the Lido beach, they're still damp despite hanging out to dry all evening. So lovely weather for sauntering around, not so ideal for running though.

Laurence set off at a steady pace of about 5:30 per km and I ran with her. We headed out along the route that I'd taken yesterday as this avoids many bridges and allows you to get into a steady stride without having to avoid tourists, and climb tens of bridges. This pace is faster than Laurence's planned marathon pace, and so she kept reminding me of how hard I would find it to train at this comparative speed in full sunshine. We ran steadily until passing the Punta della Dogana after 5 km and then we slowed down slightly. The heat and the narrow alleys and crowds were too much at this point and we dropped the speed to about 10km/h.

7.7 km all up in 43:23 or an average of 5:38 per km. Just another 34.5 km at the same speed and Laurence will achieve her 4 hour marathon objective.

Accademia bridge with the museum just behind.

Venice morning run

I've been feeling guilty these past days that I haven't been out for a long run. Yesterday was lovely to run with Laurence but it still didn't help me feel any better about my lack of distance recently. Today, I was hoping to change all of that and run by myself for a long run.

The plan, before I set out, was to head out in the same direction as yesterday towards Piazzale Roma and then along the quays to Punta della Dogana, back up to Accademia over to St Marks square and then along the front to the public gardens, back to St Marks square, up to Rialto bridge and over the bridge back to the flat. In fact, I actually managed to do the route as planned, however, the manner in which it was done, left a lot to be desired.

I set out earlier than yesterday, at about 8:45am, hoping to avoid the worst of the heat. It soon became apparent as I left the shade of the narrow alleys around the flat, that I was very optimisic as the sun was already up and the day promised to be a scorcher. Not a cloud in sight, and the thermometer was probably already around 33°C. To make it worse, the paths along the quays offered no shade and my cap did not provide anough protection from the sun for my liking.

I was running well to begin with covering the first 5 kilometres at an average of 4:38 per km. I crossed over the bridge at Accademia and on to St Marks Square and along the front towards the public gardens and I began to suffer. At just under 7.5km I stoppped for a short rest in some shade. I was desperate for a drink of water but there were no fountains here. I told myself that I would continue as planned but just ease off the pace so as not to wear myself out in the heat and humidity. My pace slowed from this point on and I ran the kilometres at about 5:10 pace.

I admired the yachts tied up alongside the coast towards the public gardens, including Cloud 9, which you can hire here: http://www.charterworld.com/index.html?sub=yacht-charter&charter=mycloud-1546 if you happen to have the 350k€ necessary per week available.

I ran back to Rilato through the narrow streets from St Marks place, which was a pleasant relief since these were a lot cooler than in full glare of the sun. Avoiding the tourists was hazardous enough though.

11.5km all up in 56:47 or an average of 4:57 per km so no great shakes as far as pace is concerned. Good to get a longer run in. I struggle in the heat though - but this is not new ! Map of run is here.

Traffic on the grand canal in summertime in Venice

Venice

There are 409 bridges in Venice. These bridges are not flat affairs since the boats, notably the gondolas, need to be able to pass under them and so they tend to rise steeply with short steps and then flatten out before descending rapidly with more steps on the far side. These bridges are beautiful to look at and form part of the charm of the city. But boy, are they are bugger to run over.

Laurence and I went for a run this morning around the city. We're staying in a flat in the Sante Croce district of the city, almost in the centre and I had a plan to run to the quays on the southern side of the city in order to avoid the crowds and have as much space as possible.

We set off at 9:45 am which was too late really, since the sun had already been up for a couple of hours and the temperature had risen to the low 30°Cs. We headed off to Piazzale Roma and then down to Dorsoduro and Zattere. We just ran easily and I was really enjoying the sights and the sounds of Venice at a comfortable pace when my left shoulder muscles tightened and spasms started. It was like a torticolli in my shoulder, causing intense pain every time I tried to move. I carried on with Laurence but I had to drop my arm in order to find a comfortable position in which to run.

We ran 7.4 km all up in 46:01 and Laurence didn't suffer from any pains in her knee which was good. The bridges were hard and worth any amount of hill training. Lovely city and holiday is going very well.

Chamonix

First day of the holidays today and we are staying at Chamonix tonight before heading on to Venice tomorrow. I took my running kit for tonight to make the most of the hotel facilities and the surrounding countryside for the run.

