Forest run

Last day at work in the automobile industry, so I handed back my car and was driven home by F-X. Making the most of my early evening back at the house, I decided to go for a run up through the forest along the Sunday run route beyond the barrier.

Like most evening runs, I found that despite the short day at work, I was still a little tired and not running quite as easily as I hoped. There was probably still some fatigue from yesterday's race which played a part too. This gradually wore off as I ran through the forest, not immediately, as the going was extremely difficult along the horse track to begin with. The lack of rain has meant that the sand is fine and loose and it's like running along a soft sand beach.

Once this section had been negotiated, I picked up speed to 4:20 pace and this is where I remained for the rest of the course. I even picked up a little more speed towards the end, averaging 4:15 over the last 3 kilometres.

12.5 km all up in 54:08 or 4:20 per km average.

The official results for the Paris Versailles are out here. I finished in 211 place out of 17 829 participants and 48 male vet in an official time of 1:05:04. Only 4 women beat me, one of whom was Mireille - grrrh! Bruno ran 5 seconds faster, and so with Fred in front too, I was 4th from the club. Still pleased overall.

Paris - Versailles

It was another lovely morning when I woke up. It has been a real Indian Summer lately, with temperatures still regularly above 20°C during the day and no rain for the last few weeks.

I had prepared all my kit last night, and having woken up, I slipped all of this on quickly and headed downstairs for a quick breakfast before jogging down the road to the station. I wasn't the only guy in shorts and t-shirt on the platform this morning and there were a good 10 runners already waiting for the train when I arrived. When I got on the train, it was more of the same with half of the passengers dressed in running gear ready for the race. This year the event had managed to complete its quota of 20 000 participants one week before the race, as opposed to last year when only 16 000 runners had entered.

I arrived at the Eiffel Tower where the race was due to begin just after 9:00 am for a 10:00 am start. There were already crowds of runners lined up in the pen waiting for the off and this was an hour before it was all due to happen. It was a lot busier than last year with crowds already waiting for the off. The usual staggered start was in place with 300 runners being released every minute, or rather 150 - 175 every 30 seconds. I slipped as far as possible through the crowds to approach the start line. I managed to get as far as the urinals where I waited with other runners quietly, listening to the announcer talking non-stop and keeping my nerves as calm as possible before the start.

I was just looking around at this point, when I spotted Fred from the club relieving himself in the toilets just beside me. I waved, but he had difficulty in waving back, but he came over to join me. He was supposed to be meeting work colleagues but had missed them in the throng. We had a chat and I told him that he couldn't use his excuse of having to stop for a pee after the last time I beat him on the 4 Chateaux race. I told him my race plan of running about 3:55 pace for the first 6 km before the big hill and then seeing how I felt once that obstacle was completed. Fred said that he'd follow me and see how long he could hold on.

We finally set off about 6 minutes after the elite runners and the relief to set off was tangible. All of the tension and nervousness is released in those first paces and we settled down into a steady rhythm. The first km was slower due to the msucles being cold from 1 hour of standing, waiting around and also due to having to swerve around slower runners who start at the same time.

I made sure that I didn't tire myself out too soon after the start and the pace for the first 6 kms alongside the Seine, running West out of Paris was as follows:
3:57, 3:45, 3:49, 3:54, 3:58, 4:01

The last kilometre was the start of the Cote des Gardes, the big hill pulling out of Paris, up through Meudon which lasts for 2 kilometres. Fred was still with me here and I shortened my stride and took it easy up the hill. These 2 kilometres were negotiated at 5:03 and 4:56 before we reached the top and stretched away again.

The road was undulating from here on in, through the forest on tracks and then back onto the tarmac. Fred would pull away from me on the downhills, and I would reel him back in on the slight uphills. I finally thought that I'd got the better of him after overtaking him at the 11 k marker, but after passing some other runners from the club, including Patrick and Philippe, he came past me again and I tucked in behind him.

We were neck and neck to the final straight at the outskirts of Versailles and I wondered then if we shouldn't agree to cross the line together. Fred had other thoughts however and pushed hard again from 14.5 k onwards and so I just followed him. I could see he was tiring and I had the advantage knowing where the finish line was after an extremely long straight. Apathy set in at this point and I reminded myself that my objective was to beat last year's time - full stop. I'd run 90km this week and the race was not an objective in itself. Fred put in a sprint for the finsihing line and I let him go, completing the course about 5 seconds after him in 1:05:03 or one minute faster than last year.

I am pleased with the result as this equates to an average of 4:02 per km over the 16 km course, including the 2 km hill where I was running at 12 km/h. As I was running in, I felt that I could manage this pace over a half-marathon and so the objective of 1:24 is totally feasible.

