Easy Saturday

Usual pre-race practise for Nico and I and we programmed an easy jog around the forest above Le Mesnil rather than heading out to Cora. When we woke up Laurence said that she was going for a run too and I finally managed to persuade her to run with us (actually I'm not convinced that I persuaded her at all - it was probably Nico as she only made up her mind once we were outside with Nico on the pavement).

Having promised Laurence that we would run at club session warm-up pace (6:30/km), we promptly set off up the hill on the road towards the forest running 5:50 in the progress. We sped up a little after this running at 5:30 pace before pushing it to 5:15 pace or slightly faster than Laurence's marathon pace. She was relaxed and chatting to both of us about her week in the Auvergne so I figured that she wasn't too uncomfortable at this speed.

9.4 km all up in 51:24 or an average of 5:25. The pace and temperature was very comfortable .This will be a completely different story tomorrow when the forecast is predicting 31°C and we're running the marathon relay with Nico, his brother, a friend and myself. Our predictions were for a 2:46 overall time but there'll be no chance of this in 31°C.

Early Friday

I haven't been doing much mileage since Guerlédan and the temptation is to sit back and to take it easy at the moment. I've been telling myself that I don't need to be concentrating on speedwork as I'm racing almost every weekend and there are no really important events until after the summer now anyway. With this in mind, I set the alarm for first thing in the morning and chose to do the shorter 8km loop around town so that I could spend slightly longer in bed and still get to work on time.

I have been working hard lately and this has had an impact on the amount of sleep I've been getting. Lack of sleep causes me to run slower than I'm capable of and recently I've been averaging around 4:30 - 4:40 per km, basically because I can't be bothered to run any faster. It was going to be different today I told myself and I set off down the road at the fastest pace I could manage comfortably. Admittedly, this wasn't very fast at all as I was tired and the pain in my right thigh has still not disappeared. However, it was better than nothing and I saw the Garmin flash up 4:28 for the first kilometre so I was determined to try and maintain a speed higher than this now.

As in most of my recent runs, I don't remember much of the detail only that I was wearing my new trainers: New Balance 1063 which I like. I bought these after the disastrous Nike Lunarglide which didn't suit me at all. The New Balance are stable and dynamic and I feel as though I'm in contact with the terrain. The only problem is that the front of the shoe feels thin and I have had blisters from them when I've pushed the distance over 10km. This run went well and I sped up as I ran around and the pain in my thigh subsided. From the 4:28 in the first kilometre, I was running at 4:20 pace towards the end before a last acceleration and the final kilometre in 3:55 then 3:45 pace to finish.

8.25 km all up in 35:53 or an average of 4:21 per km. Felt good about this session.

Stockholm - morning run

I'd stayed the night in a new hotel for me in a different part of Stockholm. The usual hotel was fully booked and so I was staying in the Scandic Hasselbacken on the east side of the centre. This is a nice place but not as modern as the Courtyard on the west side of the centre. Still it gave me a good opportunity to run in a different area of the city.

After getting some advice from the Swedes, I set off along the canal to the north of Djurgarden and through the park. The advice was good and the scenery was lovely. I wasn't feeling too fresh as I'd had little sleep and too much to drink the previous evening. I decided that the only way to feel better and to burn off some calories was to punish myself by running a little faster than usual. I glimpsed the Garmin after the 1st kilometre and I thought I saw 4:23 (in fact it was 4:33 but obviously my eyesight was a little blurred!), this encouraged me to try and maintain this pace for what I'd been told was a 12 - 13 km course. The kilometres passed and I enjoyed the scenery alongside the canal and some magnificent houses and museums in the park. The weather was pleasant as it wasn't too warm but dry and sunny.

I crossed the last footbridge towards the end of the canal and ran back along the south side of the Djurgarden island. I managed to maintain a 4:25 - 4:30 pace, despite some little uphills and downhills along the path. There were a few other runners about but not it was not half as popular as on the west side of Stockholm where there are literally hundreds of runners out training early in the morning before heading into work.

I finished the loop of the island and made it back to the hotel for a little over 10km, shorter than I'd been told. I continued on for a little longer and rounded my run up to 11km before stopping.

11.1km all up in 50:00 or an average of 4:30 exactly per kilometre. Pleased that I'm training more easily at 4:30 pace again.

Recovery run

Monday was a recovery run just to run the tiredness out of my legs after the race.

I set off easily and soon realised that I was tired, lacking energy and sore in my legs. I ran around the standard route through Maisons Laffitte and around the park. I entered into that daydream phase where you can't remember having taken any conscious decisions and wondering how on earth you managed to get to where you are. I don't remember any of the middle phase of the run, only coming out of the residential area into the park and appreciating the coolness of the weather.

10.6 km all up in 50:43 or an average of 4:45 per km.

Achères - 6.4km

I only decided to enter this race at the last moment: Thursday evening in fact while speaking to Nico and Régis at the end of the club session. Nico was looking for a short race where a podium was possible and I thought that I could return to Achères to try and defend my first veteran title over the distance. Régis let on that Fabrice was also entering this race, as he was also looking for a podium as a veteran. This added a little spice to the equation and I decided then and there to enter.

