Corra

I've read Nico's report on our Saturday run to Corra and back and the truth needs to come out as his account is a pure tissue of lies.

Firstly, I had to wait for 5 minutes as usual for Nico to emerge from his pit. His conception of time is unfortunately for me based on another system. When we agree on 8:30 am to start, he works on some peculiar Chartres timescale and is systematically late. He emerged from his house looking as rough as ever. Apparently, he'd been on the tiles again and I had to coach him carefully over the first few kilometres just to avoid any nasty surprises from his well known dodgy stomach. For those of you who don't know Nico intimately, he has regular stomach upsets and doesn't know why this happens. I'm no doctor, but dear readers, I can now reveal the truth on this subject: alcohol. Years of substance abuse have left their toll on his fragile digestive system, reducing him to the near wreck that we now all recognise.

So having managed to run to the forest without Nico retching violently, we began to pick up speed. This acceleration was reinforced when he saw Laurence and Hélène in front of us. Unfortunately, substance abuse is not his only weakness and the sight of 2 female runners in front of us was enough to turn him crazy with a sudden rise of hormones fuelling his increase in pace. The fact that one of the ladies was my dearest wife did not calm him in the slightest.

After running alongside the ladies for a short while, I was able to encourage him to accelerate again and we returned to our marathon pace of just under 15 km/h along to Corra and around the pond. With my return to shape, I left Nico in the first climb back from the pond and he struggled in my wake, obviously disappointed with his performance. It was all I could do to stop him from walking at this point but we pushed on nevertheless. However, the situation did not improve and after Pavillon de la Muette, I had to feign an injury to reduce the pace without him feeling too conscious about his speed. We talked this through and he was quite visibly relieved to run at this reduced pace.

By the time we arrived back at the forest edge, he was tiring again so this time I stopped to retie my laces just to give him time to recover. We finished the 15km loop in 1:06 which was still very good going for someone in his state and we could possibly beat the record for the course in the near future if he's able to cope with his alcohol addiction.

Just remember that if you want the truth, it's on this site and you read it here.

Sunday club session

I trundled off to the club for the morning session by myself this morning since Laurence was running with a friend. The sun had finally decided to come out and the temperature was far cooler than Saturday, so much that I was quite looking forward to the prospect of an easy Sunday run through the forest with the other guys from the club. Nico had promised to turn up so it was a bit of a surprise to see that he wasn't there when I turned up. In fact, there was not a large turnout with about just over 20 runners present and about half of them women. I was just beginning to wonder if I wasn't better off running by myself when Nico turned up, looking as though he'd had a rough night and needed a couple of matches to keep his eyes open.

I had a quick chat with Simon and Alex then ran towards the front and saw Nico with Vincent. So there were definitely some runners who were going to push the pace at some point today and the session was improving greatly until Michel Z announced that we were heading towards Cora. I don't have anything against this little lake but I would have preferred some other destination for a change. We were running at a gentle pace with Vincent, Nico, Ephrem and myself at the front chatting about Vincent's forthcoming move to the States and the impact fast food would have on his running. It might have been gentle (5:00 / km) but we soon distanced the others so we stopped at the cabin in the forest as per usual. Our front running tactics apparently cut no ice with Michel Z and when they caught up here, they continued straight on without stopping. Michel Z was showing us in no uncertain terms that it was he who'd be leading the session today.

Michel stopped the group about 10 minutes later and instantly a row started with another runner telling him that this wasn't warm-up speed and that he was exhausting the group etc., etc. I almost felt sorry for Michel with the fierceness of the attack and would have stepped in to add my tuppence worth but it was Michel after all who can be so annoying... We carried on and then stopped 10 minutes later for a pee stop but nobody was interested now as we'd stoped earlier. Michel was taking no chances though in upsetting anyone else now. We started again and headed towards Pavillon de la Muette: Vincent, Nico and Ephrem accelerating away from the rest of the group. I wasn't going to run by myself with Michel so I put on a burst myself to catch them and we headed off towards Achère for our 10 minutes acceleration as planned.

Nico clearly fancied his chances here but I wasn't going to let him have it easy so we pushed the pace until we were striding at 3:37 pace and sped to 3:32 pace now before a little hesitation as to where the path should go and then back up to 3:40 pace. I felt good about myself as to be able to hang on and Nico was only a couple of metres ahead, there was virtually nothing in it. Ephrem and Vincent fell off the back with Vincent really struggling with the pace, showing his lack of training since the marathon back in spring. We ran back to Achères and the railway before cutting into the forest on the Poissy side and along the tracks running parallel to the main road. We slowed now for Vincent to keep up and then cut back towards Croix de Noailles before crossing back over the main road and along back to the club. We caught the rest of the group here and pushed the pace again to catch the front runners, running at 15km/h. I found this hard and let Nico and Ephrem go at this point before catching them again just before the sprint finish at 16 km/h.

