Sunday club session

Rolled up at the club with Laurence this morning just in time to hear the pre-run instructions and then we were off. The menu for the day was a Miguel special : 10', 12', 10' at threshold pace off 3' recovery between each interval.
I was suffering from the beginning with an excess of alcohol from last night and an excess of food. In fact, this was my main motivation for the day: burning off a few calories in order to compensate. There were plenty of runners present, despite the 10k race organised in Boulogne: Nico, Thierry, Vincent, Simon, Anis, Ilyes and Jean-Marc. There was going to be plenty of fighting up front and I didn't need to worry about finding my way through the forest.

We warmed up easily along the terrasse and then back into the forest by Chateau du Val. Another quick pep talk by Miguel and we were off. I took it easy to begin with (or at least it felt easy) and ran with Vincent and Bertrand chatting about where Nico had got to as both Anis and Ilyes pushed through at rocket speed to take the front. I was feeling tired in my legs from yesterday's run and I knew that with 32 minutes of intervals in total, I didn't want to be pushing the pace too hard right from the start. These thoughts were then thrown out of the window as Jean-Marc and Nico came by and I tucked in for the ride - 3:45 for the kilometre. I saw the Garmin record this kilometre and I couldn't believe it - we were running at 16km/h and this isn't my threshold pace. I felt the pace now and eased off instinctively. First rep over.

Second rep was more constant and I let the front group go and just concentrated on holding on to the back of this group with Miguel and Vincent just ahead and Simon just behind. Pace was very constant with each kilometre reorded at 3:54. I was tired now and the fresh feeling that I'd felt at the start was just a distant memory. The temperature wasn't a problem as running in the forest meant that it was relatively cool. I wasn't looking forward to the third interval though and wondered what excuse I could pull off to escape.

The third rep began and the pace felt slower. I was near the front of the group and nobody seemed to be pulling away from me. This lasted for about 500 metres before the others warmed up again and started to pull ahead. I ran 3:52, 3;54 and then 4:01 pace to finish even though we were on the tarmac now beside the Poissy road heading back to the club. I was shattered but pleased to have held on until the end, completing the intervals and keeping Miguel and Vincent just a few yards ahead.

Jogged back to the club and then waited for Laurence to arrive. She'd run really well staying with Delphine and Muriel and got back to the club to announce that she was running back to the house through the forest and that I needed to leave to put the kettle on for her!

15.3 km all up in 1:18.

Over in Boulogne, Mireille failed to beat her 10k record but won the race anyway and Gérald finished in 38:19. I had predicted a 37:40 for him while Nico forecast 37:10. Looks like the beers are on him next week. Cheers !