Video of the course below:

Cora

Ran with Nick and Andy this morning on an easy run to Cora and back.

It was good to run with the lads again and we had a good chat. It was a sustained pace to begin with at around 4:39 to 4:40 but we slowed down around Cora in order to give Andy a breather.
Poor lad is only just recovering after a severe bout of man-flu so Nick and I were both very understanding and slowed down to stay with him (this won't happen again without another very good excuse !).

I didn't notice the time pass, as the wether was lovely again and the conversation was good. The weather has been dry for several weeks now and the tracks through the forest are extremely sandy again making the going tough in places.

15 km all up in 1:15 so an easy pace. This was exactly what I wanted with the Paris - Versailles race tomorrow. A big week for me, this last week, with over 90km run during the week. Feeling remarkably good and looking forward to tomorrow to see what result I can manage.

Grouchy again

Making the most of my last few days in the current job by running at every lunchtime I can.

No exception this Friday with another run around the Grouchy castle grounds. I managed to catch F-X up at the end of my first loop (out of a total of 3) by pushing the pace to 4:05 per km. I ran with him for 3 km before pushing on again as he was already a couple of kilometres ahead.

I was running very well and when I hit 8.5km, I thought that I would have a chance of getting my personal best over this course. The last few kilometres were run at speed (4:08 then 4:05) as I chased the watch back to the swimming pool.

All up in 44:58 for 10.3 k or an average of 4:21 per km so just outside the fastest time recorded over the route but since I ran easily with F-X for 3 km this wasn't entirely surprising. Surprised myself by the speed I managed to record.

Montpellier

After a day off on Wednesday, it was back on the road again for work and the last meeting on Thursday. This one was situated on a golf course in Montpellier and a very pleasant hotel it was too.

The hotel was situated on the golf course 10 minutes from Montpellier and it was the best situated and the most pleasant hotel of the 4 that we visited for work these last 2 weeks. The food and the restaurant was fantastic, and I would definitely return with the family.

I went running early morning with F-X and another colleague, Armel, across the golf course to begin with. The weather was fantastic, with the sun just begining to rise and the temperature at a pleasant 16°C. We ran across the golf course, avoiding the gardeners mowing the fairway at 7:20 am, before heading off between the vines to the canal.

It was an easy pace, with F-X struggling slightly when we would increase the tempo above 4:35 per km speed. We had a great chat and it was a lovely way to wake up with the sun rising over some beautiful landscapes. No wonder so many people decide to move to the South of France.

11.1k all up in 52:37 or 4:45 per km. Great run.

Dijon

Arrived in Dijon Monday night and did a quick reccy to see where I would run the following day.

The hotel (Holiday Inn - I highly recommend) was situated just opposite the park of La Toison d'Or. I got up early and ran around the park with a colleage, Jean-Charles, easily measuring the distance of 1.3km for the circuit before I set off on some interval training.

I decided on a 10x1' session off 45'' recovery. It was hard to motivate myself as I was on my own for the intervals and this is never as hard as running against others to push you on. I ran the intervals at 3:35 to 3:45 pace and it felt hard enough.

A cool down afterwards and 10.2 km all up in 52:01 or an average of 5:06 per km. Pleasant run before breakfast.

Grouchy

After a busy week at work, I've finally got round to writing up the blog with my runs for the week and what a week it's been.

Monday, I was running at luchtime around Grouchy castle grounds in some lovely weather, before heading off to Dijon in the afternoon.

10.3k around the grounds in 47:23 or an average of 4:40 per km. Easy running and no pushing the pace as I was recovering from the long run the day before.

Long Sunday run

There's nothing like a long Sunday run to remind you that the weekend is nearly over. The fact that when I woke up this morning, my legs were aching, my arms were aching and I still had a blocked right ear did nothing to help the situation. My fall yesterday from the bike had left more damage than I first thought: my right leg is bruised heavily across the thigh and the cut beneath my knee was a dull ache.

I summoned up the willpower to venture out of bed anyway and Laurence got up too as she was going to accompany me again on the bike. A full camelbak of glucose solution on Laurence's back and we were ready to go.

I set off slowly enough as it took me over 5 minutes to get up the hill to the church and to complete the first kilometre. I wasn't going to push it today as I'd been competing yesterday and the aim was to complete the distance and not to set a new PB. I felt tired in my legs from the start and the aches and pains following yesterday's exertions were very present. Laurence cycled quietly beside me and told me that I didn't need to do the whole 33km loop, but that I could cut it short at around 20km. That's all I needed: the voice of temptation in my left ear - the only one that was still hearing properly !