18.25 km all up in 1:31 or an average of 5:00 per km and a total of 66 km for the week.

The best part of the morning was heading back to Nico's for breakfast with Laurence and being looked after by his charming wife. The idea of a dip in the pool was tempting but we'd cooled off after the run now and the temperature was not hot enough to entice this time. Good morning all round.

Cora nice and easy

This was the intention at least: to enjoy a pleasant run to Cora, chatting with Nico who I hadn't seen in a few weeks about our usual subjects: wine, women and song, not forgetting PSG's performance.

Nico is a great fan of PSG and highly enthusiastic now that the Qataris have finally injected some cash into the club and spent €85m on transfers to boost the level of players. He is expecting some quality football and a return to European competition, which, quite frankly, quality is not the first word that springs to mind when discussing football in the Paris region. He was very hopeful that the tide had turned and that PSG was now on the right track to becoming the great club it used to be (personally I wasn't born when this was the case and so I don't know which pre-war era he was referring to). Nevertheless, as we set out Saturday morning I detected a spring in his stride and some optimism that had been missing a long time from the young lad's face (*).

Having exhausted the subject of PSG, we talked about other subjects including upcoming races and most notably Paris-Versailles and Marseille-Cassis. I sense that Nico is very worried about the hills on both of these courses and feels that my recent stay in the Alps has boosted me tremendously and I'm once again a force to be reckoned with. He's right of course, but I didn't want to undermine his confidence further so I told him that he'd come good on the day - the hill for Paris-Versailles is only 2km long albeit with a 16% gradient, and the hill for Marseille-Cassis is slightly under 10km of ascent, so he should manage this if he abstains from sex, alcohol and late-night poker parties for the next few months... I can't say that he looked entirely enthusiastic about the prospect, in fact he turned slightly pale but this might have been since we increased the pace to around 4:20 per km at this point.

Nico managed to catch a breather when we bumped into Olivier out for a long training run before attacking the TDS at the end of the month. This race is over 110km with over 7000m of ascent. Olivier was looking fine and revealed his secret weapon when it comes to training for long trail runs : Sex Pistols at full volume on the iPod. Apparently your brain turns to mush after a few minutes and the pain is unnoticeable thereafter. Just remember that you heard it here first. We set off again and Nico struggled to Cora and then begged to slow the pace down before we attacked the uphill section back to Pavillon de la Muette. It was actually hard enough getting him this far since we crossed a particularly attractive female runner heading in the opposite direction on the way and it took all the strength I could muster to hold onto his 20 year old Champion vest and stop him from jogging after her. I have to admit that Nico had made a special effort in his attire this morning and must have asked Michel Z for some tips on finding the most attractive running gear on the market. I really appreciated the faded look of the formerly blue top which after successive washes in what must have been a sewage pit was now a very attractive shade of grey.

We managed to get to Pavillon de la Muette with Nico still breathing and when we attacked the next section of uphill, I pushed the pace slightly harder, basking in the glory of having Nico behind me, breathing very heavily down my neck in what can only be described as a pant. He was suffering and when I took pity on the poor lad and eased off the pace slightly, he responded by overtaking me and leaving me in his wake. No sense of dignity whatsoever. Anyway we finally left the forest and ran the last road section through Le Mesnil together with a quick sprint finish to end in a very respectable time.

15km all up in 1:05:36 or an average pace of 4:25. Not bad going.

(*) Footnote: PSG lost miserably in a 1-0 defeat to Lorient at home that evening. Another €85m well spent !!

Cora - recovery ?

The idea was to take it easy with Nico around the usual 15 km of the Cora loop to recover following yesterday's race and to prepare for my long run tomorrow. Since we were feeling extremely tired from the efforts of the race, we pushed the start time back from 8:00 am to 8:30 am!

When I got out of bed, I could feel the tension still in my right thigh from the race. This has been a constant problem since the London marathon and I'm considering a long massage to try and get rid of the problem once and for all. I left the house and saw Nico just emerging from his house at the same time. We set off easily, and it was a real pleasure: the sun was shining, the sky was blue and the temperature was only around 12°C following the recent drop as the high pressure has moved on slightly. The pace was very gentle and I was relieved that Nico was also keen to recover and not push the pace. How long would this last though ?

