2 x 2000m - snow!

Back into marathon training this week in the run up to Rambouillet half-marathon. I've picked up my tried and trusted marathon schedule to get me back into top form for this race and to prepare the 80km Ecotrail run a couple of weeks afterwards. Today was a 2 x 2000m interval session at threshold pace less 5 seconds per km. I was fairly pleased about this as it's a long enough distance for me and I far prefer these sessions to a shorter VO2 max session.

I wrapped up warmly before going out as winter has finally arrived. It's been so long coming that most people have already leapt into spring mode and the arrival of this cold weather has caught most by surprise. I set out with a couple of tops on and my buff and ran down to the river and along to the castle before I began the intervals. Since there was only 4 kilometres of effort in total, I decided to have a longer warm-up.

I set off after the Maisons Laffitte roundabout and cursed the wind that was blowing sand into my face from the road. This was a funny kind of sand though as it felt cold against my skin. Duhhh - I woke up and realised that I was now running in the middle of a snowstorm and the sand was snow being whipped out of the sky in fine flakes and being dashed against my face. I put my head down a little and conitnued on battling against the elements for the first 2 km. When I finished this interval I looked carefully at the lap time to see how I'd done on the last kilometre as guidance. It took me a while to figure out that while I was expecting 3:40, it was showing me 4:00 - the bugger had played up!

Now, not only was I cold, I was also in a bad mood and wanted to get the session over with. Only one solution and that was to run faster. A 2' recovery and I set off again into the park for the last 2km. I felt I was steady as the first. Relieved to finsih, I jogged for a few hundred metres before picking up the pace and heading home. Passed a gaggle of women in the park (well 3!) running together, so I strode with them unitl they turned round and headed back to town. I ran back to Le Mesnil and who should I bump into but the same 3 who'd taken the direct route home.

Laurence is now insisting that I run in the evening as I probably made a bit too much of how good they looked while they ran.

12.8km all up in 56:22 (4:26/ km average). First interval was run in 7:30ish (3:46, 3:44(?)) and second in 7:16 (3:35, 3:41). Fairly pleased as my legs felt better than yesterday.

Tired Monday

I've read my French friend's post about his recovery run this lunchtime where he managed to average 15km/h over 12km without feeling the tiredness in his legs. I just want to state one thing: he can't have been trying hard enough yesterday.

I felt my legs as soon as I began to run. It was a recovery run though and I resisted the urge to look at the Garmin after every kilometre. Besides, nobody has shown me how to make the backlight work in synchro with the lap function, so I can't see a damn thing at 6:00 am. I'd like to give this impression of a confident aloof runner taking it easy having bust a gut yesterday. The truth is more like an old-aged, short-sighted, bad-tempered git, who squints every time his damn watch beeps at him and spends several seconds trying to work out the lap time in the half-light, failing every time. So I'm not cool - actually I was close to freezing as the cold weather is back again and it was just below zero this morning. Good job I had 3 layers on top to encourage me not to run too fast...

Back at home I was able to look at what I'd achieved: 12.8 km in 55:06 or an average pace of 4:19/km. I'd started at 4:35 pace and finished at 3:45 pace with the latter part of the loop run at around 4:20.

While in the park at Maisons Laffitte, I crossed a number of other lunatics runners including Sylvie going the opposite way to me, still running although suffering from loss of cartilege in the hip, causing intense pain. Don't know how she does it - stubborness and frustration probably. Hope I'll still have this courage in 10 years time. Starting my marathon training again now with the objective of Rambouillet half-marathon in early March. Will serve me well for the ecotrail 80km race a couple of weeks afterwards.

West Paris basin cross-country championships

I've stated this several times, but I'll repeat myself again: I don't like cross-country. I wasn't looking forward to this race, despite the fact that I was better rested than last time and had enjoyed more focused training and race practise compared to the last race. Nico was enthusiastic and considered that he was in good shape for the race. He was racing after me and I was looking forward to comparing our times. He had informed me that Thierry fancied his chances and was looking to try and stay with me from the gun. I might not like cross-country, but neither does Thierry and despite a recent improvement, I couldn't see him bothering me today.

We watched the girl's race to start, where they all ran a decent race. Luckily it hasn't rained recently and the Montesson course was relatively dry with only a couple of patches where the mud would pose a problem. I put my spikes on and after a quick warm-up with Eric, I lned up with the 250 others who'd made it through the first round and waited for the gun to go.

I knew from the start that eating a large breakfast at 11:00 am was a mistake. It was weighing on my stomach and for a while the thought of sticking a couple of fingers down my throat was an option. I got over this and tried to focus on the race. My main objectives were to finish ahead of Thierry and José, like last time, and to beat Mr Mustache from Houilles. After a fast start and a few falls at the first corner, not to mention the spikes grazing my legs, I managed to catch up the gold and black vest from Houilles and overtake in the first downhill section.

