I got out of bed and before setting off on the run, I decided to weigh myself: 75.9 kg. This is fairly normal at the moment, so no great surprise there. Laurence was leaving for a long run too so we each picked up a 500ml Powerade and set off.
I headed up into the forest slowly as I could feel the tiredness in my legs from the previous day's efforts to Cora and back. Despite the great feelings that I'd had on that run, the exertion was taking its toll on me. I ran through the forest towards the clubhouse at St Germain at around 4:35 pace, telling myself that I would need to save my energy for later since I estimated the total course distance at around 32km.
5km and I passed the clubhouse, chasing another runner along the road, passing him and then carrying on towards the stables and then the agricultural college. This is a sharp pull uphill and I suffered the ignominy of being overtaken by another runner up the hill. The shame quickly passed as I recognised him as a runner who sometimes trains with the club and is in a completely different league to me. I continued my run to the top of this hill before a quick descent and then a long slog to the top of the Princess Road. This was the same run that we did last week when I went up easily in 4:40 pace. Today I was struggling at 5:00 pace and at the top, I allowed myself a breather and a slurp of Powerade.
The heat was constant now and the effort in getting to the top had further tired me, and quite frankly, my motivation was waning. I'd only done 11 km and knew that I still had around 20k to go. The raod was easier now and I ran along at about 4:20 pace. In retrospect, this was probably too fast because when I reached Feucherolles at 16km, I stopped again for a quick rest and drank some more.
Feucherolles is a lovely little village and the road that leads from Feucherolles to St Nom is fantastic: a gentle downhill with magnificent views over the surrounding countryside. 
I ran into St Nom at about 4:30 pace and then struggled up the hill back out of the village, finishing my Powerade in the process. I was at 21 km now and wondering which would be the quickest route back. I finally decided on running alongside the road back into St Germain and then out by the castle and swimming pool to head home.
Having made the decision, and knowing I was heading home, my pace improved and I finally reached St Germain 5 km later after covering the intermediate distance at around 4:20 pace. Everything went pear-shaped from this point, however. There's a large hill to pull up into St Germain and with the sun and the heat and my general fatigue, I just walked most of this. I reached the top and then jogged through the town out to the swimming pool. Despite being so close to home, I just couldn't summon the energy to turn my legs over to get me back. I ran into the forest and reached 31 km before deciding to call it a day and walk again. The tiredness, the heat, the lack of water: it was all too much and I didn't want to repeat my last marathon experience.
I was furious with myself and unhappy that I didn't have the stamina to carry on. As I reached the clearing in the forest, I began to run again and to finish the last 1.5 km back to the house.
I reached the house in 2:35 after 32.75 km of running. This gives an average of 4:44 but is not the full picture since it doesn't include my walk in the forest or the rest in St Germain. I weighed myself when I got in just to satisfy my curiosity: 72.8 kg. I had lost 3.1kg of water during the run, which if I include the 500ml of drink absorbed, means that I lost 3.6 litres of water for 33 km or just over a litre every 10k. No wonder I was shattered as the dehydration had left its mark.
More can be read about the effects of dehydration here, but with 2% water loss the effects become noticeable and at around 15% water loss, death may occur. Since I weigh 76 kg and normally the electronic scales tell me that I'm 65% water, this amounts to 49.4 kg of water. 3.1 kg of water loss amounts to 6.3 % water loss which apparently is around my running limit. Will take all of this on board for the next marathon !
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