4x1500m

It gets harder and harder to get out of bed when the alarm rings in the morning. The shorter days have an impact on the body clock and more sleep is necessary. I have to be frank and admit that I really didn't want to go out this morning to run these intervals. It's only the motivation to do well in the next few races that forced me to pull on my running kit and head out of the door.

The schedule was to run 30' at 70% max HR and then run 4x1500m at 90% max HR with 3' recovery. Since I don't have enough time in the morning to allow myself a 30 minute warm-up before starting the intervals, I ran my usual kilometre in 5 minutes and then began.

First impressions: a fast start and after 400m I wondered how long I would be able to keep this up. I then relaxed into an easier running posture by lengthening my stride and minimising the effort. After this first rep, I found that the 3 minute recovery was almost too long and that 2 minutes would have been sufficient. The second rep was similar to the first but I need slightly longer to recover; my recovery gait was tired and more of a shuffle than a jog. This may have been due to the hill in the second rep but still...

Third rep, I set off fast again and then after about 1km, I found I was dozing off, not concentrating on pushing the pace. I used my arms more to encourage my legs to follow and pushed to the end. The last rep was a relief to know that after this effort it would be all over.

Results after the session : 5:42, 5:41, 5:41, 5:33 which is 3:47 pace for the first 3 and then 3:42 pace for the last one.

12 km all up in 53 minutes or an average pace of 4:26 over the course. Happy to have done this one and at a faster pace than in February (3:52 /km).

Easy recovery

Just a gentle run around the town this morning to shake out the tiredness from the legs after yesterday's run.

Very dark at 6:00am now - Summer is over. Cold too, with the thermometer showing about 8°C when I left.

Legs were tired and pace was very slow. First couple of kilometres managed in 5 minutes each and then I sped up (!) to 4:45 pace. Managed to finish the route slightly faster as I woke up with daybreak and started to feel better after 8k. Ran last 2k at just above marathon pace.

10.3k all up in 48:50 or an average pace of 4:45. Very easy recovery.

However, I don't know if I can really call it a recovery - had problems walking up the stairs at work this morning.

Long Sunday Run

A deviation from the marathon running schedule for today which only required 1:40 of effort with three intervals of 10', 12' and 14' at threshold speed. I decided I would go back to my long road route through the forest to St Germain, along to Feucherolles down through St Nom la Breteche and back through St Germain to home.

Good news was that I was not alone for the run: Nick had agreed to run at least the first 11km with me up to the top of Princess Road. He would then head back and I would carry on. Further good news: Laurence was accompanying me on the mountain bike with a camelbak and so I wouldn't need to carry a bag and I had somebody with me to encourage me.

We set off easily enough and did the first km in just over 5 minutes. In fact, this would be the only kilometre that I would run under 12km/h. It was a nice morning and there was some sunshine but the temperature was probably hovering around the 14°C mark. We gradually built up speed until we were running steadily at 4:35 per km until the hills began. The first climb was up to the lycée horticole which we ran well and then the long slog up util the top of Princess Road. I felt good going up the hills and was concentrating on not bending my back but trying to run as upright as possible.

We left Nick to run back home from the top and we carried on to Feucherolles from there. I tried to run at marathon pace from this point and was covering each kilometre at about 4:15 - 4:20 pace. I carried on until St Nom la Breteche, enjoying the downhill sections to maintain the pace. I felt slightly tired but not excessively and was happy with the feelings as this was my first long run for a while.

By the time I got to St Germain, I was a lot less fresh and taking on water more frequently. The hills had taken it out of me and I just wanted to finish now. I managed to continue running and not to stop and everything was going well until about 2.5k to go when Laurence punctured. I offered to stop and help but she waved me on and ran with the bike back home. I was able to find a little bit of energy to actually increase the pace (now that I knew that the end was in sight) and finished at 4:26, then 4:10 then 3:58 for the last kilometre.

