Easy Saturday

The last run of the year and what better way to see the year out but to run with Laurence and Brigitte in the forest towards Corra. I managed to persuade Nico to come along too and take it easy for once. I know Saturday is sacred and devoted to running to Corra and back at ever faster pace, but it was the 31 December and all traditions should be rested every now and then.

Brigitte will be running her first ever marathon in 2012 and she will officially be starting her training next month. Laurence has agreed to run with her in order for her to achieve her objective of 4 hours for the race. With this in mind, we set off easily into the forest and Nico and I chatted with the girls as we ran around being able to enjoy the surroundings for once without being completely knackered and focused on the trail ahead. There was a slight drizzle that was not disagreeable and the temperature was mild - perfect conditions for a marathon !

We ran the 14.2km in 1:18 or an average pace of 5:30/ km which would be sufficient for a sub-4 hour marathon. Nico came back to the house to taste the famous chocolates and we had to wrestle the box back from him before they all disappeared at a rate of knots. It was at this point that he explained his eating habits when his wife is away: frankly 1 kg of M&Ms in a night is not good for racing. At any rate, we've almost converted him to becoming a tea-drinker. It won't be long before he's singing 'God save the Queen' and saluting the Union Jack.

Anyway, turning into an Englishman is a far better prospect than his other antics recently reported on the web where he's taken to running in flowery pink shorts. I'm in the process of acquiring photgraphic evidence of these antics so that the world can realise the shame that he's bringing to himself, his club and his country.

Watch this space...!

Fitting one in

I struggled to get out of bed Friday morning when the alarm went off so I rolled over hit the snoozze button and went back to sleep. Laurence was no help at all telling me that I needed the rest and that I shouldn't go out. She's a bit of a devil actually, tempting me to take it easy, and the sad thing is that I listen to her and then feel all guilty afterwards.

It was a good thing then that I left work early on Friday evening and told Laurence that I'd go for a run when I got home to compensate. It was still early evening when I got abck so I put on my running kit and headed out along the usual route. I'd been planning an interval session in my head to put in a bit of quality but running after work by yourself is hard to get motivated and the 3 x 2km that I'd been planning took the back seat.

Despite this breather I allowed myself, having run the first couple of kilometres at a fairly brisk pace for the start (about 4:20 / km), I decided to push it a little and to turn the run into a tempo session. It may have been early evening but it was already dark and I couldn't see my splits as they flashed up every kilometre. I did notice that I ran around the roundabout, or just over 4 km, in 17:10 so I thought that I wasn't far outside my best time for this course when I went through this point in 16:45. This encouraged me so I started to push it harder from here and really worked my stride and felt my quads stretching. I started to really fly in the park as I chased a runner down the path and then noticed that I went through 10km in around 41:00 so the minute I'd lost at 4 km (compared to a 15 km/h pace), I'd pulled back some of this.

I was beginning to tire but the watch kept me going, knowing that I wouldn't be far off my training PB for this route. I was still running my kilometres under 4:00 and looking at the Garmin afterwards, I ran the last 850 metres at 3:35 pace. I finished the loop in 51:40, beating my personal best by 10 seconds in the process. Chuffed to bits and this helped ease my conscience about not doing the early morning run.

12.8km in 51:40 or an average pace of 4:02 according to the Garmin.

Evening Session

Made it just in time, as is my wont, to the evening club session. There wasn't a huge turnout as it's the holiday season and many people are away. It's almost a pleasure driving into work at the moment with the roads empty of people who prefer to profit from their holiday leave, stuffing their faces at yuletide. Am I jealous ? - possibly.

What is most surprising is that these same roads appear to fill up magically in the evening and I'm faced with the same abysmal traffic conditions as usual when I try and get to the club on time. 20 minutes on the ring road last night before I could get to my exit and then another 20 minutes on the motorway, stuck in long queues. As a result, I arrived only just in time to get changed and to head out the door for the group jog as no intervals are planned. No coaches either, just Michel Z happy in his role as stand-in, ready to confuse everybody with a route he makes up as he goes along.

