Another business trip on Wednesday stopped me from going for a run and as I'd stupdily given in to the weekend challenge of running a race on Friday night and on Sunday morning, I didn't want to ite myself out by running a hard tempo run or interval session the day before a race.
I was a little ushed for time too, so I eventually deided on another variant of my usual morning run and cut out the section past the racecourse and ran straight into the park by the castle in Maisons Laffitte. A plod down the park tracks and then out and back through the forest to home. A very easy run and no accelerations to put any undue strain on the body.
9.3km all up in 43:23 or 4:41 per km. A nice morning and a few joggers out in the park.
It looked as though it would be another relaxing run. Miguel was proposing a quiet run through the woods around Le Mesnil, very simlar to the one that I had led yesterday, and Michel was holding a session of 12 x 2' in 2 blocks of 6. Laurence decided to take it easy and I looked at Nico and we decied mutually to do the interval session.
It was another warm evening and with the temperature around 22 - 23°C, it wasn't long before I was sweating heavily. Nico had been saying that he was keen ono taking it easy, but as soon as we set off and I took the lead, setting the pace, he sped up and ran alongside. The remainder of the session was determined by him setting the pace with Bruno just behind until Anis and Mustapha caught us and they then dictated the terms.
The pace for the intervals went as follows: 3:30, 3:30, 3:21, 3:18 3:26, 3:21. I hadn't understood about the 2 blocks and Michel wasn't imposing any rhythm in particular. When it came to the second series, I just took it easy and hung back. It was too hot to do anything else anyway.
11.9km all up in 1:02. Nico and Bruno looked in good shape and it was good to see Bruno at the front again, pushing the pace at moments after having spent so long out with injuries.
Pentecost is a public holiday in France. Well sort of - it's a very French thing. Whenver you can take something simple and make it extremely complicated then you can be sure that it's done in France.
Pentecost was made a public holiday in France in 1886. Everybody enjoyed a day off work, except under special conditions for jobs which require permanent presence (police, firemen, air-traffic controllers etc.) Then in 2004, after the summer of 2003 which extreme heat caused thousands of old people to die in the country, the french government decided to cancel the bank holiday and make everybody work this day. Companies were required to pay a special tax as a contribution for the elderly financed from the extra productivty gained from having an extra days labour from their employees (I won't go into how this doesn't work anyway following the amendments to the labour laws following the introduction of the 35 hour working week, as that's a different story ...). What a great idea - everybody agreed half-heartedly. This is when the confusion began. Some schools continued to not work on Pentecost meaning that many parents took the day off to look after their kids. Nobody knew whether it was a holiday or not anymore and so it has continued.
I was working today. But apparently, I was one of the rare people in France to be doing so. Driving into work was a real pleasure - 30 minutes instead of my usual 1h20 drive. We arranged to go for a run at 7:00pm at the club to recover from the Paris St Germain race for most. Laurence, Nico, François, Sandra, Pascal, Philippe, Catherine, Stéphanie, Christelle, Nabil and Nicoletta also turned up for our easy run.
I led the group through the woods towards Le Mesnil from the clubhouse and then wound our way back through the forest back to the clubhouse. It was 10km in total and an hour's leisurely run at a very easy pace for all. A lot of banter and joking went on and if only every day could be a bank holiday like this, life would be so much more pleasurable.
10km all up in 1 hour. I'll let you do the maths for the average pace!
Nico was running the Paris St Germain course tomorrow and I wanted to put in some distance to try and achieve a 100km week. Sunday's run was going to be hard to fit in as Laurence was running the same race as Nico and I'd promised to accompany them both on the bike and make the most of the race as a spectator.
François agreed to come along with me and although he wasn't keen on doing the 30km that I proposed initially, he would run 20km with me. That was decided: I would run t the club and meet him there for a 20 km run together and then I'd run back. This way I'd get my 30km in and he'd run 20km with me.
With the prosect of the CCC approaching, I decided on running in Marly forest to put in some hill training. I ran through the forest to the club and picked up François there and we set off together in the direction of Princess Road.
It was a very pleasant run together at a very relaxed pace. François had eaten a large breakfast and this was obviously weighing on him to begin with but after the first 8 km, he began to feel better and the pace picked up. We ran around Joyenval golf course and then through the forest on the far side of the A13 before coming back and contourning around the south side of the golf course on the way back to the club. Realising that if we headed straight back to the club from the lycee horticole, we ran towards down some little paths through the forest back to St Germain golf club and then back to the club.