The rest of the race was spent trying to find a rhythm and maintain my position in the field. I knew that I was somewhere between 80 and 90th and I could see Olivier and Bruno ahead without ever managing to get them close enought ot be able to worry them. Mr Mustache remained behind and with a few discrete glances around the numerous corners on the windy, bendy loop, I was able to see that he was a good 10 places behind and not threatening to come back to me.

I suffered in the final lap and lost a handful of places. I'd given just about everthing I had and was not motivated to push any harder. In a 10km road race, there's always the watch to tell you how well you've run, in cross-country, you just can't tell.

I finished the race in 90th place in 36:56 for the 9.5km so an average pace of 3:53. I was fairly pleased with the result considering the hills, the conditions and the mud.

I watched the seniors run afterwards and Nico pulled off an excellent run where he challenged Jean-Marc for the first loop before falling back on the second and third. He finished in 35:11 so 90 seconds faster than me over the same distance. I'll be hard pushed to beat him over 10km this year.

Some photos of me over the course:

Just checked the results of the guy who finished just ahead of me and the guy who finished just behind me. Results over 10km last year were 35:49 and 35:42 respectively (Vélizy and Enghien). I can officially declare that it was a good run.

Corra easy

I persuaded Nico out of running with the others for their gentle jog on the Saturday, prior to the next round of the cross-country championships in Montesson on Sunday. My main worry was not to run with other members of the club, but to continue to put in the kilometres as I knew that the race on Sunday would limit my Sunday run to 14 - 15 km at most.

We set off easily and, as is our wont, we gradually accelerated until we finally reached 4:08 pace. I called stop at this point and told Nico that we had to slow down. If we maintained this pace then we would be severely compromising our chances of success in the cross-country championships tomorrow. We slowed to around 4:20 pace and managed to keep this pace fairly steady for the next few kilometres.

We were comfortable all of the way round and my legs felt fine despite the efforts from the previous 2 days. My breathing was easy and we were able to chat freely as we ran. Nico had to stop for a 'Paula' on the way back up to Pavillon de la Muette and although I jogged on at 5:00/km pace for the next 2 kilometres, we still finished the loop in 1:07 which was very respectable.

14.8km all up in 1:07 or an average of 4:34/km. Not bad for an easy warm-up before the race tomorrow.

Recovery run (al tempo)

I set out with the firm intention of doing a recovery run, despite my lack of interval training this week. It has been too tiring this week to envisage anything more serious and although I was just about over my cold, I couldn't face a tough session in the early hours of the morning.

As soon as I set out though I felt good in my body. The couple of days rest had done me the world of good and I set off at a comfortable pace, completing the first kilometre in 4:29. I then decided that as I hadn't done any interval work that I should at least push the pace a little and try and do a tempo run. 2nd kilometre in 4:19 and then 3 and 4 in 4:11 and 3:59 respectively. I eased off instinctively at this point and ran the next few kilometres at 4:10 pace before accelerating to 4:00 pace again for kilometres 9 - 12 and then 3:35 pace to finish.

12.8 km all up in 52:22 which is one of my fastest times for this course. An average speed of 4:07 over the distance.

Bar-le-Duc

I'd been suffering from a cold after my Monday run and with work constraints, I just didn't have the time or the energy to get out for a run on Tuesday and Wednesday. In Bar-le-Duc, in the east of France on business, I decided to get up early and to go for a run.

By early, this was early, as at 5:40am I was outside in my running kit heading along the banks of La Meuse for my early morning run. I set off the Garmin and just ran at what felt a reasonably rapid pace. I was slow to begin with as I was waking up and getting my body used to the cold temperature, but after a couple of kilometres I had gotten into a good rhythm and was full of energy having had a couple of days off.

I aimed to run for about an hour and figured that I would do about 13km, like on my usual runs around Maisons Laffitte. At about 11km, I circled in both directions alongside the river around the town centre and I headed up the hill to the old part of town. My pace immediately dropped from just over 4:00 per kilometre to 4:51 for the next 2 kilometres as I climbed out past the old part of town and then I looped back down another road back to the hotel.

14km all up in 1:00 exactly. I'll let you calculate the average speed but average pace was 4:20/km.

Monday recovery

I found it hard to go to bed early last night. I had a buzz following the race and it was though I'd drunk about 5 coffees on the trot. I was therefore quite looking forward to a recovery run this morning to get this out of my system and get back to normal. I figured it would be one of those runs where you're still hyper following the race and set off at 15 km/h pace.

This of course was completely wrong and when I set off down the road I realised immediately that anything faster than 5' kilometres had to be considered a bonus. My legs were heavy from the race and I didn't set myself any objectives as I ran around just to put in a few kilometres and to not hurt myself in the process. In the end, it all went better than I felt to start with. My legs gradually recovered and were able to stretch out a little although I didn't push it unduly. I ran the first couple of kilometres in 4:45 pace and then I resumed normal transmission and reached 4:30 pace from then on.