34 km all up in 2:33 or an average pace of 4:31 per km. Very pleased that I was able to get around and thrilled to manage in this time. I was probably better trained just before Paris as I was able to run faster the "marathon pace" stretches but definitely not in this shape at this stage of the preparation. Total mileage for the week 103 km - second week ever where I've managed over 100k!

Laurence got back safely 18 minutes after me ! Puncture still needs repairing - any offers ?

Cora and back

Despite the call to arms yesterday to the guys, only Nick responded positively to the invitation for an easy run to Cora and back this morning. Andy is injured suffering from back problems and Paul is still on holiday.

Struggled to wake up this morning, despite a good night's sleep and almost missed my rendez-vous with Nick for the start of the run. We headed out very easily at around 12kmh and just enjoyed the fantastic blue sky and a very comfortable temperature of around 14°C. It was just a perfect day for running and so it was a bit of a surprise when I got back to find out that the UTMB had been cancelled due to bad weather. Apparently, the decision was taken at 1:00 am this morning to stop the race due to the torrential rain and the mudslides in the mountains. It must have been a really difficult decision to take both for the particpants and the organisers but probably the wisest in the end. ALL races: UTMB, TDS and the CCC were stopped. The only one for which there is no news is the PTL which would appear to continue. If you're mad enough to enter a race for 240km and 18 000 metres of uphill then even attrocious weather conditions like this aren't going to stop you !!

Nick and I had a good chat and coasted around the Cora route at about 4:35 pace after the intitial slow start. 15km all up in 1:11 so an average of 4:47 per km.

Intending to go out for a long Sunday run tomorrow morning and to skip the club session. If I do over 30k tomorrow, it'll take my mileage this week to over 100k.

Early morning intervals

Autumn is arriving fast and it's getting darker and darker at 6:15. What's worse is that with the end of Summer and the return of the Parisiens from holiday, I'll have to get up 15 minutes earlier in order to still make it into work on time.

The big test was today with a 6x1000m interval session programmed in the training schedule. I wasn't looking forward to this as I knew it would be hard work and Fabrice had put some pressure on me by telling me that he did this session last week with an average time of 3:35 per interval.

I warmed up for a kilometre and then began the intervals. First one went alright and I knew that I'd been making an effort. Garmin won't show you your speed over the interval once it's finished so I didn't know exactly how fast I ran. 300m recovery and I was off again. I pushed hard and could feel the tiredness in my legs by the end of the interval. I then repeated this for the remainder of the session. All went fairly well despite the uphill sections in places until the last interval and I lost the motivation to run this hard. I was disappointed with myself, but at the same time knew that I'd given my best effort in completing the session.

Intervals went as follows:

3:46, 3:38, 3:51, 3:45, 3:46, 3:54

11.7km in total in 54:26 so an average of 4:39/km. Too bad on that last interval though.

Fast recovery

Another early morning run in an attempt to build up the weekly mileage gradually before the marathon. The programme indicated a 50 minutes recovery run for today and I was happy with that after doubling up yesterday.

In fact, despite the early morning start and yesterday's evening run, I actually felt quite good as I hit the streets. Well, not when I started when I still felt half asleep and dawn was only just breaking. After doing the first kilometre in just under 5 minutes, I sped up slowly, bringing down my kilometre times to 4:35.

After 5k like this, I was running through the park in Maisons Laffitte when I suddenly had a burst of energy and lengthened my stride. I felt really good and decided to extend the run through the forest by the railway line on the way back. I ran at about 4:20 pace and even brought this down to 4:16 pace and then finishing with the last kilometre downhill at over 15km/h.

Good run. Felt very good and legs strong. 11km all up in 49:30 (4:30 average pace).

Doubling up

Just an easy session at the club this evening - an excuse to see everyone and have a chat. It also turned out to be an excellent opportunity to run with the girls as Michel led another group off to run 30/30's in his manner ie. with 45' recovery instead of 30'.

9km all up in 56 minutes so very easy. Nico and I were actually shouted at by the women for unwittingly speeding up to 12km/h !