I turned up about and hour before the race and paid my fee and picked up my bib. Gérald and Nico were there already and Gérald decided that the 6.4km race would be too fast for him and that he'd enter the 15km race which starts at the same time. We were just leaving some stuff in the car before setting off on our warm-up when Fabrice arrived in the car with his family. He evidently wasn't expecting to see me there and I could see from the expression on his face that his plans for a podium were no in doubt. I was far from sure about my own condition, already feeling tired yesterday on a recovery run and far from confident as to whether I had the energy to run fast around such a short course.

Gérald, Nico and I set off on our warm-up along the course which leaves Achères and heads into the forest at the edge of the town. The paths are wide and flat through the forest until just beofer 3 km when there is a very short hill up and then down and back onto the roads through town to complete the loop. The 15km race does 2 loops and a convoluted finish around the playing fields whereas the 6.4k race is just one loop.

We lined up at the start and when the gun went, I was surprised to find myself near the front of the field, in the first 6 or 7 runners. I was sat on Nico's shoulder for the road out of town and then when we turned into the forest I moved past Eric (running the 15k) and the St Germain runners (Eric, Nico, Anis and myself) represented 4 of the first 6 in the race. Nico encouraged me to take the lead at this point so that I could write in my blog that I led the race at the 1km mark, but although I felt good, I wasn't ready to expose myself at this point. We carried on at the same pace for the second kilometre, dropping Eric slightly in the process and it was only in the third kilometre that I fell back slightly from the group of 4 leaders, leaving Nico to battle it out ahead.

Eric overtook me in the 3rd km and then we hit the road section for the 4th kilometre and another runner overtook me towards the 4km marker. I began to tire now and all the energy I had at the start of the race waned fast. To make matters worse, we turned into the wind for the next 2 kilometres with the second of these slightly uphill back through town. The leaders gapped me here but there was nobody close behind me so I wasn't really worried about my losing speed. We turned into the stadium and I saw that Nico had turned first as the other 4 runners ahead (Anis and Eric included) were running the 15k race. Unfortunately, the guy who'd overtaken me also turned and my thoughts of completing a 1 and 2 for the race with Nico vanished.

I pulled off a little acceleration to finish and completed the course in 24:32 or an average speed of 3:46 per km according to the Garmin. This was 34 seconds slower than last year due to the wind and the tiredness but Iwas very happy with the result. Nico achieved his first ever win outright in a race and was also chuffed. Unfortunately, Fabrice took a wrong turn towards the end which cost him a few seconds and any hopes of a podium for the veterans. He'll probably be looking for his next race and a possible podium now.

Saturday run

I'd arranged with Nico on Thursday to run with him on Saturday morning. We decided that since we were going to enter the race in Achères on Sunday that we'd give Cora a miss this weekend and take Nico's usual route through the forest to the Mare aux Canes and back. This has the advantage of being shorter than Cora as it's not quite 10km for the whole loop.

I met Nico and 8:30am and for once we managed to stick to our plans of an easy run around the forest. It was a nice morning, with the temperatures having cooled considerably since April and May. We set out easily and although we sped up towards the end, our fastest kilometre was still only 4:40 pace.

9.4 km all up in 50 minutes. It was good to work out all of the aches and pains from the last few weeks effort. However I did notice that even after this easy outing I was still sweating a lot more profusely than Nico. I put this down to the few extra kilos I'm carrying at the moment having stuffed my face all week, telling myself that I could afford to after such long runs at the weekend. The truth is  if you want to keep race fit and athletic, you have to watch what you eat all the time.

Thursday club session

Turned up at the club for the first run since the weekend. I arrived late after getting stuck in traffic and they were all heading off when I arrived. Nico, Thierry, José and Régis amongst others were heading off in the Poissy direction whereas Gérald, Michel and the women were going to the terrasse to run some hills. I couldn't face intervals with the fast guys so I decided to tag along with the women.

I had to get changed first. So after a rush into my running kit, I set off in pursuit of the others. I ran the first 2 kilometres at marathon pace before I managed to catch them up and I realised that I still had a lot of tiredness from the weekend in my legs. Coach Michel was teaching the group how to run up and downhill on trails (how appropriate) and Gérald and I chatted mostly about Guerlédan at the back of the group. Delphine and Brigitte were there too having recoverd from their runs and everyone asked after Laurence who was still stuck at school.

An easy session, where we ran just over 10km in 1:05. An average of 5:18 per km for the evening and a nice recovery run with everyone.

Guerlédan photos

Just a few photos of the race of both Laurence and myself:

Saturday - 14km race

This is the start of the 14km race. Notice the patches of blue sky and sunshine.

Photo taken in the second half of the course and Gérald is just out of shot working his way back up to us.

Here he comes - looking determined!

Photo taken about 400m from the finish and I'm chasing down a guy about 20m in front. Fastest sprint finish ever from me.

Guy I've passed is just out of shot to the right (he took the last corner wide!). Holding down the sprint to cross the finish line.

Gérald sprinting in too having just overtaken a couple of runners to finish 2 places after me.

Sunday - 58km race

Blue skies have completely disappeared and we're sheltering under the refreshment tent before the start. Photographer is standing outside in the rain hence the raindrops visible in the shot.

This photo is taken on the ridge before the first feeding station at about 16km. Already feeling tired and wet.

Conditions have worsened here for the photo of Laurence and the weather is wetter than ever. She's still looking fresh though.

    Photo towards the end of the race at 53.5km. Just looking to end the agony now.

