La Rochelle Marathon - Serge Vigot

La Rochelle marathon used to be organised by Serge Vigot, a marathon runner himself, before his untimely death in 2005 at the end of the Marakech marathon. La Rochelle was the second biggest marathon in France after Paris, but has now been surpassed by the Nice-Cannes race. Over 7500 runners had signed up for the race this year, slightly down on the 8800 runners registered last year. The quantity is there but the quality of the runners is also very high. Last year 452 runners went under 3:00 for the race or 6.3% of the finishers compared to 1009 in Paris or 4% of the finishers.

So, I wasn't going to be alone in my quest to break the 3 hour barrier. As the commentator in this year's race says quite clearly: "In a marathon, there are those who can finish in under 3 hours and they'll never forget their race, and there are those who finish just outside and they'll never forget either but for the wrong reasons". We arrived in the TGV with Nick and Laurence from Paris on the Saturday morning into La Rochelle station. The weather was lousy: a real gale blowing, decidedly cool and humidity in the air. The weather forecast wasn't showing any sign of improvement for the Sunday either. Before we checked into our hotels, we went into town to get something to eat.

La Rochelle is a lovely town, centred on the old port on the Atlantic Ocean. We figured that there must be plenty of bars and restaurants around the port and we headed off in that direction. There were plenty of bars and restaurants but they were all ful of runners who'd just arrived in town. The first restaurant told us that we'd have to wait half an hour ot be served so we left for the next. A plate of pasta later and we split up to go to our hotels to check in and then meet up later at the marathon village.

Laurence and I checked into the Mercure hotel in La Rochelle which is ideally situated for the women's start, approximately 2metres50 from the front door. We left our luggage and met up with the others at the marathon village just a few hundred yards from the hotel. We found this to be the most practical aspect of the race: everything was just so close to the course, the town centre and it was all so practical. 9 of us from the club were entered in the marathon and we all met up at the village: Nick, Laurence and I, Patrick, Patrick V, Marie-Laure, Christèle, Damaso and Marjo. Christèle had come down with some supporters: Madeleine and Norbert, her husband. We arranged with them to eat in the restaurant that evening while the others organised a pasta party between themselves.

Sunday morning started at 6:00 am for breakfast. I'd slept really badly, worrying about the race and thinking about work. Laurence and I met Christèle for breakfast in the hotel and ate as much as we were able to hold down at that time in the morning. I promptly went back to the room in order to get some more sleep while Laurence had a paracetemol for her sore throat and then had a shower. The wind was still as fierce as ever aznd our motivation was at its nadir. I really couldn't picture myself running in these conditions: dark, damp and utterly windy. The sort of day where you can quite happily stay in bed until midday with no regrets.

I lined up on the start line by myself in the cold. Laurence and the women had a different start point in front of the hotel, whereas I was lined up with the men, just behind the elite runners. I waited patiently for the gun, eager to be off and running. We waited for what seemed like an eternity, being blown about a little but admittedly less affected as part of the crowd. The gun finally went and I set off at what seemed like a moderate pace. I knew that there was a long distance to be run and I didn't want to blow it all in a mad start. I felt good and the climb out of the town centre wasn't too bad. I set off at 4:03 pace for the first kilometre and then 4:11. In fact, 4:11 was the pace that I'd set on the Garmin as my virtual partner so this wouldn't have been too bad but for the fact that this second kilometre was uphill out of the town centre.

I let other runners past me here and I was slightly depressed by this but since I was already well ahead of my average time I let them go. We joined up with the women's start after 3.5 km and I saw some veteran's (V2 and older) flying past at the junction ahead. The race was into the wind at this point so the aim of the game was to find a group of runners to huddle behind to find some shelter from the blast. This wasn't always possible though and it was tiring struggling against it. I was overtaken by a couple of women runners just before the 5 kilometre marker and I wondered just how good they were. Mireille, from the club, is one of the best club runners in France over a marathon and I couldn't help thinking that these 2 were probably overdoing it. We pased under 5 km in 20:31 or 2:53 pace for the marathon and I reassured myself that McMillan predicted a 2:52 time for me on recent performance so I wasn't overdoing it.

