First one, a photo of the team from St Germain with Mustapha (1st), Anis (4th), Ilyes, Eric, Nico and me last of the 6th but in 18th position. The standard is definitely increasing within the club !
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Showing posts with label Orgerus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Orgerus. Show all posts
6 June 2012
Photos
Just a couple of photos taken at the races recently in Orgerus.
First one, a photo of the team from St Germain with Mustapha (1st), Anis (4th), Ilyes, Eric, Nico and me last of the 6th but in 18th position. The standard is definitely increasing within the club !
A nice photo of Sandra, Katia and Laurence after the race, cramming in the calories to recover!
First one, a photo of the team from St Germain with Mustapha (1st), Anis (4th), Ilyes, Eric, Nico and me last of the 6th but in 18th position. The standard is definitely increasing within the club !
3 June 2012
Orgerus - 15 km
My prayers had been answered. God exists.
It rained last night. It rained and rained and rained and then it rained some more. When we went to bed last night it was 21°C and we left the window open all evening. When we got up it was 16°C and a lot fresher in the atmosphere. The one downside was that with the window open, the sound of the rain had kept me awake most of the night and I'd slept quite fitfully. The whiskies, wine and cider after our evening out hadn't helped either and I was definitely a little rough around the edges when I woke up this morning. Still given a choice of running in 24°C, which has been the average temperature recently and 16°C, I would chose the latter anyday.
We drove to Orgerus with Nico and Ilyes and met up with François, Katia, Pascal and Sandra before heading off all together for a warm-up around the start of the course. It was fairly ideal conditions with a cool temperature but a stiff breeze that might prove to be difficult to manage on some of the more exposed parts of the course. As we warmed up, we noticed some of the other good runners taking part. Already from our club we had Mustapha, Anis, Ilyes, Nico and Eric - it didn't look as though I would be even part of the first 5 members of the club home.
I lined up at the start with Nico and Fleg who suggested that we run together. I didn't know what sort of shape he was in in but I thought that we would be closely matched. The gun went and it was soon obvious that I wouldn't be able to stay close to Nico today. He was running well ahead and was just behind Eric on the initial downhill section of the course. I ran with Fleg and we shouted out 3:30 as we went through the first kilometre. After 1.5km we head right and start up a muddy track and I picked up a few places here and felt very good in my legs. I saw that I had closed on Nico and Eric and I began to feel that perhaps if I maintained this pace that I would be in for a shouting chance at the finish.
Unfortunately, all too soon I was running by myself. I stuck with a runner for a while but he moved ahead and I saw him catch Eric who'd now been left behind by Nico.
The kilometres went by as follows:
3:31, 3:45, 3:53, 3:46, 3:47, 3:48, 3:59, 3:57, 3:53, 3:53, 3:50, 3:52, 3:53, 3:50, 3:38
I tired at the half-way point as the continuous hills took their toll and I began to look over my shoulder just before 10km to see where Fleg was behind me. There was a good gap at 10km but this had narrowed rapidly by 12km and I was convinced that the group of 4 runners that he was with would catch me and overtake me. I prepared myself for the worst but it never happened and I was able to maintain a pace to hold them off.
I could see Nico and Eric in front all of the way around but they never came back to me and Nico, particularly, ran a great race finishing 2 minutes ahead of me in 55:41 while I crossed the line in 57:39, my best time ever for the course. Fleg finished only 12 seconds behind so I was grateful that I had the energy and guts to push until the end.
François had a good race beating Jean-François home with Pascal finishing not too long afterwards. I ran back to see how the women were doing and Katia beat Sandra in a final sprint to finish in 1:11:24 and 1:11:25 with Laurence finishing 30 seconds behind in 1:11:53.
Pleased with the run overall as I felt good at the start if a little drained by the finish in the legs from Les Clayes on Friday and lack of sleep. I checked some previous year's results and saw that I beat Eric's times from 2 and 3 years ago so I can still hope to improve in the next couple of years.