The weather is overcast and the temperature in the low 20°C, so perfect for a late afternoon run. I ran along the valley towards Chamonix, trying to stay off the main road. Unfortunately, most of the roads I took ended in cul-de-sacs, but not before I'd had to climb a hundred metres or so up the roads before discovering this. So much for the hill training, I was suffering with the altitude and the efforts of the climb.

I ran back over the motorway and onto the old road leading out of Bosson and into Chamonix. I followed this up into the town running at a reasonable rate of around 4:27 per km. At 7 km on the Garmin, I turned round and headed back towards Bosson and the hotel. I discovered that it was now slightly downhill which made me all the more pleased concerning the pace that I'd been running at before.

I managed to get back to the hotel just before the skies opened and the storm began. 11.5 km all up in 52:40 or an average of 4:35 per km. Good run and pleased with my performance.

"Did you see how fast he was running ?" - Paccard to Balmat in Chamonix town centre.

30 - 30

A 30-30 session planned for the club on Thursday evening. I arrived at the last moment as is my wont and was thrown the keys to the changing room. They were polite enough to wait for me before setting off which was great.

There was a good turnout with Thierry, Jean-Marc, Miguel, Nick and Anne, Régis, Fabrice, Philippe and Bertrand all out for the evening. The 30-30 session didn't look as though it was going to be easy. We headed off towards Poissy and Les Charmilles where we run around a park on the outskirts of the town. We started off easily enough and then began the hard work for the block of 20 x 30-30's. The first interval was easy (too easy and the heart hasn't had the opportunity to warm up to start with) before we started putting some effort in on the following.

Very quickly we created a small group at the front: Thierry and Jean-Marc followed by Bertrand and myself. Nick, Fabrice and Régis were slightly behind taking it a little easier before the start of the holidays. I was motivated in keeping the distance between Thierry and Jean Marc and our duo as small as possible. They would leave us slightly in the fast 30' and we would gain back on them over the recovery. Miguel was coaching and not taking part but he was a great encouragement. I felt good and all my recent training seems to be paying off.

13 km all up in 1:15. The intervals were run at 18km/h with the fastest maxing at 20 km/h. Good session on an evening where it wasn't too hot. We got back to the clubhouse just in time to avoid the thunderstorm.

Summertime

"Summer time and the living's easy" - well this was most definitely the case tonight. I turned up for the club session with plenty of time to spare, all of 5 minutes, which took everybody by surprise. It was a very warm evening with the thermometer showing 32°C when we set out for the run.

Jean-Claude issued the orders and with most of the senior runners absent, Dominique declared that it would be an hour's easy running towards the St Germain terrasse and then down to Le Mesnil. This suited everybody. I wasn't in the mood to run hard and with the heat and the humidity my motivation was lacking.

I ran with Philippe to the terrasse and to make a change, instead of running alongside the wall in the shade, we ran on the terrasse and took in the views over the Paris basin with the evening sunshine. It was really pretty and for once, we were running at a speed where we could enjoy the views. The speed ? Well around 6:30 for the first kilometre and then we maintained this pace around the circuit. It was a real jog but I appreciated the relaxed atmosphere and the sheer pleasure of running without forcing myself.

Despite the easy pace, the group still managed to split into two and we lost the slower members in the forest around Le Mesnil. So apparently, despite all my efforts to lead the group at an easy pace, it just wasn't slow enough. We carried on along the wall at Le Mesnil and then back through the forest following the shortest route back. I stretched out along the path to the barrier and ran for a while with Dominique before he dropped off and I finished by myself. It was a nice pace and I lengthened my stride until I was running at around 15.5 km/h speed.

10.2 km all up in 1:02. No great shakes !

LSR

LSR - long, slow run. The agreed formula for running training for a sucessful marathon. Combined with some speedwork and threshold training, this is guaranteed (well almost) to get me to achieve my 3 hour objective for the next marathon.

I having been trying to up the mileage and with this in mind, I set off running through the forest to the club session at St Germain this morning, rather than taking the car. It's a 5km run through the trees, 5 km return together with the club session of about 15km on Sunday, would give me a total of 25km for the morning and a good start to the week (Garmin trainer goes from Sunday to Saturday fyi).

I made it to the clubhouse with a couple of minutes to spare and listened to the moning briefing. It was a small pyramid session today with 1', 3', 5', 3', 1' off 1 minute rest and 2 minutes after the 5 minute interval. We ran very easily for the first 5 kilometres, which I appreciated having run fast through the forest to begin with anyway.