I knew that I wouldn't give in and carried on running at a reasonable pace of around 4:40 per km. It was slower than 2 weeks ago but that didn't matter - I knew why I was tired and to go faster would have been tempting fate. We went past the club and saw everyone as they were leaving on the Sunday run. They all waved and Michel shouted out some words of advice as I ran past with Laurence in tow. Before long, I was running up the Princess Road and once at the top, after 11km, I knew that I had done the worst and that I would complete the course.

I ran easier now and picked up the pace slightly to 4:25 per km. It was easy going and very pleasant and the weather was cloudy but still warm at around 15°C. It was ideal running weather. I pushed on and we gazed at the magnificent houses around St Gemme, Feucherolles, heading down to St Nom la Breteche. Another uphill section here and as it's around 20km into the run, this is one of the low points for me. I supped some glucose solution from Laurence's back as she rode alongside me and we pushed on to the plateau above Fourqueux and St Germain.

From here there is a long downhill into St Germain which is most enjoyable. I picked up speed and managed to hit 3:53 for a km (compared to the 3:44 2 weeks before) which was a sign of the slower speed over the whole course. Despite the slower pace, I wasn't excessively tired and running through the forest at the end was still enjoyable. I wasn't tempted to walk, but it was still a relief to arrive back at the house after 33.4 km.

2:34 all up for 33.4 km or an average of 4:34 per km. Not bad for a recovery run. Still no official results for yesterday's event so we don't know how our team fared. Will post as soon as they're available.

St Germain triathlon

Triathlon time has come around again and it was another early start as I waited for the usual suspects to turn up on their bikes on the way to the swimming pool for the September triathlon. We had pulled together a 6 man team : me, Nick, Andy, Didier, Philippe and Axel, so it was a bit of a surprise when I only saw 4 cyclists coming down the road this morning.

Andy was missing.

Andy is normally the most motivated to do this event as it gives him a reasonable chance to show Nick and I that despite his extra years, that he's still a tough guy to beat over a 500m swim, 20km MTB course and a 5km run. Andy's huge advantage is that he can swim and cycle. I just bet on my ability to catch him on the run, but with the extra training recently he's been doing would I manage it ? Well we'll never know now as he'd gone down with some man flu, but Nick was still looking good, having slotted in some secret training recently.

We arrived at the swimming pool to find that we'd be starting in the second wave again. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed as I'd liked to have started with the main crowd and the serious triathletes at the start. Still, it would always be a little less crowded in the second wave, which wasn't a bad thing. We left our clothes by the bike to change there for once in an attempt to save a few precious seconds. Back down to the swimming pool and we were off.

I set off as usual: thrashing my way up the pool in an attempt to swim the crawl. I got to the end and swam back in crawl too, before switching to breaststroke, less tiring and just as fast for me. I got out of the pool in 10:15 which is my best performance by 15 seconds and ran to the bike to get changed. Didier and Nick were ahead of me, Nick having swum a great 500m, only to lose his advantage by leaving his helmet in the changing rooms! I was having problems of my own with my top which had rolled up into a little packet on my back and which I struggled to unravel. I was still tying my shoelaces when Nick set off on the bike. 15 seconds later and I was off after him but he'd already disappeared at warp 9 down the paths.

I settled into a rhythm and tried to follow a few others. I was just beginning to feel good and pass some other cyclists when down a steep little slope, I suddenly found myself being thrown to the side and into the brambles with the bike on top of me. 'What the f***'. I looked at the bike to try and understand what had gone wrong but everything appeared in order and I set off again. I was perturbed by this and it was only on the next lap that I finally understood: my right pedal was near the floor and a rock caught this on my descent knocking me off-balance again. I held on this time and was more careful afterwards.

I regretted my choice of bike as I couldn't pull on the uphills without my SPD's and the pedals were very small for trainers. I should have used the old bike which is lighter without the suspension since the course was really dry and speed was of the essence.

As I pulled in at the end of my fourth lap, I saw Nick set off running and thought that he had a good minute over me now. I leapt off the bike and started chasing hard. I was running well from the start, with a constant pace and just breathing slightly too hard. I overtook Didier and encouraged him as I passed. I stretched on the downhills but still no sign of Nick ahead. On the return part of the course, I negotiated the uphill still feeling strong and set off again. I passed plenty of other runners as I was catching all the tail-enders from the first wave now. Still no sign on Nick's top though. It was only as I set off down the last straight to the swimming pool that I spotted him 50m ahead. I sprinted now and overtook a last runner to finish 3 seconds behind Nick at the end. A great session by him to create the initial lead over the bike especially that I couldn't make up over the run.

Great race and looking forward to see the official results now. I finished in around 1:17 which is identical to last year's time. A change of bike next year should help gain a few more seconds, but the run was the best I could have hoped for. Good event.

