St Simon tour

After yesterday's long run, I thought that I'd take it easier today with a shorter run. One of my favourite runs here in Aurillac is the tour along the old road to St Simon and then back on the new road on the other side of the valley. This route is 9 km in total, so I consider it as a short, speed session even though the hills at the beginning are extremely tough.

I set off fairly fast, completing the first km in 4:17 despite the fact that this section is slightly uphill. The second kilometre is where all the height is gained and the road rises steeply above the valley. I tried to keep a steady pace up the hill despite the tiredness in my legs from yesterday, and I was pleased to see a 5:06 on the Garmin at the top of the hill over the kilometre. This isn't bad as the watch shows a 75m rise in height from 650 to 725m over this section.

From here on, I stretched my legs and tried to increase my pace. I was feeling relatively good and the time and distance went by quickly and I arrived at the St Simon bridge and 4 km in no time. I thought that I could beat my PB if I kept this up over the back stretch back over the new road. There was no easing and I pushed harder and harder, reaching my fastest kilometre over kilometre 8 in 3:43 (after the 7th km in 3:48). The speed was a little hard and I had to slow down over the last kilometre to finish in 37:13 for the whole course, and a new PB.

My last record was 38:30 so this was a whole 1:17 faster over 9 km or 8.5 seconds a km faster. I am delighted and now looking forward to the race next month to see if I can transform this training into some good race performances.