2 x 3km

I woke up early this morning feeling better in my legs and ready to do this session at marathon pace as scheduled in the training programme. Mentally, I find it far easier to envisage these longer workouts than many, high-intensity short sprints that are programmed for the end of the week.

Summer is almost over and it's dark again at 6:15 outside. Down the usual route to the river and then I begin the first interval. With the Garmin, I can't keep track of my pace as I'm running the interval so I just concentrate on pushing the pace at what I believe is about 15km/h or slightly faster than marathon pace.

By the time I finish the first interval, I am already sweating buckets and the 400m recovery seems to be over in 30 seconds. Off again and I run another 3km starting more slowly, but building speed and finishing strongly.

It's only when I get back home and have a cup of tea over breakfast with Laurence that I look at the results: 10.3 km all up in 46:30 (4:30 per km average). First interval in 12:13 (4:04 pace) and second interval in 11:56 (3:59 pace). Pretty pleased with the results.

Monday morning

Mondays are hard to cope with even in a normal week. The prospect of a new week at work after a week's holiday, added to the fact that the legs are still tired after a hard session yesterday, just make the thought of even the smallest run seem daunting.

Still, no excuses, if you want to succeed, you have to make the effort. An hour's endurance run was planned and so an hour's endurance run it was. My normal endurance run speed is about 4:30 per km. Today it was 4:50 and hard work all of the way round. My heart wasn't in it, my legs definitely weren't.

Still, autumn is setting in and it was dark when I left. I kept to the paths around Maisons Laffitte adapting the route slightly just to make it over 12km long. Finished, happily, in 59 minutes after 12.2km.

Sunday club run

It was hard to get up to go for a run this morning. The sunlight streaming through the bedroom window woke me early enough but the lack of sleep after a late night and the excessive amounts of alcohol still circulating in my blood was not conducive to early morning exercise.

I dragged my carcass out of bed anyway and headed to the club where the first signs that the holiday are over were showing. Quite a large turnout with Nico, Gérald, Ephrem, Nabil, Fabrice etc. Bad news was that the real couaches weren't back from their holidays so we had to put up with Michel who announced that we would be running 3x5' at threshold pace off 2' rest. This was definitely preferable to the 3x10' that Nico had announced he would be doing at 17km/h pace ! Nick was absent this morning which was a bit of a cop-out since he was at the same evening as Nico and myself so he had no excuse.

We started the session easily enough by running back towards Le Mesnil and then over the road to the cabin by Maisons Laffitte. A quick show of hands was called to see who was interested in doing 4 5' intervals and it was immediately apparent that this is what I would be doing. We set off and although it was supposed to be at threshold pace, the Garmin showed that we were actually running at about 3:45 pace. While we ran the 4 intervals at roughly the same pace, the second was slightly faster than the 3 others, but all regular at 16km/h. Nico was out in front with Anis and a new guy who wants to join next year. I was next with Fabrice alongside me and then Gérald, Ephrem and Bertrand just behind.

I was pleased with the session which was satisfying if hard. Good training for the marathon and the 10k next month. I was supposed to run 1h40 this morning at endurance pace but this session was a good alternative.

17.25km all up in 1:35. Temperature was not too hot at around 20°C.

Forest recovery

Came back from Onnion today on one of the hottest days of the year. It was 32°C when we arrived in Le Mesnil at about 4:00pm. Decided that I would go out for a recovery run in the forest to keep up the marathon training plan as best I could and try and save the week.

Ran out on the old Sunday route through the forest and who should I bump into by the arch into the forest ? Nico, just coming back from a recovery run of his own (actually secretly training - I'll have to check his blog to make sure that he records all of his sessions).

Anyway, I tried to keep it steady all of the way around, averaging about 4:50 per km. Luckily it must have been a good couple of degrees cooler in the forest at around 27 - 28°C so the temperature was bearable.

12km all up in 58 minutes. Very pleasant run and it was good to try and get rid of the tiredness in the legs. Other good news is that I weigh 75kg despite the horrendous quantity of food I ingurgitated last week ! Things are looking up !