I left François at this point and headed back home. I'd been feeling great all of the way around the run despite having only eaten a cereal bar before leaving. All of a sudden, I could feel that my energy levels were running low and it was a relief to finally arrive back at the house. I still managed to run these last 5km between 4:00 and 4:20/km pace.
The original idea had been to run 100km this week. Unfortunately, with business and late nights and early starts, this was proving to be impossible and today was no different. An early morning meeting meant that I couldn't fit the normal run in so I planned to cut it short and run a 10km loop instead.
This was my original 10km loop around Maisons Lafitte where I skip the loop in front of the castle which was a later modification. Having said this, I could resist the temptation to come back through the forest and enjoy the early morning temperatures in the shade of the trees.
After the hills of the previous day, it was back to a gentle recovery run around Maisons Laffitte again this morning. When I say gentle it started off that way but then I began to feel good and the garmin took ovr forcing me to look at it every time it beeped for a kilometre.
You just can't let these watches take control. However, there is also this irresistable urge to beat the previous kilometre's pace for me once you start to let it take over. This is what happened this morning. Last kilometre at 3:36 pace - say no more.
13.2 km all up in 57:31 or an average of 4:22 / km.
Some days are just perfect and this was one of them. I'd enjoyed a day's rest from running yesterday and altough I was on business in Lyons, when I woke up I felt in great shape, if a little tired and was happy to go out for a run.
Back up the hill through Ecully from the Holiday Inn where I was staying and then past the main business school in Lyon: EM Lyon. I knew the route better by now and as usual, when you're no longer wondering about which direction in which to run and focusing just on the run itself, then you run a whole lot faster.
I was running 4:20 - 4:30 pace up the hills on the way out and at 6.5 km I lloked at the watch and decided that it was time to turn back. I was at the same place as last time: Dardilly.
I turned round and although I was far more tired than last time, I just let fly and stretched out the stride going downhill. 3:50, 3:48, 3:43, 3:47 punctuated by a 4:18 for an uphill section in between. In fat, I was back at the hotel before too long and it was all over.
12.7 km all up in 53:05 or 4:11 average pace for a hilly course. I was feeling on top of the world. Excellent training ground for Marvejol Mende race at end July.
The culmination of our 4 day weekend, and our drive to make the most running time out of that available, Nico and I decided to run over to the club this morning before starting the session. Laurence would take the car.
It was tough from the start. Despite the relatively easy pace to begin with, I could feel my legs and the tiredness from yesterday. Nico said as much himself and we took it fairly easily through the forest to the clubhouse. What made matters harder was the global improvement in the weather. It was 14°C at 8:30 am this morning and although there were no blue skies the warmth was accompanied with a high level of humidity. By the time we reached St Germain, I was sweating heavily.
There was a good turnout this morning and 2 groups formed: one with Miguel for 3x12' at threshold and the other with Michel for 2x20' at threshold along the Paris St Germain course which takes place next week. After a quick warm-up, I headed off with Nico, Jean-Marc, Anis, Ylies, Fred, Olivier and co for Miguel's session, leaving Laurence with the vast majority of the women to do their own thing. We finished the warm-up by the Légion d'Honneur retirement home and then began the session proper.
I started off easily enough, happy to follow Olivier along the tracks towards Le Mesnil while Anis, Ylies and Nico powered off in front. We were running at about 3:50 pace and when I felt that Olivier was slowing slightly I took the pace and carried on at threshold pace, which by my reckoning is 3:45 / km. We were just over half way through the first interval when I heard footsteps behind and I turned expecting to see Jean-Marc but ended up face to face with Fred. We ran together for a while but when we got to the horsetrack with less stable footing, he pulled ahead chasing the group of 3 in front. I was glad when the 12 minutes were up and we had a 2 minute recovery.
It was all over all too soon and we set off again. The track soon turned into a harder surface and despite the fact that I was now running at 3:42 / km the group of 4 now (including Fred) was pulling away from me and I had to run by myself. I ran a good interval here, feeling stronger than the first and more consistent in my pace. Another 2 minutes recovery and time to pull everyone back together again and we set off on the last interval. I struggled now as we ran along the Salamander route around La Mare aux Canes. I could see that I wasn't the only one to find the going hard as Nico got dropped from the leading group on the uphill section. I managed to make it to the end despite the temptation to drop out and finish at a jog. A jog back to the club and then the 5km run home with Nico at 4:23 pace before culminating in a last 3:58 kilometre as we ran down from the church home.