We started the intervals and I was running with Jean-François, Philippe and Bertrand (who I'd started with at Orgerus). I was on the second interval when disaster struck and my right foot folded beneath me. Dominique who was just behind me saw it happen and asked if it was OK. I just yelped and took the worst of the pain as it gradually eased over the next 2 to 3 minutes. I had to ease off the pace and let some other runners past until the end of the interval.

I could feel my ankle for the rest of the run and was looking forward to getting back and to put some ice on it for it to recover. I strapped it up afterwards and it is much beeter this evening. I should be able to run on it again soon, but I'll give it a rest tomorrow. More proof that I need a new pair of trainers!

On the way back to the clubhouse after the intervals, Jean-François and Bertrand were pushing the pace. I couldn't help but respond and before I knew it, I was leading them home at 15km/h along the road by the St Germain golfclub. Alex and Dominique were disappointed since they were hoping to catch us but couldn't beat that pace.

25.4k all up in 2:10. Good run, shame about the ankle.

Friday lunch

I have been trying to push the mileage lately and now that I feel that I'm getting back into shape, I decided to take me kit into work and to do a Friday lunchtime session again.

The weather had cooled from the previous day following a huge thunderstorm Thursday night. The thunder and lightning was so bad in several places that houses had caught fire and trees had been brought down in the winds, destroying property. I was happy to be out in cooler circumstances and looking forward to an easy run.

I set off from the pool and down the steep little hill, which is a great start to the lunchtime run. The only problem with this is the thought of having to climb back up the hill at the end. I put these thoughts out of my mind for the moment and just appreciated the blue sky and the pleasant conditions.

Normally, despite all my good intentions to enjoy rest runs, I tend to speed up gradually as the run continues before I'm at my cruising pace of around 4:35 per km. Not today. I oscillated between 4:33 and 5:00, only managing to push the pace to 4:28 on the last flat kilometre before that last hill back. This was a real rest run and my legs were feeling the effort from the previous days running.

The worst problem of all was my back though. Thursday night I had felt small twinges in the base of my spine, similar to the start of a lumbago. Today, these twinges were ten times worse and caused me to wince when my feet hit the ground unevenly. I wondered if this was down to my running shoes which probably need to be changed now having covered at least 1000 km.

Glad to get back and go for a swim in the pool.

10.6 km all up in 50:43 or an average of 4:45.

Sauna

On Thursday night, I failed to make it out of work in time for the club session as I was caught up in endless meetings. I left work as soon as I could and wondered if it was worth running from the clubhouse anyway. In the end, I decided not and came home to go for a run from the house.

The weather was scorching with a temperature of 32°C in the shade. I left the house and ran slowly up the road towards the forest. It was more pleasant in the shade of the trees and it was probably a couple of degrees cooler, which was just as well as I was already cooking having run a kilometre to get there.

The plan was just to run around the Sunday course to cover around 12km at a steady pace. I picked up the pace inside the forest and was running just under 4:30 per km, at around 4:27 - 4:28 pace. I crossed the paths of all the club runners as I first met Thierry, closely followed by Bruno, then Philippe, Mireille and all the rest of the group. I was so glad to be running by myself when I saw Thierry and Bruno coming at full pelt towards me. I just didn't have the energy for that sort of effort tonight !

12.4 km all up in 57:32 or an average of 4:38. Not bad going considering the heat. I drank about a litre of water as soon as I got back to the house. I know why I don't race well in these conditions.

Bastille day

French national holiday today and so the whole country is entitled to a day off work. The whole country ? Well, not quite as there are all the poor individuals in the army, navy, airforce etc. who have to parade down the Champs Elysees for our dear old emperor Napoleon (that should read President Sarko of course).

I made the most of the morning by going to the clubhouse for 9:00 to meet with the other club members who were interested in a long run. There was a small turnout and the plan was to run a loop towards the St Germain terrasse, up to Croix de Noailles, cross over the main road towards Poissy and finish by the St Germain golf club. It was a beautiful morning with a clear blue sky, a slight breeze and a temperature around 18°C. Ideal for a run.

We started off very slowly on the warm-up and then began the planned programme of 3x8' off 3' recovery. The leading group was composed of Nico, Yannick, Fabrice, Philippe and myself. There were a couple of other faces I recognised but was unable to name. We picked up the speed gradually over the intervals to finish at just under 16 km/h. This was actually significantly faster than we were the other day with Thierry and Jean-Marc, so I was pleased with my pace. I've felt the need to push my speed training a little recently and this type of interval session felt perfect.