Guerlédan 58km - part 2

Now where was I ? Oh yes, half-way through the middle of a race having just caught the leading female runner. As a reasonably good male runner, one of my objectives in every race is to be ahead of the first female runner. I'm not particularly macho in my attitudes to women, but nothing beats the satisfaction of finishing ahead of the first woman in a race. And I felt this now, running along this flat section, having just crossed the dam at the far end of the lake and catching the female runner in front along the flat.

I ran alongside her (Karine Sanson), and gave her a few words of encouragement. I have to admit that I was pushing it a little here. I catch her up and then pretend that I'm as fresh as a daisy by talking to her and telling her she's doing well. She asked where the second woman was. I deduced that she was going through a tough patch at this point in the race, hence the looks behind her to see where her nearest opponent was. I reassured her by saying that I'd overtaken her a couple of kilometres ago and that she was suffering, which effectively had been the case. This had the desired effect and we ran together before I pulled ahead again.

My lead on her didn't last long as the road section beside the lake tapered out and we headed up hill back into the forest. She caught me up as I walked up the path. Obviously, I need not only to improve my running endurance but also my uphill walking speed as she wasn't the only runner / walker to overtake me up the hills. I followed a few metres behind her and then we hit the road again, but this time an uphill section that led to a junction at the top. At the top of the hill, François from the club was waiting and cheering runners on. He didn't recognise me at first (I must have been looking shattered already) but then he told me that the second feeding station was just a few hundred metres further on. This information and the spectators spurred on Karine and she sped up to 4:20 pace leaving me for dead. She didn't stop at the feeding station and ran straight through, something that I wasn't prepared to do, needing to refill the camelbak and eat some bananas. I added some coke to the camelbak, diluted with a little water. This mixed in with the orange then the artificial rasperry-flavoured energy drink that I'd taken on board at the first feeding station. Probably one of the most disgusting flavoured mixes ever devised, but at least it provided sugar and some instant energy.

I set off again, happy in the thought that I'd completed 33km and that there was only 25km to run. My 10km/h average pace had slipped slightly now as I'd gone through 20km in just over 2 hours and 30km in 3:05. As I ran past the campsite, some children called out to me that I was in 115 place. This seemed feasible as I'd been told 15km earlier that I was in 156 position. A top 100 place was still possible if I could keep it up now. Over the next few kilometres the trail descended back beside the lake and the path was relatively flat. As I'd been accustomed, I'd catch runners along these sections and this happened again as I passed Karine once more. This was it I told myself, she's not coming back at me now. Just keep it steady and you'll have a top 100 position and be in front of the first woman. A respectable race!

It just doesn't happen like that on a trail race and the outcomes are far from predictable. Up ahead, at the front of the race, 2 runners were battling it out with the winner from the previous 2 years being one of them. He apparently gave advice all of the way around to the younger runner about when to attack, when to hold back and when the crunch came, he just couldn't make the break this year. Not only did he fail to take the 1st place, he also lost 2nd place as the third runner came back in the last 6km to catch him and to relegate him to third position. I was unaware of all of this and it was far from my preoccupations. I was only interested in finishing and this was getting harder and harder. The trail may have been flat here, but the organisers through in a couple of other difficulties just to keep it interesting: too flat - go under an electric fence then; to flat - cross a field trampled by cows in the mud which has hardened; too flat - throw in another electric fence then.

The runners were well spread out by now and when you did catch a runner, he'd be alone or in groups of 2 at most. This was the case now, as we headed back into the forest on the north side of the lake and the sharp uphills and downhills had an impact on the fatigue and general exhaustion of the runners. I felt it too. The uphills were harder and harder and the downhills were just as hard as I had to pick my carefully through the trees and rocks. It was as I went down one such set of stairs, made out of old railway sleepers, that the guy behind me fell. Thump, I heard as he hit the step with the base of his back. I stopped and turned back to check if he was alright. Visibly shaken, he took a few minutes to stand up and I wondered how long it would take to get him to first aid. Another runner behind stopped too and we asked if he was able to continue. He jogged along at first so I took off and left him, focused only on finishing now. 15 minutes later, he ran past me and I wouldn't see him until the other side of the finish line. Tough breed these trailers !

I passed the third feeding station which was supposed to be water only. Somebody had been feeling generous though as I helped myself to some more banana and coke and water mix for the camelbak. I was told that I was 99th runner here and I was happy to be in line with my objective. I set off quickly, grabbing a couple of places while the other runners took longer on replenishing their supplies and their stomaches. Apathy struck though as I walked more and more hills, my legs and thighs too tired to make any effort. I thought only about the finish now and completing the race in under 6hours30. I calculated that I had to be running (/walking) 8 km/h to achieve this objective which meant every kilometre in 7:30 on average. Even this was hard as I saw more and more 8:XX on the Garmin for the splits.

Disaster struck at around 48km. I heard runners behind me and Karine passed with 2 guys in red Salomon outfits accompanying her. I tried to tag along but I couldn't keep up the pace on the uphills and even along the flat, the surfaces were so uneven that I didn't have any advantage. I was going up yet another hill, when a marshal spoke to me quietly, telling me that it should be a point of honour to finish in front of the first woman. As if I needed to be told - apparently I'm not alone in my way of thinking! The rest of the race from this point on became a blur as I was too tired to think properly, to focus or to run in a reasonable manner. I was happy to have some encouragement at 53km when Delphine, Jean-Claude and Michel cheered me on. I knew it wasn't far now as we'd arrived back on the first loop of the course from the previous day. Unfortunately, I also knew what that involved. It took me over 11:30 to complete a kilometre here now, the same stretch that I'd run 5 minutes faster the day before. I didn't care - I was going to finish and be able to rest.