Very warm and very sweaty but a good session again. It's been a good weekend with some quality runs over the last 4 days.
26 km all up in 2:05 or an average pace of 4:51 / km. Some juicy news from Laurence when I got back home from her group this morning but too good to share with you all here ;)
Thanks to Nico for a great breakfast at his house when we got back. I was almost fainting from hunger having left home with nothing more than a cereal bar in my stomach. The cups of tea and bread and jam did the world of good.
Well all I can say is that I was responsible for none of this - not one little bit.
It was part of Nico's plans for the long weekend to run every day over the bank holiday weekend and to get some quality training in. Jean-Marc came up with the suggestion for the training for the day. It was to be a track session involving reps of 400m, 500m, 600m x 3 off 1' recovery and 3' between the blocks. Then nico suggested that instead of getting up early, we start this track session at 11:00am.
I was in the car with Nico, heading to the track, wondering why I was going to run in bright sunlight at the warmest time of the day with 2 of the faster members of the club, both of whom are almost 10 years younger than me. My masochistic tendencies always lose out to reason when it's too late and I'm already committed.
We saw Damaso and Roger at the club who'd just finished their track session. They're at least 20 years older than me and I regretted not having run along with them. I'm sure it would have been more fun than this was going to be. Anyway, too late, Jean-Marc turned up spot on time and all three of us headed out towards the forest for the warm-up.
It was a typical Nico and James warm-up: 5:00, 4:27, 4:12, 4:02 (and I jogged the last 100 metres). Jean-Marc was being reasonable and he let us go after the first 1.5km, catching us up at the track. It felt even hotter than before now and after a quick slurp of water, we all set off.
I managed to just about hold on for the first 400m with Nico finishing a second before me and Jean-Marc just ahead. A quick look at the Garmin: 1:13 - no doubt about it, this was going to be a quick session.We jogged back a 100m and set off for the 500m. Same fnishing order with a slightly bigger gap between Nico and Jean-Marc who finished alongside each other and me a few metres behind in 1:35. Then finally the 600m where the gap was bigger still and the lactic really kicking in over the last 200m - 1:56.
It was the same story for the second block where I managed 1:14, 1:35 then 2:00 and the lactic was harder than ever. I was quietly looking forwrad to the last block if only to get it all over with and finish the session. I set off before Jean-Marc and Nico, cutting my recovery time to 2:24. The 400m went alright and then the 500m was just bearable but as I started the 600m and went around the first bend, the wind picked up and the sun beat down and I flagged mentally and pulled the plug. I was cross with myself and Nico came past to finish his series, having run them all very regularly. I'm just not ready for these VO2 max sessions yet.
12 km all up in 1:00. Tough session and I need to get back into these types of sessions if I'm to improve my speed. My endurance is there but I'm not used to pushing my heart rate so high over these track sessions.
Nico has planned a serious weekend, making the most of the bank holiday yesterday and the day off today to put in some miles and intervals. Today though was the rest day before the hard work begins again tomorrow. We planned to go for the usual route to Corra but with Laurence and Katia to ensure that no excess incurred in pace and natural competitiveness. Jean-Marc also agreed to come along and unfortunately Sandra is injured and François unavailable, otherwise it would have been the best part of the Florentine marathon expedition on the easy run today.
It was not exactly marvellous weather when we woke up: grey skies and threatening to rain. I put on a waterproof jacket and a cap to keep the rain off me, but this would prove to be a waste of time and just cause a little over-heating. We set off at an easy pace and had a good chat all of the way around. The girls were chatting plenty to start with but when the pace went below 5:00/km, it started getting a lot quieter at the front. The gentlemen that we are, we let the girls dictate the pace and made sure to stay behind them so as not to be accused of having to have forced them to run at speeds that they were uncomfortable with. Overall this worked fairly well over the circuit.
We set off at around 5:40 pace and then they sped up to 5:20 and then 5:00 and below before they realised that this was supposed to be a recovery run and not a tempo run. I could see that the effort was beginning to show on both of their faces on the far side of Corra at about the 8km mark. This didn't deter them from pushing on and we finished the whole loop of 15km in 1:17 with a 5:08 average pace.
A good way to start the day and we discussed the upcoming races, having signed on for Les Clayes (10km) on the Friday evening and then Orgerus (15km) on the Sunday. Quite looking forward to both of these now and a little stretch before I start the trails at the end of June.