I spotted a runner in the park which urged me on, fuelling my desire to breeze past at 15km/h trying to look easy and graceful at the same time. It was that dark, he probably never noticed. Anyway, it caused me to increase my pace and I remained at 4:20 pace for the rest of the run.

12.8km all up in 56:30 or an average pace of 4:23/ km. Rest of the week's training is going to be difficult to plan so I'll probably be doing more reps by myself.

Paris XIV - 10km

I really thought that I would beat my record over the distance today. McMillan was forecasting a 36:06 and I was hoping to break the 36 minute barrier for the first time ever. I'd even announced this to Nico, Laurence and others so there was no hiding my ambition but how would it go?

I first ran this race 3 years ago and it was the first time that I managed to go under 40 minutes over the distance. I remember my feeling afterwards, elated by my race and with the distinct impression that there was more downhill than uphill despite it being 2 loops of 5 kilometres with the finish line just next to the start. Laurence was running this year too and had convinced Sandra and François to take part aswell. François was aiming to beat 40 minutes in his first ever 10km race. He was totally convinced that he would do it as McMillan predicted a 39:40 for him off the back of his marathon performance in Florence (3:06). McMillan is now his running bible and if he sees it there then it's the gospel truth.

We drove into Paris and my first disappointment was to see that the swimming pool changing rooms were no longer used to get changed and to store your clothes in. There were 2000 runners taking part this year some 800 more than when I last ran. So a quick inspection of the site and then we dropped all of our stuff off and ran a warm-up around the 5km course. The weather was quite clement with the temperature around 7°C and after the warm-up we went immediately to the start area and jumped over the barriers to push in near the front.

Despite these efforts, it still took me almost 10 seconds to get over the start line and to begin to run. I spent the next 1.5km weaving in and out of other runners while François was less lucky and tripped over a stray leg falling down and cutting his hand open. Unfortunately McMillan couldn't predict this sort of event. I focused on getting into a stride, looking at the Garmin that showed the first km in 3:33 and then the second in 3:25. The third kilometre takes you past the only big tower in Paris (beside Eiffel's of course), Montparnasse. I struggled after this point as there was a slight uphill follwed by a flat to end the fourth kilometre and then a long slight uphill back to the start point and the end of the first loop. I only managed these in 3:40, 3:35 and then 3:49.

I began the second loop and my heart wasn't really in it. It was exactly like the cross country last weekend where I went through the motions but I was preserving myself. I could feel the tiredness and I just told myself to ease off and that the pain would go away. So too much thinking and not enough racing really. During the sixth and seventh kilometres, I suffered from a slight stitch in my right-hand side and told myself that it couldn't be as bad as the runner 15 metres in front who kept holding his right hand to his side. A funny way to run but I still couldn't catch him and a couple of runners passed me at this point.

Back past Montparnasse and the 8 kilometre marker. 3:35 again for the kilometre but that was after having benefitted from the downhill. The last hard work was to come but I had already eased. I could see from the virtual partner that I was 21 seconds behind schedule putting me on course for a 36:21 but I knew that I wouldn't be able to hold it up the hill as I was supposed to be running 3:35 pace. I was right and the seconds ticked by. At the end, I didn't even bother to sprint completing the tenth kilometre in 3:54, my slowest over the course.

I just managed to hold on to 36:57 on the official clock and a real time of 36:48 as there was a timing mat at the start. François finished in 39:22 qualifying for the French nationals in the process (under 40:00 for V2), I qualified for V1 (under 37:00) and both Sandra and Laurence qualified with their times of 35:00 and 36:12 respectively (under 48:00 for V1 women). Satisfaction all round for everybody who beat their PB except me. I was relatively satisfied as it's my second fastest time ever and I can't state truthfully that I bust a gut in the process. I know that there's more yet to come.

At least there was hot soup at the finish line so some of the traditions hadn't died out. We've created our own traditions by declaring that every time a personal record is broken, we celebrate with a meal out. I think it's going to be an expensive year.

Corra

Nico texted me to see if I was interested in a run to Corra and back. Of course I was interested, it was only the pace of the run that concerned me. I was entered for the 10km race in Paris XIV the following day and I didn't want to blow my chances of running a personal best by training to hard with Nico to Corra and back.

We ran easily and set off at below 12 km/h only to quicken our pace steadily kilometre after kilometre. By Corra we were running at 4:30 pace and this remained the case until we reached back into town and accelerated once again through the streets of Le Mesnil to 4:15 pace to end the run.

