Injured

Well it's confirmed : a peritendonitis of the achilles. The whole area is swollen and inflamed and very sore to touch. I'm upset as I had confirmation from the club that they'd managed to get me a place in the next round of the x-country championship and now this has happened.

Don't know when I'll be able to run again. It means at least a week off while the swelling goes down and it begins to mend. Will test next Saturday if I can run then and review my participation in the race for next Sunday.

Bum, bum, bum - just when I began to feel good about my performance again.

Worse

My run with Laurence yesterday morning didn't help at all. I spent the whole day limping around with my achilles extremely sore. Last night I rubbed in some Voltarène and hoped that this would make it better. Fat chance.

Malakoff is becoming an obsession at work. I've managed to persuade a few colleagues to take part in a 5km race in a couple of weeks and now that the day is fast approaching, they are beginning to think about training a minimum so as to not humiliate themselves on the day by running in last. I've been pushing 2 guys in my team to do some training and was supposed to run with them both mid-week so as to show them what 5km felt like. One of them had run the distance last week and found that he had to walk long stretches and finished in just over 40 minutes.

I arranged to meet P. (name not mentioned in order to guarantee anonymity!) in Maisons Laffitte this morning to run 5k with him. I thought I'd run down to the park and back making a total of 15km for the run. I changed trainers this morning and put my Brooks on to see if this would help, but as soon as I left the house I knew that I was in trouble. My ankle was so sore that I modified my running style instinctively to protect it, but this didn't help. I trotted easily down towards Maisons Laffitte hoping that the pain would ease but after 5 kilometres to meet P., it hadn't gone.

I ran with P. along Avenue Albine and back and he managed the 5km after a couple of stops only after 4k and then just before the end. I could see that after 500m he was already suffering and red in the face but he was able to keep it up through sheer determination until almost the end. We ran the 5km in 28:30 or an average of 5:40 per km a 15 minute improvement on his first attempt last week.

I ran back home, met Laurence at the end of her run and finished together with her.

16km all up in 1:21. Applied ice to ankle when I got home and took a paracetemol but it's swollen and very tender. The problem would appear to be at the top of the achilles where it meets the calf and it feels as though I've been kicked in this area. I've decided not to run tomorrow in order to give the ankle a chance to heal and for the swelling to disappear. Bummer!

Aches, achilles and angels

Woke up this morning to find that the dull ache in my left achilles tendon had not gotten any better during the night and in fact felt a lot worse. However, I'd committed to running with Laurence (the angel of the title) as she'd not been able to make the club session last night.

The alarm woke us both at 5:50am and off we set around my usual 10km route through the back roads of Maisons Laffitte. It was pitch black and as we ran together I was able to point out all the fascinating sights and sounds that I usually experience on my run: the gates of the water company opening down by the river; the cockerel cock-a-doodle-doing in the appartments; the girl on the bicycle in the park; and the lady with child walking to the busstop. Laurence was suitably fascinated by it all.

We ran steadily at around 5:30 per km, speeding up a little towards the end.

10.3km all up in 56 minutes or 5:27 per km. Achilles is still aching now and I'm going to change my trainers to see if this helps otherwise there's no alternative but rest and recuperation. Nice to run with an angel for a change though.

Thursday track and scandal ...

Another close run thing to make it to the session. I was out of breath by the time I got to the changing rooms having got the TGV back from Nancy, run for the metro, run for the RER, run to the car-park and panicked in all of the intervals. They were late anyway, so I finished changing just in time to leave for the warm-up with everyone, and there was a large crowd tonight.

I am pleased to announce that the club is getting younger. From the fastest members of the club, all the youngsters were out tonight: Momo, Nico, Gérald, Jean-Marc and Jérémie. At least I wasn't alone with Bruno and Nick B, but no Thierry or José, obviously running the x-country took more out of the veterans than the younger participants. By the time we got to the track, I really wasn't looking forward to the session Miguel had concocted up for us: 400m, 1000m, 800m, 1600m, 1000m off 300m recovery except 100m for the first interval. I was easily the slowest of this group and I knew it was going to be hard.

The 400m was probably the best part as I set off hard and tried to keep it as constant as possible until the line. Nico finished just ahead and Gérald just behind. So I felt fairly good about this, however the 100m recovery wasn't enough for my heart-rate to come down and the 1000m afterwards was tough. This was supposed to be at 10km pace less 5 seconds, so roughly 3:37. I fell off the back of the group now with Gérald coming past after 400m and the others leaving me from the start. It was just a battle to maintain the pace until the end. This was the same for the remainder of the intervals.