It rained last night. It rained and rained and rained and then it rained some more. When we went to bed last night it was 21°C and we left the window open all evening. When we got up it was 16°C and a lot fresher in the atmosphere. The one downside was that with the window open, the sound of the rain had kept me awake most of the night and I'd slept quite fitfully. The whiskies, wine and cider after our evening out hadn't helped either and I was definitely a little rough around the edges when I woke up this morning. Still given a choice of running in 24°C, which has been the average temperature recently and 16°C, I would chose the latter anyday.
We drove to Orgerus with Nico and Ilyes and met up with François, Katia, Pascal and Sandra before heading off all together for a warm-up around the start of the course. It was fairly ideal conditions with a cool temperature but a stiff breeze that might prove to be difficult to manage on some of the more exposed parts of the course. As we warmed up, we noticed some of the other good runners taking part. Already from our club we had Mustapha, Anis, Ilyes, Nico and Eric - it didn't look as though I would be even part of the first 5 members of the club home.
I lined up at the start with Nico and Fleg who suggested that we run together. I didn't know what sort of shape he was in in but I thought that we would be closely matched. The gun went and it was soon obvious that I wouldn't be able to stay close to Nico today. He was running well ahead and was just behind Eric on the initial downhill section of the course. I ran with Fleg and we shouted out 3:30 as we went through the first kilometre. After 1.5km we head right and start up a muddy track and I picked up a few places here and felt very good in my legs. I saw that I had closed on Nico and Eric and I began to feel that perhaps if I maintained this pace that I would be in for a shouting chance at the finish.
Unfortunately, all too soon I was running by myself. I stuck with a runner for a while but he moved ahead and I saw him catch Eric who'd now been left behind by Nico.
The kilometres went by as follows:
3:31, 3:45, 3:53, 3:46, 3:47, 3:48, 3:59, 3:57, 3:53, 3:53, 3:50, 3:52, 3:53, 3:50, 3:38
I tired at the half-way point as the continuous hills took their toll and I began to look over my shoulder just before 10km to see where Fleg was behind me. There was a good gap at 10km but this had narrowed rapidly by 12km and I was convinced that the group of 4 runners that he was with would catch me and overtake me. I prepared myself for the worst but it never happened and I was able to maintain a pace to hold them off.
I could see Nico and Eric in front all of the way around but they never came back to me and Nico, particularly, ran a great race finishing 2 minutes ahead of me in 55:41 while I crossed the line in 57:39, my best time ever for the course. Fleg finished only 12 seconds behind so I was grateful that I had the energy and guts to push until the end.
François had a good race beating Jean-François home with Pascal finishing not too long afterwards. I ran back to see how the women were doing and Katia beat Sandra in a final sprint to finish in 1:11:24 and 1:11:25 with Laurence finishing 30 seconds behind in 1:11:53.
Pleased with the run overall as I felt good at the start if a little drained by the finish in the legs from Les Clayes on Friday and lack of sleep. I checked some previous year's results and saw that I beat Eric's times from 2 and 3 years ago so I can still hope to improve in the next couple of years.
7 June 2009
Orgerus
Nick and I had decided that we would run Orgerus this weekend, after Nick's disappointment with La Pastourelle and my objective to beat the hour over a 15 km course.
My training during the week had left me feeling that I was capable of beating my goal over the course despite my quick research on the web with runners saying that the course was not the flattest in the area. We arrived in this little village in the south of the Yvelines well in advance of the start and we picked up our numbers and had a quick warm-up around some of the little roads in the area.
The weather was perfect, with the temperature around 13°C and some sunshine in between the high clouds. We lined up for the start facing down the slight hill that we would set off down for the first kilometre. I told myself that I had to control my start in order to run as consistently as possible over the course. The whistle went and we were off down the hill. It was a dense pack and I had to be careful to avoid other runners feet over the first 500 metres. This then thinned out and I found myself in the first 40 runners. I could see Miguel, Thierry and Jean-Marc ahead at this point and then we turned right and started running uphill. I passed a group of around 10 runners at this point as I felt strong on the hill (probably improving from La Pastourelle) and then reached a no-mans land point where I was on my own. This didn't last long as I was joined by another runner at this point and we set a steady pace together.
The first 5 kilometres went by easily enough in 3:44, 3:57, 3:57, 3:57, 3:58. This was despite the rises in the terrain. My partner would push the downhills and leave me slightly and I would push the uphills, giving him some food for thought.