McMillan is excellent for me over 5, 10 even 20 km. I still hadn't managed to beat 3 hours so how reliable was this over the marathon distance ? I kept running at 4:07 pace until 15k and then slowed slightly to 4:13 pace to the half-marathon stage as we ran around the southern and most exposed part of the course, around the docks to the south of the port. The half-marathon was achieved in 1:27:27 (a new PB for me in the process) and I set out on the second loop of the course. Once again there was a climb out of the town centre and it felt a lot harder this time around. I caught up with the 2 female runners at this point Agnès Deleume (who later pulled out after 35k) and Annick Petinon. I felt happy to be catching runners when I knew I was beginning to tire and satisfied too in my judgement that they'd gone off too fast.

I was starting to tire too now and every kilometre felt as though it was taking longer, which it was, but in terms of perception it felt a good 50% longer. I had some glucose and kept drinking well at every feeding station. The hills seemed harder, the kilometres longer, and the end as far away as ever. The worst arrived after 30 kms, now the tiredness in my legs was noticeable. It was mental before, now it was physical. I'd been running for 2 hours and still had an hour to go.

My pace had slowed between 25 and 30 km to 4:18 per km and it was all downhill from now on. At 35 km, I turned the virtual partner off on the Garmin and switched to the real time in order that I could calculate just how slowly I could still run and still make the 3 hour objective. At least my mind was working sufficiently well in order to do wome mental arithmetic and I worked out that I could run around 4:30 per km and still make it. This felt like a reasonable objective but it was so hard to keep going. I really did think about throwing the towel in several times but knew that these impressions are misleading and that despite the tiredness, I would regret making a rash decision afterwards, so I bore the pain and continued.

The final straw was just around the 40 km marker when the 3 hour flag bearer passed me with a group of runners. As he passed he tripped and fell to the ground, leaving his little group leaderless. They picked up the pace again, not waiting for him and I did my best to keep with them. I was just aiming for that last feeding station at 40.5km and some more water and a little walk before heading to the finish. I didn't mind as they pulled away as I had no energy left to try and stay with them. The flag bearer caught them up and led them away as I calculate dthat I had 6 minutes for the last 1.5 kilometres.

When I saw the barrier with the one kilometre to go sign, I knew that it was now or nothing. The loudspeakers around town were filled with the commentator pushing the crowds to encourage the last runners to go under 3 hours. I lengthened my stride with new determination, not wanting to have come all of this way to finsih outside the target again. It was all or nothing. The Gamrin recorded this last kilometre at around 15.8 km/h so under 4 minutes. I was desperate to see the finish line and thought that it would be between the twin towers to the port. As I reached these, still no sign and it was another 50 metres around the corner. I could see the clock 2:59:50 as I sprinted for the line and as I crossed the clock was around 2:59:59 or 3:00:00 - I just couldn't tell.

The end result my official time was 3:00:01 but my real time (allowing for the time to cross the start line) was 2:59:56. I achieved my objective and beat 3 hours. The satisfaction was big but not quite as big as I'd expected. I will be really satisfied when I can achieve this time without the last minute panic and run a more consistent race. But brilliant news nonetheless.

I had a massage afterwards which was most relaxing and helped get some of the stiffness out of my calves and thighs and then met Nick in the tent, sheltering from the rain that had begun to fall. He'd run 3:11:31 which was brilliant and better than he'd been hoping for (3:15 objective). I was thirlled for him since he'd been running so well recently that this was a deserved result.

I started walking back to the hotel alongside the course route in order to spot Laurence at the end. She'd was to run with Philippe who'd offered to help her to achieve her target of under 4 hours. I was thrilled when I saw her at 3:53 with less than a kilometre to go as I knew that she'd done it then. Philippe was running with her and many thanks to him for his support to Laurence during the race. She finally crossed the line in 3:57:44 - a new PB for her too.

