Sunday run

For this first official Sunday run of the marathon training programme, I decided to run with Nico and to do some specific marathon training rather than running with the club and doing some specific 10km training. The idea was to run for 2 hours today at an easy pace so that the max HR remained around 70%.

When I woke up this morning with Laurence who was heading out earlier with some girlfriends, the weather was clearly not on our side. What has recently been sunshine and temperatures in the 20°C, was returning to traditional autumnal weather with some drizzle and heavy cloud cover. I put on an extra layer with my Gore waterproof top and half-filled a camelbak with some orange/water mix and a couple of chocolate bars in case energy levels ran low. The discussion as to where we were heading had already taken place and we were heading up to Princess Road and the long climb up before heading back left and back through St Germain.

We set off at a very easy pace completing the first kilometre in 5:24 and then sped up running the next just under 5 minutes, before falling into a steady rhythm at around 4:35 per kilometre. We chatted easily and the comparison with yesterday where we were unable to talk to each other with the effort was flagrant. The first difficulties came at the foot of Princess Road, where there is a 2.5km pull uphill until the crossroads at the top. I fell in just behind Nico and was happy to see the first kilometre uphill in 4:57 and then the second in a record 4:43! I knew we were pushing the pace because I was already hurting when we got to the top.

The road flattens out along the top and we fell back into our cruising pace immediately. I caught my breath back now and with plenty of other runners along the route, the temptation to catch and overtake them was just too great and we sped up again first to 4:20 pace before the main road and then around 4:05 pace along the road. It was now Nico's turn to hit a harder patch and he dropped off the pace slightly while he had a gel and some water. Taking on water while running at pace is some marathon training that he has yet to master and after recovering from a quick coughing fit, he accelerated again and ran alongside me.

It was the usual coast down the hill into St Germain and we went under 4:00 minutes here for a couple of kilometres before the big hill by the Musée de la Prieuré stopped me in my tracks and left me gasping with our last over 5 minute kilometre (just) for the day. Nico took the pace now and we ran through town and then back through the forest at 3 hour marathon speed, covering the half-marathon in 1:36 and then running all kilometres from here on in in 4:15 or under.

Even the last kilometre where Nico called time-out to recover before we got back home was covered in 4:31 showing that there was clearly energy left in both of us. Another great run proving the shape we're in at the moment and my last pleasant surprise was to see that I weighed under 75kg on the scales back at home, which hasn't happened since the beginning of the year. Things are definitely looking promising.

27.25 km all up in 2:02 or an average of 4:29 per km.