Holidays

I'm back !

Actually I've been back from holidays for a week now, but work has been really busy so I haven't been able to update the blog this week. The business is currently in the process of being bought out, so this is a good enough excuse if ever one was needed.

The holidays were a much needed and welcome break. We were near to Carcassone and enjoyed discovering the countryside of the Aude and the wine that was on offer (and heaven knows there is plenty). I won't list all of the runs that we did, but just let you know that during the week they were based on 2 circuits that we discovered around the gîte where we were staying. If ever you're in this part of the world, check out Chateau de Cointes, a vineyard in the AOC de la Malepère.

The little track shown above led down from the Chateau and gîte to the first circuit, an artificial lake which was about 2 km away and just over 2km around. The second circuit was up the hill towards Lavalette and then along some tracks besides the vineyards to Roullens before heading back down the road to the gîte. This was my favourite circuit as over the 8 km there was a wide variety of terrain and some great steep little hills.

I managed to run 80 km during the week including a 25km run in Aurillac on Sunday morning to Saless and Boussac and Velzic before turning back (I did this one previously back in June in 2:07 and managed to do 2:02 for a slightly longer route this time). All of the runs had one thing in common: the heat. In Carcassonne, it would be between 28 - 30°C by the time we got up to go for a morning run and in Aurillac we arrived just in time for the heatwave (37°C).

I spent most of the week running with Laurence, so I wasn't too concerned about my speed, but I was pleased to maintain the mileage.

Some photos of the family relaxing on their hols...

 Laurence and the boys at Carcassonne

 Why I didn't lose any weight on holiday

 Laurence relaxing before the next run

Breathing in for the photo, having eaten too many ice creams!