They went as follows:

400m - 1:15, 1000m - 3:36, 800m - 2:45, 1600m - 5:52, 1000m - 3:33

So another tough session and my main reason to be pleased is the shortened recovery times before I'm able to set off again.

13.2 km all up in 1:10.

Oh, and the scandal. Well, this is all related to the first round of the x-country races which is the departmental challenge. A young lady of the club apparently promised a kiss on the lips to the first senior male from the club to cross the finish line last Sunday. Anyway, Momo (having finished 4th in the race and first club member by far) turned up tonight at the training session to claim his prize. News has not yet filtered back whether said prize has been awarded or not as yet. But be assured, you'll be the first to hear it here as soon as this is confirmed. There was further discussion this evening as to whether to up the ante for the next round of the championship, but that could be considered below the belt ...

Early Wednesday

Haven't had time to write this up but I'll be brief.

Extremely tired when I went out first thing in the morning. Legs were shattered, body lacked sleep, eyes were barely open. Couldn't even face 10k so decided on the old 7.6k route.

Ran very easily at around 5:00 per km. To be quite frank, I couldn't manage any faster.

7.6k all up in 38:06 or 4:58 per km.

Club session 5 x 800m + 500m + 300m

Managed to make it to the club session by the skin of my teeth tonight. Stuck in a jam coming off the motorway and thought that I'd miss it but arrived just in time to hear the team talk as I rushed into the changing rooms.

Miguel and Nico came to see me to tell me that it was recovery run for the guys having participated in the cross-country and that the session was cancelled. Nico then asked if I was still interested and I replied in the affirmative not knowing what the session involved. It was only one that I'd committed that I found out that it was 5 x 800m off 300m recovery followed by 500m then 300m.

Nico and I ran the warm-up together catching up with the others who'd left 5 minutes earlier. We chatted about the weekend and Nico's performance which was very ggod since he finsihed the same course in a time faster than José by 1 second and 8 seconds behind Gérald in the same race. We discussed why he hadn't stayed with Gérald and it's always the same debate: do you take the risk and accept that you can overheat and explode or do you run more prudently and wait the opportunity that might not re-appear. No real answer and it's always easier to analyse after the race, knowing the final results. It sounded like some good races with Mireille finishing second in the women's x-country and first in the vet category and Momo finishing 4th in the race and 3rd in his category.

Back to the track where things were to get serious. Tom was back from injury and ready to give it a blast and José was on for the session too. So 4 of us took off together to start the 5 x 800m. The first went well with Nico in front an Tom following until the final bend when I managed to pull alongside and finish neck and neck with Nico. He was able to accelerate after tis first whereas I was close to my VO2 max and was only able to improve slightly. I didn't have the Garmin on so was only able to judge by Nico's times:

2:45, 2:41; 2:41, 2:42, 2:43 for the 800m.

I was pleased as I managed to stay in front of José for all of them and Nico was at most 3 seconds ahead over the distance.

As for the 500m and the 300m these were harder to judge. Suffice to say that I was well behind everyone on the 500m and then stayed in front of José for the 300m.

Great session in that it was tough and demanding but satisfying as I was consistent and in touch with Nico and José. I feel that I'm improving and am happy with my recoveries which are quicker and quicker.

13k all up in 1:10.

Back on my feet

Felt better last night after a couple of days of stomach gurglings and severe threatenings of a full-blown attack of the squits. I set the alarm for 6:00am and concentrated all my thoughts on getting back out onto the road and building up the mileage again.

It was a mild morning as winter had disappeared as quickly as it arrived and although it is only mid-January, it feels as though spring is already upon us. The first pleasant surprise was the lack of rain and the warm(ish) temperature, and the second was how good my legs felt to be out again. They felt rested and full of energy so I just enjoyed myself and ran faster than usual to test them out.

After the first kilometre in 4:49, I accelerated and managed the next kilometres at around 4:25 pace and then stabilised at this speed before another acceleration towards the end to finish at close to 4:00 pace.

10.3km all up in 45:38 or an average of 4:25 per km. Great feeling and hopefully I'll be able to get out tonight too to see what's going on at the club.