And so that was it. I left the last downhill behind me and crossed the stream, struggling to get up the river bank on the far side. I crossed the line almost 2 minutes after Karine, and 9 places behind her. 105 position in a time of 6:27:02, so I lost a few places in the last few kilometres. I was cold, wet and tired and could only think about jumping in a shower despite the encouragement from Nick, Anne and Régis at the end. A quick shower and a change of clothes and I was back at the finishing line, under an umbrella this time. Gérald and Fred had finished; Gérald 18 minutes behind me and Fred 10 minutes behind him. Where was Laurence though ?

I was unable to call Laurence to find out how she was getting on as my Blackberry was also a victim of the race. Stuck in the side pocket of my rucksack, it had been immersed in water and now refused to function. How was she doing ? Laurence crossed the finishing line in 8:30 and was the first woman from the club. She was elated to have completed the distance and shed a few tears as she arrived.

So, the longest, furthest and hardest race that I've ever run. I set off steadily but still faded at the end of the race. The last 15km took me 2 hours to complete. With some more training, I'm sure that I could shave 30 minutes off this time which would put me into the first 50 runners. I finished 8th in the challenge over the 2 combined races and was pleased with this result. Even 30 minutes less would still not have got me onto the podium. The result was encouraging for both of us and we'll use this to set ourselves some bigger challenges for next year. There I'm sure that I'll beat the first woman....

Guerlédan 58km - part 1

We'd had a good night in Britanny and I'd eaten to excess. One of the local specialities is kig ha farz and I had second helpings. This dish is made from a knuckle of pork which is pot-roasted with carrots and potatoes and a black wheat stuffing which absorbs the juices and is served as an accompaniment to the meal. All of this was served with a lipig, a sauce made form onions and the cooking juices, slow-roasted for several hours. Delicious.

I stood on the starting line in the drizzle with my running top and my Gore jacket on, feeling my legs still tired from the previous day and my belly full of kig ha farz. The sun had disappeared and it felt like a typical day in the Lake District with the drizzle falling steadily and that feeling that you know that you won't be seeing the sun all day. I wasn't too excited about this race, unlike the 13km, as I knew what to expect. The only question was when. When would I feel so exhausted that I wouldn't want to continue? When would I experience that tiredness in my legs that saps all motivation? When would I feel like abandoning the race?

Laurence and I spoke to Claire in the tent sheltering from the rain and then we met up with the others from the club as they arrived. We were 13 in all and my aim was to be first from the club home with Gérald and Olivier as my closest competitors. The race was going to be tough and a real trail, unlike the Ecotrail in the Paris region that we ran in March. Some of the top trailers from the country, and all of the best Britanny trailers were there and the competition was announced to be fierce at the front. My objectives were simple: take it easy to begin with and keep it steady over the course; stay ahead of Gérald and Olivier and keep with them if they approached; and lastly, try and beat 6:30, the time I'd said that I'd manage to Nico. We wished best of luck to everyone and lined up at the start and then we were off.

There were over 800 runners registered for the race and there were plenty of people there despite the rain. All of the runners were well equipped with  trailshoes, bags, camelbaks, booster leggings, and caps or scarves. I had my Mizunos on as I wanted to be comfortable rather than trudging around with good grips but heavy shoes. The start was easy with everyone chatting away in a friendly manner as gradually the field stretched out as we ran for over 2km along the tow path beside the canal. This didn't last long before we pulled away up the hill into the forest and ran the loop that we'd run in the second half of the race the previous day. I was happy as I knew where I was going and what to expect but I could still feel the tiredness in my legs and my thigh pain which hadn't bothered me the day before. Gérald and Olivier were behind me as I'd worked my way up through the pack slightly until I'd found a pace that I was really comfortable with, just under 5:00 per km.

The ups and downs were endless as we left the loop after 7.5km and headed west towards Gouarec. We had some really steep hills which I walked from the start and I remember loooking at the Garmin after 1 hour and seeing that we'd only covered 10km (59:38 to be precise). We ran back down to the towpath at this point and I picked up speed here to run what would be my fastest kilometre of the whole course in 4:33! Luckily I didn't know this and I carried on through the town and out the other side back up some more steep hills to the crests to the north of the canal, now heading eastwards back towards the lake. This was a steep climb and I made this 14th kilometre in 8:34 and it was about this point that I began to wonder if I would be able to make it all of the way around the course. Somebody called out 156 to me and I wondered if I would be able to catch anybody and improve on this position as I wasn't feeling brilliant and I didn't seem to be making any headway against the runners ahead. I looked at the line of runners along the crest of the hills that reminded me strongly of walks in the Lake District or in Scotland with heather and bracken underfoot and drizzle and a strong sidewind blowing. At least I wasn't feeling too hot.

