I met with Nico as planned this morning in order to run over to the club through the forest. The good news was that the storm had passed and it had stopped raining. The bad news was that the level of humidity was very high and by the time we reached the club we were already dripping with sweat despite having maintained a moderate pace all of the way.
There were plenty of runners at the club which was a surpise considering the weather conditions. Miguel was coaching the session and still proning the "easing yourself back into it" style after the holidays. Luckily Thierry was on hand to offer a more ambitious session of 4 x 5' off 2' recovery. The 5' intervals were supposed to be run 'à train' - which apparently is French for as fast as you can manage. At least this is what I understood when we began the first interval and Nico and Anis shot off after Thierry, darting left and right along the forest tracks towards Maisons Laffitte.
It was actually a good session as after the first 4 km of warm-up with the others, we stopped for a brief explanation of what we were going to do. Fred turned up at this point and told me that he was knackered after Thursday evening's session and hadn't gone running either Friday or Saturday. Gérald preferred to run with the girls and chose to accompany Delphine and Aude rather than run a real session with the men. At least Bruno showed his determination by coming with us, even though he is still a long way off race fitness after over 6 months of injury. The other runners at the front included Wilfried and Robin while Laurence was the only woman who agreed to do the intervals and found herself some suitable chaperones in the shape of Frank and Gérard, both of whom are over 60 so that settled any concerns I may have had!
After the first interval at 16km/h and a lap time of 3:44 showing on the Garmin, I thought that the other intervals would be run at a more sedate pace. No way, Anis and Nico ensured that the pase was pushed at the front with them heading off at about 17km/h, I would then be tucked in 10 - 20 metres behind at 16km/h and then Robin, Thierry and Wilfried would finish behind me. Robin apparently must have been taking it easy for the first couple of intervals because he was only about 10 metres behind me on the third and then for the last he was up at the front with Nico and Anis, culminating the session with a sprint finish.
We jogged back to the clubhouse and waited for everyone to get back. The 'girly' group, including Gérald, had already packed up and gone home. When Laurence arrived, Nico was very brave and decided that he would accompany back home through the forest despite his advanced state of fatigue. I promised that we'd take it easy going back to Le Mesnil, but Nico has this habit of taking the lead and then I follow him and before we know it we're running at 4:15 pace again. Never mind, we're back in town now and home is in sight. A last little effort down the hill and were there.
26.5km all up in 2:15 or 5:05 pace on average. The run was good and the intervals hard. I think that I'm hitting peak form at the moment seeing where I was situated in relation to Thierry on the session. A little more speedwork and work on the mental attitude and I'll be in top shape for the half-marathon relay and then Paris-Versailles. For the rest, I'll just have to wait.
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