Nico refused the offer of a cup of tea at the end of the run, pretexting that he had lots of work to do in sorting out a bathroom in a flat of his. I found out later that he actually rushed off to play tennis and didn't do any DIY at all.

14.8 km in 1:07 at an average pace of 4:33 / km.

3 - 2 - 1 Friday session

Another Thursday skipped due to work commitments and I missed the club session too. I went to bed Thursday evening determined to run my favourite marathon training session involving 3km then 2km then 1 km off 3' then 2' recovery with target times of 11:30, 7:30 then 3:30. I've never actually managed to achieve these target times, always falling short on the last interval running somewhere between 3:35 - 3:38. I woke up at 6:00 this morning and I felt really tired again. Sod the intervals, it'll be another recovery run I thought as I pulled on my running kit.

I got outside and over the first kilometre down to the Seine, I managed to convince myself to do the intervals as I was lapsing into too easy a routine. Too many recovery runs and not enough quality. I was at that point where your mind is telling your body to do something and the body is not convinced and doesn't want to respond.

Tough. I was off and running as the Garmin beeped the first kilometre. It felt hard and I wanted to stop already. This is normally the easiest part as the 11:30 objective is not too stretch and only requires 3:50 pace average. I ran these in 3:46, 3:48 then 3:41 so 11:15 for 3km and the first objective achieved.

A 3' recovery and I set off again towards the park: 3:41 then 3:40 so 7:21 for the 2km and another target under the belt. I let myeslf recover for 2' now and I still actually felt relatively fine. "Push it this time", I told myself and set off for the last interval - 3:28 and I finally managed to break my targets. Thrilled to bits and I was happy for the rest of the day.

12.8km all up in 56:08 or 4:23 /km average pace.

In fact, my day only improved in the afternoon when Laurence sent me a mail telling me that I'd been accepted into the CCC race this summer. 98km and 5600m of uphill and the race is regularly over-subscribed. Just goes to show how many nutters there are out there. Views are fantastic though, it just remains to be seen whether I'll be in any state to enjoy them. A little taster here (thanks Maratrail):

Recovery run - again

An early morning run around the usual route through Maisons Laffitte. Despite the lack of energy, I forced myself to get up and go for a run just to keep the mileage up for the week.

I set off easily enough and sped up as I went around. The weather has gotten warmer and wetter again and it was quite relaxing to run around the usual jaunt. I set out at 4:45 pace and then accelerated to 4:35 pace before reaching 4:10 pace for the last few kilometres:

4:42, 4:36, 4:34, 4:33, 4:29, 4:20, 4:16, 4:13, 4:08, 4:08, 4:11, 4:11, 3:41 to finish.

A nice progression which shows me what I'm capable of when I get warmed up and enjoy the run.

12.8 km all up in 55:26 and an average pace of 4:19 / km.

Club session catch up

I skipped Monday training as I was travelling and had to leave early - too early to fit a run in and too late arriving back to go out in the evening. So I was determined to get to the club session on Tuesday evening as I knew that Thursday would be compromised as well. I very well almost didn't make it either. Heavy traffic conspired against me and I turned up 5 minutes late in time to see the others running out of the gate and Nico shouting that they were heading to Poissy.

Jean-Claude saved my bacon by letting me into the changing rooms and I was joined by another late-comer as Nabil turned up 30 seconds after me. We left together and headed off in chase of the group who were only doing a recovery run down to Poissy and back.

I know this run and the route well so I pushed the pace from the start with Nabil in tow in order to catch them. So much for a recvoery run as our first kilometres went as follows: 5:06, 4:05, 3:48, 3:35. The last 2km were with Anis as he'd been looking for Nabil to run with. We caught up the group in Poissy and I spoke with Gérald, Nico, Fred, Ephrem, Simon and Delphine. Plenty of discussion about a new female member of the club who has turned a few heads amongst the men and caused the other women runners to bitch about her behind her back. You'll never change the nature of women. Nico promised to point her out to me but it was Ephrem who was most taken by her looks. We told him that he wasn't fast or young enough and he then pointed out the advantages of running behind the ladies, especially clad in leggings. No wonder he's not motivated to improve.

Left Poissy with Nico and Simon and ran back at a decent clip before being caught by Anis and we then accelerated away again. 3:55 then 3:48 back up the slight uphill. Back at the track and I ran a few 400m intervals with Laurence, Sandra and Katia as they trained for the forthcoming 10km race, "discussing" the new female runner as they went round. Incorrigible! I couldn't believe the language that such educated women could stoop to.

14km all up in 1:08. A good session and some great chats.

Verneuil x-country - departmental challenge

Plenty of work on at the moment and this is my first opportunity to update my blog in a while. This Sunday in question, I was taking part in the first of the cross country races planned for the Paris region, starting with the Yvelines department challenge where I was running in the veteran's race, the first of the day.