We entered the forest and ran downhill towards the end of Maisons Laffitte park. The initial pace was speeding up and by the time we had done 7 k we were now cruising at 4:15 per km, marathon pace. So much for a recovery ! We continued around Cora like this until I pointed out to Nico that this wasn't the recovery I'd imagined. He agreed to ease off the pace and we slowed dramatically to 4:32 for the next kilometre. Not quite the reduction in speed that I'd been imagining and what's worse was that we now hit the uphill back to Pavillon de la Muette and we carried on at 4:32 ! The good intentions were over and we ran the flat section by the Pavillon in 4:15 before slowing slightly back along the sandy paths through the forest uphill towards Le Mesnil.

It was a relief to leave these tracks and hit the tarmac to finish. Just to prove that I was capable of staying with my young friend, I chased him back home, completing the final kilometre at 3:56 pace.

15 km all up in 1:08:24 or an average of 4:35 per km. So much for the recovery. This will have to wait now until tomorrow where I intend to repeat last week's long run at a faster pace.

Cora with Nico

I'd organised to do the usual Cora run with Nico on Saturday morning. It was promising to be another beautiful day and so we left at 8:00am to avoid the worst of the heat.

We set off easily as there were no record attempts for the course today. I was trying out my new Nike Lunarglide 2 trainers, recommended by the chiropodist to avoid achilles tendon injuries. The first feelings were not brilliant. The shoes felt flat, not dynamic and despite the cushioning, I could feel the honeycomb structure at the front of the foot. Not good for the first impressions. It was definitely not love at first sight.

Nico and I ran easily, accelerating gradually around the course starting at 5:42 (!), 5:04 before speeding up to 4:30 pace. We managed to peak at 4:18 around Cora before slowing slightly back up the hill towrads home. Nico looked easy despite complaining about pains in his calf and thigh. My aches and pains were more in the left knee and ankle. This didn't stop us running well and managing the last kilometre in 3:51.

15km all up in 1:07:45 or an average of 4:33 per km. Nice run.

Cora alone

Just an easy run to Cora and back on Saturday morning to keep the legs turning over nicely. No buddies to run with so just planned on the gentlest of jogs.

Of course, it didn't really go as planned since it wasn't too warm, I felt really good, and I couldn't wait to get back for breakfast. Hit 4:30 pace after a couple of kilometres and just stayed there. Slowed down on the uphill on the way home to 4:40. 

Felt brilliant. In fact, so good that I took the long way home around the church in Le Mesnil.

15,4 km all up in 1:10 or an average of 4:32 per km.

Cora at speed

The gauntlet had been thrown, the challenge was public, the exploit had to be realised. Nico had announced that we were to beat the course record for the Saturday training run around Cora.

I slept badly. I knew it was going to be hard running around with Nico at close to 15 km/h and the prospect had the same effect on me as the thought of participating in a race. When I woke up it was yet another beautiful day and the temperature was already hovering around the 15°C mark. So not only was it going to be hard, it was going to be hot too. I went outside and waited for Nico.

Nico finally appeared a few minutes after the arranged time of 8:00am and claimed that he had been up since 7:30am. So what had he been doing geting up 15 minutes earlier than me and arriving 5 minutes later ? Obviously some secret preparation before the challenge and then when he does arrive, he's finishing some sort of energy gel just to ensure that he makes it to the finish line.

We set off from outside the house in order to validate the attempt on the record and I set off quickly, knowing that we needed to be well under 5 minutes for the first kilometre if we were going to have a reasonable chance. I think I took Nico by surprise as he struggled to remain in contact for the first kilometre which we ran in 4:08. After this it was into the woods and the pace picked up again in 4:01 then 3:59 for the next 2 kilometres. 

Nico was obviously already suffering at this point as he kept asking to slow down. I felt pretty good, well as good as could be expected at 15 km/h. The going was tough but it was bearable. I didn't want to upset Nico too much after this by telling him our kilometre splits as I could see he was suffering from the pace and he was unable to talk. We carried on until the far side of Cora at the same pace of between 4:00 and 4:09 per km.

I slowed down at this point as I was running out of energy. The lack of breakfast and proper sustenance was taking its toll and I had to ease off the pace. Nico, benefitting from the effects of his wonder gel, was still in good shape and capable of carrying on at the same pace. We slowed to 4:18 for this kilometre before hitting the uphill back to Pavillon de la Muette and our slowest kilometre around the course in 4:31. I picked up a little after the hill but it wasn't to last: 4:10 and then a series around 4:25 until we got back to Le Mesnil.