Bordeaux

Went to Bordeaux for business this week and took my running kit with me. Unfortunately, I forgot the Garmin as this was still in my dirty kit bag from the Grouchy castle run. IT's getting so complicated to look after all my kit nowadays.

I woke up very early and decided to lie in bed for a while before the sun came up and at least go for a run when I could see where I was running. I was staying at Novotel - Bordeaux Le Lac and I don't recommend this place to anyone. The service was lousy and the rooms need refurbishing as they look as though they were last done at least 20 years ago.

Anyway, I was out running and since I figured that I was bound to get lost if I strayed too far, I ran around the lake instead. This was all very well, but I wasn't exactly sure how big the lake was. I'd seen it on a GPS system but I couldn't remember the scale. What the hell - I set out anyway.

Unfortunately, running around the lake wasn't as easy as it should have been. At the beginning the path beside the lake was well defined and doubled up as a trim track. After around 15 minutes, this petered out and became a cycle path, leading away from the lake and alongside the main road. I had no better idea of where to head so I followed this, especially since it was misty in this area and I didn't fancy the idea of getting lost now.

I ran beside an old exhibition centre with endless carparks and concrete and tarmac everywhere. So much for a nice morning run around the lake. I was expecting trees and pretty scenery and all I got was concrete and buildings, next to the road. I finally arrived back at the hotel and since it was still a little early I set off again. Tried a different route this time next to the road that crossed over the lake in the middle. Turned back at the service station and ran back. Enough said !!

Measured this on gmap afterwards and it came out at 9.6 km all up in just under 45 minutes. So running at around 4:35 pace which is not surprising. Just trying to maintain about 70k for the week in mileage.

Grouchy Wednesday

Managed to get out at lunchtime for a run around the castle grounds. Weather has been a little cooler of late so I left the swimming pool and started running easily and then picked the pace up as I was enjoying myself.

So a very easy first kilometre down the hill and into the park at 4:45 pace. I entered the parck and ran up the first hill and saw that the Garmin was showing me 4:35 for this second km. I carried on at the same pace thinking that I would be running at a steady 4:30 pace, but I forgot about the impact of the hill that I had just run up so this was now actually 4:14.

One I saw this time on the watch and taking into account how easy I was still feeling, all thoughts of taking it easy shot out of the window and the next splits went : 4:20 (including the hill), 4:08, 4:08, 4:27 (hill again), 4:06, 4:19, 4:24.

All up in 44:48 for the 10.3km and 10 seconds faster than my previous blast over this course, back in August. Feeling good.

Tuesday session

I managed to get back from Rouen in record time just to get to the club session last night. Hopefully I avoided all of the speed traps in the process, but it was a close run thing. Biggest frustration was being caught in the traffic in St Germain less than 2 km from the clubhouse with 5 minutes left. Anyway, I arrived on time.

And why all the haste and hassle just to get to a Tuesday night session ? It was mostly to enjoy my fleeting moment of glory as Thierry and Miguel read out the race results at the start of the session. First St Germain runner in the race is a first for me in a major event where 19 runners from the club were present. I'd been looking forward to discussing the race with the others to hear about their performances and what they thought about the course etc. I wasn't disappointed.

Another large turnout again last night. The attendance levels seem to be rocketing this year and there's a really good atmosphere at these sessions: plenty of banter, jostling and some healthy competition throughout. Miguel, Thierry, Jean-Marc, José, Bruno, Nico, Fabrice, etc. were all there last night and the only notable absentee was Nick. We ran a 25 minute warm-up all together before splitting up into 3 groups with one doing 200m intervals on the track; one doing 30/30's and the last just running easily. I was designated as a 200m interval runner along with the faster runners and so I started the session with Thierry and Bruno setting the pace. Adrien, one of the youngest members of the club (in his late twenties) was also eager for a hard session, having taken it easy over the Summer.

I have to admit that I love to run from the front. I find it far harder to run chasing someone as I tire faster and the motivation wanes. I set off intending to take it easily as there were 12 intervals but I found myself at the front, battling it out every time with Thierry. Bruno, José and Adrien were just behind. The intervals went: 40, 39, 39, 39, 38, 38, 38, 38, 37, 36, 35, 33.

Great session. A couple of laps warm down and then some sit ups with Miguel at the end. I'm so unused to these exercises, abs still ache today.

10 km all up.

Morning run

I went for an easy run this morning in order to loosen my legs and take it easy after yesterday's race. I was actually really looking forward to this run; to enjoy a session around Maisons Laffitte which I haven't run for a long while.