It was a cold morning with a layer of frost everywhere. Another one of those days where you wonder why you run and even on my warm-up I was suffering from minor frostbite on my fingers. I'd had two late night's out the previous evenings and I really wasn't looking forward to the event. I am not keen on cross-country even at the best of times and with the weather like this and a distinct lack of sleep, I was putting on a brave face for a difficult moment.

I met the rest of the vets team and we warmed up together: José, Thierry, Olivier, Bruno W, Charles and several others. We were 17 in total from the club taking part in this race and I was hoping to finish in front of José and Thierry for the first time ever due to my improvement and their lack of training and race practise recently. The race was around 3 loops next to the Seine at Verneuil and measured around 9km in total. I hesitated about whether to put spikes on or not as the ground was largely frozen and there were patches of tarmac around the course. After a lot of indecision, I finally slipped them on 2 minutes before the start.

We lined up at the start in a wide line and when the gun went off, I set off at what seemed a reasonable pace. I didn't want to burn myself out from the outset and I kept an eye on Olivier about 15 metres in front. He's a cross country specialist and is back in shape after a few months of taking it easy. I figured that I was in the right spot. It was only about half way around the first lap that I saw Thierry and José running together ahead and I focused on reeling them in. I passed them about 3/4 of the first loop and I knew that José had stuck with me since I heard our supporters cheering his name just after mine on the way round.

The cheers for him faded on the second lap slightly so I knew that I'd made a little break and from then on I was happy enough just to maintain my position. My motivation wasn't very high and I could feel the tiredness in my legs from Thursday's intervals. I chased Mr Moustache man from Houilles for the remainder of the race and just when it looked as though I would catch him on the final lap, 2 runners that I'd been dragging behind me went past and I didn't have the energy to follow. Mr Moustache finished just ahead (a V2 to boot!)

Splits went as follows: 3:40, 3:45, 3:58, 4:01, 3:54, 4:00, 4:06, 3:58, 3:56.

Too slow to recover from the uphills and general fatigue over the second half of the race. Nevertheless, when I checked the finishers around me, they were generally 35 - 37 minute 10km runners so I was at my level.

So finished all up in 34:24 in 38th place from 172.

Video of the first lap here after 800m. You can see me at around the 29" mark.

Corra

It was a tough start after a night on the tiles celebrating my birthday. In fact, it wasn't just my birthday we were celebrating but François's and Pascal's as well. Good meal followed by a few beers and the run to Corra suddenly seemed a lot more difficult than initially envisaged.

Nico had insisted on an 8:30 am start but after less than 6 hours sleep even the promise of an easy run to Corra and back was looking grim. Nico appeared looking fresher than I did and we set off slowly through town. It was a cold morning as winter has arrived and there was a thick frost on the ground and covering the vehicles.

After our slow start, we sped up once we got into the forest and soon we were cruising at about 4:15/ km pace towards Corra. The forest was lovely with the trees now devoid of leaves and a thick frost around their branches. Nico and I chatted about the upcoming races and how the female contingent of our running club are hard on their female colleagues and their behaviour at training. As men, we are openly competitive but far more respectful of our training mates.

We pushed on around Corra and then back through the forest to town. We kept the pace honest without overdoing it as we had to keep some reserves before the departmental x-country race on Sunday. Despite this, we still managed to run the 15km in 1:05 or an average pace of 4:23 over the distance.

Finished with a nice cup of tea and breakfast at Nico's. Good start to the weekend.

Recovery again

Another easy run around town this morning. I had some grand ideas last night about doing some long intervals, notably a 3:2:1. However, when the alarm rang and I got outside, the lack of sleep and general fatigue made the decision for me. It would be another recovery run.

I enjoyed my run through town even if I felt aches and pains in my legs, still suffering from Tuesday's session at the club. My slow start gradually improved as I ran through town and into the park. No calls from passerbys this morning and I only passed a couple of runners during my run. It was cold and crisp out in the park as the cloudless skies had created a heavy frost on the ground.

12.8 km all up in 56:09 so slightly slower than yesterday. An average pace still under 4:30/km though so as long as I can run easily at ths pace, I'm pleased.

Wednesday recovery

I seriously wondered whether to get out of bed or not this morning when the alarm rang. I told myself to stop asking existential questions and put on my kit and ran outside. A recovery run was on the cards after last night's blitz around the track and I was just going out to enjoy myself and let my legs release the toxins.

I was so tired and taking it so easy that I wasn't really aware of what was going on around me until the 4th kilometre. I caught a glimpse of my garmin here and saw 4:24 which cheered me up no end and I picked up a little pace heading into the park at Maisons Laffitte. I ran down towards the castle and spotted Wilfried heading in the opposite direction. A quick shout to him and I carried on. Strange to meet fellow runners in the same spot at 6:30am fitting their runs in before work. When I turned back up Avenue Albine, he crossed over to me to get Nico's details for a lift in to the x-country championship on Sunday. As he's not in the same race as me, I passed them on.