Yannick, Nico and I pushed on again for the second interval, with Nico pushing Yannick particularly hard over all 3 intervals. Nico is improving rapidly and at this rate, he should be pushing me hard in the races come September. On the last interval, I stepped off the gas slightly towards the end, as I could feel the fatigue building.

Nice to be out on a Tuesday morning like this. Run felt good despite this being my sixth training session on the trot. I can't remember having done quite so much before.

14 km all up in 1:16. So a slow average speed but very regular intervals averaging around 3:52 per km over each of the 8 minutes.

Grouchy again

Fantastic driving to work this morning: not a soul in sight as the Summer holidays have begun and tomorrow is a bank holiday so most people have taken a day's holiday to make a long weekend. When I got in to work, it was just as quiet.

I thought I would take it easy at lunchtime and go to the pool and then out to Grouchy Castle again for an easy run by myself. I ran down into the castle grounds but was then prevented from doing my usual loop by barricades all around the lake with signs 'Attention: Zone de Tir". I wondered what the hell was going on: had the townhall decided to organise a duck and goose cull by letting loose men with shotguns ? It was only as I finished my first short loop that I realised; July 14th tomorrow and the annual firework display in the grounds tonight to celebrate. I needn't have worried about the shotgun blasts anyway.

I ran fairly easily beginning slowly enough and then naturally speeding up as I began to feel good. I was running 4:50 per km at the start to finish the last 4 kms in around 4:15 - 4:20 pace.
The temperature was warm at around 27°C, so I was pleased with my performance. Nick, if you're reading this, you'll need to go for a run tonight to get the training in.

We've decided to enter a team of 4 for the Yvelines Marathon relay in October: Andy, Nick, Paul and myself. Nick is on holiday today so needs to keep up his training as he's been running great recently; Andy is training on his bike for 'L'étape du Tour', a stage of the Tour de France (172 k and Mont Ventoux to finish !); and no news from Paul recently so hope he's still training hard.

Anyway finished my run today: 10.65 k all up in 48 minutes. Good for an easy run and then fantastic to jump in the pool and swim 10 lengths. Training with the club tomorrow.

Tired Sunday

I got up this morning with the alarm to go for the Sunday run at the usual time of 9:15. Laurence was coming along too as her knee joint is improving and she wanted to try a 40 minute run in the forest with Anne. I'd promised Nick I'd be there having let him down last weekend when the tiredness was just too much ...

I ran up to the meeting point at the church and bumped into Nick and Anne on the way. They were jogging slowly and so we agreed that today would be a rest day and that we wouldn't push the pace. These plans were short-lived as when we got to the church, we saw Philippe looking in fine form and eager to stretch his muscles after a week off.
Le Mesnil le Roi Church

In fact, there was quite a good turnout as Pierre-Henry, Jean-Jacques and Isabelle had come along too. We set off slowly enough and then most of the group left us in order to run the short loop, whereas Nick, Philippe and I carried on, following the longer loop paths. We were running fairly easily, but as expected it was too easy for Philippe and so he started pushing the pace. We quickly went from running 6:00 per km to 4:49 and then 4:16. To cap it all, we caught up with the others and put on a further burst of speed just to impress them. The Garmin shows that I managed to reach 16.3 km/h at this point. I pulled ahead of Philippe and managed to tire him out. He's got clear potential to be a very good runner, but off a training base of one run per week, he lacks the endurance and stamina to maintain the pace over the distance. He's also a front runner, rather like me, and when you come past him, he quickly loses the will-power to put in the effort to keep up.

We stopped and waited for the others at the barrier and then started again slowly with them. The second half of the course was a replay of the first. Having overtaken the others along a long flat section, there was a slight downhill and Philippe pushed the pace again. I kept up and put on a little more pressure and we dropped Nick in the process. Philippe tired and dropped back and next time I looked behind me, there was only Nick. We ran in together at a reasonably fast pace at just under 15km/h. Philippe finished a couple of minutes afterwards but if he upped his training, he'd be able to beat me no problem. I'm trying to convince him to do a little more and then try and get him to join the club.

Good run overall but not the rest I had intended. Wondering whether to go out tomorrow now, but it's already been 4 days on the trot. Starting to feel good again and I'd like to keep this up.

12km all up in 56:55. Average of 4:46 with a max at 16.7 km/h. So much for a rest !