I jogged easily and chatted with Nic, Ilyes, Stéphane, Sandra, Pascal and Anne. We made our way easily through the streets of St Germain running just over 11 km in 1:07. It is now official that Nico's watch is completely uncalibrated as he measured over 12 kilometres for the same run. This clarifies some of the doubts we had recently when Nico claims on his blog to have run 20km in 1:19. His watch is actually recording 10% higher than it should. As a result 20km on his watch is actually 18.2 km and running this distance in 79 minutes equates to 4:20 / km. Perfectly logical for the rest of us but it must represent a huge blow to Nico who was satisfied with his post-marathon form and optimistic about the upcoming x-country season. How the mighty fall!

Myself, I'm still feling guilty about the lack of more speed sessions in my current training schedule and this will have to be remedied in my New Year resolutions.

Debauve et Gallais

I've pinched an idea from my brother here for my message header. This started because he put up a title the other day 'Billecart Salmon'. I frankly had never heard of this brand and it was only after a google search that I discovered that it's a prestigious champagne manufacturer who's been around since 1818. Presumably, he put this up since he'd just drunk a bottle of the precious liquid. It's a shame he didn't tell us more about the champagne instead of boring us all with how he's still recovering from injury, getting over a hangover, worried by his weight, etc., etc.

My title is relative to the ornate box of chocolates that we received yesterday. Absolutely delicious and unfortunately an extreme temptation. Laurence is stong enough mentally to be able to resist this, but Paul and I helped ourselves several times before we had to hide the box for the night. My early morning resolve to go running was mostly due to the guilt that I felt after these chocolates and their possible impact on my waistline. I've managed to be fairly reasonable up until now over Christmas but this was the last straw. I weighed myself after the run and saw the indisputable verdict: 75.5 kg - 2kg heavier than just before Christmas but not too bad all things considered. Perhaps I can have a few more chocolates tonight.

It was a straightforward run. There were no objectives as I'm hoping to get to the club session tonight to do some intervals. I started slowly, almost breaking my legs as I headed down to the Seine in the dark. The track I descend has some speed bumps (not necessary in the slightest as there are that many potholes that speeding is impossible) and I have to keep my legs supple as my feet land slightly higher than I expect from the terrain catching me unawares. This morning was disastrous as I was unbalanced by the first bump and then put my foot in a pothole, lurching me sideways. It was a relief to get out of there undamaged without sprawling lengthways.

I ran the first couple of kilometres at 4:40 pace before speeding up slightly over the rest of the course and running between 4:10 and 4:30 pace. The traffic was very light and I crossed nobody outside during my run. It was only when I got to the park in Maisons Laffitte that I began to feel easier and relax.

55:30 all up for 12.8km so an average pace of 4:20 for the circuit. See how it goes tonight at the club now. At least by doubling up I'll be able to attack the chocolate box (almost) guilt-free.

Doubling up

Since my last post in early December following the Conflans race, I've been finding it hard to keep up. Not with the running, which has been generally going fine, but with balancing the workload between work and blogging. Since work brings in a regular salary and my blogging skills are not yet sufficient to keep me in the manner to which I've become accustomed, I've been concentrating on the former.

Despite the regular runs, I've lost a little focus since the marathon and the lack of a formal training schedule is not helping. I've been slacking into my old ways and enjoying my runs rather than pushing the interval work, lengthening the long runs and generally exhausting myself completely. I'm still on the early starts since I've no alternative but I run them at a comfortable pace and then some.

So after Conflans, I ran an easy 51km week with a run in Brussels while I was on  a work trip. The following week I increased to 63km with a few more mid-week runs and then last week I managed 89km with a Tuesday session doubled up and then a couple of runs with Laurence over the weekend, including a lovely Christmas morning run when there was just the 2 of us running through the forest and not a soul in sight - fantastic.

This week is a lot quieter at work with many people away between Christmas and the New Year, leaving us to close the accounts in relative serenity. I ran my usual course around Maisons Laffitte this morning before work and really enjoyed my run. The temperature has got a little colder, which is about time for the season, and it was nippy this morning without dropping below freezing point though. I ran easily to start with and once warmed up, I pushed the pace a little running at around 4:10 pace through town and back to the house. This was fast enough to keep me warm and I was surprised by how fast I managed to recover this morning once I arrived back at the house. I won't go as far to say that it feels comfortable at this pace, but it's not the huge effort it used to be.