So to sum up: great race; great organisation; hotels and showers afterwards were brilliant. Laurence would like to run this again (which she didn't say about Paris). I prefered the Paris course and didn't appreciate having to run 2 loops, but the rest was fantastic. All objectives were met and new targets will be set for next year as our marathon running experiences aren't over yet. Thanks to everyone who sent in messages of support before and after the race.

Too late now

These are the thoughts that are going through my head at the moment: will I be able to keep the speed up; how much energy will the wind drain from me; will I be able to achieve the objective I've set for myself ?

All of this is too late to wonder about now as the effort's been made and I can't do anything about any of this. I've been tapering this week in preparation for the race. I've only been out twice: first run was on Tuesday morning. 10.2 km in 45 minutes easily running around the park in Maisons Laffitte around my usual route. I felt really good and since I didn't have to get up quite as early as normal to run before work, it was even more appreciable.

On Wednesday morning, I was back in Sweden and I decided to go for another easy run around Stockholm. I made the most of the weather that was more clement than the last visit and I set out with the intention of running to the lake that the town is situated on and then running back in a convoluted loop. The run was so good that I changed my plans and ran through the park by the lake and continued on around the whole lake. There were several other runners about also making the most of the clear, crisp morning and it was really pleasant. I ended up running 10 km in 47 minutes at an easy speed.

And that's it. We're in La Rochelle now, Saturday night, and the weather is lousy. It's blowing a gale and the chances of going under 3 hours seem vastly reduced now that I've seen the full force of the elements around the town. Laurence is wondering the same.

We'll just have to wait and see tomorrow ...

Tapering

No time to write my blog anymore, let alone go for runs. Anyway, since I've started tapering, I have less to write about anyway.

Last week:

Stockholm, Sweden - Tuesday morning saw me pounding the treadmill of the hotel I was staying in. I'm thinking about writing a book on running treadmills around the world. Could be onto a bestseller here. 10km in 47 minutes. Felt pretty awful. Don't know if this was due to the 1% slope I put on the machine or an excess of beers and schnapps from the previous night. Either way, it was uphill all the way.

Stockhom, Sweden - Wednesday morning. Another workout on the treadmill. Only 7km this morning but in 30 minutes as I set the machine to 14.2 km/h. Highlight this morning was some company in the fitness room (a young lady on the nordic ski machine) and the fact that the TV was working. View was a darn sight better than staring at the diving photo stuck on the wall in front of me for 40 minutes. Still hard work and still uphill - it just lasted shorter though.

Friday morning. Back home at last and able to run in the real world again. How pleasant to feel the air in your face and to see the road beneath your feet. Real running. Set off slowly and then got carried away by how good I was feeling (fewer beers and less uphill). By the end I was running at 3:44 pace. 10.15 km in 43:29 or 4:18 per km.

Saturday morning - back to Cora with the lads. Nick and Andy can't compete with a Swedish lady in her workout gear but they were far better company. Nice to see Andy again who actually admitted being in bed last weekend when we called by. His shame knows no boundaries. Nick and I both decided to punish him severely and dropped him after Cora up the hill. He arrived back home looking far easier than he has in a while and at a good pace too. Perhaps a Saturday in bed did him so good. Anyway, this weekend he'll be training alone while we're in La Rochelle. 75 km this week in total so a 25% reduction on the previous week. Good tapering.

6 days to go before the race. All the worries are there. Am I fit enough ? Can I stay the distance ? Am I too ambitious ? What should I wear ? Will it be windy ? Do I take gels or not ? Etc., etc. Too late now.

Long Sunday Run - LSR

This was to be the last long Sunday run before the taper for the marathon in 2 weeks time. I was really looking forward to it, a nice long run before 2 weeks rest. The normal route was planned over 33 km, and this too meant that I'd be running over 100k in 7 consecutive days.

