LSR

Shit, shit, shit. The alarm that I'd set for 8:10 am had failed to go off and it was now 9:15 am. In fact, I 'd set the alarm time and then not turned the bloody thing on and it was the early morning sun, streaming through the window that had woken me up.

So much for the Sunday club session that I'd been looking forward to doing. I would be running by myself yet again. I hesitated for a long moment as to where to run to this morning. I eventually decided that I would go off in the direction of the clubhouse and on to Princess Road to try a few hills and to train there before heading back. Laurence had already set out, as she was late for her running partner and I drank an orange juice and headed out in turn.

It was cold outside at just below freezing and a thick frost had covered the cars in the drive. I set out easily, as I have a tendancy to do nowadays, and ran up towards the church at Le Mesnil. I saw the Garmin indicate around 5 minutes for the first kilometre and then I told myself to ignore it from now on. I was running to enjoy myself not to do a time trial.

I settled down then and found a pace, running through the forest towards the club in the straightest line possible. The ground was frozen underfoot and it made the running hard, twisting the foot and the ankle into some unnatural running positions. I ran out past the club having crossed a good 10 runners through the forest and then ran up past the Horticultural Lycée to the Princess Road. I passed another 5 runners up the hill until the point where I almost reached the top, and then set about doing some hill intervals.

I tried the first interval and felt completely crap. My legs wouldn't move properly, my breath was panting and I just couldn't be bothered. My initial intention to run 10 of these went straight out of the window. I f I run 2, I'll be lucky. I jogged back down the hill and ran the second interval, during which I felt much better. My effort was more controlled and I felt in charge of my body. OK so perhaps I won't give up just yet and I'll do a couple more.

I ended up running 5 hill intervals, and the last was the hardest. I had slowed to a virtual walk by the top with the flow of lactic acid to my legs, the effort was just too much. I carried on towards the St Nom la Breteche Road and ran back to St Germain along the main road. I carried on up the hill and into the park at the Chateau, before heading back home through the woods. The last 3 kilometres were another test as the lack of food in my stomach warned me that I was now running on empty and I need to get back to refill.

25.8 km all up in 1:58 or an average of 4:36 per km. Good training and some anaerobic intervals to help me in my quest to beat my 10k record this year.