Easy run

Went out for a pre-race easy run with Nico yesterday prior to the cross-country races today. I managed to persuade Nico to postpone his jog for an hour so that we could run together.

He'd planned a 45 minute jog at 12km/h with 5 series of 30/30 in the middle, so we headed out into the forest and ran up to the pond, 'La mare aux Cannes'. It was a good morning, not too cold as the temperature was around 10°C. Nice run, good chat and then the series of 5 accelerations and I managed to keep up with Nico (I was sprinting whereas he was just coasting fast!).

Got back in 48 minutes and ran just under 10k so it was ideal.

Unfortunately, the day went pear-shaped after that and I felt awful in the afternoon with a dodgy belly. A bad night's sleep and I had to recognise that I was in no fit shape to race the cross-country this morning. I went along just to see the veteran's race and to show my support. Eric, Bruno W, José, Thierry, Nick B, Yves, Charles, Gérard and Adrian all took part and ran good races. A very fast course with almost no mud and few real difficulties. I would have found it hard to beat Thierry over that terrain.

Early start for a birthday

Birthdays are days when you look after yourself. Days when you pamper yourself and relax, take it easy and let others do the chores for you (I can already hear Laurence telling me that this isn't just for birthdays - it's every day ;) ). Anyway, birthdays are not supposed to be made for getting up at 6:00 am and going for a run. So why did I ?

Obtuse, masochistic, and determined are the first 3 words that spring to mind. Fool is the 4th. It was a pleasant surprise to leave the house and find that the temperature was actually quite warm,: a very mild 12°C in fact. I rand around my usual route by the river and through the park at a comfortable pace around 4:45 per km. Sylive was in the park running her intervals at 6:25 this morning, complaining that she felt tired. Frankly, I felt tired just looking at her do the session, let alone try this myself.

12 km all up in 55 minutes or an average of 4:41 per km. Felt pretty good once I'd warmed up in the legs and the stiffness had disappeared.

The last crusade

I amde it to the club session again last night and another full turnout awaited me. Well, when I say awaited me, I was actually a few minutes late and the only person who was waiting was Laurence. She had kept the changing room key for me and I got changed quickly and we warmed-up together until we met the rest of the club on their way back round the warm-up route.

The usual warriers were there: Thierry, Jean-Marc, Gérald, Momo, Jérémie, Romain, José, Bruno, Mireille - so basically all of the fastest runners in the club. But hold on: there was a little area of Gaul that resisted vainly - Nico. When the going gets tough, the tough are nowhere to be seen! Apparently, the speech made by Miguel, the trainer, before the session was to explain that after a lengthy exchange of mails, our "tough" boy Nico had decided that last week's training was too hard for him so he decided to stay at home. Award for big girls blouse of the week is no contest this week. He's even got a special title now: big girls blouse with lace.

Miguel had decided that tonight would be an easy session (too easy for Nico apparently) of 2x12' with 3' recovery around the track. The initial idea had been to run this along the road, but the vast majority preferred the track option, so track it was and 10km pace decided. The crusaders lined up at the start didn't include Momo and Mireille who were doing 400m intervals instead and as prepared to go I wondered who I'd be able to run with.

We set off and I saw that I ran the first lap in 1'26 which is slightly faster than 16km/h but still not sufficient for me to be able to stay with Jean-Marc, Romain, Jérémie, Thierry and José. I let them go as I considered that 12' effort was too long to stick to a pace close to VO max. Miguel and Gérald joined me before Gérald got bored and sprinted off following Momo on one of his 400m intervals. We were steady now at 90" per lap (16 km/h) and I felt almost relaxed. This was 3'45 per km and well above my usual training pace. Miguel dropped out after 2km and I ran the last 3 laps by myself, completing just over 8 laps in the allotted time.

3' recovery and off I set again, this time with Gérald and Thierry who'd been left by the leading group. I ran at the same pace, leading both of the others with Thierry breathing heavily on my tail. Gérald was obviously comfortable and decided to run with us but ran wide around the bends to push his pace slightly. The pace was very steady at 16km/h and it was only with 3 laps to go that Thierry took the lead and increased the pace slightly, meaning that I had to make a little effort to keep up. I counted the laps down now and forced myself to stick with him until the finish. Another 8 laps and a bit and I was done; tired but satisfied. Jean-Marc, Jérémie and José finished 250m ahead in their little group, Romain having dropped out.