Interval session - finally

It's the holidays, but it's also the first official week of the marathon training plan for Toulouse. Since Monday, I've been saying that I have to fit my training schedule in but when?

Tuesday was supposed to be a 2x2km session but that went out of the window when we didn't get back early enough from our day walk to l'Aiguillette des Houches. I postponed it then to Wednesday. Laurence and I went on a gentle bike ride on Wednesday morning, using the raod bikes borrowed from the centre here: Onnion - Mieussy - Sommand - Col de la Ramaz - Praz de Lys - Tanninges - Mieussy - Onnion. 50km in 2:30 with a killer of a climb up a category 1 col - this was definitely not one of my gentler rides. When we got back to the centre and told them what we'd done, they looked at Laurence with pity for being married to such a nutter!

Wednesday afternoon, we were off again for a gentle walk beside the river Risse, the same valley as Onnion. We joined the river at Pouilly and the plan was to walk up the river back to Onnion. When I say walk up the river, I mean just that - we were up to our waists in 10°C water wading upstream. A few obstacles had to be overcome just to add a little excitement: tree trunks, rapids, waterfalls and large boulders were all on the menu. It was better than an ice bath for soothing the legs after the cycling in the morning. So no training that day either. Surely Thursday would be better.

Thursday was a day walk to the top of Tête de Colonney. A 1100m climb and an 11km walk in total. Unfortunately, due to the composition of the group, it all talk a lot longer than initially planned and the run went out of the window again. The only consolation was running down the last 2.5km with Laurence with our walking boots on - just a little bit of endurance training!

This morning was dedicated to the run and I had my 2x12x200m interval training to fit in. We drove to a little lake in Ville en Salaz with a path around in order to do the intervals here. A long lap of the lake to warm up and then I started the intervals. I really can say that I was not looking forward to this session at all. When I began, I realised why I don't like this - quite simply, it hurts far too much. At the end of each 200m my legs would begin to tire, my breath was short and my heart felt that it would beat out of my ribcage.

They went like this:

42, 39, 39, 40, 39, 40, 40, 40, 39, 39, 42, 39 then
40, 41, 39, 41, 40, 40, 40, 40, 41, 41, 40, 38

Despite the enormity of the session, I was pleased to see that my times had improved over last week. I averaged 40 for each interval so still not as fast as I should be (37) but a 2 second improvement. In order to improve, you need to put up with this training and repeat it frequently (at least once a week). Hopefully, all of this will pay off in the next few months. Only time will tell.

I'm currently reading Bruno Heubi and I've finally understood the importance of the different training speeds and how to put together a training programme for a specific event. Really interesting, but unfortunately, despite the comprehension, it doesn't make the sessions any easier. Gentle bike ride anyone ?

Recovery in the rain

Woke up this morning expecting to go cycling on the road bikes with Vincent. Trouble was that it was tipping it down and cycling was quite simply out of the question.

I managed to persuade Laurence to put on her trainers and go for a very easy run from Megevette to recover from yesterday's run and then the walk we did in the afternoon (easy hike with 800m of uphill !!). We parked at the Church at Megevette and then ran along the small road along the valley, crossing over at the end and then continuing on up a little track. Started off at 6:00 min/km pace and then when Laurence turned back after 3.5k, I carried on for another 500m before turning back myself.

I sped up a little on the way back, mostly to get back to the car more quickly and to get out of the rain. Ran the last 2 k in 4:25 then 4:18. Nice run just to feel good about running and to wind the legs down after the efforts of the previous day. 8km all up in 43 minutes.

Biathlon this afternoon with mountain biking then rifle shooting. Hope I'm as good with the rifle as I am with the bow ;) !!

Col de Jambaz - Sunday run

Laurence and I decided to make the most of the first day of the holiday here by running a longish run up to the Col de Jambaz and back. This is one of the staple long runs that we do while we here and my account of last year's run is here when I ran it in just over 1:20.