Highlight of the course was meeting my groupies out in the forest to encourage me on. Apparently, one of the comments made to Laurence by one of the other girls after seeing me was 'James wasn't smiling today'. I think that this just about sums it up! I struggled towards the end but knew that we had the record in the bag. A final acceleration through town and we finished in 1:02:29, a new record by over 1'30" for the course.

Nico looked easy and next time I'm having some of his magic gel before the run.

14.9 km all up in 1:02:29 for an average pace of 4:11 over the distance. Good going, but looking forward to next week when we can actually find enough breath to talk to each other.

Cora with Nico

The Saturday run to Cora has been a standard fixture in my running diary for some time. I used to run this with Nick and Andy on a regular basis starting at the beginning of 2009. It used to be my longest run of the week and a real pleasure to run with Nick and Andy as the pace was comfortable and we had a good chat about work, life, current events, etc. along the way. Unfortunately, neither Andy nor Nick are running now. Andy has stopped permanently after suffering from serious back problems and Nick has still not recovered from his running injuries. My new running companion for this weekly excursion is Nico.

We'd agreed on the 8:00 am start and I was pleased to see a nice blue sky when I woke up and a temperature that was far cooler than the last few days. I left the house and found Nico immediately outside, wearing his Niscayah team top and raring to go. We chatted about recent performances and other runners from the club and took the first kilometre fairly easily, running this in 5:07. We headed into the forest next and the pace quickened going from 4:36 to 4:15 or my marathon pace after a couple of kilometres. The quality of my conversation is inversely proportional to the pace I'm running and at this speed it's pretty much inexistent. Nico is still chatting away and I'm replying in grunts or vigourous nods of the head.

This is only the beginning though and as we get closer to Cora, there's another increase in pace and we're now running at 4:08 pace. I try telling Nico that I'm not comfortable at this pace and he replies that he isn't either; not because of any respiratory problems though but an excess of junk food on Friday is now weighing on his stomach. I'm secretly pleased at this announcement as it means he's going to have to do a Paula. My pain isn't over yet though as we complete the next kilometre around the lake in 4:01. We get to the uphill section, Nico slips off into the trees and I jog up to Pavillon de la Muette, extremely happy to be able to catch my breath back and ease off the pace. Almost 2 kilometres before he catches me again (6:13 and 5:47) and it's off at marathon pace once more.

Hold on, this isn't even marathon pace we're running. 4:05 and then 4:01 as we run uphill, through the sand of the forest track. Secretly I'm pleased at being able to hold the pace but physically it's beginning to show.

We complete the course on the tarmac of Le Mesnil's roads with the last kilometre in 3:59 just to show that we can. 15km all up in 1:07:55. This is a good time in any circumstances but with a couple of kilometres et 10km/h pace, this time is nothing short of miraculous. Nico announces that next week the record will fall. I just hope that I don't fall with it !

There's definitely a different quality to the Cora run nowadays. Whereas before I was relaxed and my partners would finish tired, the roles have now been completely inversed. Nick - please get well soon. I'm missing you !

Cora with Nico

8:00 am start this morning for an easy run to Cora and back with Nico. Woke up again nice and early and the weather is beautiful once more: beautiful blue sky, sun is already out and very pleasant.

We set off easily enough but as we run through the forest, I find that I'm struggling to keep up at 4:30 pace. Nico eases off to run with me and he looks easy while I'm feeling that I'm making a meal out of the whole affair. We run steadily now to the pond, chatting while we run. This is good as it helps keep my mind off how hard this all is.

As we run around the pond, we leave the shade of the forest and immediately the temperature rises by a couple of degrees. Memories of London come flooding back and I can feel the effort to keep up the pace. There is a pain in my left thigh as though I've been stabbed there. Laurence often complains about this after a race but this is the first time that I've felt this. Nevertheless, Nico shows no mercy and we maintain a sub 4:30 pace back to Le Mesnil. He's been suffering all week from what he considers to be disappointing performances in training and I'm sure that the fact that he can see me suffering is helping him mentally !

No records for the course as we finish in 1:08 for the 15km but I'm really glad to be back training. This was hard today and the sweat is already dripping from my head as I get back to the house. I check the thermometer and depsite the fact that it is only just after 9:00 am, the temperature has already risen to 19°C in the shade.

Cora with the boys

Nico asked if I was going ot Cora this Saturday and whether we could run together. Nice idea I thought. It's good to run with some company and Nico and I have a good chat together, talking about the club and what goes on and the forthcoming races etc. I receive a mail on Friday saying that Jean-Marc is coming along too. Now I know that I've been injured and made a fairly good recovery so far, the thought of running with Nico was fairly daunting but running with Jean-Marc is a step up again. It's an easy run James. Don't worry. They'll be taking it easy.