I set off early as the day was dawning, running down to the track alongside the Seine. I was just enjoying the scenery, not too bothered about the pace which started off somewhere around 4:40 per km. I think I was still waking up as I was running, as we've been having too many late nights recently and with the extra kilometres in my training schedule, I need even more sleep than usual. I ran past the racecourse at Maisons Laffitte and looked at the bushes where I was caught short last time - fond memories !

The pace was still easy and nobody was around, just a few cars heading off to work. It was only as I reached the park at ML and ran back towards the castle that I saw a few more pedestrians about, but no runners. The pace picked up slightly here as I noticed that my Garmin was showing 4:25 per km now, stretching down the gravel paths around the park. For some unknown reason, Michel's words about my running style came into my head and I concentrated on trying not to run flat but to scrape the ground as I pushed off each foot. Don't know if this helped my running but it sure helped pass the time and before I knew it I was running back through Le Mesnil in front of the church heading down to the town hall.

Home again in 59:50 for 13.4 km. Nice run, cool weather and a good stretch for the legs.

Found a few photos of yesterday's race for your enjoyment. Don't I look tired in one of them and this was after 2 km !!
At the start, chatting with Nick The St Germain runners waiting near the start line
2km - no comment!5 km - worse !

Fin d'Oisienne - Conflans 10km

I picked Nick up and we drove to the start of the race together. Normal pre-race nerves, heightened by a lack of sleep and worries about Bruno and Nico were preying heavily on my mind. The end result was that I wasn't the best of company in the car this morning - sorry Nick. Andy had decided not to run, prefering to do some speedwork down at the track, which was a shame as there's nothing like some race practise to improve your speed.

When we arrived at Conflans, the scenario seemed to be getting worse : not only was I tired, but there was a bit of a breeze and this blew straight in your face on the trickiest part of the course, coming up a slight incline at the end of every loop. I had all the excuses already prepared for my expected 'non-performance'; I definitely was not in the best state of mind mentally.

We picked up our numbers and did 2 small loops as a warm-up. As Nick pointed out, a warm-up of 4km would have seemed enormous even a year ago, as we only used to train over 10km. Nowadays, it seems perfectly acceptable. We met up with all the other club members taking part and there was a large turnout: Bruno, Fabrice, Nico, Bruno B, Jean-Claude, Philippe, Bertrand, Dominique, Patrick not to mention the ladies: Pascale, Aude, Christelle and Madeleine. I think that we had the largest club attendance, even more than Conflans who were organising the event.

We lined up for 10:00 am and the starter gun to go off. Boom - we were off and it was a huge relief to be running finally rather than worrying about tactics and my state of fitness. I didn't feel easy to begin with, just running fast and watching Bruno in front of me. I passed all of the other St Germain runners and then heard a thump and a yell as somebody fell over (later found out that this was Philippe, tripping over a sleeping policeman). I didn't look back but concentrated on Bruno's running vest and judging the distance that separated us. He sped up a little and I let him go, thinking that I was right about my fitness and that I wasn't ready to beat him yet.

We went through 1 km and I didn't look at my watch, but as we passed 2 km I heard the times being shouted out: 7:04. I couldn't believe it - 7:04, I was supposed to be running at 7:24 to hit 37 minutes. This was too fast. Just as I thought this, the distance between Bruno and myself narrowed so I put on a little spurt and came past him. I knew instinctively that this was too much for him and that mentally he would find it hard to respond. I was pleased to think that I was the first St Germain runner in the race and that I couldn't let up now.

François-Xavier joined me on the bike at this point, shouting out encouragement. This was nice to have him there and I raised a hand in acknowledgement. I found that despite the early pace, I wasn't really tired but I settled down into a better rhythm and my breathing became more regular. I was joined by an older runner at this point who I judged to be in his early fifties. We ran together side by side, our pace matched exactly. We were on the first big loop now, and I remembered the race from last year and I applied the same tactics. Every slight slope downwards I would lengthen my stride and recover my breathing and every slight incline I would push hard.

As we passed the 5km marker, I saw the time on the clock : 18:03. This was excellent, well under the 18:30 time that I needed to beat my objective. I wondered how long I could keep this up for though, despite F-X's comments beside me that I was doing well and running regularly. The slope uphill to finish this second loop was harder this time, but I still caught a couple of runners and overtook them here, leaving my running companion a little behind. We hit the flat again and he was beside me once more as we chased down a small group of 5 runners in front. At 6.5 km, we caught these and I pushed ahead again to take the lead of this group, stretching away down the hill. Around the corner and a slight incline up and my companion went past me, taking another runner with him in the process. I couldn't follow now and I wondered how I could last until the end of the race and if I could maintain sufficient pace to beat the 37 minutes.