We woke late since we been out at F-X's last night. We had a great evening where we talked about running and eaten and drunk well. Especially drunk: the Bollinger, the Puligny Montrachet, and the Moulis all went down very easily. The Aloxe Corton was frankly unnecesary, but we drank it all the same ! As a result, it was almost 9:00am when we woke and the thought of going for a long run was slightly less appealing than it had been yesterday. We headed out nonetheless.

I set out with Laurence beside me on the bike. It was very regular for the first 8 km when I was within 2 seconds of 4:30 per km for each kilometre. I slowed down going up Princess Road and it was there that we ran into (almost literally) the club doing some hill training. Most of the runners were there: Jean-Marc leading José, Nico and Régis. Bruno trailing a little behind. Miguel was training the group and he greeted us as we went past. I pushed harder to finish the hill and then it was a right turn towards St Gemme and the prettiest part of the route through the forest.

The forest is magnificent at the moment with the trees taking on their autumn colours. It was nice to run through this part of the forest when the sun was out, the temperature mild and the wind not to blustery. I sped up a little here completing the kilometres in around 4:20. It was only after St Gemme that we were more exposed to the wind and the going got tougher. Laurence was struggling too at this point. She had a bad stomach and being bent over on the bike wasn't helping. In fact, after St Nom on the road to St Germain, I actually wondered if she hadn't had an accident or had to do a "Paula". I was feeling relatively fresh here and my pace improved again as a consequence. I was running at 4:10 pace and then to 3:50 down the hill into St Germain. These sensations continued as far as the forest towards Le Mesnil and it was only at the 30 km mark that I began to lose energy.

This morning when we left, we had run out of isotonic solution, so I watered down some orange juice and put this in the Camelbak. I now know for sure that orange juice is not half as efficient as Decathlon's powder for maintaining energy while exercising. The last 3 km was an effort and I could feel my reserves depleting with every step I took.

A relief to finally arrive home and look forward to the taper over the next couple of weeks. 33.5km in 2:27:25 or an average pace of 4:24 per km. I'm better prepared than I've ever been for the marathon, and if I don't achieve my objectives this time around, I'll frankly be very disappointed.

Blustery Cora run

It was raining this morning when I woke to go for the usual Saturday run with Nick and Andy. Not only was it raining but it was very blustery too. It's still mild for the time of year, and it was about 11°C when I set out towards Nick's house to pick him up.

Nick was dressed up ready for his long run when I called round. He was going to continue on to run 30km this morning and he had water bottles around his waist to stay hydrated over the distance. We called in at Andy's next, but he was pretending to be absent, probably hiding under the bedlinen until we had disappeared again, either that or another late night with Tom Clancy, which meant that he just didn't hear us.

Nick and I set off together and ran to Cora chatting. The change in volunteers at the running club was the main subject of discussion with some of the proposed modifications having caused a few upsets amongst some members. This is what happens when you belong to a club comprised mostly of older runners: they get riled easily when changes are made to the routines. It's all a bit of a storm in a tea-cup and will blow over soon enough.

We ran at about 4:40 pace to Cora and around before heading back up to Pavillon de la Muette. I left Nick just after the railway line as he was heading right towards Croix de Noailles and I was running back home. I ran the route back to Le Mesnil at about 4:30 pace which is where I feel comfortable at the moment. In fact, I felt so good that I decided that since I wasn't able to enjoy a nice cup of tea at Nick's house, as usual, I would continue on to the town hall and finish along the main road.

16.5 km all up in 1:18 or an average of 4:42 per km. 96.5km this week in training which is my record for the week. I was wondering whether to push it to 100km for the week but I'll save this for next year now !!

Friday run

I can't say that I was highly motivated to go out running on Friday morning, but since I set the alarm for 6:00 am again, there lust have been something there. A little voice in my head was telling me to stay in bed and enjoy a little more sleep. In fact, that was Laurence.

It was warm again outside this morning at 13°C, and I was overdressed again. There was a little breeze behind me when I set off and this encouraged me to run relatively fast from the outset. I was barely awake, with my mouth still very dry from sleep, and I was looking forward to that moment when I begin to wake up and feel good in my legs and head. It never came.

