Conflans 10k - Fin d'Oisienne

Stress is a bugger to deal with. This race had been on my mind for days and I couldn't relax about it. The competition and the banter with Nico had grown to a head and I couldn't spend any length of time without wondering what sort of form I was in, what sort of form he was in, and if I could improve on my best time over 10k. I thought about this frequently and told myself to relax: it was a race after all and not the end of the world. This sort of rationalising is all very logical but when you're stressed, nothing works.

Laurence was in a similar state to me and doesn't like racing because of this. We picked up Nick this morning and drove to Conflans arriving about 1 hour before the race. Several other runners from the club had already arrived and we all chatted together, pinning our numbers on and then set off on a warm-up before the start. Nico, Bruno P, Bruno W, Ephrem, Nick B had all arrived. Nick let slip a laconic "7 guys from the club and I'm going to be the last!" while we were running around. Only 3 women from the club with Laurence, Christelle and Madeleine.

After a 4k warm-up, I lined up at the start with butterflies in my stomach. A huge mixture of feelings swirled around inside me: apprehension, worry about being beaten, worry about my form, fear of the 10 kilometres ahead. It's true that I don't like 10km races. They are just too long to be able to go out and run full blast, but they are too short to run at a comfortable speed. They are simply a test of your cardiac performance, with your heartrate pumping to close to max all the way around but for over 30 minutes. Sheer hell !

The start was a bit confusing as the race was also the inter-departmental challenge for the youngsters from the region "Espoirs" and "Juniors". They started on the start line and the other runners started 5 metres behind. I was convinced that they would be trampled to death within 100m after the gun, but I was to be proved wrong on this count. The gun went and I wasn't really ready. Since everyone surged forward, I wasn't going to argue and set off at this point.

The pace was fast but I felt good and slalomed between some of the youngsters, notably the girls, while the lads remained a good 20 metres in front and were leaving me behind. There were a lot of runners in front of me and since I finished 20th in this race last year, I was convinced that I would catch up with most of them and overtake them later on. This didn't happen. I felt strong in my legs and I finished the first small 2 km loop in 7:04 as the timekeeper shouted out as I passed. This was identical to last year's race and I was pleased. The other reason for satisfaction was that I was the first runner from St Germain. I'd noticed that both Nico and Bruno W., my 2 main rivals, were behind me from the start. I was now concentrating on keeping them there.

The second large loop started well and I joined a group of runners, keeping an eye on a runner from Issou and another from Méry just ahead. I ignored my watch as it beeped the kilometre splits and the second real notion of how I was doing was when I passed the official clock at 5 km showing 17:54. This was good. I calculated that I could lose 5 seconds per km and still beat my record at this point and I allowed myself to relax slightly as I was starting to suffer from the pace. Between 5 and 6 km was a killer as it's up a slight incline (really very slight but the pace was beginning to tell) and I wondered if Nico and Bruno would catch me at this point. I prepared myself mentally to be overtaken but I seriously thought about dropping out at this point. I banished these thoughts from my mind and told myself that even if I was overtaken, I would still finish the race, even if I had to drop the pace slightly. I concentrated on finding a rhythm and staying with the guys around me.

I was running with 2 youngsters now and catching a third just ahead. I tried to pull them along and this worked for a couple of kilometres until 8k and then they stretched ahead slightly down a hill. I was shot now. The last 2 kilometres were the worst. I lost speed and let runners pass me without responding. I just wanted to cross that finish line. I wondered how I would react if Nico pulled alongside now and knew that I didn't have the energy to respond. The last uphill was agony and it was a relief to go under the starting arch and to finally pull into the stadium. I managed a semi-sprint just to keep ahead of a couple of runners breathing down my neck at this point and I crossed the line in 37:15. I was elated at being the first St Germain runner and beating Nico, but slightly disappointed at the same time that I hadn't been able to beat my record, which was on the cards until the 8km point.

Nico finished 26 seconds behind and congratulated me. I was disappointed for him too, as he's capable of doing better than this and he will be beating me soon regularly over this distance. The rest of the club finished in a bunch just behind with Nick finishing last of the 7 (as he predicted) in a very respectable time of 39:17. He was pleased that he'd managed to catch a 70 year old in the last 500m to beat him over the line ! Admittedly, the 70 year old in question is triple European champion in his age category and is till running 10k in 39:27. I hope I'm in this condition in 30 years time.

Laurence ran into the stadium in 46 minutes and I cheered her on over the last 200m. She finished in 46:49 smashing her record over the distance by over a minute. We were both thrilled.

Good race and mixed emotions. Glad to have held off the club competition but slightly disappointed to have finished 18 seconds down on last year's time. This was due to my endurance over the last 2k which I need to work on. I'm confident for the marathon now and this is the next main objective. I have to admit that I far prefer the thought of running a marathon to a 10k. How weird is that ?

Full race results here: Conflans 10k