I was able to get out of work at a reasonable time this evening but unfortunately this evening's traffic was a lot heavier than this morning and I only arrived in time to change as the others were leaving on their warm-up. This meant that I had to catch up 4 - 5 minutes on the warm-up so I chased them around St Germain at 15km/h ! Having managed to catch them up half-way around the St Germain loop, I jogged back with Nico, Momo, Simon, Mireille and Ilyes to the track. The session for the evening, without any coach in attendance, was 20 x 200m. I was happy enough knowing that Wilfried and Simon were doing this so it meant that I wouldn't have to attempt to stay with Nico and Ilyes over the intervals.


We started off together but Simon was soon dropped, despite the taunts launched by Nico about being a big girl's blouse (or something to the same effect in French). I would start off the interval then Nico and Ilyes would come past finishing 5 metres ahead while I held off Wilfried on my shoulder. I ran every 200m in 36 seconds off a 38 - 40 second recovery. After the 7th interval, Wilfried pulled out claiming that he'd had enough. For someone used to running 100km races this was a bit of a disappointment. Frankly these younger runners just lack the stamina. To prove my point, Nico dropped out after 16 without any explanations. In fact, he didn't really need to explain as with the jet propulsion he'd been firing for the last few intervals, stopping was a relief for everyone. No wonder Ilyes made that extra effort to stay ahead of him. I just lack the speed and had to breathe in the equivalent of a day's pollution in Paris city centre and it was quite frankly a huge relief when he pulled aside. Too much turkey and foie gras over Christmas methinks.

So 20 intervals at a very regular pace 35 - 36 seconds and I was pleased by the fact that I managed to stay the course after the run this morning. I'd been worried that I 'd been slacking recently but this little session showed me that I'm still in shape and ready to take on Wilfried and Simon any day. Nico is still ahead but running a 35:35 at Houilles just showed his recent form and potential too.

No sign of Gérald so looking forward to seeing him improve in the New Year and getting back into shape too.

25 km all up for the day and a 90 km week is on the cards.

Sunday run

Turned up at the club intending just to see the others and to take it easy. Miguel announced the session : 3 x 10' at threshold pace. I decided there and then that I would jog these intervals and catch the others while they were recovering.

There was a big turnout and Anis, Ylies, Nico, Gérald, Simon, Bruno etc. were all there. We warmed up easily and then the intervals began. I let myself be overtaken by everyone and ran at the back, picking up my jogging speed so as not to lose touch with everybody completely. Nico ran off to the front to challenge the leaders whereas I watched runners I don't normally run with overtake me and pull ahead.

By the second interval I'd had enough of this and pushed on slightly harder catching Régis and Bruno in the process and pulling Mireille on over the end of the interval. Gérald had given up mentally and was running behind me now. Then on the third interval, I gave it a bit more effort as I was back into the groove by now and chased down Nico who'd gone off too hard over the first two and was now paying the price. We were running at about 15.5km/h through the forest and this felt hard after all of my recent efforts. I was glad when it stopped to be frank.


16.5 km all up in 1:30 so no great shakes for the average time but it was good to be abck at the club and running with the others.

Conflans - 15km

I set out to do this race easily. It's not even been a week since I ran the marathon in Florence and I told Gérald that I would run with him to ensure his podium in the departmental challenge. He only needed to achieve 90 points to secure 3rd place which amounted to around 1:05 for the 15km, so the task was not arduous. I have to admit that I also had the objective set by Nick in the back of my mind: 58:13 for the 15km but this seemed well out of reach on the relatively tough course around Conflans, especially with 42km of racing in the legs and an improvement on last year's time of some 40 seconds.

The image above gives you the profile of the course with a steep downhill at the 3km mark and then 2 sharp uphills at 5km and then at 12km. The rest of the route follows the Seine up until the confluence with the Oise, where the course doubles back on itself and heads back to the start. I've run this race twice before and love the route through town, despite the hill, and the long straights by the river where you can set a rhythm and race properly. Last year was an epic ordeal though with a fresh layer of snow that fell in the morning prior to the race, making every corner a nightmare and the last lap of the stadium was reduced to one lane.