I was running back through Maisons Laffitte, when I was spoken to by a middle aged guy waiting for the bus. He asked if I was Nicolas Canteloup, a well known French impersonator, and I was so taken aback that I replied no. I regretted this afterwards, thinking that if I'd said yes, the guy would probably have gone on about it all day to his friends and colleagues. I'll be better prepared tomorrow to make a snappy reply. It's hard to be quick-witted and reactive at this time in the morning.

12.8 km all up in 55:36 or an average pace of 4:21 per km.

James

Nicolas Canteloup

5x400m + 2x1600m

Arrived late to the club session and so had to change into my running kit in record speed before heading out for the warm-up with Robin who arrived after me. We chased after the others as I'd seen them leaving just as I got out of the car. I noticed in particular that it was my own wife who was leading the whole group, which was a huge turnout aswell, at breakneck speed. Was this a subtle message for me?

Caught up the others towards St Germain and so missed a chunk of the warm-up before heading back to the track. Nico and Basile were ahead, closely followed by Laurence and François. I jogged with Laurence and François talking about our planned trail races for this year which will include the Paris Ecotrail (80km) and the CCC around Mont Blanc (98km). Once back to the track I chatted with Gérald, Fred, Thierry and José before a few straights and lining up for the first of the 400m to be run at VO max speed.

I started in the middle of the pack and quickly headed towards the front of the group already suprised by the pace and effort it was taking. I'd discussed with Nico what speeds we should be running these and I suggested 80 seconds whereas he proposed a couple of seconds faster. We finished the first interval and I looked at the Garmin - 1:13. No wonder it felt hard. Nico, Fred and I were the only ones to respect the 100m recovery jog and we set off in the lead after this. The next couple of intervals were even faster and I stayed with Nico with Fred just behind running 1:12 for these. We eased on the fourth running 1:15 and the final in 1:17 in preparation for the 1600m to follow.

I set the pace for the first couple of laps for the first long interval and when Nico came past after 800m I couldn't respond. The effort from the 400m intervals had tired me and my legs felt too heavy to react. Laurence told me afterwards that I had my 'effort' face on: pale, determined, red around the eyes and spit around the mouth - charming! He built a 40m lead and finished 7 seconds ahead while I finished in 5'42 (3:33 / km). The second interval went the same way when I led for the first lap before being caught by Anis and Ilyes who past me taking Nico with them. I was more constant on this second interval while running by myself and finished in 5'35 (3:29 / km).

A tough session but I was happy with the result. According to McMillan and based on my marathon time, I should be running 400m in a speed session between 1:16 - 1:20 and 1600m between 5:33 and 5:46. Based on this, my first intervals were fast and the second spot on. There's definitely room for improvement and I should beat my 10km and half-marathon times this year. We'll just wait and see. I'll post a 2011 review and 2012 objectives soon.

12.5km all up in 1:10.

Monday recovery

Slept really badly so it was almost a relief to get out of bed to go for a run when the alarm rang. The last time I looked at the calendar it still said it was winter so I pulled on a couple of tops and some shorts and went outside. I was overdressed as it may be the start of January but the temperature is still hovering around the 7°C mark at the moment. The weathermen say that the cold spell should arrive mid-January but at the moment it still feels like early spring.

A recovery run planned for today and I could tell from the outset that there would be no miracles in terms of time or pace. My legs were heavy and tired and although the breathing was fine, there was no way that I could push the pace. I was happy enough to plod around and forced myself not to look at the Garmin, knowing that a glimpse at the watch and I would feel obliged to make more of an effort. The run went by easily enough and my legs began to feel a little better by the time I reached the park in Maisons Laffitte. I treated myself to a little stretch at this point but not to the extent of forcing myself like over the weekend.

The run went by quickly enough and before long I was back at the house, happy in that I'd made it out and put in some exercise. My weight has increased after the hammering I took Friday night and I'm now trying to compensate to bring this back under control again. 75.3kg was the end result today.

12.8 km all up in 57:19 or an average pace of 4:29 / km. Still going well and wondering what training to do this week before the cross-country race on Sunday.

Sunday club session

Laurence and I went to the club for the Sunday run this morning. There was a big turnout and the 2 coaches, Miguel and Michel, had each developed their training plan for 2 groups who'd be heading off in opposite directions. Michel was taking one group off to Joyenval for a long run around the golf course, whereas I was following Miguel for a 2 x 16' session with an increase in speed by 1 km/h every 4 minutes. Our group consisted of Ilyes, Thierry, Nico, Jean-Marc, Simon, Bruno amongst others.