At 6 km we passed another lone runner who he obviously knew from Issou and he made some remark about too many races to him. I still felt good but I could feel my legs now and was starting to tire a little. The undulating countryside, although very pretty, was tough going and I knew that last weekend's efforts were having an impact.
We stayed together, just the two of us, maintaining the rhythm: 3:45, 4:01, 4:02, 3:54, 4:06.
We went through the 10km marker in 39:43 and I knew that I didn't have much room for manoeuvre in slowing the pace. My only consolation was that I had looked at the map of the course with Nick prior to starting and knew that the last few kilometres were mostly downhill.
I began to tire considerably now and mentally I was strained. As if he could hear my thoughts, my partner took off at 12km, leaving more more vulnerable than ever. I could see him catch one, then two runners ahead of us, while hearing others catch me up behind. I had nothing left to give and was just counting down the minutes to the arrival. 2 km - 8 minutes to go; 6 minutes to go - OK it's just like an interval session, 1km - 4 minutes to go.
I hit the outskirts of the village and gave it my last. The end was in sight and my objective too. I pushed on and managed a semi sprint finish (19.2 km/h according to the Garmin) to end the agony in 59:45. Too tired to celebrate, I just collapsed in a corner, recovering with my head in my hands.
Nick finished a couple of minutes later in 1:02:30, pleased with his time too. Really pleased now that I've done it, but it was a real effort and bloody hard work.
Finished in 27th place and 11th veteran. Will post a link to the results when they're out.
My training during the week had left me feeling that I was capable of beating my goal over the course despite my quick research on the web with runners saying that the course was not the flattest in the area. We arrived in this little village in the south of the Yvelines well in advance of the start and we picked up our numbers and had a quick warm-up around some of the little roads in the area.
The weather was perfect, with the temperature around 13°C and some sunshine in between the high clouds. We lined up for the start facing down the slight hill that we would set off down for the first kilometre. I told myself that I had to control my start in order to run as consistently as possible over the course. The whistle went and we were off down the hill. It was a dense pack and I had to be careful to avoid other runners feet over the first 500 metres. This then thinned out and I found myself in the first 40 runners. I could see Miguel, Thierry and Jean-Marc ahead at this point and then we turned right and started running uphill. I passed a group of around 10 runners at this point as I felt strong on the hill (probably improving from La Pastourelle) and then reached a no-mans land point where I was on my own. This didn't last long as I was joined by another runner at this point and we set a steady pace together.
The first 5 kilometres went by easily enough in 3:44, 3:57, 3:57, 3:57, 3:58. This was despite the rises in the terrain. My partner would push the downhills and leave me slightly and I would push the uphills, giving him some food for thought.
At 6 km we passed another lone runner who he obviously knew from Issou and he made some remark about too many races to him. I still felt good but I could feel my legs now and was starting to tire a little. The undulating countryside, although very pretty, was tough going and I knew that last weekend's efforts were having an impact.
We stayed together, just the two of us, maintaining the rhythm: 3:45, 4:01, 4:02, 3:54, 4:06.
We went through the 10km marker in 39:43 and I knew that I didn't have much room for manoeuvre in slowing the pace. My only consolation was that I had looked at the map of the course with Nick prior to starting and knew that the last few kilometres were mostly downhill.
I began to tire considerably now and mentally I was strained. As if he could hear my thoughts, my partner took off at 12km, leaving more more vulnerable than ever. I could see him catch one, then two runners ahead of us, while hearing others catch me up behind. I had nothing left to give and was just counting down the minutes to the arrival. 2 km - 8 minutes to go; 6 minutes to go - OK it's just like an interval session, 1km - 4 minutes to go.
I hit the outskirts of the village and gave it my last. The end was in sight and my objective too. I pushed on and managed a semi sprint finish (19.2 km/h according to the Garmin) to end the agony in 59:45. Too tired to celebrate, I just collapsed in a corner, recovering with my head in my hands.
Nick finished a couple of minutes later in 1:02:30, pleased with his time too. Really pleased now that I've done it, but it was a real effort and bloody hard work.
Finished in 27th place and 11th veteran. Will post a link to the results when they're out.
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