Well, this year just before I set off I discovered that the Garmin had completely run out of battery, so I left the watch behind and just ran how I felt. Laurence had set off 10 minutes before, so I thought that if I ran well I should be able to catch her by the top of the col.

I felt really good running up the hill, just taking it steadily. I guess that I was running around 4:40 pace and I caught up with Laurence with around 300m to go before the top of the col. She told me that she'd made it up in 52 minutes and she'd set off 10 minutes before so the 4:35 - 4:40 pace for 9.2 km was about right. The difference in altitude between Onnion and the col is 250m so I was pleased with the pace.

I chatted to Laurence for a couple of minutes and then set off back down the hill to the centre. I tried to let gravity carry me down and increase my stride length but the flattish section around Megevette was hard going and I tired a little here. When I got back to the centre, I just managed to grab a seat and sweat profusely for a few seconds before the clock struck 10:30am so I'd been gone for 1:20, probably just faster than last year.

Gmap pedometer route maps the distance at 18.1 km which would put the average speed over the run at 4:25. Pretty good going and I'm really pleased with this performance. I feel so much better than of late and with a few more intervals, I should manage a good time next month.

Laurence was thrilled with her run too - 17 minutes faster than 2 years ago in 1:38 !

Short recovery

We arrived in Onnion for a week's holiday today and so, having unpacked our bags, what was the first thing that we did ? You guessed it: go for a run.

The thing about Onnion is that there is not much flat around to go for an easy run: it's either up or down. We hopped in the car and drove up to Megevette where the valley flattens out and we began our run from there. I was running with Laurence, trying to convince her of all the benefits to be gained from lactate training and as usual, she was listening with half an ear. We set out to run 3 km up the flattish valley and then back. It's a lovely run as it's peaceful and scenic, yet few cars to disturb you. The only problem today was that it was raining steadily.

We ran 5:17, 5:22, 5:17, 4:59, 4:38, 5:02 and averaged 5:02 over the course of 6.5km. Laurence is improving constantly and it's great to see the progression over the months. I was happy to be back in the mountains and running in this scenery despite the cloud cover.

Friday tempo run

Was following a thread on a running forum yesterday about marathon training. To cut a very long thread short, the basic gist of what some of the runners were saying is that you can't just do the mileage for training, you have to do the lactate training. Apparently, your lactate threshold can be improved regularly, while your VO2 max can improve for a while before it hits a plateau. This made me think about my training and how I don't push my speed sessions hard enough by myself.

So having thought about all of this yesterday, I decided to have a couple of beers and try and put all thoughts of running fast out of my mind. No, I came back from work this evening and decided that I would run an old route to Chateau du Val just to see if I am as unfit as I think I am.

The Chateau du Val route encompasses a little of everything. First you start on the road and run uphill into the old Mesnil centre by the Church through the arch and into the forest (you'd better note all of this down Nico as you're gooing to have to try and run this to see how you fare!); you then have a forest section, a fast downhill before you run back on a paved path to Chateau du Val over the grass and then back up a short steep climb back into the forest and then eventually home back past the Church down a very steep road and then sprint along the road to home. It's just under 7.2k and my record is 28:59. In fact, having just found the link, I set this record on a Friday evening 2 years ago exactly.

I set off thinking that I would blast the course, just to see and to get some speed work in before the 10k next month. I set off fast, but not too quick as I know that the uphill can destroy you from the beginning if you push too hard. First km just under the arch in 4:11. Not too bad but I could feel my lungs aching already.I pushed on in the forest and the next kilometre was managed in 3:53 - this was more like it and now that I was running at over 15km/h, I determined to keep it that way.

Splits went: 4:11, 3:53, 3:54, 3:56, 3:54, 3:53, 3:45 and all up in 27:57 or an average of 3:55 per km. A new course record and I beat the time of 2 years ago by 1 minute. Cheered myself up no end and now think that Nico has a race on his hands next month.

Going on holiday in peace for a week now!