Bank holiday here in France and it was a pleasant change to be able to go to the club this morning and to run with the others.
Laurence and I arrived late and so we missed the morning briefing as to the details of the session from Miguel, but no stress it was a holiday so we took off with the others to see what would happen. There was a good turnout with Jean-Marc, Ylies, Nico, Olivier, Fred and Wilfried amongst others at the front for the men and Laurence was running with Katia, Brigitte and Michèle.
After the 25 minute warm-up, we stopped for the last prep talk and discovered that the menu for the day was a 3', 6', 9', 6', 3' pyramid session. I set off for the first interval with Ylies, Nico and Olivier and was pleased to see that I was keeping up with them, feeling fresher after a day off yesterday. This lasted into the second interval when they pulled away slightly towards the end, but I managed to stay ahead of Olivier.
It was on the 9' and third interval that the going got tough. We started on the 'bosses': the mounds besides the railway line with a short, steep uphill to start and then a long drag into the second half of the interval. I suffered now and eased off the pace, letting Ylies, Fred and Nico gap me with Olivier and Wilfried just in front. I managed to catch and overtake Wilfried towards the end as he flagged and finished with Olivier.
Nico began to complain of a full stomach now, a result of an excess of hamburgers and M and M's downed by Desperados (for the non-French amongst you, this is a foul concoction pretending to be beer with a dash of tequila. It is in fact purely chemical, but attracts youngsters who don't know any better). He ran with Olivier and myself for this 6' interval and then we ran the last 3' together before he pulled away towards the end.
A good session and I was pleased with the results. It's my first speed session in a long while and I'll need more of these if I'm to be competitive over 10 and 15km. The intervals were run at the following pace approximately:
3:39, 3:25, 3:49, 3:45, 3:42.
So a total of 16.2km all up in 1:23 or an average pace of 5:08.
I announced last night that I would be running a 3-2-1 session the next day. Once it was announced there was no going back. It was official. Others had heard it. I was committed.
I got up and ran down to the Seine where I began the first interval. My 3-2-1 session is probably one of my favourites. It involves running a 3km interval in 11'30" then 3' recovery followed by 2km in 7'30" off 2' recovery and then the last interval in 3'30".
I started and I knew that this would be hard today. My thighs were still aching from the ekiden and I resisted the temptation to give up from the start. How could I ? I'd announced that I ws going to do this to everybody (well Laurence and Dad at least). I ran the first km in 3:44 then 3:49 and finally in 3:46. So I'd achieved the first interval in 11'19 under the objective and I was ready to begin the second.
3' later and I set off. It was hard. Too hard and after a minute, I pulled the plug and began to jog again. I just didn't have the strength or the motivation to continue and push hard. It was just all too much and I resigned myself to a recovery now back through the park of Maisons Laffitte and back home. I was so tired that I even missed the turn off into the forest and carried along the roads. Not what I'd intended.
12.6km all up in 54:08 or 4:19 per km. Disappointed with myself but should get over this lethargic patch soon.
I woke up with stiff thighs from the ekiden yesterday. I'm not used to racing the 10 km distance and I was paying for yesterday's efforts. Still, I needed to put some mileage in and a little run around town couldn't do any harm, could it ?
I ran the usual route around Maisons Laffitte kust taking it steady and forcing myself not to look at the Garmin as I ran. I really wanted to relax and enjoy myself and I knew that as soon as I looked at the splits on the watch, I would push myself just to run that little bit faster.
Beautiful morning again and a real pleasure to be out. I bumped into Sylvie in the park and she was looking good despite her injury so I ran a couple of kilometres with her before heading our different ways. I ran back through the forest to make a change and to enjoy the early morning daylight now that spring has arrived.
13.2 km all up in 57:24 or an average pace of 4:22 / km. Not bad for a recovery run without looking at the Garmin. Alright, so I might have had a peek every now and then, but who's watching...?
Running is a lonely sport. Most of the time when you train - you're by yourself; when you race - you are in your own world with your own objectives; when you're injured - it's even worse. It's an individual sport and even when you train in a group, you set your own objectives. You may exchange with your running partners but you fix your own limits and when you fail to achieve, you only have yourself to blame.
So when you get to combine an individual sport in a team environment and run and encourage each other, it's a refreshing change. I was down for the vets team in the Pontalut Combault ekiden, my third particpation in this event as many as the event itself. We had 2 other teams entered: our senior team (who'd also "borrowed" our 2 best veterans) and the female team.