We passed the photographers on the last stretch of the hill top and then headed back down towards the lake. I could see it stretched out in the valley in front of me and the prospect of running the 30 odd kilometres around the bugger was not as appealing as it had been when I signed up for this challenge. We headed downhill now and my legs felt easier. In a nutshell, every uphill section was hell and I felt that I would never manage and every downhill and flat section I felt fine and caught runners ahead of me. At the bottom of the hill was the first feeding station and the dog who'd pestered me all the way down was finally reunited with its owner; only he was a runner too and set off again just as I did. There were a group of 3 trailers ahead of me and then the man with his dog, which he picked up in his arms to carry across the steel bridge over the canal. On the other side of the canal, we started the next section of the race that would take us around the lake. My focus was just on getting to the next feeding station at 33km, another 12km to go.

With the Garmin and my recorded splits, I am able to see in retrospect what happened; something that is impossible to analyse objectively as you run. The last section before the feeding station was along the flat and I'd caught several runners, averaging 5:00 per kilometre. We now ran alongside the lake where I'd hoped that the path would be flat beside the water, but unfortunately proved to be very difficult with sharp little rises and sharp descents, stopping any rhythm that I would begin to find. I was looking at my Garmin, stuck behind the 3 runners watching the splits with 6:11, 6:34 then 6:38 showing up. I was looking to average 6:00 per kilometre in order to maintain a 10km per hour average and finish in 6 hours allowing for a slowdown towards the end. This was too slow and my friend with his dog had the same idea - he pushed past and I followed. It had been too easy, not in the legs, but in the heartrate and I could feel my heart pound faster as we picked up the pace together, accompanied by the pointer. We ran the next few kilometres together at between 5:00 and 5:30 pace depending on the terrain. He tended to be faster up the hills (like most of the runners I met!) while I was faster along the flat and downhill.

We left the lakeside and the small tracks to a larger track south of the lake and I was able to pick up speed again. This helped my legs as I lengthened my stride, easing some of the calf and thigh muscles used in the hillier sections. I caught a number of runners here, including a female runner who I understood to be the second female in the race at this point. I was also able to leave the dog and runner behind which was good as the dog was beginning to annoy me. We crossed over the dam at this point and I saw a runner in black just ahead who kept looking back. I caught the runner up along the far side after the dam, which represented roughly the half-way point. I knew that we weren't far from the second feeding station and this cheered me up too. The runner in black was the first female runner and I enjoyed the satisfaction of knowing that I wouldn't be "chicked". Only it wasn't that easy - sure I 'd caught her up, but there were more uphills and she came back at me and overtook me again.

To be continued ...

Guerlédan 13km

The sun was shining and the sky was spotted with little fluffy white clouds while the temperature hovered around the 15°C mark. It was ideal race conditions and I was even relaxed about the whole affair.

Laurence and I had arrived at the Guerlédan site just before midday after a 5 hour drive from the outskirts of Paris.I'd been very chivalrous and driven the whole way as we left just after 6am. The sight of Laurence half-asleep in the passenger seat wasn't conducive to her taking the steering wheel anyway. After a non-eventful journey (apart from being stopped and breathalysed by the police at 6:30am), we had arrived safe and sound for the club's trail weekend in Britanny. Over the next couple of hours, we were gradually joined by all the other members of St Germain over for the weekend: Nick and Anne, Gérald, Régis, Delphine, Philippe and Catherine, Stéphane and Claire to name but a few. There were 40 of us in all for 3 events: 13km trail, 23km trail and the last - the 58km trail. 3 of us had signed up for the "défi" or the challenge. This involved running the 13km trail on Saturday and then the 58km trail on Sunday morning with the winner based on the combined times over both races. Gérald, Stéphane and myself had signed up as our own personal challenge with Stéphane, a seasoned trailer, using it as preparation for the Tour des Glaciers de la Vanoise (TGV).

I had looked at the results of the défi last year and thought that a 1:15 run for the short trail and then 6:30 run for the long trail was possible and that this would put me in the first 6 or 7 runners. A podium might even be possible but this would obviously depend on the quality of the field, the weather conditions and my shape on the day. Gérald was looking to compete with me, but never having run a trail before or run further than a marathon, he was going into unknown territory. We agreed however that the défi would be won or lost on the long trail and that we shouldn't burn ourselves out on the 13km race, so we could run together. With this in mind, we lined up together on the start line.

The gun went and we set off together at what felt a reasonable pace. The Garmin indicated the first kilometre along the flat and beside the river in 3:58. I told Gérald this and that we were running easily. The nice flat section suddenly took a turn for the worse and we ran the next kilometre up the road gaining 120metres in the process (12% average slope for you non-mathematicians!) - Garmin beeped again, only this time showing 6:00 ! Gérald looked easy and could have run on, but I found this hard not being a natural hill-runner. He looked around and slowed down a little, waiting for me to catch up the 5 metres that separated us. The course flattened out a little now and I followed Gérald, letting him set the speed along the track as we left the road behind us. Another short uphill section and then a long steep downhill and I was pushing Gérald and then passing him as he used more caution in his descents.

We went through the 3 kilometre marker and then a steep uphill section again past 4 then 5km. The track was now too steep to run and we walked as quickly as possible trying to maintain our places amongst the other runners. Gérald walks quicker uphill too and he gained another 10 metres on me here as he outstrode me up the slopes. I quickly caught this up as we went downhill again and he told me to press on. Years of reckless scree running paid off now as I descended quickly, passing a couple of runners in the process. We went through 6 kilometres and then out onto the road near the start having completed a small circuit to the east of the start.