The 2 runners put 5 metres over me now, but then the gap stopped increasing as I used the downhill to try harder and push with my last efforts. We passed the 9km marker and F-X was encouraging me permanently now, telling me that I had plenty of time to beat my objective. He told me to give everything with 500m to go but I was already spent and the slight uphill was torture. I couldn't pull them back and another runner caught me here and overtook me at speed. We entered into the stadium for the final bend and I gave my last burst. I saw the clock now with 50 metres to go : 36:48. I pushed hard and crossed the line in 36:56, delighted to have beaten my record and the objective. Over the moon. I collapsed on the grass too tired to encourage the others at the finish. I was well and truly shattered.

Bruno finished 9 places behind in 38:13, Nico in 39:18 then Nick 3 paces after in 39:26. He told me that he was pleased with his race too as he'd beaten Fabrice, Jean-Claude and Bertrand after a close race at the start.

Official times are here: TopChrono . Official time of 36:57 for me, finishing in 20th place overall and 4th vet in my category. No regrets about the podium though as third vet finished 40 seconds before me. Love this race though and will be back next year.

Coasting

It was Saturday, the day before race day, yet I didn't want to let up on my mileage in preparation for the marathon in a couple of months time. I convinced Nick to go for a run too and we met up at his house on the promise that the pace would be very easy and would not have a negative impact on the 10km race the following day.

In fact, when I met up with Nick, he told me that he was only going to run for 5 - 6 km and that he would cut back after starting with me. Despite my text message to Andy the previous day, I'd had no reply so we stopped off at his house on the way and called for him but to no avail. I'm sure he was hiding behind the shutters waiting for us to leave, not wishing to be pushed around another 13 km with us.

Anyway, Nick and I set off very steadily and took it easy to the road to Achères, where Nick headed back through the forest towards home. When I say steadily, it was very easy as we were running at 5:10 pace along the forest paths. I stayed at the same pace after Nick left too, running to Cora and around the lake at a constant 5:15 pace.

There were very few runners around, surprisingly, as the forest has been full of people with good intentions recently, exercising after the Summer holidays. I wasn't bothered as I was thinking to myself about the race the next day and what time I could hope for in my current form. I was worried about Bruno and his pace and my own ability to go under 37 minutes. I decided finally that to beat 38 minutes would be good at the moment and that I mustn't lose sight of the overall objective which is the 3 hour marathon.

Anyway, by the end of the loop, I'd begun to get bored of the plodding rhythm and lengthened my stride a little just to get some good feelings back. I ran up the hill from Cora in 4:50 and then settled into a 4:45 pace until hitting the road in Le Mesnil again. I relaxed again here and increased the pace to 4:30 for the last kilometre. I arrived back in front of the house and took my heartrate : 120 bpm after the last effort so still below 50% of my max frequency. I didn't think that this would impact my race the following day.

15 km all up in 1:17 or an average of 5:06 per km.

P.S. Andy informed me later that he'd run 14k to St Germain and back. A likely story when he'd chosen not to run with us !!

Tapering

Taking it easy was the order for the day. As I said on Tuesday, after that evening's run, I didn't want to push it hard again this week and adversely affect Sunday's race times.

I arrived at the club with plenty of time to spare. This is so noteworthy that it has to be written in the blog. I arrived in a leisurely manner for the club evening training session. No hassle, no stress, just relaxed and easy. I changed and then admired the magnificent turnout for the session. There were lots of newcomers, and plenty of old faces too. Bruno, Jean-Marc and José were there, the Rueil squad too, including Fabrice and Régis. Anne and Nick turned up and Laurence too, even Laurence's friend Christèle and Magdalene. So a huge crowd with well over 50 participants in total.
The plan was for an easy session with 10 minutes of interval in between. Since most of the faster runners were intending to take part in the 10k race at Conflans on Sunday (which should be a real cracker with 15 from the club and a good crowd going under 40'), the general intention was just to take it easy.

I ran with Nick as usual and we talked the standard talk about life in general and women in particular. Time passes so quickly as we run like this that it just feels so easy. We arrived at 'Les Charmilles', a small park next to Poissy where we were to run the faster section. I set off easily enough following Nick and Alex. I then moved up to chase Fabrice and Nico. As I passed them I could see another small group with Gérard and another runner ahead so I pased them too and encouraged them to follow me. Since I was still feeling good and easy, I pressed the pace a little more and caught Dominique until only José was still ahead. And then time was called, 10 minutes were up and it was time to head back. I saw afterwards that my pace was around 15km/h at this point with my last kilometre clocked at 3:59. I felt easy.

So definitely a deep purple patch at the moment: Space Truckin', Highway Star to be followed by a little Smoke on the Water. That's me. Easy jog back to record 10.8 km all up in 1:07.

Looking forward to Sunday. Should be a blast.