Definitely improving

The weekend again. This is such a pleasure to wake up on a Saturday morning knowing that you have a full weekend ahead of you. Even if it means getting up at 7:45 am to go for an 8:00 am run with Nick, this does nothing to spoil that enjoyment.

The Saturday morning run is my favourite. The run through the forest to Cora lake and back is a 15km circuit and so just about qualifies as a long run. It's a perfect distance for half-marathon training and at the moment is the longest run in my week. Ideally, I'll try and fit in a long run on Sunday where I run between 1h30 - 1:50 and get up to 25 km but I lack the motivation and the time at the moment.

A cool morning today, very overcast and no sign of any sunshine. The temperature was around 16 - 17° C so ideal for running. I met up with Nick and we headed off into the forest. We always start off easily with the first 2km in 5:11 then 4:51 before we get into a steady pace of around 4:35. Today we were running at 4:30 and we both felt comfortable (or at least I did, but Nick didn't show any signs of straining or tiredness either and we were still chatting) and time just seemed to fly by. Before I knew it, we had already run around the lake and were heading back up the sandy tracks towards the Pavillon de la Muette, an old hunting lodge built for Louis XV.



This is the hardest part of the run as you feel that for every couple of strides forward that you slip back one. We managed to maintain the speed up the slope though as the Garmin indicated 4:40 for the km. I took the lead through the narrow tracks in the forest as it was my turn this week to "swallow the spiders", taking the early morning cobwebs out between the close branches either side of the track. The undergrowth is luxuriant at the moment with the rain and warm weather and I underestimated the size of the branches, taking a hit to the head as I went through.

We finished in style along the roads back to the house, as we picked up the pace once more to show each other how fit we are ! Ran the last 500m at 15km/h with a top speed of over 17km/h down the last road. Felt really great and back on form.

15km all up in 1:08. Great run, most enjoyable.

Back to the Castle

I was able to slip away from work again at lunchtime and went with F-X to the swimming pool for a run around the Grouchy Castle grounds. The plan was to go for a run together and see how F-X has been improving lately. However, the plan remained just that as he had to return to the office to deal with an emergency.

I went out 'on my tod' and repeated the run around the grounds that I did on Monday. At least I know for certain now that it's 10.25 km so not quite the 10.5 k that I predicted. I was running surprisingly well as I'd thought that I'd be a lot slower after yesterday's training run. The first kilometre was done in 4:21 which was a pleasant surprise and then as I attacked the hill in the castle grounds I slowed down to 4:42. From then on I picked up the pace and ran more consistently between 4:10 and 4:30 up the hill.

Nobody was around today as it looks as though everyone has finally left for the Summer. This is fine by me as I get the park to myself, and then the pool afterwards is empty too.

10.25 km all up in 44:57 so an average of 4:23. This is great considering the steepness of some of the hills to be managed. My morale has improved considerably after today.

Stroll in the forest

Thursday night club session. I coasted into the clubhouse with a good 5 minutes to spare this evening before the official start of training. Some good-hearted abuse from Nick and Philippe when I arrived, "Good you're here. Training must start soon". I even get thrown the keys to the changing room now as I'm always the last to arrive.

Anyway, 4 minutes and 30 seconds later, I was outside and ready to go. Perfect timing. There was a larger turnout than on Tuesday with Thierry, Miguel, Jean-Marc, Fabrice, Alex and Nico all present. We set off at a very comfortable pace (6:20 per km) and ran through the forest towards Le Mesnil. We got to the crossroads near the car park and stopped here.

Miguel, who was leading the session tonight, gave everyone the choice of just running back at an easy pace, or running at threshold for 20 minutes as a workout. I chose the latter and with Nick, we tried to hold on to Thierry, Jean-Marc and Miguel as they coasted back through the forest, chatting away. We were running at just over 4:00 per km pace and the final kilometre was run in 3:58 on the Garmin. I was feeling really good until we came to a slope 7 minutes before the end, and I lost touch with them then. To add insult to injury, Fabrice came past me at this point and I couldn't hold on to him either. I'm just lacking a little stamina and endurance at the moment.

Anyway I was pleased with the session as I felt it had done me some good. More of these are necessary if I'm to improve on my 10km times in September. Nick was on fine form too. I was given the explanation for his absence on Tuesday: future business exploration and networking - this is PC speak for boozing in Paris with former colleagues. Nice one mate !!

11.5 km all up in 1:01. Pretty good going considering the easy first half to the session.