We set off towards the forest next to Maisons Laffitte and started the first block beside the railway line. I ran with Nico at 14 km/h to start and then we accelerated after every 4 minutes, running at 15 km/h (actually slightly faster running this kilometre in 3:55), and then another burst to get to 16 km/h (3:44 for this kilometre) before the final 4 minutes and Nico pulled inexorably ahead. I didn't have the legs to follow and the path rising back up to the railway didn't help. I was supposed to be at 17 km/h but I actually ran this last section slightly slower in 3:54.

We turned back to pick up the rest of the group and discovered that we'd lost the few women that had started with us and Miguel. We know where his priorites are now. 3 minutes recovery and we set off again. This time we probably set off slightly too fast and each time we accelerated we ran faster than the set pace. The last 4 minutes was too much though and a final uphill from the railway to the road put pay to any intention to run at 17 km/h. Nico had pulled ahead again chasing Ilyes, Jean-Marc and Thierry. I was happy to maintain the gap and satisfied when the intervals finished.

We ran back to the club to recover, with Nico and I pulling away from the others as we sped up constantly starting at 7:00 pace to begin with and finishing at 3:59 pace. Great run and a good combination of speedwork and endurance.

20 km all up in 1:40 or an average pace of 5:00 / km. Laurence and her group came back from their long run having done 17.2 km. She'd have done better to stay with us ! We saw Gérald at the end who'd turned up slightly late and latched on to Michel's group, running with the girls. It was good to see him back and next time he might actually make it on a run with us. He admitted that he'd be running the cross country next weekend - Gérald is back!

Marly - X country training

It was decided Thursday evening after a discussion on Tuesday at the club that we'd organise a last cross country training at Marly park for Saturday morning. The cross country season starts next weekend for me with the departmental challenge in Verneuil. It was the last possibility to get some hills in before the weekend as I'd missed most of the x-country training sessions with the marathon preparation. Nico was off skiing and little chance of him attending, but a last minute sms from the train coming back from the Alps and he was on too, despite being apprehensive following a week of no running and feasting on tartiflette.

The plan was great. The execution was slightly more difficult. A night on the town with Nick and Paul, a slight excess of alcohol and a distinct lack of sleep all conspired to make the exercise harder than initially envisaged. After the first lap of the park for the warm-up, I really wondered what I was doing there and why I hadn't accepted Nico's first suggestion of an easy run to Corra. There was going to be no respite either as there were only 6 of us: Nico, Ilyes, Jean-Marc, José, Jean-François and me.

We set off up the first hill and I started the Garmin. My legs failed me towards the top and I let Jean-Marc, Ilyes and Nico gap me. 1:59 was the verdict by the end of the slope so 5 seconds slower than last time I was here. The rest of the session went the same way. My legs were too tired still suffering from Thursday's session and an excess of beer. Although we'd said from the outset that we'd run 3 laps of the park, Jean-Marc stopped first on the second slope, Nico next after his second lap and only Ilyes, José and I completed the plan. I wasn't proud though as my times up the slope that I use as a reference suffered: 1:59, 2:03, 2:02 some 10 seconds slower than usual.

15.4 km all up in 1:18. Tough session and it firmed up my New Year's resolution to reduce my alcohol consumption.

Recovery run

After last night's efforts on the track, it was a real relief to get out early this morning and just take it easy. I was dead tired and my right knee was playing up to begin with but after a few kilometres in the cold and dark, I began to feel a whole lot better.

It was mechanical, hearing the alarm go and getting out of bed to go for the run. Thank god it was mechanical moreover, because if I had to think about it, I pobably would never have managed. It was a brisk 5°C outside but the wind had dropped and it was dry. The first few kilometres were easy and then I dozed off and woke up around the 6th kilometre. I enjoyed the easy pace and the lack of effort that was necessary. As I was short for time and needed to get into work quickly I cut out the loop around Maisons Laffite park and ran my old 10km route.

10.3 km in 46:07 or an average pace of 4:28. I'm impressed by my improvement when I remember how I struggled to run this pace back in March 2011 after injury and the ease of today's run.

Now for all of those who've been waiting, here's the photo of Nico in his flowery shorts. It's taken some time to negotiate the photgraphic rights for this image but I'm sure you'll all agree that the wait's been worthwhile.

Nico talking to his Pink TV editor trying to negotiate an exclusive on his friend Michou. Love the shorts Nico!

6 x 1000m

I'd been looking forward to this session from Tuesday. Work and late nights meant that I hadn't been able to get out in the mornings, so I was determined not to miss this one. The only dampener at the moment with the club sessions is Nico being on holiday skiing and Gérald nursing a calf injury. Nevertheless, on arrival I saw that there were loads of faces, including many that I had never seen before. Still some of the regulars were there: Mom, Ilyes, Mireille, Fred, Thierry, Jean-Marc to mention a few. Good this meant that there'd be some fighting up front over the session and that I 'd have a few runners to push me hard.