Another great session and I feel that I've improved distinctly for a year ago at this time. Too bad that Nico wasn't there, not man enough to take the pain. This bodes well for Malakoff when I can show him that there's life in the old dog yet.

13.5km all up so 25.6km for the day. Not bad going.

Wet Wet Wet

I checked the thermometer before leaving the house this morning. Seeing it showed 4°C, I considered that it was warm enough with a couple of layers on and I went outside. There was a light drizzle falling, so I stepped back inside, grabbed a cap and left for a recovery run.

My legs were still tired and the muscles aching with that dull ache that comes after heavy exercise. I decided that the recovery programme was to get the legs turning over to eliminate the toxins and to put in a bit of mileage. Pace was not an issue. So it was the usual route through Maisons Laffitte with an extra loop in the park in order to run about 12km in all.

The first few kilometres were heavy going, but since I wasn't worried about the pace, I just concentrated on exercising the thighs and running efficiently in order for the aches and pains to disappear. I was having such a good time, despite the drizzle that at one point, I suddenly woke up from the daydream to discover that I was going slower than ever and my feet were almost dragging along the ground. So much for the efficient running style ! I kicked myself awake and upped the pace slightly, for my own pride rather than anything else.

The rain began to fall more heavily now and my shorts were clinging to my thighs. My cap had reached its maximum capacity to protect me from the rain and was now dripping constantly down the back of my neck. My upper layers were drenched and prevented my arms from moving freely as the weight of the water restricted the movement of the clothes. I was happy with that feeling of satisfaction you get from doing something extraordinary that nobody else is able (or willing more appropriately) to do. My legs were numb from the rain and the cold and I had to look at them to see how they were and if I still had my shorts on. The shorts had moulded themselves to my legs and were now an integral part of my body. In summary, I was drenched.

I got back and Laurence asked me if I'd enjoyed my shower. A shower ? That was a complete immersion that I'd had. I was that close *closes finger and thumb together* to drowning.

12km in 56 minutes or an average pace of 4:43 per km.

The killing fields

Remember the film set in Cambodia where the Khmer Rouge take power and commit atrocities in the deep mud - well that was today's session. We had mud, guts and glory this morning.

I ran over to the club as promised this morning after a late night last night and a few whiskies too many. I left Laurence in bed as she tried to make the best possible use of her time under the duvet! As soon as I left the front door and began to run, I knew that I was in trouble. My thighs had not recovered from yesterday's training and even at a slow pace I was still hurting.

I ignored the pain and hoped that as I warmed up that this would ease. I gradually sped up as I ran through the forest going from 5:10 pace to 4:45 pace by the time I got to the club. OK - it wasn't exactly fast but it was a distinct improvement. A big turnout at the club with all the blokes from cross-country training present plus a few more: Gérald, Bruno, Anis and Robin. Fewer women today as all the ladies from yesterday had gone missing. I even wondered if Laurence hadn't fallen back asleep but she wandered in after the official start time, looking slightly worse for wear.

The session today was 3x10' at threshold pace off 3' recovery. I told Nico that I wouldn't be pushing it today and would keep to the programme : threshold pace and not 10k pace. He told me that he was suffering slightly and had been in the wars. Apparently, he'd taken a hit to the crotch (although he claimed he was unaware of the cause ...) and was in need of medical assistance. Miguel told him to ask a member to sort him out (fnarr, fnarr) but he refused when he was told that he couldn't choose which one.

After this period of comic relief, at least for Gérald, Miguel and myself as Nico wasn't in any mood to laugh, we got down to business and started the first interval. We set off easily enough but then Jean-Marc ran to the front and started to show us that threshold for a serious runner such as himself is a good 2 km/h faster than my own perception. Gérald, not wanting to let the side down, sprinted off to catch him up and that set the others off too... José, Nico and Thierry. I had to respond and followed at a reasonable distance of 10 metres. Having set off initially at around 13km/h, by the end of the interval we were at almost at 16 km/h - so much for threshold. We corssed over into the Poissy side of the forest and started again.

This interval was worse as we started immediately at 3:40 pace and Gérald chased Jean-Marc from the start. Nico, Thierry and José followed close behind and built a small gap on me immediately. We left the forest and the muddy paths to hit a road section, heading slightly uphill. I flagged immediately and was caught by Anis (who was only jogging !!) and Miguel. I stuck to Miguel as he came past and we then ran together, chasing the group ahead and staying very steady at 3:50 pace.

