A race with a difference today as I wasn't going out to beat my PB but to help Laurence beat hers.
The race was organised to support funding for cancer research and was a 10km race starting from Vincennes on the east side of Paris. Laurence had entered with a number of friends including Anne, Hélène and Brigitte, and Didier (from our St Germain triathlon - bronze medal in the team event BTW) and Philippe (from Sunday run) were also taking part. It was another early start and we hopped on the RER just before 8:00 am.
The race was supposed to be a big event with over 14 000 participants expected for the 10 km and 5 km race which followed. I was rather surprised by the relatively few entrants we saw when we arrived as I was expecting many more. The weather may have made an impact as a rather mild morning in Maisons Laffitte had turned into a cold, blustery morning in Vincennes. It wasn't pleasant to hang about and around 15 minutes before the start we made our way to the start of the race and huddled together for a little warmth. We were soon joined by a few thousand others and the temperature rose rapidly. The race instructions were clear for Laurence and I : she was to follow me and I would assure the pace to beat the PB. Simple plan, but would it work ?
No - the start was given, the crowd moved forward and Laurence was off like a bullet from a gun. Bloody hell ! I tried shouting at her, but to no avail, as to compound the effect of the crowds all around us, Laurence had chosen to shove her i-pod in her ears and was running off to a lively beat from Survivor with Eye of the Tiger. I watched her from behind in desperation as I could see her sprinting away: there was no chance that she would be able to keep this up and sure enough, as I dodged 50 or so other runners in an attempt to catch her, she soon came back towards me.
Communication was difficult as Survivor had switched to the Offspring and 120 decibels in each ear made talking unworkable. I used the sign language picked up from 30 years of war films to tell her that she should keep her eyes on me and stick with me as I set the pace. She immediately stared at the ground and eased off the pace, losing 10 yards on me - I could see that this would be one of the toughest 10k races in a while. We slowly lost speed : 4:40, 4:45, 4:51, 5:01. This 4th kilometre was a hard blow as I thought that Laurence had lost all interest in the race and in achieving her goal. Anne and Catherine (another remote friend) were in front now and this seemed to spur Laurence on. My attempts were in vain but when her female pride was under pressure, she was still capable of pulling out a few stops.
The race improved from here on. We caught Anne and Catherine and managed to stay with them for a few kilometres, until just after the 6km marker. They gradually pulled away, but Laurence was running faster at around 4:45 pace. Unfortunately, her energy was spent now and she had no reserves to pull back the distance on Anne, who went on to finish almost 30 seconds ahead of her. Laurence and I crossed the line in 46:41, a new PB for Laurence but over 9.7 km as the course was shorter than the 10k announced. This was still a good performance (4:48 per km), but both Laurence and I agreed that she is capable of better still. Anne ran a great race to finish in 46:12 and Nick will have his work cut out to try and get her to impove this in Montigny over 10k next weekend. Hélène and Brigitte finished just over a minute behind.
Paul B. came past just after the 8km marker and encouraged us to go faster. He was looking good and we spoke afterwards about the marathon relay in a couple of weeks time which we're both looking forward to. This should be a fun event.
In order to keep up the distance for my Sunday run, I got out of the RER at La Défense on the way back and ran home. I ran through Puteaux, Nanterre, Rueil (which had organised a car boot sale this Sunday - what a mess to run through), before crossing the bridge at Chatou and running alongside the Seine for 10k through some lovely scenery. I was famished by the time I corssed the biridge at St germain and the sun had finally decided to show its face too. I was decidedly tired when I got home having run 18.6k in 1:23 or 4:30 per km.
Total distance for the day at 30k. Pleased with the last section as I was running easily at 4:15 pace for a good while along the flat. Good preparation for the marathon - really confident that the objective is achievable.
Laurence in action at Vincennes (note the ipod!)
Just in: Full results here !!
The race was organised to support funding for cancer research and was a 10km race starting from Vincennes on the east side of Paris. Laurence had entered with a number of friends including Anne, Hélène and Brigitte, and Didier (from our St Germain triathlon - bronze medal in the team event BTW) and Philippe (from Sunday run) were also taking part. It was another early start and we hopped on the RER just before 8:00 am.
The race was supposed to be a big event with over 14 000 participants expected for the 10 km and 5 km race which followed. I was rather surprised by the relatively few entrants we saw when we arrived as I was expecting many more. The weather may have made an impact as a rather mild morning in Maisons Laffitte had turned into a cold, blustery morning in Vincennes. It wasn't pleasant to hang about and around 15 minutes before the start we made our way to the start of the race and huddled together for a little warmth. We were soon joined by a few thousand others and the temperature rose rapidly. The race instructions were clear for Laurence and I : she was to follow me and I would assure the pace to beat the PB. Simple plan, but would it work ?
No - the start was given, the crowd moved forward and Laurence was off like a bullet from a gun. Bloody hell ! I tried shouting at her, but to no avail, as to compound the effect of the crowds all around us, Laurence had chosen to shove her i-pod in her ears and was running off to a lively beat from Survivor with Eye of the Tiger. I watched her from behind in desperation as I could see her sprinting away: there was no chance that she would be able to keep this up and sure enough, as I dodged 50 or so other runners in an attempt to catch her, she soon came back towards me.
Communication was difficult as Survivor had switched to the Offspring and 120 decibels in each ear made talking unworkable. I used the sign language picked up from 30 years of war films to tell her that she should keep her eyes on me and stick with me as I set the pace. She immediately stared at the ground and eased off the pace, losing 10 yards on me - I could see that this would be one of the toughest 10k races in a while. We slowly lost speed : 4:40, 4:45, 4:51, 5:01. This 4th kilometre was a hard blow as I thought that Laurence had lost all interest in the race and in achieving her goal. Anne and Catherine (another remote friend) were in front now and this seemed to spur Laurence on. My attempts were in vain but when her female pride was under pressure, she was still capable of pulling out a few stops.
The race improved from here on. We caught Anne and Catherine and managed to stay with them for a few kilometres, until just after the 6km marker. They gradually pulled away, but Laurence was running faster at around 4:45 pace. Unfortunately, her energy was spent now and she had no reserves to pull back the distance on Anne, who went on to finish almost 30 seconds ahead of her. Laurence and I crossed the line in 46:41, a new PB for Laurence but over 9.7 km as the course was shorter than the 10k announced. This was still a good performance (4:48 per km), but both Laurence and I agreed that she is capable of better still. Anne ran a great race to finish in 46:12 and Nick will have his work cut out to try and get her to impove this in Montigny over 10k next weekend. Hélène and Brigitte finished just over a minute behind.
Paul B. came past just after the 8km marker and encouraged us to go faster. He was looking good and we spoke afterwards about the marathon relay in a couple of weeks time which we're both looking forward to. This should be a fun event.
In order to keep up the distance for my Sunday run, I got out of the RER at La Défense on the way back and ran home. I ran through Puteaux, Nanterre, Rueil (which had organised a car boot sale this Sunday - what a mess to run through), before crossing the bridge at Chatou and running alongside the Seine for 10k through some lovely scenery. I was famished by the time I corssed the biridge at St germain and the sun had finally decided to show its face too. I was decidedly tired when I got home having run 18.6k in 1:23 or 4:30 per km.
Total distance for the day at 30k. Pleased with the last section as I was running easily at 4:15 pace for a good while along the flat. Good preparation for the marathon - really confident that the objective is achievable.
Laurence in action at Vincennes (note the ipod!)Just in: Full results here !!
1 comment:
Good job I don't fly off the handle easily!
Thanks for putting up with me and my ipod anyway. I'll try harder next time!
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