I drove Nico and Dad to the ekiden as it meant that we could get a few extra minutes of sleep before the race began and besides, I was running the 4th leg and Nico the last for the seniors, so there was no real hurry. We arrived in time to get changed and to see the start with Jean-Marc setting off for the seniors, Nicoletta for the women and Daniel for the vets. Jean-Marc ran a good leg coming in 4th and setting the tone for the seniors from then on. Daniel and Nicoletta were a little behind and the vets team set off on the second leg with Bruno and Gaëlle for the women.
Dad and I were stood in the middle of the forest for most of this time since this was the point from which you could see most of the action. It was a beautiful sunny day, but extremely cold. Dad was beginning to regret wearing his shorts at this point and would have been happy with another layer on. The teams were still running well with Olivier ( our vet running for the seniors) putting in a good leg and bringing the senior team into 3rd place in the race. The women were also doing well in second place in their category with a real tussle between the first 3 teams exchanging places regularly.
I ran a quick loop of the circuit as a warm-up and then ran over to the transition zone ready for my relay. Fabrice came in and handed the relay bracelet over to me and I set off at what I thought was an easy pace. A quick tap on the back of Bruno and Nico as I went by and I settled into a steady pace and looked ahead at the runners I was chasing.
The problem with running the 4th leg is that the field is well spaced out and the competitors are either being lapped or are too far to catch. I concentrated on a couple of runners ahead one of whom I caught between the 2nd and 3rd kilometre and the other who I gradually closed down but who still managed to finish 20 metres ahead of me.
My plan from the beginning had been to run the first loop easily and then speed up on the second. However, the reality was that my natural fast start and hold on in tactic overcame me and my splits were as follows:
The 3:49 split was a problem with the Garmin and I think that I was running a very steady 3:45 rhythm by then which I only managed to speed up slightly towards the end as I desperately tried to chase down my hare. I felt good overall, not going into the red and still managing to keep some energy in reserve. I think that a classic race would have motivated me more and I could probably have pulled off a few seconds faster but I was still pleased to bits with a 37:07 time despite being the only runner in the race for whom the electronic tag system failed to work.
Nico ran a great final leg finishing his 7.2km in 25:21 and bringing in the senior team in 3rd place overall.
A great video of the race with my exploits can be seen here. Thanks to Gérald for the camerawork.
An easy run with Nico this morning as we were both down for the Ekiden the following day and didn't want to tire ourselves out. As we wanted a change from the usual Corra route and a slightly shorter run to keep fresh for Sunday and the ekiden we ran one of Nico's favourites: out to the Mare aux Canes and back through the forest.
It was a beautiful day and our run through the forest from Le Mesnil out to La Mare aux Canes was great. A slight uphill run heading out, before a slight downhill coming back.
We were also very reasonable in the pace we adopted, running around 4:45 pace out and around 4:25 pace back.
9.5km all up in 44:26 or an average pace of 4:40 per km. Good preparation for the race and feeling good again to come back from injury.
I was in Lyons on business at staying in the Holiday Inn on the outskirts to the west of town. As a well prepared runner, I had all of my training kit with me and decided the night before to imrpove the preparation by actually looking for once where I would run the following morning. A quick look on Google maps and I decided to head off over the motorway and towards the north west of the city so that I could catch a glimpse of some scenery quickly and leave the urban sprawl behind.
At 6:00 am the next morning I almost changed my mind. Lack of sleep, extreme weariness, and little motivation almost saw me climbing back into bed but I forced myself to get my trainers on and headed out of the hotel. It was one of my first runs back from injury and I spent the first 3 kilometres thinking about my calf and the aches, sprains and other slight niggles I could feel down there. Apart from that I was enjoying the scenery and heading up out of town towards Ecully, then in the direction of Dardilly.
I soon realised that the countryside around Lyons is not flat. I'd been climbing for 3 kilometres now and there was still no sign of any respite in the uphill. The rare downhill sections only lasted a few hundred metres again before I found myself climbing uphill once more. A scary moment at 3 km when I saw my life flash before me as I was almost run over by a Securitas van - how ironic! - and then I was running back uphill into Dardilly a lovely village on the west side of Lyons overlooking the Lyons basin.
I turned back after 6.5 km and ran back exactly the same route that I'd taken on the way out, bar a little incident when I got lost in Ecully losing a few hundred metres in the process.
