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.