Oh, and I almost forgot: Nick is secretly training for the triathlon by getting in some swim training tomorrow at St Germain pool. Guess he wants to beat Andy this year. Training is quite so secret now though, eh ?

Tuesday club session

A new record. I arrived at the club with so much time to spare that Jean-Claude, the president, looked at his watch to check that it was still working and hadn't stopped unexpectedly. There was a full turnout at the club, with only a few notable absentees, namely Bruno and Jean-Marc. Perhaps that they thought that the programme was too easy. Aside from these 2, there were plenty of newcomers, experiencing their first session with the club.

The programme, now available on the website, stated that tonight was an easy jog for an hour followed by 10 sprints on the playing fields to finish. I set off with Nick and we chatted easily about life in general at a leisurely pace of 10km/h. I was quite content with the plan, just happy to take it easy and enjoy the run in the company of the other runners. Nick hinted that he would be keen to do some intervals with Thierry, but after 25 minutes of easy running we met Nico and Bertrand, and no sign of Thierry.

As usual, Nico convinced me to take part in his fiendish session designed around running the perfect 10km race. My problem is now, that Nico has improved so much, that running with him is close to torture. I don't want him to think that he can beat me, yet I personally feel that he can. Do you follow ? So in order for him to feel that he's not as good, I have to give everything to stay in front of him over the intervals - and this is starting to hurt big time.

The programme wasn't that fiendish after all: 5 x 30/30, 1x 1minute, 1x5 minutes off 1 minute float. I set off hard with the Garmin recording 18kmh for the first interval, rising to 20.9 kmh over the next few. As Laurence put it, I was actually running at Kenyan marathon pace - scary!! Nico came past me on intervals 4 and 5 and then he stayed ahead over the one minute interval. I was already tired at this point but I wanted to show him that he lacked endurance, so I gave everything on the last 5 minutes.

The plan worked, Nico was on my shoulder all the time but he didn't come past. He was obviously tired too and just hanging in there. We ran at an average speed of 16.8 kmh for 5 minutes, which is faster than my 10km race pace. It felt it too though and I know I couldn't keep that up for 37 minutes. Will have to wait and see until Sunday as to what I am capable of. Nick and Bertrand finished just behind us and are taking part in Sunday's race at Conflans too. There should be a big club turnout so that'll be fun.

Finsihed up with a cool down and then some barefoot sprints on the playing fields with the rest of the group. It was wonderful to feel the grass under the soles of your feet and to stretch out over a 100 yards. 9 of these later and I was beat.

11.1 km in 1:02 all up without the sprints at the end. A good session but I'll need to take it easier on Thursday.

Back to the grindwheel

Sunday again. Sunday for me now means running for an excessively long period of time and hurting seriously by the time I get back to the house. Still, today was an improvement over the usual Sunday for 3 reasons:

i) Laurence was accompanying me on the bike and at least I'd have somebody to keep me company.

ii) I had all my new running gear to wear, including my new Brooks Glycerine 7 which I was dying to try out.

iii) I'd had a reasonable night's sleep and I wasn't hungover.

I prepared the camelbak with some maltodextrine preparation, so that I could drink over the run while Laurence carried the bag. We both had a glass of orange and then we set out. I set off at a faster pace than last week as it was cooler, I was less tired and I wasn't wearing the rucksack. Up the hill into the forest in 4:50 - good start. The next few kilometres into the forest and towards the clubhouse were averaged at 4:30 pace, even slightly faster.

I was feeling really good, definitely in a deep purple patch, and I wasn't keeping anything in reserve but just pacing myself steadily. We passed the clubhouse at about 9:00 am and saw some fo the other runners arriving, but we didn't wait and carried on towards the Princess Road again. This is the hardest point of the run with just over 2 kilometres of uphill. I ran steadily all of the way trying to pick up my feet and run tall where I could. The Garmin showed afterwards that even this I ran at 4:49 and 4:54 pace so a good 15 to 20 seconds per km faster than last week.

Once on the top, I ran alongside Laurence and slurped down some drink and then pushed on again. I love this part of the run through the forest on the road and I talked to Laurence about how nice the scenery was. The pace was still very constant between 4:20 and 4:28 per km and by the time that I got to St Gemme, Feucherolles, I thought that 2:30 for the whole circuit was a feasible proposition.

Another downhill portion into St Nom and Laurence and I admired the magnificent properties that line the route above the golf course. The pace picked up naturally and I still felt a lot fresher than at the same point last week. This feeling carried on to St Germain where I pushed the pace even harder down the hill, maxing at one point at 18 km/h and the kilometre in 3:44. Once into St Germain, I had some more to drink and knew that I was almost home.