We set off westwards now to complete the circuit with a loop in the forest on the other side of the start. This firstly involved an uphill section in a sort of natural half-pipe. The leaves had settled in the bottom of this gulley and were covered in moss. As we ran up this, I had the impression that we were running on a sort of natural bouncy castle; and the going wasn't easy. Gérald caught me up again here and we ran together for a while with another runner before we hit another downhill section and I pulled ahead again. Another uphill, then downhill and Gérald and I continued our cat and mouse game until we reached a long downhill section and I pulled ahead determinedly. We hit a flatter section and I looked behind to slow down and wait for Gérald. I saw the colours of our third runner and decided that although we had agreed to run together, I wasn't going to lose a place now waiting and so I pushed on.

Apart from the uphill sections, I didn't have the impression that I'd been racing flat out. I was relaxed and not in the same frame of mind as say a 10km road-race. I followed the forest track and saw a runner ahead of me for the first time in a long time in the race, as the trees and forest meant that the head of the field was never visible. I decided not to push it and to just run easily but I was steadily pulling him in. I had just run past 11km now and a marshal told me that there was 2.8km to go. So the 13km race was actually 13.8km and I still had a chance to catch him. The 200m that separated us slowly reduced to 100m and then 50m. I figured that we had about 500m to run now and when we hit the last road section, I was so determined to catch the guy that I really picked the pace up and began to fly. I'd underestimated the distance to run though and my sprint lasted a lot longer than I'd first thought was necessary. To make it worse, we had a stream to wade through, a bank to climb and then 100m to run through the grass to the finish. Having overtaken the guy, I wasn't going to let this get me down now and I ran this last kilometre in 3:36 (stream, grass and all!).

I finished in 30 place, having completed the 13.8km course in 1:10:22 or an average of 5:05 per km. The Garmin shows almost 500m of uphill over the course, which is a little optimistic, but I think that 350m would be fairly close. I was pleased with my performance and also to see Gérald finish just behind me in 32 position and 1:11:02. So now I had a full 40 second advantage for the trail the next day, but would that be sufficient...

To be continued.

Early morning session

Last run this week before the races this weekend. No real plans as to how far I was going to run when I left the house, except that I knew that I wanted to run a little further than my normal 10k route. However, I also had to balance my running time against getting into work time. What was I to do : 15km and get to work late or 10km and not satisfy my desire to put some mileage in. I settled for 12.

I set off down the main road with my close friend: the pain in my right thigh. I've been suffering with this for a while now, probably about 2 months as it appeared around the time of the London marathon. I have had a quick search on the internet to try and understand what it may be and the only plausible answer would appear to be a stress fracture in the femur. The pain begins as soon as I start running and then eases off when the endorphines quick in at around 5k. It's more of a dull ache than a sharp pain and I've not been letting it bother me but it doesn't appear to be going away. Anyway, I was thinking of this as I set off and taking it easy down the road, getting into the rhythm and dragging myself out of my sleep at the same time. I looked at the Garmin as it signalled the first kilometre : 5:04 !

I could hardly believe it. I thought that I'd been taking it easy but not that easy. I resigned myself to the fact that I was slow this morning and trudged on at the same pace. The second kilometre flashed up on the watch now : 4:48 - this was already an improvement and I noticed that I was a good 100 metres beyond the usual 2km marker. This was the Garmin playing up again for that 1st k. It had obviously taken a little longer to catch the satellites hence the time. This was confirmed when I went through 3k in 4:48 too - at least I'm regular.

I woke up from this point on and the pain subsided in my thigh. I thought about how well I've been running recently and my gradual return to form since London. The long runs in the Auvergne have also helped and I'm as ready as I'll ever be for the long trail on Sunday. At the same time, I'm dreading that exhausted, hungry, too tired to take another step feeling that hits after 30-40 k and you know you still have another couple of hours to run before finishing. I put this behind me and sped up - 4:30 then 4:25 in the forest and finally finishing back through town with a 4:17 then 4:07 pace. 

12 km all up in 54:50 or 4:34 average pace. A good run and despite my efforts to keep it short, it took me 2 hours to get to work in the traffic this morning. Arrived at 9:50 am and should have run a 15k after all.

Easy club session

Taking it easy this week in the taper before the long gruel that awaits this weekend. I'm entered for 2 races in the trails in Britanny this weekend: 13km on Saturday and 58 km on Sunday in the trail challenge put on by the organisers. 3 of us from the club are attempting this challenge and I hope to be in pole position but I have Gérald as my closest competition.

Despite the taper, I was stressing like hell as I was caught in the usual rush hour traffic jam of 30 km between work in Malakoff and St Germain for the club session. There was no real incentive apart from running easily with friends and chatting about the events of the weekend. I arrived 5 minutes late and managed to jump out of the car, pull my trainers on and catch them after 2 minutes down the road as the rest of the club had started late too.

The turnout was smaller than usual with only Nico, Nat, Mireille and Momo there from the regulars. José was taking it easy and no sign of Gérald, Thierry or Jean-Marc. Slightly worried about Gérald as he is probably putting in some last minute quality sessions before the runs at the weekend. Just hope he isn't tiring himself out in the process.