At least tonight it was dry. Conditions weren't perfect though with a strong wind blowing in gusts up to 50km/h. We set off on the warm-up and ran around St Germain before heading back to the track to start. A few warm-ups along the back straight and we were off from the 200m mark.

Ilyes and Momo pushed to the front from the beginning and I tucked in just behind Jean-Marc using him as a windbreak along the back straight where we had the wind directly in our faces. We passed the 500m mark and Miguel shouted out 1:39. Bloody hell, I thought, I'm running at 3:20 pace when I'd been aiming for some 20 seconds slower than this. Jean-Marc pulled away from me down the home straight and I battled to stay in contention down the back straight as I lost my wind shelter. He tired at this point and I caught him around the bend following him home down the home straight to finish the first interval in 3:24. Ilyes and Momo were a good 8-9 seconds ahead.

We ran back to the 200m mark and set off again after this 2:25 recovery. It was exactly the same story with Jean-Marc just ahead and then a group with Fred, Simon and Thierry about 5 seconds behind us. We finished in 3:24 again and I ran back to the start pushing the others by reducing the recovery to 2:00 now. We ran the next 3 in this manner with Jean-Marc and I finishing together every time. On the fifth interval though, Jean-Marc was using me as the wind-breaker and finished behind me. He didn't run the last.

I ran back and didn't wait for Mom and Ilyes who were taking longer recoveries. I ran the last interval on my own in 3:28 so slightly slower as I didn't have the same incentive to run as hard but still competitive nonetheless.

A fantastic session then with 3:24, 3:24, 3:23, 3:24, 3:25 and 3:28 to finish all off 2' recovery.

Couldn't help but tell Miguel that Nico would have struggled to keep up especially after so much 'après-ski'.

14.1km all up in 1:17.

Drenched

I didn't manage to make it for an early morning run so I concentrated on making it to the club for the evening session. The weather was lousy and I mean really lousy. It was blowing a gale and the rain was falling sideways. I wondered why I bothered attempting to get out to go running in this weather quite frankly.

When I turned up at the club there wasn't a huge turnout which considering the state of the conditions outside was hardly surprising. Momo, Mireille, Fred, Jean-Marc and Ilyes were there though togther with José and Thierry so there was some chance of a decent session. Miguel announced that the training schedule was 2 x 2000m of slow/fast/slow. Since I arrived only just intime I didn't manage to hear what was being announced and besides, it was now chucking it down and any plans looked to be optimistic.

After a quick warm-up in which everyone managed to arrived drenched back at the stadium, it was decided to change the plan and to run easily around the track and then do some running up the steps of the stadium seating and back down. With Fred, Ilyes and Jean-Marc we created a renegade group and stayed on the track running 5x300m off 100m recovery and then a second set of intervals. This was our own interpretation of the initial training plan and it seemed fine to me. We did the first set of intervals and Ilyes ran well ahead whereas Jean-Marc, Fred and myself stayed together. At the end of this first set, Jean-Marc called it a day and went to run up some stairs while I decided to run 2km at 'active' recovery pace before attacking my second set.

Fred tried to stay with me but when he dropped off complaining that I was going too fast, I realised that my active recovery was 15km/h and after 8 minutes, I started a second set of intervals with Fred acting as a pacer.
We ran all of the 300m intervals in 55 -56 seconds and was very regular. I was pleased with the session which under these conditions was nothing short of a miracle.

13 km all up in 1:03. We didn't hang around before heading home!

Monday morning

Back to the real world after a lovely weekend welcoming in the New Year with Laurence. She started the year on her best foot by leaping out of bed yesterday and going for an early morning run. Ok, so it was 10:15 but on New Year's day that qualifies as early morning for me. I preferred to stay in bed and read and despite all of my good intentions, I never actually made it out to run yesterday.

To redeem myself and my honour, I got up early this morning and went for a run around town. I didn't push the pace and just enjoyed the feeling of being outside. A quick glimpse of my watch at the roundabout and I saw that it showed 18:xx. So no records on the cards there and I just hoped that I was running under 4:30 pace. It was only when I looked at the watch after the run that I saw how regularly I'd been running. After an initial start at 4:30 pace, I quickly settled into a 4:18 - 4:20 pace from kilometre 3 until the end, speeding up over the last kilometre to finish in 55:15.

55:15 all up for 12.8km or an average pace of 4:19.

I'm currently negotiating the photographic rights for a world exclusive in tomorrow's edition of the blog with Nico in flowery pink running shorts. Rumours are that his mariage is just a cover and that he's actually a reporter with Pink TV. Photo shows him apparently negotiating his new salary with the TV channel following his latest exclusive on Michou's cabaret in Paris where he's a regular visitor.

Michou - close friend of Nico and owner of cabaret in Paris.