Storm

We're back in the Auvergne now after our holidays in Venice and the Alps. We arrived in Aurillac on Saturday to some mixed weather: overcast and cool compared to the last few days in the Alps. Despite the bad weather, both Laurence and I decided to go for a long run on Sunday to make the most of the holidays and the opportunities to train.

We got up on Sunday morning and the weather was in the same state as the previous day: cool and overcast. I put on my running gear, including my cap to protect against any sunshine that might decide to appear and left for a run around Aurillac.

Laurence and I left together. She was heading to La Ponétie for a few laps around the track whereas I was heading for the long loop around the town. I headed off quickly, probably too quickly up the track leading to the top of the first hill of the tour of the town. For the first time in years, I could feel my lungs burning after this effort, and so I slowed down the pace a little along the top in order to recover. I ran back down into town and caught up with Laurence through the town centre. I was running about 4:30 pace now and feeling a lot better.

I had just arrived at La Ponétie when the storm started. It began by raining to begin with and then the thunder and lightning started. I have to admit that I was fairly scared by this storm: the lightning was striking all around me and I wondered how long before I would be hit. This was probably linked to our discussions in the Alps where we discovered that by running you increase the potential across the body and therefore increase your risk of being struck by lightning. I tried to forget all about this and keep on running.

My pace was steady along the flat at around 4:30 and then slowing to 5:00 up the hills, some of which were particularly steep. At long last the storm began to ease off and the end of the tour of Aurillac was in sight. I put in a last effort to finish in 1:33:28. This is actually the fastest that I've ever run this loop, with my previous best being 1:39 in February in the cold, so 6 minutes better. The average pace over the distance was 4:40 per km.

I feel really pleased with my run now that I've seen how much faster I ran this. I have improved drastically up the hills recently with the training in the Alps.