It was very quiet out on the roads and through the park. Nobody seemed to be about. I ran very steadily all the way at around 4:20 - 4:25 pace. I hesitated as to whether to extend the run towards the end and carry on down past the town hall at Le Mesnil by I decided that time was tight and to cut back just after the church and head home.

10.2 km all up in 44:21 or 4:22 per km on average.

Steady

I was struggling to stay awake this morning as I drove into work. My eyelids were extremely heavy, and I had trouble to keep my eyes from closing. I ended up winding down the driver's side window and letting the fresh air blasting in keep me awake.

So whay was this ? I think that the early starts are finally taking their toll. It's getting a little hard to keep up: going to bed at 11:00pm at the earliest and gettting up at 6:00 am at the latest. I awoke before the alarm again this morning - just 3 minutes before it rang. I don't know how I managed it really as my body needed a lot more sleep. I rolled out of bed and went for a run.

I decided that as Winter is approaching that I need to wrap up warmly before I go out now. This was a mistake this morning. I was dressed all in black with long running tights and 2 layers on top: a technical T-shirt and then a thick long sleeved running top. It was 10°C outside and I was definitely over-dressed. Sweat was dripping from me as I ran through the 2km marker and I wondered why I'd worried about the cold. I ran steadily all the way, like a metronome - every kilometre between 4:25 and 4:30. It was only at the end as I neared home that I sped up and then used the downhill to finish strongly.

10.2km all up in 44:58 or 4:25 per km. Easy run, very steady on a nice dry and warm morning.

Armistice

Public holiday today in France in remembrance of Armistice. As on all public holidays, the club has a training session in the morning at 9:00am.

I decided to make the most of my day off and to get in as many kilometres as possible. I woke up before the alarm again (it's becoming a nasty habit unfortunately) and drank my multivitamin drink before heading out through the forest to run to the clubhouse. Laurence was driving around and I though that I could run an extra 5km followed by the 17km loop planned for the day.

The day was lovely: milder than of late, and a blue sky was filling the sky. I ran through the forest at a comfortable speed, conscious that I didn't have much time to spare if I was to arrive for 9:00am. I was towards the edge of the forest when I saw a beautiful female deer standing in the middle of the forest path, watching me arrive. I was about 50m away when it finally decided that that was close enough and it bounded away into the forest.

I met Laurence at the club and was surprised not to see many more people on a public holiday. We then discovered that the start was at 9:15 to allow club representatives to attend the war memorial service, and thus guarantee our position in the current clubhouse !

It was a lovely run afterwards. There weren't many people out: Nick, Thierry, Jean-Marc, Philippe amongst others for the men. Laurence, Christèle and Jocelyne amongst the women.

We ran down towards Poissy, along "Les Crêtes" and then towards Achères before turning back and running through the forest on the other side back to the clubhouse. Most memorable was Jean-Michel running with a plastic bag in his hand, collecting as many wild mushrooms as he could, spotting them on the run. We ran 14 km all up with the club and since I wanted to run over 20 km today, I ran back through the forest at speed to add a further 5 km.

24.3 km all up in 2:07 so an average of 5:15 per km. The most remakable was the 5km at the end which I ran through the forest in 4:21, 4:12, 3:59, 4:05 then 3:52 to finish. I was feeling great and ready to stretch out again at the end of the run.

Some photos from Cross Toto. Thanks to Gilles Molinier for taking them.

Monday morning

Monday morning and a new week in perspective. The alarm would have rung at 6:00am but I was already awake and had turned it off so as not to disturb Laurence still sleeping beside me. I quickly put my running gear on and went outside to start.

Before I can start my runs, I have to wait for the Garmin to pick up the satellites for the GPS. It's only now that I realise just how cold it is outside. My 2 layers on top are rather thin and I can feel the cold air sweeping inside down from the collar. The Garmin takes what feels like an eternity to pick up the signal, and then I'm off.