I left the house at 8:00am and Nico was ouside a couple of minutes after. Jean-Marc arrived, parked his car and we set off though Le Mesnil and up to the crossroads before heading off into the forest. The first kilometre was easy enough in 5:12 but as soon as we got into the forest, the pace heated up to 4:33 and it felt quick and then 4:23, 4:30, 4:27.

We left one part of the forest and crossed over the road and then down the wide path into the second section of forest that surrounds the Cora lake. Nico and Jean-Marc were increasing the pace gradually and I was just concentrating on not acting like somebody not able to keep up and clenching my teeth in the process. They looked easy; I didn't feel it. 4:03 and I thought that the Garmin had gone wrong. We were close to Cora now and I thought that we could ease the pace going around the lake. And we did: 4:14, 4:14, 4:11 and then up the hill to Pavillon de la Muette where I always slow down to accommodate for the hill. Well I slowed down but Jean-Marc and Nico didn't - 4:20.

This carried on to the end of the run when we hit the tarmac again and the roads back though Le Mesnil to the house. We finished at 3:47 pace and a total time of 1:04:25 or an average pace of 4:20 per km for the 15km. I was shattered but pleased to have made it around so fast. Nico and Jean-Marc both admitted to having felt a slight tiredness in their legs towards the end. But I think they were just being kind. I felt a large void where my lungs and heart were supposed to be, but it's improving. Gradually.

Cora again

I dropped Laurence off at school so that she could begin her trip with the class to Shanghai and drove to the running club to see who was interested in a long run.

Actually, not many people had turned out as several were running the 10km race at Aubergenville and a large part of the remainder will be running Paris marathon next weekend. Then as Thierry addressed everyone before setting off, I learnt that there were 2 options on offer: a 2h15 long run, or some 10km training for about 1h40. I volunteered to accompany the runners on the long run and found myself in a group with Jean-François, John, Jean-Michel, Brigitte, Jocelyn, Michèle and several other runners that I didn't recognise or know.

We set off through the forest to the cabin, a well-known reference point for many of the club's runs, and then the group split up into the long-runners and the 10k trainers. I ran with Jean-François and Michèle down to the bumps and then along the railway line before reaching Pavillon de la Muette. I then led our little group down back along the path that I'd taken yesterday with Laurence in the opposite direction down to Cora. We ran around the lake and then waited as the group met together again as we'd left some of the slower runners behind. I was then told by Franck that we hadn't followed the route as initially planned and my diagonal cut down to Cora had shortened the route (at least this allowed us to do a lap of Cora and meet up with the others without wasting any time).

We ran back along the proper paths to Pavillon de la Muette and back to the clubhouse, having run 23km in total. I'd been running at the front with Jean-François and I struggled towards the end to keep up. The weather was a lot cooler than yesterday and very overcast. Whatever the reason, I found it hard going and consoled myself with my mid-week runs. This consoling business is becoming a bit of a habit and I'll need to pull my finger out soon and get some real effort in!

Having got back to the clubhouse, I dropped the rucksack and my jacket and headed back out again to put in another 7 km or so to run more than 30km in preparation for London. I ran in the direction of St Germain terrasse and then decided to run the triathlon loop and finish at the swimming pool before heading back to the clubhouse. I picked the pace up slightly and was running around 4:40 per km now, as opposed to 5:00 - 5:20 with the group.

I got back to the club having run 30km exactly in 2:35 or an average of 5:10 per km. So no speed but some endurance training and a long slow run before London. I saw Nico, Jean-Marc, Jérémie and Gérald on the carpack as they'd just come back from Aubergenville. All had beaten their records with Nico running 36:10 and beating Mireille in the process by a second. Jean-Marc ran 34:29 or thereabouts with Jérémie only 30 seconds behind. Disappointed I wasn't there to take part but pleased for all of them on such fantatsic performances. Nico's time has me doubting now as to whether I'll be able to beat him over this sort of distance. I'll run this marathon and then start some more speed training to beat my own records.

Cora

Woke up to a beautiful spring day. The sun was shining brightly in a clear blue sky and the temperature had risen a good few degrees during the night to be around 15°C. Laurence and I had planned for a run to Cora and back before she heads off with the school to China tomorrow.