The programme for this evening was 1:15 recovery jog which suited me fine. I ran with Nico and Régis and we chatted about the 10km race in St Germain this weekend. I could tell that Nico was disappointed with his performance as he's been running so well recently. It just shows that even when you've done everything right there's no accounting for the days when things don't turn out as you want or hope. We showed him no mercy anyway and teased him like mad about being "chicked" by both Jennifer and Mireille from the club. He won't let this happen again I'm sure !

12.7 km all up in 1:12 so very easy. Only the last 1.5 km was done at pace with a little burst of marathon speed towards the end to finish. Feeling very good at the moment and am convinced that I'll do well this weekend.

All's well here. Looking forward to the end of the week already.

Bets - 2011 challenge

I've got a bet on with Nick for the following times and distances to be achieved before the end of the year :

Race Estimates for JAMES HIGHNAM
5km Time	10km Time	15km Time	Semi Time	Marathon Time
00:18:01	00:37:33	00:58:13	01:23:34	02:56:09

I hadn't looked at these for a while following our exchange back in April and I thought that I'd beaten the 10km time with my race in Les Clayes. Turns out that I missed the objective by 2 seconds so I'll have to keep trying. The objective is to beat 4 of these 5 times by year end and Nick pays for the beers all evening. If I don't manage then it's my shout.

The real difficulty is going to be planning all of these races around the events that are already scheduled. Now where's my race calendar ... ?

St Simon - steady run

The old classic to finish our short stay here in Aurillac. It's been a tough week running-wise and I didn't want to force it with too long a run today, especially before the drive back home.I thought that I would give it a shot at running the St Simon loop at speed to see how I was going and to see if I could approach my PB for the course.

I soon realised when I set off that it wasn't to be. My legs were tired and my heart wasn't in it after the distances covered recently. I went well enough to begin with: 4:36 for the first kilometre, then 5:11 up the hill, but then when I should have been stretching away down the hill towards St Simon, I just had nothing left.4:17 then 4:32 into the village for the next 2 kilometres and I knew that the PB was unachievable today.

From St Simon back I just tried to run as steadily as possible without pushing it too hard. I covered the 5 km back along the main road in 4:49, 4:26, 4:18, 4:07 then 4:10. So I managed to build up speed along the way back feeling comfortable as I ran.

9km all up in 40:34 or an average of 4:30 per km. Total mileage for the week is around 105km. Good tough week and IO now need to take it easy before the long trail next weekend in Britanny.

Laurence ran by herself this morning doing the same loop. She was trying to beat her PB too and managed 46:32. Still waiting for official confirmation but it looks like a new PB by some 30 seconds.

Hill training

I'd run 50km in 2 days and decided that today I needed to ease off slightly. Not too much as I still want to do as much mileage as possible before Guerledan nesxt weekend, but not so much that I exhaust myself completely. Laurence was taking it easy today and running a flat route through town. I decided to head off in the opposite direction and to run Thursday's route or just under 20km.

I set off at a steady pace, feeling the tiredness in my legs from the previous 2 days. I headed out on the old road to St Simon and then headed up the hill on the southern side of the Jordanne valley. The trail leaves this road after a kilometre but since I was feeling adventurous and didn't want to repeat a run with so many other options available, I continued on up the hill towards Boussac. This hill was a killer and I climbed 300 metres in 4 kilometres of non-stop uphill. I told myself that this was good training for the trail combined with everything else I'd done over the last 3 days.

I got to the top of the hill at Salesse and then carried on to Boussac before turning left and running along the crest towards Velzic further up the valley. I knew this road from a mountain bike ride a couple of years ago and my only concern was that it winds its way uphill even further before heading back down the valley. I'd remembered seeing a mountain bike route off the left back down into the valley and I ran along looking for this. It was a lot further than I thought and I realised that my 20km run was going to be a little longer than initially planned.

I found the path off the road with a sigh of relief and headed down this into the valley. This was my slowest kilometre of the run with the distance run in 6:30 as I picked my way gingerly down the path trying to avoid slipping on the wet rocks and bashing my head open. I reached Velzic after 2 kilometres of downhill along some lovely paths towards the bottom of the valley and back onot the main road. I picked up the pace again now and was running at 4:30 pace as I knew I had to manage my energy to get back home. Having left with no water bottle or food bars, this was going to be a major worry.

I had to ease off even this average pace with the sun beginning to warm up the valley bottom considerably. I was hot, sweaty and tired and I was just gasping for water, in fact it was the only thing that I could think of now. I ran into St Simon and remembered that there are some public toilets beside the church where I could wash my face and drink some water. The relief was amazing and when I set off again, I felt like a new man. I ran back a long the old road now and even the last steep uphill stretches were not painful as I knew that I was almost home and dry. I last stretch downhill and I was back.

24.75km all up in 2:07 or an average of 5:09 per km. I'd probably run another 400 metres of uphill on this route too and my hill training is all over for this week as I'll take it easy tomorrow after running almost 75km in 3 days! Tired after these last few days but happy to have managed so much exercise.

LSR with hills

The tour of Aurillac is a 20 km route marked out on the roads that encircle the town. The last time I ran this was a year ago when I did the 20km loop in 1:33. The idea today was to run with Laurence around most of the loop and then carry on up the crest of the hills and along the tops to the crossroads before dropping back down into St Simon and then back to the house. An ambitious run, as the tour of Aurillac is already tiring enough with plenty of hills to manoeuvre skirting the town, but the added loop around St Simon was going to add severely to the overall difficulty.