I run quickly from the start in order to keep warm rather than any effort to break records today. The road down to the Seine is lit at the top and completely dark at the bottom where the track is rutted and treacherous. I pick my way carefully through the potholes in the dark, worrying about twisting an ankle so close to the marathon. On to the tarmac again down by the river and I'm off. The first kilometre goes past in 4:29 and then every kilometre afterwards is slightly faster: 4:29, 4:27, 4:24, 4:19.

I'm running through the park of Maisons Laffitte now, through the back roads of the park next to the stables. The only other people I see at this time of the morning are lads walking the horses for their early morning exercise. I notice a couple of dodgy looking characters entering a house with large bags and wonder what on earth they're up to. I decide against getting involved as they might be innocent and if not, they might be dangerous.

4:26, 4:26, 4:17 - I speed up as I head through the park and out towards the swimming pool. I am on my home stretch now and I know that it won't be long before I'm back at home for a nice cup of tea. 4:27, 4:26, 3:59. Last kilometre down the hill and onto the main road in front of the house.

10.2 km all up in 44:23 or an average of 4:22 per km. Back home I put the kettle on and wake Laurence while I take my shower. A quick breakfast and then off to work for the start of the week.

Cross Toto Vermet

The annual club event that is organised in memory of the founder of the Fouléées de St Germain is the "Cross Toto Vermet". This event involves running 2 3km loops in the St Germain Forest, not too far from the clubhouse. Last year I finished 4th vet in 23:34. Would I do better this year ?

Since I'm still concentrating on putting in as much distance as possible, I decided to run to the clubhouse to begin with and then run the warm-up around the course for a lap with the others. Nick had decided to forego the race this year and just run a long run instead, so I ran by myself to get there.

There was a fantastic turnout this year from the club. Over 80 runners turned up which for a club with 160 members is pretty good going. Some fairly stiff competition too: Jean-Marc, Miguel, Bruno W, Bruno P, Thierry, Nick B and Gerald without mentioning Mireille. Francisco was also back running after his injury at the beginnning of the year in the cross-country season. So I lined up with others with 10 kilometres in my legs already and just a thought that I might be able to hold onto the better runners this year.

We set off and took the first part of the race fairly steadily. Jean-Marc built a bit of a lead and then a small group comprised of Thierry, Miguel, Bruno W and me followed. Mireille and Bruno P were behind us and I could hear Mireille just on my heels as she was wearing spikes that chatted over the stony surface. I felt the pace was fast but manageable and when Thierry made a burst to shorten the gap on Jean-Marc, the group let him go. The break didn't last long and on the home leg of the first lap, another set of footsteps approached from behind and overtook me. It was Francisco. Thierry came back to us at this point and I pushed a little, coming alongside the group up the hill, feeling strong.

We finished the first lap and set off on the second. Jean-Marc was ahead and then a group of the 4 of us: Miguel, Bruno W, Francisco and myself. Thierry and Mireille were just behind. It went quiet behind me at this point and the other 3 runners in the group pulled away from me. In retrospect, I should have gone with them at this point, but feeling that they were better than me, I let them go. I was on my own from here on in. I managed to glance behind at one point, but there was no-one in sight. I slowed over this second lap, having lost contention with the others. I ran the race in 23:06 for the 6.05 km which is an average of 3:49 per km. This feels about right but since I wasn't timing the event precisely (I was more interested in the total distance), I 'll have to wait for the official results. If this is correct, then I'll have run a minute faster than last year.

I picked up the first vet prize, actually by mistake as Franciso should have been awarded it. This may have been due to Laurence recording the results at the end with Christèle - thanks love: I owe you one! I ran back to the house afterwards through the forest to complete 25 km in 2:01.