I ran with Laurence for 4 km until the entrnace to the main part of the forest and then ran on to Cora and around the lake before running back up the hill to meet Laurence at Pavillon de la Muette where she had run to by missing out the loop around the lake. Having run the first 4 kilometres at around 5:30 pace, I ran the next 7km at as close to marathon pace as I could manage. These kilometres went :

4:14, 4:17, 4:21, 4:19, 4:22, 4:36, 4:46

The second last kilometre was up the hill to the pavillon and the last as I met with Laurence and slowed down. If truth be told though, I was just not ready to run marathon pace today. The first kilometre at 4:14 tired me considerably and I slowed down deliberately in the second kilometre to catch my breath back. It was one of those days when you're just not ready to put everything into your training. I felt alright about this as it's been a busy week and I've worked hard during the evening sessions. I also feel good about treating the ecotrail as a long run and not such a hard race that I need to ease off the training severely to let my body recover. I'll make up for this tomorrow when I go training with the club.

Having met up with Laurence again, we ran back to Le Mesnil, on to the townhall and along the river and up the small hill to finish at the house. All of this was done at 5:30 pace again. Both Laurence and I were tired after the course so probably both need a little more sleep.

16.25km all up in 1:22. Fantastic day.

Bike and run

Laurence and I are running the half-marathon at Rambouillet together. It's official ! Offered to run with her last week and she hesitated as she wasn't sure if she could cope with the pressure of me running beside her for 21 kilometres. Finally, she accepted, knowing that I have no chance of beating any records and since I was already entered at least we would have the enjoyment of running together and I could be helpful at the feeding stations. So the challenge between Nico and myself is off for tomorrow and since there were no longer any real obstacles tos top me training the day before, I decided to go for a run to Cora this morning.

I told Laurence what I was preparing to do and she said that she could come with me on the bike as she was only looking to run about 5 km this morning. We hatched our idea of the bike and run then and there with me running the first 10km and then Laurence running the last 5km.

I got up this morning and first thing to do was to mend the bike. One snapped chain and a couple of flattish tyres later and I was in the basement putting Laurence's bike back together. That done, we set off. I felt fairly good but my ankle was telling me from the start that it hadn't had its usual 2 days rest. It didn't hurt but I could feel it pulling from soon after the start.

I had a great run nevertheless. I started easily running the first km in 4:52 and then gradually sped up to run the 4th km in 4:22 and then increase until I managed the 6th km in 4:08. I'd had it from here and slowed down slightly running the next 3 aroud 4:20 pace before easing off on the last kilometre to finish.

10km all up in 44:20. So not bad going. Ankle is not brill today though and hop it'll be feeling better by tomorrow. Next ESWT is Monday night so that will help.

Looking forward to running Rambouillet tomorrow. Shame Nico isn't feeling too well as I was sure he was going ot beat his record and aim for a sub 1:21. Laurence and I will be happy with a sub 1:45. We'll see how it goes...

Cora last week

I ran to Cora and back with Nico last Saturday and again I didn't post as it was a blow to me.

I was able to manage the pace, albeit a lot more exhausted on arrival back at the house than usual, but the pain in the achilles was a huge disappointment.

How can I express this ? It's not that it truly hurts when I run. I begin by feeling a slight tension in the left ankle. This tension builds and builds and feels like a large bruise at the base of the calf. The pain gradually increases and I know that I should stop to let my body recover, but I don't. I carry on as I'm determined to maintain my fitness, to keep up the mileage and to keep down my weight.

When I got back last Saturday though, I knew I'd gone too far and my ankle was sore all weekend. I put off my usual Monday run and delayed it until Tuesday to give me time to recover.

Basically, the ankle grates and grinds as I move my foot up and down and no amount of ice on the ankle will stop this. This feeling gradually disappears with time. After a standard run (7.5k) this takes a day. After Cora last weekend it took 2 days. I knew I wasn't improving and I needed further treatment if I was to get rid of this burden.

It was great to run with Nico but the disappointment was ovewhelming hence my silence. So why am I writing again ... this will take another posting by itself.

New Year's Day

Laurence and I got up relatively early (9:00am) despite having made it to bed at 3:00am after a good evening out to welcome in the New Year. Le Mesnil le Roi made it into the national news too when 3000 ravers descended on the town for a New Year's party in the maze of underground passages dug out by the Germans in the second World War under the town. They were stopped by the firemen since the generators they were using were creating high levels of carbon monoxide in the tunnels. almost had a disaster on our hands. As we drove back from our evening out, we came through town and have never seen so many people before. The police had already arrived by then and there were a few arrests for drunk and disorderly acts.

So, we set off early-ish the next morning and passed the remnants of the disbanded rave party as they began to head home. We picked up Brigitte and I ran the first 4 kilometres with Brigitte and Laurence at an easy pace towards Cora. I left them after this start with the intention of running around Cora, while they were to cut back up to Pavillon de la Muette, thereby cutting out 2km of the course, and I would catch them after this.

