It had been a hard night with the boys. Nico, Nick W and myself had decided to go into St Germain to watch the match in the pub. To be perfectly civilised, we thought that we could get a burger there and eat out. Unfortunately by the time we got to the pub there was no space left at their tables so we had some pasta next door accompanied by a nice bottle of red wine. Things became less civilised from then on when we went back into the bar and met Nick B and a mate over from Oz for some beers while watching the match. Man Utd took a well-deserved beating much to Nick W's delight, being a long-time Liverpool fan. So when I woke up this morning, the last thing that I wanted to do was go for a 33k run with a camelbak on my back.
Laurence saved me at this point by saying that she wanted me to run with her over the first portion of the course as it's a little isolated in the forest and she was a little concerned about who she might meet. I instantly comforted her by telling her that Nico had met a guy in the middle of the forest while out for a run last week who was wandering around completely starkers. Personally, I think that Nico came up with this excuse as he was worried that somebody had caught him on camera with a naked bloke... Anyway, I was the perfect gentleman and eagerly agreed to accompany my lovely wife around the course.
We set off easily at a pace just below 10 km/h. I thought that Laurence was capable of getting around the course in 6' kms though and by the 5km mark we were running regularly 5:45 pace. I was perfectly happy at this speed as I needed to recover from yesterday and was just keen to burn off the calories and alcohol from last night's excesses. When we got to the top of Princess Road, Laurence stopped for a quick rest and told me that she didn't want to run with me anymore as I "stressed" her. I was ordered to run on and finish at my own pace and even to beat last week's time. I announced that this would be difficult as at the same point last week I had passed some 11 minutes earlier. But, since there was no point in arguing I set off again; this time on my own.
The next few kilometres to Feucherolles were far more comfortable than last week and I managed them at 4:40 pace. I'd run 16km now and I was tired so I stopped to walk for a while. I just didn't have the energy to continue running permanently and it was this for the rest of the way around the course. When I was running, I was a lot easier and faster than last week but my legs and head were telling me to stop whenever it got a little hard. I accepted the fact and just focused on getting around. In the end, I finished the loop in 2:55 so 11 minutes solwer than last week and exactly the same time difference as at the 11km mark. So despite the more frequent stopping, I managed to complete the last 22 km at the same pace as last week.
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