Last interval and Thierry had tired of running at the front and ran with Miguel and I while the usual suspects stayed in front. Both Miguel and Thierry upped the pace at the end and made a few metres on me while I ran steadily at 3:50 pace to finish. Another hard work-out on muddy paths, with little grip in the forest. My biggest problem is the uphill where even the slightest of inclines causes me to flanch and to slow. I need to work on this mentally.

An easy run back to the club where we crossed one of the usual female forest workers and Nico almost stopped to request some professional assistance for his war wound. We were able to encourage him on and made it back to the club and then I carried on to run the last 5km home back through the forest.

26.1 km all up in 2:13 making the tally 80km for the week. Good quality sessions all week which has left me tired but in a satisfied manner. The real battle will be in the mud next weekend with Thierry.

Cross training - more hard work

Lot of people turned up today for the cross country training session at Marly park. I gave Anne a lift to the meeting point where we were met by José, Thierry, Jean-Marc, Miguel, Jérémie, Laurent (x2) and then at the last moment Nico. There were almost as many women as blokes today, with Mireille, Pascale, Anne, Delphine, Aude, Murielle and Catherine.

Miguel announced that we were reverting to the old, standard cross-country training sessions. No more of the 3 ' intervals but back to the old course, pushing it hard up the 2 hills and then the acceleration down the path and around the lake to finish the lap. 3 laps were programmed.

We set off easily on the warm-up and had a banter as to how Thierry was feeling after Thursday's session and whether he would be able to keep up with me snapping at his heels. I was feeling lousy and the front of my thighs were still sore from the intervals 2 days earlier. I've definitely been feeling the increase in the intensity of the training. I'm just hoping that it's going to pay off sometime.

Anyway, it was too late to think about anything now. I dropped my jacket in the car and started the session with the others. I attacked the first hill forcefully, but not too fast. Thierry was just alongside and Nico wasted all his energy providing running commentary. "Be careful James, Thierry is 20cm behind you and moving fast" etc, etc, ad nauseum. I felt easy for at least 200m up the hill and then the thighs began to tighten. What had previosuly felt easy became a slog, legs were hard to lift, and feet dragged. Nico, Thierry, Jérémie and Jean-Marc left me here and I struggled to the top of the hill as the wind started blowing directly into my face. A huge relief to get to the top and to press the lap button - 2:02.

Recovery down the hill before attacking the next hill: a short sprint to the top of this one before coming back down again. José comes past me here and this is the last that we see of him as he reduces his recoveries and pushes on. Thierry, Jean-Marc, Jérémie and Nico are just in front and Mireille is just behind me and it stays like this for the rest of the session. It's only on the downhill section and then the flat around the lake that Mireille pushes me, threatening to overtake. I manage to hold her off, especially on the far side of the lake where the grass is longer and wetter and the going tougher.

We do 3 loops and my leg muscles ache, my stomach muscles are tightening and I'm tired. We all feel the same and nobody has eased off. We warm-down chatting to Mireille and telling her how easy it must be for her: 30kg of weight less to carry around and a cross country race that is half as far in perspective. Piece of cake ...

15.5 km all up in 1:26. Tough going. Should be easier tomorrow, but I'll run over to the club to keep the distance up.

3 x 1500m + 1 x 600m

I managed to make it to the club session last night for the second time this week. It was a close run thing though - the motorway out of Paris was completely jammed so I had to carry on and use the alternative route, praying that no speed cameras were in my way. I rushed into the clubhouse when I arrived, only stopping to say hello to Gérald and a general hello in direction of the girls waiting by the radiator. I get changed and wait in the hall to listen to the instructions by coach Miguel and see Nico who I'd actually confused with the girls when I'd entered. Apparently, he's vexed by my accidental slight and announces that the fact that I've made it twice in the same week to a club session obviously indicates that I've been sacked!

A very good turnout for the evening with Nico, Gérald, Thierry, Mohammed, Jean-Marc, Bruno and all the women, including Laurence, Mireille, Pascales, Anne, Delphine, Christelle. We are given the plan for the evening: 3 x 1500m at 10km race speed and then 600m to finish at VO max all off 300m recovery.