Easy Cora

Why was Cora so easy today ? Well despite the fact that I was running another 86km week this week, the Saturday run with Nick and Andy was not too taxing today. Andy was having an off day. He explained half-way through the run that he was a little tired since he'd only gone to sleep at 5:00 am Saturday morning. Since we set off at 8:00 am, this was 3 hours sleep at the most. So what exactly had he been doing to go to bed so late: partying until the early hours at friends, night-clubbing at the Pacha club ? Nothing quite so exotic: he'd been reading Tom Clancy until the early hours. So here I am reading Running with Buffalos, dreaming about running 10km in under 30 minutes and suffering with the intensive training while Andy is dreaming about being a CIA agent infiltrating the IRA !!

We ran through the forest at around 4:40 pace to begin with, even speeding up to 4:32 at one point but by the time we arrived at Cora, tiredness had set in and Andy was falling off the back. We slowed down at this point and ran back up the slope towards Pavillon de la Muette at 5:10 pace. Form then on we hovered around 12km/h even on the flat back through the forest towards home. Andy looked tired when he got back and I think that the best course of action at this point was to return to bed ! So much for secret agent training ! Having said this, we actually ran the loop in 1:03:30 from Andy's house and back for 13km and the time was only a minute slower than last week. There's definitely a distinct improvement in the run and I'm sure that if everyone slept reasonably before this run, we could run the circuit in 60 minutes from Andy's house.

I ran back home with Nick and then bought some croissants for Laurence, ready to welcome her home from her 30km run. She was well pleased !

15.7 km all up in 1:16 or an average of 4:51 per km. 86km for the week.

Doubling up

I took my running kit to work on Thursday just in case I was able to get out early and get to the club session in the evening. My boss was in meetings outside almost all day and then he called me, just after 4:00 pm to let me know that he was on his way back into the office and could we see each other to arrange a business presentation. Damn, I was in two minds as to accept when I thought that I needed to get out and run to clear my head so I told him that I was planning on leaving early and could we meet on Friday. No problem.

Great. I packed up at 5:30pm and left to commute back to St Germain. Having negotiated the ring-road in the rush hour and then the motorway, I spent the next 25 minutes stuck in traffic in St Germain and only made it to the club for 6:45pm when the others were setting out on their warm-up. I got changed quickly and ran the opposite way around the warm-up loop to meet them.

The session for the evening was intervals: 500, 600, 800, 1000, 1000, 400 off 200m rest for the first 2 then 300m then 400m for the 1000m's. There was a big turnout and it was a pleasure to run with Jean-Marc, Miguel, Adrien, Thierry, Bruno, Mireille and Fabrice at the front. Nick was there too but had decided not to push it for this evening's session after a hard session on Tuesday night.

We set off hard and the pace didn't ease up one iota over the session. The intervals were run as follows:

1:40, 2:03, 2:45, 3:30, 3:28, 1:16. So a speed of between 17.5km/h for the 1000m and 19 km/h for the 400m at the end. A really satisfying hard workout with some speed in the session and I was up towards the front, despite the great run that I'ds put in first thing that morning. Feeling good: no aches, no strains and leg muscles don't appear to be too tired.

I must try and get out for an evening session at least once a week.

Thursday morning - more of the same

Run, work, eat, work, eat, sleep. This is my daily routine at the moment and the days seem to shoot by without much variation. Work takes up the largest part of the daily schedule and I look forward to the weekends to be able to relax and to catch up on the sleep deprivation that I generate during the week.

I set out for another early morning run at 6:00 am on Thursday around the 13km course through the park at Maisons Laffitte. Having run a slowish time on Tuesday, I decided that I need to push the pace this morning in order to get the heart beating a little faster. The biggest problem with not being able to attend the track sessions at the club is the lack of interval and speed training that I can manage. My motivation when I'm running by myself is not sufficient to push me to run intervals. As a result, I set out with the firm intention of pushing the pace from the start this morning.

I felt slightly better today than I had 2 days earlier. The enforced rest for the previous day (a work trip to Madrid) had done me some good and I managed the first kilometre in 4:17. I sped up slightly thereafter, basically because I could now see where I was running, and was extremely consistent for the rest of the course. I bumped into Andy again in the park so at least I know he's not slacking and is getting some regular training in !!