Easy club session

I managed to sneak out of work while nobody was looking yesterday (in fact they're all on holiday) to get to the evening club session. There were some faces I hadn't seen in a while: Adrien, Christelle, Madeleine as well as the usuals: Nico, Nick B, Ephrem, Alex and Nabil who turned up a little late.

Michel was taking the session and he announced fartlek. This was a fartlek Michel style: after a 20 minute warm-up we found a loop which we were supposed to run very easily to begin with and then gradually build up speed until we were at threshold. There was a small discussion in the group as to what fartlek really involved so I've looked it up here: Fartlek. Since I'd already run that morning and wasn't looking to tire myself out, I ran easily with Nico and Nick B talking about current training schedules and the next races on the calendar.

It was very relaxing to run this easily in the forest and I thoroughly enjoyed the recovery run. When we got back to the track we saw Gérald and a friend of his after their training session on the track. The friend, Cédric, is a good runner with a 2:36 marathon time. We got to talking about VMA times and I mentioned McMillan, which is definitely my bible for race prediction times. For my 10k PB, it predicts a half-marathon in 1:22:13, a 2k in 6:30 and a 1000m in 3:01, pretty much spot on with my other PBs. What is slightly more disconcerting is that it predicts a 2:53 marathon time and 200m interval session to be run at 35 - 37 seconds. I definitely need to improve my interval sessions and get closer to Nico's times.

Oh yeah, total session was 9k in 55 minutes - told you it was easy !

Intervals

I must admit that I wasn't looking forward to this session. This is the big advantage of following a marathon training plan is that you feel obliged to do sessions that you would never normally choose to do. Today was 2 blocks of 12x200m off 100m rest and 400m between blocks.

I am not a sprinter. As a child, I wanted to be a good runner and I thought that 200m would be my ideal distance. I've grown up since then. The thought of doing 24 of these this morning was painful. Just as painful was putting on my trainers and feeling my left toes curl up in disgust. Love the trainers - just too small so I'm going to buy another pair and wear them both alternately.

Left the house and did a quick warm-up of 1km before starting the session. I wasn't running flat out but the reps were tiring. I didn't feel that I had the energy to push them any faster, but at the same time I knew I was keeping something back in reserve. I finished the first block and then had to re-start the Garmin to do the second, not yet having mastered the advanced workout options on the watch.

Result of the session: ran each 200m in an average of 42 seconds. Fastest was 39 seconds and slowest 44. I'll need to bring these times down to an average of 36 - 37 seconds if I'm to keep up with Nico. There's a lot of work to be done yet.

At least it's over now and I'll run a recovery run tonight at the club. I'll be repeating this session next week too as I'm doubling up the first week's training schedule.

More 200m's next Thursday - arrgghh.

Recovery Run

An early morning run around Maisons Laffitte this morning at a comfortable pace.

I managed to run without looking at the Garmin every kilometre to see what my split times were. Well, I resisted the temptation until the 6th kilometre and then noted a 4:36 which is fairly standard for my easy running pace at the moment. It was cooler than of late as it had rained during the night.

Everything felt fine except: legs which were tired after yesterday's efforts; left foot is too cramped in the new shoe and my toes curl under to protect themselves causing blisters and toenail problems; stiff neck from combination of heat and air-conditioning. So almost perfect.

14.3k in 1:06 so an average of 4:40 per km due to my easy start to the run.

Evening session

Doubled up today with an easy session at the club this evening. The honorary coach, self-appointed, for the evening was Michel and despite the warnings given by Nick, Nico and myself it was off into the darker regions of St Germain forest for a menu of nettles, brambles and thick undergrowth. Lovely!

It was nice to meet up with the guys again and we spoke about what we'd been up to over the holidays. Nick has only just started training again while Nico is training like a maniac, doubling up twice a week and determined to thrash me at Conflans.

Session was very easy, just a gentle jog through the forest, avoiding the obstacles unfortunately, but chatting to Nick and Nico. 10.1k in 59 minutes.