I set off at a nice trot, mainly to impress the girls, and covered the next few kilometres at marathon pace: 4:18, 4:11, 4:09, 4:06. I then ran into (literally) Sylvie, one of the best V2 (50-60 category) runners in the area, who ran the next 2.5km with me as I tried to catch up with Laurence and Brigitte. We ran these in 4:12, 4:15 and 4:10 which was quite impressive since this includes the long uphill section to Pavillon de la Muette. I often see Sylvie training early in the morning in Maisons Laffitte so it was nice to catch up with her and to have a chat together. I finally caught Laurence and Brigitte just after this section and we ran the last 5.5km home together.

Nice day. Not too cold but still larges patches of snow left in the forest which was surprising since all the snow around the roads has long since disappeared.

16.6km all up in 1:23 or an average of 5:03 per km.

Cora slush

The snow and ice had virtually disappeared and the temperature had risen to 5°C to almost autumnal conditions rather than the severe winter weather we've been experiencing lately. I decided to celebrate by putting on a pair of shorts and leaving the running tights in the drawer.

Nick still being injured and Nico racing in a cross-country tomorrow, I decided to set out on the Cora run by myself and to enjoy the peace and quiet of the forest first thing in the morning. I left the house with Laurence and then ran on, leaving her to go for her run with a friend. I set off very easily and then as soon as I got into the forest, I picked up the pace. The tracks were very soft with the remainder of the snow melting rapidly, leaving large pools of slush lying around. I couldn't avoid all of these and very soon my feet were soggy from my trainers having absorbed a jug of water in each shoe.

After that first kilometre, my pace had already increased to around 14km/h with each kilometre being covered in around 4:25. When I saw that I'd managed to complete the 4th km in 4:17, I pushed on still, trying to catch an old man on a bike and completing the 5th km in 4:03. I eased off from then on but still managed to run each kilometre in 4:20 or under. I definitely had the energy for the run despite the ground conditions.

Nothing remarkable to report on the way back. Not many people were around in the forest this morning and I only spotted a couple of runners. Made it back to the house in 1:07 which is probably one of the fastest times I've done over this course, especially since I took the long way back through Le Mesnil along Ave Pasteur.

15.2 km all up in 1:07 or ana average of 4:27 per km. Lovely morning and great run.

Snow season

Laurence doesn't work on Mondays. No, let me correct that: Laurence doesn't go to school on Mondays but spends her time preparing lessons for the week and correcting homework. I had a day off and to make the most of my day off I decided to spend it with my wife while the kids were at school.

So what better way to spend a whole day with your beloved than starting by going for a run ? We planned a nice little saunter out to Cora and back along the wall to Maisons Laffitte down by the castle and home. A 20 km saunter to be precise. Having planned all of this, we almost changed our minds when we woke up this morning and saw a nice 5cm of snow that had arrived during the night. The thermometer was showing -1°C and it was looking decidely cold. However, being the determined folks that we are, and a plan being a plan, we wrapped up warmly and went out.

We set off slowly and headed into the forest. The forest was absolutely stunning with a light sprinkling of snow covering all of the trees and the paths. There was a distinctive silence as we ran with the surrounding snow absorbing the noise of the few roads, traffic or even the occasional pedestrians out walking their dogs or exercising. It felt as if Christmas had arrived early and we ran down to Cora at a very steady pace of about 5:25 per km.

Laurence was running really well and looked comfortable at this, her marathon pace. But, she told me that we needed to ease up as the initial schedule had been to run at around 6' per km pace. We slowed at Cora to 5:35 pace but this was as far as we went and we both carried on back from Cora along the old wall through some of the most isolated part of the forest back towards Maisons Laffitte. The conditions were ideal with the snow but no wind and the forest was fresh and crisp around us. It looked just like a Christmas card as we ran and I wouldn't have been surprised to see deer and robins appear. All we managed were a couple of squirrels though !

Ran back into Maisons Laffitte and then down Avenue Albine towards the castle where we managed our fastest kilometre at 5:18 pace. This was good going after 90 minutes of running in our legs already. Back along the Seine to finish in 1:54.

20.3 km all up in 1:54 or 5:38 average. Nice meal in St Germain at a new Italian restaurant to celebrate. What a great day off.

Cora and back

It was a miserable day today. One of those autumn days where it feels as though the sun hasn't yet risen and the light is somewhere between dawn and daylight. Not just that it was dark and bleak, but just as I stepped out ot go for my morning run, it decided to rain too. Not a heavy rain, just a mild drizzle to begin with and then it became more sustained.