Tuesday training

A small turnout at the club last night, with some notable absences such as Nick (where are you - still suffering from our run on Saturday ?). Bruno and Jean-Marc were there though, together with Nico and after the warm-up we decided to do a 30/30 session through the forest near Le Mesnil.

Jean-Marc and Nico were too fast for me over the short sprints and I lack the speed training at the moment. Bruno was tired from a 15km race at the weekend and after a couple of intervals, he dropped off and just jogged behind us.

After the first series of 10 intervals, I was already tiring and fed up of seeing both of them leave me over the 30 seconds. Nico lacks the endurance though and after the first intervals in the second series, he dropped off too, leaving me alone with Jean-Marc. I lost count of the intervals and just concentrated on pushing as hard as I could, chasing Jean-Marc down the forest tracks. It was a suprise when he announced that we had completed the second series and could rest now.

The Garmin showed a top speed of 18.5 km/h over the intervals and even with the rests, we were running each kilometre in 4:30 or thereabouts. This pleased me when I saw this at the end but I definitely found the going tough over the session.

More of these necessary over the Summer if I'm to achieve a PB in September at Conflans again.

11.7km all up in 1:06.

Monday midday

I missed my Sunday run. Many excuses: too tired, late night Saturday night, start of the Tour de France. Whatever the real excuse was, when the alarm rang for the usual Sunday run, I stepped out of bed, decided I was still too knackered and crept back in again. The weather was very hot and close onSunday and the urge to get out was present, but not compelling enough to make me put my running kit on.

Monday was another story. Racked with guilt, I took my kit to work and went along to the swimming pool at lunchtime to run to Grouchy Castle again. The weather was slighhtly overcast and the temperature far more reasonable than of late. When I looked at the thermometer after the run it was showing 24°C - so almost reasonable.

I had a good run by myself and took it easy running 3 1/2 loops around the castle grounds. Stupidly, I forgot my Garmin again and so I wasn't able to time my speed or the run but I imagine that I was running at around 4:40 pace.

Back to the swimming pool but due to problems with the boiler, the pool was only 25°C. This was perfect for me to cool down in and I managed 6 lengths before time caught up with me and I had to get out. Great session most enjoyable.

About 10.5km all up.

Saturday run

Another run back in the forest with Nick this morning along to Cora and back.

It was a lovely morning and not too hot since we left at 8:00 am. The weather was perfect and we sauntered along quite happily at around 4:38 per km. We were both on better form than of late and we didn't need to adjust our speed at all around the circuit. Slowest kilometre was 4:51 at the beginning and the fastest was 4:35. So a very consistent run, even up the slight hills on the way back from Cora.

Still plenty of small frogs on the path on the way back. I hope that this is a good omen for a lovely Summer.

15km all up in 1:10 or an average of 4:41 per km.

Mad dogs ...

Another roasting hot day today. Since I hadn't been able to get out with the club yesterday, I packed my running kit into a bag this morning and threw it into the car, hoping that I'd get the chance to go for a run at lunchtime. Sure enough, I was able to get out and I even managed to get François-Xavier to come along with me.

As we left the building, the first blast of heat caught us. It was probably 31 or 32°C and we both agreed that we wouldn't try and beat any records but just take it easy for a 10k run. We went to the swimming pool to get changed and then ran towards Grouchy Castle along a new path that I didn't know about. We were able to avoid the first hill which was a start, but the heat was already taking its toll after only a couple of kilometres. My legs felt heavy, my muscles were sore, my throat was parched and my head was sweating profusely.

I had decided that we would run 3 laps of the castle grounds but by the end of the second lap, F-X wanted a breather and told me to run on. We were running around 12.4 km/h pace at this point, but I began to feel slightly better now and picked the pace up ever so slightly to around just over 13 km/h or 4:35 per km. I was guessing now as to the pace as, stupidly, I'd left my Garmin on my desk before leaving the building. So much for technology ...

I caught F-X up towards the end of the third lap and we ran back to the swimming pool together. The last hill over, I changed into my trunks and the relief of jumping into the pool was tremendous. Now Summer has arrived, the pool roof has been retracted and the enjoyment of an open air pool is just amazing. It really feels like being on holiday.

10 lengths later and I had to get out already. Great swim and pleased that I'd made it out for the run. Wondering if the antibiotics aren't having an effect on my legs or if it is purely down to the hot weather.

10km all up in around 48 minutes.