We quickly run our warm-up as the rain is falling steadily now and the wind is most unpleasant and then head back to the track to begin the session. Thierry asks me if I'm feeling alright and if I'm ready to beat the chrono tonight. He knows that I've targeted him as the man to beat for the cross-country and this has boosted him to show that he's not ready to lie down just yet! I'm uncertain of how the intervals are going to go and who I'll try and stay with to run them regularly. I tell Nico that I'm aiming for 3:40 pace which equates to 5:30 per 1500m. He's aiming for 5:15 pace so I'm unlikely to be able to stay with him for long on each one. Momo is in a league of his own at around 3:10 pace and Jean-Marc and Gérald will be close to Nico. That leaves Thierry, Mireille and a new guy, Robin to place.

I set off on the first interval just behind a trailer, Laurent, and since no-one else looks eager to go to the front I push the pace a little and take the lead. This doesn't last more than 400m as Momo comes flying past and then Nico, Gérald, Jean-Marc and Thierry follow. I maintain a constant pace, not trying to follow them and explode and finish this first interval in 5:13. That was tough already, now we have to go again after 2:45 of rest. The second interval is a lot harder and I count down the distance left to be run. After the first 300 metres, I'm already aching and a lap later I feel like dropping out. The last lap is a killer with the lactic acid rising through my legs, tying up my thighs and making me feel as though I'm running in a swimming pool. Nico, Gérald and Thierry have been ahead from the start and Momo starts later so that he can chase us down. My only consolation is that Jean-Marc is closer on this interval and must be tiring slightly. I finish in 5:19. I'm shattered now and wonder how I'm going to manage another. Even the thought that it's the last 1500 is no consolation.

It takes 3 minutes to run 300m for the recovery now and we start again. The others leave me immediately and I try to find a rhythm that will let me get to the end of the distance without collapsing. Mireille and Miguel go past me after 200m and I try and hold on to them. They stay just ahead and we continue to run like this until 1000m when Miguel drops out leaving me with Mireille. Try as I can, I just can't stay with her and a small gap appears. I think about giving up and dropping out as my legs are numb. 400 metres to go and I'm just trying to contain the pain and coasting, incapable of increasing my effort. Hit the final straight at last and finish in 5:25. Thank god for that.

Everyone is tired now and there's still the 600m to be run at full pelt, VO max speed. Sod that I tell myself, I'm just trying to survive. We start and my male pride kicks in and I refuse to let Mireille get past me this time. Momo and Gérald have gone off like bullets and I can see them streaking away from me. Tough, and I hit 200m and tell myself that there's only a lap to do. All thoughts about a full blown sprint to the end remain just that : thoughts. My legs are shot, not so much with the lactic on this interval but the after-effects of the previous 3 intervals. Mireille is still on my shoulder and as I enter the last 200m, I up the ante and push the pace just to discourage her from coming past. This works and I can't hear her behind me any more. 100m to go and it's the sprint, suing my arms to power me down the home straight. Miguel encourages me on, from the sidelines and I finish in 2:00 dead.

A warm down and the session is over. 12.5k in 1:07. A very hard session, on top of the tough session on Tuesday. Legs are aching like hell today. Cross-country training tomorrow should be fun! Thierry finished ahead of me yesterday and was running well. I have improved tremendously since last year and am looking forwards to these next races where I think that I have a good chance in the mud against him.

24 x 200m intervals

Made it to the club session and there was a good turnout : Nico, Gérald, Bruno, Jean-Marc, Romain, José and the surprise return of Régis (Crossman!). Laurence was well acompanied with the women too: Pascales (E and A), Anne, Delphine, Christelle, Aude amongst others.

The programme for the evening, announced by Miguel, was 3 blocks of 8 x 200m off 100m recovery and 300m between blocks. We ran our warm-up around St Germain, chatting with Régis, who has only just come back from a back injury to be able to run again after 6 months, and so won't be running races for a little while yet. On arrival back at the track, we ran a few straight lines before getting down to business. I knew I wasn't capable of leading and I tucked in behind Jean-Marc, Nico and Romain on the first series, before Jean-Marc dropped behind me on the second series (returning from injury too) and finishing in the same configuration at the end.

The splits were as follows:

36, 38, 38, 38, 38, 38, 37, 37
37, 37, 37, 37, 38, 38, 38, 38
38, 37, 38, 38, 38, 38, 38, 37

So I was very constant and my recovery times were constant too at around 40 seconds from the beginning to the end.