It had been a general call-out to the usual suspects but only Nico was in a state fit to run. Nick is injured with lumbago, Didier was stuck in Frankfurt airport on his way back from Hong Kong, and Paul was ... God knows where Paul was but he wasn't answering his e-mails.

Nico and I set out at 8:30 along the usual route. It was the usual route for me at least but the first time that Nico had run this route with me. I set out at the usual pace, starting slowly to begin with leaving Le Mesnil and then speeding up to around 4:30 pace. Nico is unused to training at this pace and we eased off as we approached Cora, admittedly we'd sped up unwittingly to 4:25 pace and neither of us was comfortable.

My overall feeling was that my cold that has now been with me for 2 weeks is still present and caused me to cough while I was running. My legs still haven't recovered from the marathon and I felt the bottom of my thighs ache from about 8km onwards. We finished the 15km in 1:09 which is on par for the usual route but I felt tired towards the end and recently this course at this pace has been a breeze.

So, in summary, good run with great company and we had a good chat all the way round. We had a good discussion as to our views on the lovelife of several members of the club which is always fun. We bumped into Hélène and Brigitte on the way back and they congratulated me (and Laurence) on our performance in Toulouse which was lovely. Nico asked me if I'd specially prepared my fan club to be waiting in the forest like that, but I think that this was just jealousy! Don't know if I'm ready for a race tomorrow even if it is a club event but I'll give it a try as I've my place as first vet to defend. Legs are still not fully recovered for the marathon though and that's a cert.

Cora and back again

Well, despite Nick and my attempts to get a band of running brothers to join us for this morning's jog to Cora and back, once again we were left to ourselves. The excuses are getting worse and worse: Paul was home alone, Andy is still disabled with a bad back, Nico is running a race tomorrow and Didier had a meeting with a banker... pathetic ! This last excuse is especially poor, since Didier spends all week with bankers. Why on earth he wants to meet them at the weekend too is beyond me.

Nick and I had a good run to Cora, setting off easily enough and chatting to each other before the chatting become quieter and quieter and we were at 4:20 pace. Having noticed this appearing on the Garmin, I asked Nick if he was easy at this pace because I certainly wasn't. He replied that he thought that with my marathon training, that 4:20 pace was now a natural easy pace! I'm a long way off this yet so we slowed down immediately.

The rest of the run was run between 4:35 and 4:45 pace, slowing down slightly for the uphill sections. It was a really fantastic morning with a temperature around 14°C and clear blue skies. It couldn't have been more ideal for running.

I dropped Nick at his house and was running home to finish the 15k circuit in 1:11 when I saw Laurence and Paul heading off up Rue de La Marne at the start of Paul's weekly run to chateau du Val and back. Paul beckoned for me to join him so we all ran together into the forest.

This is Paul's 4th run since he's started his weekly commitment to run 7km around Chateau du Val to keep fit. We ran the first kilometre in 6:00 this morning which is already a vast improvement on the first couple of times I'd run with him. He looked a lot fresher and easier and we carried on into the forest where he ran the following kilometres slightly faster at around 5:50 pace. He didn't get a stitch this time and was motivated to beat his record of 44:26 for the course.

We were well ahead of schedule with 2km to go and he sped up from there on to the finish. There was even a sprint finish to complete in 40:01 so we were all really pleased with this result. A new record for him.

I completed my run then of 21.5km in 1:48. Not bad for an easy Saturday run. I'll run with the club tomorrow for my long Sunday run. Lovely day afterwards with an easy lunch on the patio and temperatures in the mid 20°s C. Good start to the weekend.

Saturday run

The usual run to Cora again today with Nick for company. All our other running mates were busy, injured or away. It was nice to just chat to Nick easily and we ran easily at 4:40 pace to begin with, building to 4:30 pace by the time we got to Cora.

It was a warm morning, with a temperature hovering around 16°C. It also looked very dark and the risk of a sudden downpour was high. Both Nick and I had donned set seather gear to begin with but when the rain didn't materialise, we stripped these off as it was too warm. This may explain why I found the pace so tiring, but more likely are the late nights, lack of sleep, and high mileage I've been racking up lately.

Still the run was mostly uneventful until we crossed the railway line on the way home, after Pavillon de la Muette. I went to take a small path to the left and put my foot on a length of kerbing, only to find it slide away from under me and finding myself falling. I put out my hands to break my fall but I rolled over a couple of times before I came to a stop. Nothing hurt, except for the jarring in my neck which was not the ideal way to deal with my current problems here. Nick was impressed and after checking if I was alright mentioned how the fall was quite spectacular.

No more mishaps after this. 15km all up in 1:11 or an average pace of 4:46 per km.