I set off with Laurence around the loop at a steady pace. She's been running very well recently and improving constantly. We were running around 5:30 pace and she looked easy. We ran around to La Ponétie, onto the park at the far side of town and then back to Belbex in the second half of the course which is a lot hillier than the first half. Gmap shows this nicely. Laurence only started to slow down at the 14 km mark. I say slow down but she maintained her pace but was looking slightly more tired. I left her with 2 km to go after 1:43 of effort and she was chuffed as she knew that she'd beat the 2 hour barrier, something she's never achieved before for this course.

I ran up "la route de cretes" at this point: 3km of constant uphill and 150m of height gained going from 676m to 826m in altitude. I caught another runner on the top who'd been walking at this point and he started running again as I passed him. This was an encouragement as I'd been resisting the urge to ease my muscles by walking for a while uphill and the company now made this impossible. I ran easily with him along the top chatting about the weather and the beautiful countryside. We came to the crossroads on the top and swung right heading back down into the valley and St Simon. The road down goes down for 2km, losing the 150 altitude that I'd struggled so hard to gain minutes earlier! My new running companion was heading back through St Simon and out the other side back up the hill on the other side of the valley to Boussac. I ran with him through the village and then back on the old road to Aurillac, including another 50m of uphill for good measure.

30km all up in 2:42 or an average of 5:23 per km. This doesn't sound very impressive but I reckon there is also approximately 500m of uphill over this route and when I got back I was exhausted and ready to drop. The fact that I'd only had a glass of orange juice before heading out didn't help either. Pleased with the run and thrilled to hear that Laurence had finished in 1:54 her tour of Aurillac.

Trail running with Laurence

It's Ascension day today in France and as a good Catholic country, it is also a public holiday. So much for the separation between the church and the state in France - but since it's a day off for everyone who am I to argue. We're making the most of the prolonged weekend by taking a day off tomorrow too and spending the weekend in Aurillac in the Cantal. This is a lovely part of the country and is most famous for its cattle (salers - big red cows with long horns), its hilly countryside and its umbrellas.

Laurence and I wanted to make the most of the day by running up to St Simon along the old road and then uphill and along some old trails along the hillside up the valley to Rouffiac, before turning around and running back along the other side of the valley. It had rained here over night and the road was damp. This is only remarkable since the Cantal is one of the rare regions not to be severely affected by the drought over the last couple of months, unlike the rest of France. Running was very pleasant since the temperature was cool but the skies had cleared and we were accompanied all of the way round by sunshine.

I accompanied Laurence up to Rouffiac after 7.5 kms where she cut back to run back the main road. I was feeling particularly energetic and decided to continue on until the next hamlet, Clavières. We'd been running at around 6:00 per kilometre up until this point and I stretched away now running at just under 5:00 per km along the trails until the main road. I then managed the next 8 kilometres back down the main road at marathon pace including a couple of kilometres after St Simon at 3:53 then 3:47 as I pushed the pace in a not convinced hope of catching Laurence who now had a 4 km start on me. I felt really good after a good night's sleep and some beautiful countryside to inspire me though.

19.25 km all up in 1:35 before breakfast on the patio or an average speed of 4:57. Didn't catch Laurence who finished 8 minutes ahead. Nice start to the weekend.

Tuesday club session

There was only a small crowd at the club on Tuesday night for the evening session. Many must have been resting up after the races over the weekend and with the Foulée Royale on Sunday, the club's 10km race around the terrasse, others are taking it easy in preparation. Fabrice, Nico and myself had arranged to run a track session and it was finally decided that we would be doing 10x300m at VO2 max pace. Miguel took the other runners off into the forest for an easy run.

We warmed up in the forest, chatting to the others before heading back to the track after 4.5 km to get the session over with. We'd managed to convince Romain to come along too while Jean-Marc, still nursing a calf injury, decided to skip our offer. No sign of Gérald, but since he'd run 3 10km races over the weekend this didn't surprise me. In fact, I was happy that he'd decided to get some rest and recuperation in before the long trail in 10 days time.

We jogged around the track, noticing the strong headwind on the back straight and decided to start into this wind to finish over the finish line with the wind behind us. It was to be 10x300m intervals off 100m recovery. I could see that nobody was really motivated to run this session as it's hard work but I was pleased with the group as it was most likely that Nico and Roamin would run together at the front with Fabrice and myself behind.

We set off and I tried to keep in touch with Nico and Romain but they gapped me from the start and finished 10 metres ahead. I ran this in 56 seconds and although I didn't feel too bad, I remembered last time how these intervals really hit you from the fourth onwards. It was the same this evening and I was just glad to hold off Fabrice every time on the home straight where he would close on me after my faster starts. Nico and Romain built up a little lead by reducing their recovery times and running the intervals faster while I gapped Fabrice who took longer recoveries while running his intervals at the same pace as me.

Intervals went as follows:

56, 56, 56, 57, 57, 57, 57, 57, 58, 57

A really steady session again and I was pleased as these were faster than a couple of weeks ago.

10.5 km all up in 1:00 and 21km for the day. Gérald showed up at the end having turned up late and considering that nobody would be foolish enough to hit the track, he'd run easily in the forest with the rest of the group.