Really pleased with the session as it shows my shape as being pretty good when I compare these times to where I should be in terms of VO max performance.

Laurence ran with Pascale around the track and she looked good too, churning out 2 blocks of 8 x 200m intervals at around 43 -44 second pace. A little more race practise and she'll soon be flying.

15km all up in 1:20.

Early start

Another year, another early start. But I'm starting the year as I intend to continue, and building up the weekly mileage is essential. I managed 77km last week which is probably just above my average weekly mileage, but a target of around 90km per week would be ideal.

It was just below freezing when I set out and there was a good layer of frost covering the ground. Still as black as night at this time in the morning but no wind and the weekend revellers had all left town.

I ran my standard route down by the river and towards Maisons Laffitte. As I passed in front of the castle and then some small blocks of flats towards the racecourse, I heard a cock crowing coming from the flats. This isn't the first time that this has happened but it made me wonder what sort of person keeps a cockerel. Despite the fact that this bird is the national emblem of France, why on earth do people keep this fowl ? As a pet, or rather to cook the thing should the occasion arise ? What on earth do the neighbours feel about a cock crowing every morning at 6:10 am outside their windows ? Do you need a permit from the townhall for the noise ?

Wondering about all of this took my mind off the running and the slow pace that I was able to manage this morning. The legs were heavy, I was tired and running was hard work after feeling great this weekend. It was only after 8 or 9km that I began to feel slightly better and warmed-up. This used to occur after 5k so I hope that this isn't a sign of things to come.

10.3km in 48:26 or 4:42 per km. It's Monday morning so things can only go better from here on.

Looking back at 2010

It's that time of the year when everybody looks back at the year past and reflects on what could have been, what worked and what to improve on in the future. Who am I to argue with the majority and if you can't beat them, join them and so here's my summary of the year.

Best race:

No doubt about it - Toulouse marathon was my best performance of the year. A day when everything went right and I felt good from beginning to end. If every race could be like this, I'd be the happiest runner in the world.

Worst race:

Low point of the year was pulling out of Fontenay 10km race in May when I was overtaken by Nico. First and last time that I've pulled out of a race and I'm not proud.

Achievements :

I've managed to achieve 2 of my objectives that I set at the beginning of 2010: marathon objective of under 2:55 and half-marathon of under 1:22:30 which I managed in Rambouillet. I also managed to set some new PBs for 15km, half-marathon and marathon. I could also include the 18:19 time I managed in Malakoff for a 5km race but I'm not sufficiently proud of this result to include it in my achievements when I set myself the unannounced objective of beating 18 minutes. I achieved two podiums with a victory in my age category for the 6,4km road race at Achères in June and a third place for my 5 km race in Kansas in the Summer.

Races :

20 races in all in 2010 : 2 x 5km, 1 x 6,4km, 3 x 10km, 3 x 15km, 1 half-marathon, 2 marathons, 3 cross-countries, 3 trails and 2 ekidens. A special mention for the ekidens which I really enjoyed. Running is mostly a solo occupation, between you and the watch but every now and then you have the opportunity to form a team and it changes the game completely. Will try and do more of these in 2011.

Hottest race - A divine run, Kansas in July. 29°C and humidity over 80% for a race that started at 7:30 am! Had grand ideas about beating 18 minutes for the 5km before I ran in these conditions.

Coldest race - Foulées de Malakoff in February. -2°C and a wind harsh enough to freeze your eyeballs in 2 minutes. Did not want to take my jacket off before starting this race. Didn't hang around at the end either!

Objectives for 2011 :

I'm going to maintain my 2010 objectives for 10km (36:30), 15km (57:00) and 20km (1:17) and add an objective for 5km of 17:45. My half-marathon objective is to beat 1:21 and marathon 2:50. These last 2 are looking tough as according to McMillan they're both better achievements than running a 36:30 10km.

Challenge :

Well the gauntlet has been thrown down for Nico and I'm waiting now for validation of our races for this year. The idea is to cover a broad a band of races as possible from 5km to the marathon. The points scoring is still being debated as counting victories is not enough but the quality of each race has to be considered. Any ideas are welcome and will be debated ...

So that's a summary for the year past and a quick look forward to this coming year. I'm excited already and I'm convinced that I'll be better this year than last. Should be good.