Photo from last year's race, heading back along the Seine around the 9km mark.












I lined up at the start this year with Gérald and it was a different kettle of fish altogether. The sun was out, the temperature was not too cold and there was only a strong breeze to spoil the conditions. We decided to take it easy and not to sprint off initially. This was indeed the case; for the first 200 metres at least. We then began passing runner after runner and when the Garmin beeped to indicate the first kilometre in 3:36 I shouted out to Gérald to ease up. We slowed slightly and I found a nice rhythm that I was happy with at about 3:45 pace. This was too much for Gérald though as he lacks a little race practice and training at the moment and dropped behind me. I felt bad for a milli-second before deciding that I was enjoying the run and the pace and that Gérald should use me to pull him along.

I was watching another runner Fred at this point who beat me last year by 5 metres (wearing red in the photo above). He was running well and we'd spoken before the race and I could see that he was in great shape and that the chances of staying with him this year were slight. I was encouraged by the fact that nobody was overtaking me and that, on the contrary, going uphill through Conflans, I was actually keeping up and overtaking others while reducing my stride and increasing the rhythm.

When we went around the turning point at 8km it was bliss. The strong breeze was now coming from behind, helping to push the pace and I stretched to make the most of this. I thought about the marathon and the necessity to maintain the pace no matter the different thoughts in my head about easing off as nothing was at stake. A quick look at the Garmin and a rapid calculation and I realised that I could actually beat the 58:13 target now, if I could maintain 4:00 pace average over the last few kilometres. Admittedly, there was the steep hill, la Sente des Laveuses, to manage but if I could speed up again after this, the record was on the cards.

Amazingly, everythhing went according to plan. I used a flagging runner to accelerate before the hill, overtaking him just at the foot and then leaving him rapidly before focusing my attention on another 2 runners just ahead. I never caught them but they pulled me unconsciously as we neared the stadium and the night of free beers was a feasible proposal.

A last sprint around the track and I crossed the finish line in 57:54 almost a minute faster than last year. What's more, I'd beaten the 58:13 target time set by Nick earlier this year. I'd achieved 4 out of the 5 targets, failing only in the half-marathon which I haven't run competively in 2011. Gérald finished 3 minutes behind, a broken man, in 1:00:48. He was so upset with his race that I wondered whether I should call suicide watch or not. The fact that he could have beaten his course record if he hadn't eased off completely over the last kilometre, letting another runner from our club come past, Charles, was beyond me. He felt that he'd hadn't run well enough to deserve to beat his own time, so he slowed. Gérald has a logic from another world so please don't try to understand. The fact is now that the counter shows a 7-0 victory in my favour and he'll have to pull his act together if he wants to get closer next year.

A great way to end my racing year for me. Really pleased with this final result.

Frankfurters

I'm in Germany on business and last night I got to meet a new bunch of people when I sat down to dinner. After chatting with the guys next to me, I discover that one of them runs, cycles and swims regularly. He's even done a half ironman in 5 hours 10 and run a 10km race in 37'. Perfect, I have a new running partner. As any half serious runner, he had his kit with him and we made arrangements to go for a run the following morning.

We set out from the hotel at 7:30am and the city was already very active. Most Germans, it seemed, had already arrived at work and the city was bustling. We headed down easily to the river as my running partner claimed he needed to go slowly to warm up before making any exertions due to his age. "What age is that exactly?", I enquired ? "40", was the reply. We sped up.

We ran by the Rhine on the north bank before we ran out of path and then along the railway line, before we ran out of space beside the railway. We turned and headed for home at this point and he pushed the pace, so I followed. I overtook him and I pushed the pace and he followed. We ran the kilometres back along the river in between 4:10 and 4:20 pace so I was pleased to achieve some real exercise, feeling good too after the marathon.

We ran 8.5km all up in 41:05 or 4:50 per km on average. Not bad and we'll do better tomorrow, now I know what he's capable of.