Back to Dardilly

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.

Dardilly

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.

Lyon morning run

I was on business in Lyon this week and staying at a hotel in the north of the city. I set the alarm for 6:00 am but when it rang I was still so tired that I was in half a mind to get back into bed. It was only the thought that I hadn't been running for 3 days that bossted me out of bed, into my running kit and out of the hotel.

It was raining outside and dark. As usual when staying in a new hotel, I didn't have a clue as to which direction to take and I decided just to fall the main street as it was lit, the traffic wasn't too heavy and at least I wouldn't get lost. I'd been at the Mercure hotel in Chabonnières-les-Bains which was towards the north of Lyon and seeing a roadsign towards Roanne, away from Lyon, I thought that this would be a quieter route for an early morning run.

The main street soon turned into a main road and I discovered that I was running along the Nationale 7, one of the oldest and most important main roads in France, linking Paris to Lyon and the south. I was running without my Garmin, since I'd left that acciedntally back at home, and all I had was a normal watch with the time. I headed into Salvagny la Tour and ran through this little town while the traders were preparing their stalls for the market. It was fairly hilly around the area and I struggled uphill and coasted down.

I turned back on the far side of Salvagny and ran back the way I'd come as the rain fell heavier and the dawn broke. Faster run back to the hotel and 11.7km all up in 53 minutes. Approximate pace of 4:30 / km over the distance.