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!