When I stopped the watch at the end, I was really pleased to see 56:15 for the 13.3km course. This is 45 seconds faster than I've ever run this and works out at an average speed of 4:12 per km. Very consistent running all of the way around.

Tuesday morning

Well Tuesday was not much better than Sunday. Despite my day of rest when I left the house early Tuesday morning to go for my run, I could feel the efforts from Sunday still in my legs. The intention wasn't to go fast this morning but just to run steadily and to complete the 13 km course.

It was a struggle all the way around and although I wasn't running flat out, I felt that I didn't have much in reserve. I stretched a little in the park, which is my favourite part of the course and I run down Avenue Albine towards Maisons Laffitte castle. I was running at marathon pace along here 4:14 - 4:19 per km. I crossed Andy's path as he entered the park and I was leaving. He was looking good, running smoothly and relaxed.

Having said all of the above, I actually managed to complete the course in 58:17 which is an average of 4:22 per km so it wasn't that slow. I just felt that I've been going quicker recently.

LSR - Long struggle of a run

Guilt - it is the only explanation. Guilt, my guilt, is perhaps not the main cause for my suffering this morning but it is definitely one of the causal factors.

The long run for the week is always on Sunday and for a few weeks now I've been running the same route from Le Mesnil out through the forest, past St Germain, up the Princess Road to Feucherolles, back down to St Nom la Breteche and then back through St Germain, through the forest and home. It's a pleasant route with a mixture of trails and road sections, uphills and downhills and some lovely scenery in places. Nick was starting the run with me again this morning, with the intention of runing 25k, while I was running the full circuit of 33k.

So what went wrong ? Well, things got off to a bad start due to my guilt. Laurence normally accompanies me on these long runs on her bike and she carries the isotonic solution in the rucksack. I seriously messed up yesterday and she wasn't coming with me this morning. So what was all the guilt about ? I ran to Cora yesterday with Andy and when I got back, Laurence wasn't in the house. She had gone on a long run with a friend with the intention of running 30k, so I wasn't to expect her back for 3 hours. I got back to the house and decided that I really fancied some croissants and pain au chocolats with some fresh bread. I jumped in the car and bought 3 of each for myself and the 2 boys. I didn't buy one for Laurence. How could I be so stupid ? I assumed that since she would be back from her run just before lunch that she wouldn't want a croissant and that lunch would suffice. Big mistake. Laurence loves croissants and she would have liked nothing more than to have been welcomed back with a nice cup of tea and a croissant. As it was, she had neither and I was in big trouble. Hence, my start this morning with the rucksack on my back and a litre of isotonic solution inside. Laurence stayed in bed.

It was tough from the start. I met Nick and Anne (on her bike - Nick doesn't make mistakes about croissants apparently!) and we ran together through the forest and up the Princess Road. We got to the top of the Princess Road (11k) in 55 minutes this morning, compared to 52 minutes last week. I felt that I'd been holding Nick up all the way along. He was running very well and appeared to have lots of energy. I didn't.

We carried on along the top towards Feucherolles and then Nick and Anne turned off left to get back to St Germain the short route whereas I continued on to Feucherolles. We were running at 4:30 pace now and I didn't improve on this pace for the rest of the run. What a difference to last week when I was running 4:10 pace over this section. The route continued and I continued to suffer along with it. I was sore in my shoulders from the sack, tired in my legs and the motivation was lacking. I couldn't figure out what had gone wrong since 7 days ago when I had energy abounding.

I managed to carry on all the way around the course without walking although the temptation was great in places. As soon as there was a rise in the road, I would suffer and the tempo would slow from 4:30 pace to 5:00 pace. It was a real relief to get past St Germain and back into the forest for the last 5 km. I could see the finish now, the end to my suffering.

I completed the 33.6 km in 2:38 or an average of 4:42 per km. I put all of this suffering down to the guilt, or at least having ot carry the rucksack all the way around. I'm sorry love. It won't happen again.