I still had strength in my legs as I passed the swimming pool and I had another slurp before stretching for home. I fely light and it didn't seem to be much of an effort to reach 4:15 pace and when I slowed slightly, it was to do that kilometre in 4:23. Laurence told me how impressed she was with my speed which just encouraged me further.

I reached home in 2:27:08 after 33.4 km, equating to an average speed of 4:24 per km. This was a good effort of a hilly course in places and I was really pleased. I managed to beat last weeks time by a good 12 minutes. I even had some positive thoughts about re-running a marathon which hasn't happened in a while.

I've added some photos that Laurence took while I was running. Feel free to admire the new running gear ! New shoes were very good: no blisters and no lost toenails.

Wet and windy

The Summer is over. Definitively. The clouds have rolled in, the temperature has dropped and all thoughts of eating outside have been postponed until next year.

Luckily, this observation could only be made around midday today, long after I'd finished the run with Nick and Andy this morning. We set off to Cora and the weather was reasonable: patches of blue sky and a light breeze. The recent rain had made the going underfoot easier than of late, with the tracks hardened by the wet sand. This made for some good going and since I hadn't been running since Wednesday, I had energy abounding and had to be reined in by the other two.

We ran the first few kilometres at 4:30 pace and then slowed down as we reached Cora with Andy peeling off to run around anti-clockwise and Nick running around with me in the other direction. We slowed down up the hill as And and Nick wanted a breather. We then ran back from La Muette at a steadier pace of around 12km/h whike Nick and I tried to convince Andy to take part in the 10km race next weekend in Conflans. Andy was having none of this and told us that he would be training instead. We have set up spied to ensure that this now occurs.

15km all up in 1:11 or an average pace of 4:46. 68 km for the week as I missed a session due to a heavy workload. Back to normal service next week.

P.S. Laurence and I consoled ourselves about the end of Summer with a trip to Planet Jogging. A session on the foot machine (universal and not pronator as I thought) and some shopping relief with a new pair of shoes for me and some Gore kit all around. Lovely !

Grouchy again

Not me of course, as I'm an even-tempered bloke (except when severely riled), but back to the castle grounds for a lunchtime run.

Went out with F-X again. He's still a long way off his peak form but I'm doing my best to encourage him back into running seriously again. He lost a lot of motivation after doing the Paris marathon this year which took a lot out of him. His problem is that when he enters a race, it's all or nothing and when you don't have the training in your legs, a marathon can be lethal.

Anyway, we were just taking it easy around the usual course in the castle grounds. He was reminding me gently of how I should be enjoying these sessions as I won't be able to in a few weeks time (due to job change). I just let him set the pace and used this as a recovery run. It was most enjoyable, enjoying the park and feeling fitter then I've felt for a while. These long Sunday runs must be beginning to pay off (there must be some good coming from them as they're painful enough), and to paraphrase Nietzche: if it doesn't kill you, it only makes you stronger.

End result was that we ran the 10.3k in 48:36 or an average pace of 4:44. This was a minute faster than last week with F-X so it won't be long before he's back to full form.

Swim after was fantastic. Felt very strong in my arms. Triathlon in a couple of weeks time and can't wait to see how I manage.

Hola ! Madrid

I was in Madrid for business on Monday night and Tuesday. As a seasoned runner now, I carry my running kit with me wherever I travel. I forgot my toothbrush and shaving kit, but not my running gear. I have a true sense of what is important in life.

It was hot when I arrived in Madrid on Monday night. When I say hot, it was actually parched. Madrid from the sky looks like a lost city in the sierra: landscape all around that has been deprived of water for months. I got out of the aircraft and the heat hit me: it was 8:30 pm in the evening and still 35°C. After checking into the hotel, I had a meal and a few beers and it cooled down drastically. It was now 11:30 pm and 32°C.

My initial plans for going for an early morning run around the hotel were dashed. If I tried to run in this heat, I would have managed 200m before wilting in the sun. I decided to go for the easy option and attack 10km first thing in the morning in the treadmill in the hotel fitness room.

The fitness room was a delightful experience at 6:30am. I entered the room using my roomcard and the lights came on automatically with the motion sensor situated by the door. The gleaming equipment stood out from the starkly empty room. I got on the treadmill and began running at 11kmh to begin with then raising the speed rapidly to 14kmh. The lights went out.

Marvellous, automatic lights that come on as you enter the room and then go out as the equipment you want to use is farthest from the door. I couldn't be bothered to stop so I ran 10k in the dark just using the glow of the machine and the timer and distance ran to determine when to stop. There's nothing so boring as running on a treadmill: no scenery; no breeze; no movement, just the sound of the machine and the sweat running off your clothes and face and dripping on the equipment.

10k in 45 minutes. Nothing more to be said.