Sunday club session

In order to boost my mileage, I ran over to the Sunday club session today from Le Mesnil. I didn't have much time as I was not too eager to get out of bed this morning, and by the time I left the house it was 8:35 and I only had 25 minutes to run the 5km through the forest before the session started.

The legs were tired after yesterday's effort and although I was telling myself to take it easy, I was running even slower than I thought: 5:15, 5:10 and then 4:58 through the forest before I began to warm up. Having got to the club, I was pleased to see a really good turnout with Nico, Gérald, Thierry, José, Laurent, Bruno, Philippe and numerous women: Christelle, Pascale E, Pascale A, Murielle, etc. We even had a surprise guest when Jennifer Tave, over from California for the holidays turned up to participate. She took part in Houilles last weekend to finish 6th woman in 35:26, so a very capable runner.

The plan was to run towards Maisons Laffitte and the bumps before starting a series of 30/30 intervals for the keen runners, while tose recovering from an excess of alcohol on Friday night were given an easy recovery run instead. We started theseries of 12 intervals at the top of the bumps and I was neck and neck with Nico on the first 2 intervals before losing a little ground. José ran with Nico from this point on and I stayed with Thierry, determined not to let him gain a mental advantage before the first cross-country race in a couple of weeks time. We were running the intervals around 19km/h and although the first seemed easy by the time we hit double figures, I could feel the lactic rising in my legs. Gérald had decided to be chivalrous and was running with Jennifer just behind on this series, rather than assuming his usual position at the front of the pack.

We ran back to the clubhouse and I asked Jennifer about her usual training schedule: 120km per week on average, with some serious interval sessions, recovery runs and a long run on Sunday after the races on Saturday. A fairly gruelling schedule, but there's no secret: if you want to be good, you need to train hard and put in the distance. This is what this year's has in store for me as I try and improve my training quality and quantity. She also told me that following her excellent run in Houilles, the organisers had the cheek to call her up the next day and to ask her if she was sure she'd run 3 laps instead of 2!! They also asked her if she'd lent her chip to a male runner. All of this because she managed to beat a good number of female runners who'd been paid to attend by the organisers.

I ran back from the clubhouse to home with Nico. We celebrated our fine shape at the moment by taking it easy running the last 5 k with the following splits: 4:59, 4:24, 3:58, 4:23, 4:02 ! So much for an easy jog back home.

26.4km all up in 2:12 or an average of 5:02 per km. Good run and great to get the distance in. I'm feeling very good at the moment with plenty of energy and the desire to push it during the sessions. Long may this last.

New Year's Day

Laurence and I got up relatively early (9:00am) despite having made it to bed at 3:00am after a good evening out to welcome in the New Year. Le Mesnil le Roi made it into the national news too when 3000 ravers descended on the town for a New Year's party in the maze of underground passages dug out by the Germans in the second World War under the town. They were stopped by the firemen since the generators they were using were creating high levels of carbon monoxide in the tunnels. almost had a disaster on our hands. As we drove back from our evening out, we came through town and have never seen so many people before. The police had already arrived by then and there were a few arrests for drunk and disorderly acts.

So, we set off early-ish the next morning and passed the remnants of the disbanded rave party as they began to head home. We picked up Brigitte and I ran the first 4 kilometres with Brigitte and Laurence at an easy pace towards Cora. I left them after this start with the intention of running around Cora, while they were to cut back up to Pavillon de la Muette, thereby cutting out 2km of the course, and I would catch them after this.

I set off at a nice trot, mainly to impress the girls, and covered the next few kilometres at marathon pace: 4:18, 4:11, 4:09, 4:06. I then ran into (literally) Sylvie, one of the best V2 (50-60 category) runners in the area, who ran the next 2.5km with me as I tried to catch up with Laurence and Brigitte. We ran these in 4:12, 4:15 and 4:10 which was quite impressive since this includes the long uphill section to Pavillon de la Muette. I often see Sylvie training early in the morning in Maisons Laffitte so it was nice to catch up with her and to have a chat together. I finally caught Laurence and Brigitte just after this section and we ran the last 5.5km home together.

Nice day. Not too cold but still larges patches of snow left in the forest which was surprising since all the snow around the roads has long since disappeared.

16.6km all up in 1:23 or an average of 5:03 per km.