Cora and back again

Well, despite Nick and my attempts to get a band of running brothers to join us for this morning's jog to Cora and back, once again we were left to ourselves. The excuses are getting worse and worse: Paul was home alone, Andy is still disabled with a bad back, Nico is running a race tomorrow and Didier had a meeting with a banker... pathetic ! This last excuse is especially poor, since Didier spends all week with bankers. Why on earth he wants to meet them at the weekend too is beyond me.

Nick and I had a good run to Cora, setting off easily enough and chatting to each other before the chatting become quieter and quieter and we were at 4:20 pace. Having noticed this appearing on the Garmin, I asked Nick if he was easy at this pace because I certainly wasn't. He replied that he thought that with my marathon training, that 4:20 pace was now a natural easy pace! I'm a long way off this yet so we slowed down immediately.

The rest of the run was run between 4:35 and 4:45 pace, slowing down slightly for the uphill sections. It was a really fantastic morning with a temperature around 14°C and clear blue skies. It couldn't have been more ideal for running.

I dropped Nick at his house and was running home to finish the 15k circuit in 1:11 when I saw Laurence and Paul heading off up Rue de La Marne at the start of Paul's weekly run to chateau du Val and back. Paul beckoned for me to join him so we all ran together into the forest.

This is Paul's 4th run since he's started his weekly commitment to run 7km around Chateau du Val to keep fit. We ran the first kilometre in 6:00 this morning which is already a vast improvement on the first couple of times I'd run with him. He looked a lot fresher and easier and we carried on into the forest where he ran the following kilometres slightly faster at around 5:50 pace. He didn't get a stitch this time and was motivated to beat his record of 44:26 for the course.

We were well ahead of schedule with 2km to go and he sped up from there on to the finish. There was even a sprint finish to complete in 40:01 so we were all really pleased with this result. A new record for him.

I completed my run then of 21.5km in 1:48. Not bad for an easy Saturday run. I'll run with the club tomorrow for my long Sunday run. Lovely day afterwards with an easy lunch on the patio and temperatures in the mid 20°s C. Good start to the weekend.