Times out:
5:33, 4:40, 4:48, 4:35, 4:32, 4:42, 4:41
Times back:
4:07, 3:54, 4:25, 3:51, 4:02, 3:53, 3:51
So a total distance of 13.6km in 1 hour exactly. Average pace of 4:25 over the course. Excellent hill training but a real effort first thing in the morning. Legs are back to normal and felt good by the end of the run.
Due to the bank holiday, the Tuesday club session was at 9:00am this morning. Laurence and I headed out for the clubhouse with the missus intending to do a 12', 10', 8' workout at threshold pace while I was aiming for Miguel's session of 12 x 1'/1'. All in all, I preferred the VO2 Max session to the threshold anyday.
There was a reasonable turnout and all Laurence's running partners were there: Sandra, Katia, Stéphanie, Muriel, etc. She was going to be in good company. On the blokes side Nico and Ylies were there along with Momo, Anis (back from Boston), Jean-Marc and Bruno. I decided there and then that I wasn't going to kill myself today, especially after yesterday's efforts.
I almost changed my mind about the whole affair as I ran the warm-up. My right knee started playing up and every stride felt awkward and painful. It was if the joint was misaligned and jarring every time I put my foot down and I wondered if I'd be able to run at all. We got to the Charmilles park in Poissy where the session was to begin. I thought that I would run with Bruno as I couldn't see myself staying, or even attempting to get close to Nico today. However, this was harder than I thought it would be.
Bruno has been improving rapidly after a couple of half-marathons and having come back from injury. I thought that I was taking a soft option but I soon discovered that the difference between us today is minimal. I lacked the pace to make the difference and the motivation to push myself hard. The only spots surprisingly where I got the upper hand was on the slight uphill sections. Who'd have believed it?
Jogged back to the clubhouse with Nico and pushed the pace at the end, running in at 15km/h. 13.6 km all up in 1:11 or 5:15 / km. Good day and far too warm for an over-jacket. Spring temperatures have finally arrived.
Decided on the basis of these last 2 days that I'd take part in the ekiden on Sunday. Will probably run a 10km leg with Bruno running the other. The objective is to qualify the vets team in a time under 2:50 with a realistic objective of 2:45. Could do better but the seniors have pinched our 2 best vets - slackers!
It's certainly frustrating to be forced to retire from running for a while. Mind you, there have been that many business trips and early starts recently that even if I had wanted, finding time to get a run in would have been difficult enough anyway. I had compensated by doing a couple of mountain bike rides, but this had only resulted in me straining the base of my back and walking around like Quasimodo for a few days. I told myself that I would take it easy over the weekend and then start again today with Laurence agreeing to accompany me on the bike.
Laurence had been worried about letting me go out for a run on my own, thinking that I wouldn't be reasonable and continue running even if my calf started hurting. She proposed an alternative: a bike and run whereby she'd accompany me on the bike and if at any time I felt that I needed to stop, rest or take it easy than the bike would be there to take me home while she ran. This sounded like a sensible proposal and I wasn't sure how my calf would hold out so I seetled for this.
It was a fairly nice day although the clouds were looming and the rain didn't seem to be far off. I put on a waterproof top (later discovered that this was a mistake) and set out with Laurence in the direction of Corra. I ran the first kilometre easily enough although the Garmin was playing up and beeped at least 100m beyond the usual spot, recording 5:30. As is often the case after an injury, you focus largely on the areas of the body where you've suffered and I spent the next 20 - 30 minutes analysing internally every little ache and pain coming from either leg. The calf was holding up though and despite a few pulls every now and then, there was nothing untoward and I was happy with how it was doing.
I felt good along the path towards Corra and I stretched out to see in what sort of shape I was after 2 weeks of forced rest. My breathing was actually not too bad but my legs were finding the going harder, especially in the thighs. I ran 3 kilometres at 3:55 pace before easing off towards Corra and dropping down to a more sedate 4:15 pace. I tried to maintain this pace up the hill to the Pavillon, running in 4:20 and then accelerating again to 4:13 then 4:08 back up to Le Mesnil.
We took a longer alternative route back home, running past the church in town before getting back in 1:04:45. I reckon that this equates to just under 1:03 over the usual route. 15.3 km all up or an average pace of 4:15 /km. Good to be back and although I didn't feel as fresh or as easy as I have been recently, I was pleased with this run as it shows I haven't lost too much pace.