Marathon training

I've been reading Nico's blog regularly recently and the training that he's putting in at the moment is scary. He's obviously very determined and has even gone so far as to put in 2 sessions per day on some days. This has spurred me into action as I know that if I don't start taking this seriously, then there is no way that I'll catch him over 10km in the next few months.

Toulouse marathon is in 11 weeks, so I've started my 3 hour 10 week programme again but a week early in order to be better prepared for the 10k in Conflans in September. This has always been my favourite 10k race and where I've run my 2 fastest times ever. I'm lacking the interval training at the moment and I'm well off my peak, so the marathon training is destined to lick me into shape.

Today was supposed to be 2*2000m off 300m rest. I ran over the usual route around Maisons Laffitte and started the first interval.

The kilometre times were 3:58, then 3:58. So very constant if not quite as fast as I'd have liked. It was supposed to be run at threshold speed less 5 seconds. This should have meant target times of around 3:50.

I rested for 300m then started again, knowing that I had a little uphill stretch in this second interval. Perhaps it was because I knew that I had to try harder to stay under 4 minutes or the first interval loosening me up, who knows but these were run in 3:48 then 3:34.

Just compared these times to the start of the marathon training in February for Paris and I'm faster. This has been a real boost.

I was really pleased as I'm not as shot as I thought! Will probably go out this evening just for a warm-down run with Nico - that'll soon bring the morale back to normal.

Sunday run

Laurence and I and the kids were in Montpellier this weekend. Or rather, I was in Montpellier this weekend while Laurence and the kids get to spend the whole week there. We rented a lovely house next to Montpellier, in Castelnau le Rez.

Laurence wasn't feeling up to a long Sunday run so we agreed on a compromise and decided to run the same route as Saturday but stop for croissants and pain au chocolats en route. Actually, since we didn't find any suitable bakers on the circuit through Le Crès and Jacou, we continued on to Clapiers and added a little extra distance which was more than offset by the calories in the viennoiseries !

12.5km all up in just over an hour. Shoes were great but I really should have chosen them a half size larger. This is the problem of buying them over the web.

Lovely scenery, and really pleasurable running with Laurence. The temperature was a very pleasant 22 - 23°C which now feels moderate after running in the States.

New shoes

New shoes arrived on Friday so I tried them on for a run with Laurence the following day.

Verdict: absolutely fabulous. Extremely comfortable and very light. They are the new Saucony Kinvara. I chose them as they are supposed to get the runners to transfer weight from the heel to the front of the foot when running. I think my shin splints are due to my heel strike and these seemed like the ideal answer to reduce this problem.

They were great and I was able to run 11km in 57 minutes pain-free for the first time in several weeks. My old shoes had probably just worn out as I don't replace them early enough before they start causing me problems.

Easy jog

Still suffering from shin splints. Have got to that point where I wonder whether I'll ever be able to run pain-free again.

I ran around Maisons Laffitte on a shortened route that I used to do when I first started running 3 years ago. It felt peculiar to run this old route again but at a far slower pace. 9.7k all up in 45:25 so just trying to take it easy. Having the Garmin on is always a terrible temptation to gradually build up the pace to a speed that you believe is acceptable. Managed to control that this morning: the pain was a constant reminder that I shouldn't push it.

I spent most of the time concentrating on my running style and trying to get my left fall to run relaxed and fall flat rather than in a pronating fashion. This may be part of the shin splints problem in the first place which also increases the strain on my left ankle.

Lovely morning - perfect temperature at 14°C.

Back to basics

I've been in a rut since the Paris Marathon as far as running goes which explains why I haven't written much for the last few months.

Trying to re-motivate myself by just enjoying the runs after a few disappointing races recently. This morning I went out at 6:25 and ran 13.5k around Maisons Laffitte in 58:50 or 4:24 per km.

It felt good to be running easily again. I tried on my new race shorts: very light and airy but these began to rub after 7k. Temperature was a lot cooler than of late so it was very pleasant to run and only sweat from the exercise and not the extreme heat.

Toulouse Marathon planned for October so preparation for that will begin next week.