Houilles - 6.9 km popular race

There are 2 races at Houilles, the last 'corrida' or town centre race to finish the calendar year in France each year. The most important of these is the 10km race, open to registered club athletes and providing a spectacle for both those participating and those watching from the sidelines. This year was no exception with 10 runners finishing under 29' and a sprint to separate the first 3 runners who cross the line within 2 seconds of each other.

This year however, I had decided to enter the popular race over 2 laps of the same circuit as the 10km race. Paul, my son and my brother and nephew, over from Australia also decided to run so we set up a little France v. Australia challenge to spice up the event. A quick warm-up and then we were down to the start line where I struggled to get a decent position. I was a good 10 - 12 rows back from the start with probably 400 hundred runners ahead of me. The streets around Houilles are narrow and I knew that the first kilometre would be difficult.

The gun went and we were off. Well almost. I shuffled forward for a few seconds before I crossed the start line and only then was I able to break into a jog. The next 500m were spent slaloming through the crowds with some other club runners who were obviously in the same situation as myself. I saw the split for the first kilometre - 3:59 ! I was only just managing marathon speed for a 7 km race.

As the runners spread out over the next couple of kilometres I was able to accelerate but I couldn't maintain either my motivation for the race, or my pace for that matter. The splits went as follows:

3:59, 3:28, 3:37, 3:40, 3:44, 3:42 and 3:34 pace to finish.

I was disappointed with myself as I couldn't bring myself to run faster and to push the pace or my heartrate any higher. I ran faster splits at Andrésy which was almost twice this distance. I finished the race and saw Jahom (or Philippe) who blogs regularly and who I follow. He ran a good 30 seconds faster than me to finish 8 places ahead and I spoke to congratulate him on his run and to tell him face to face that a sub 3 hour marathon was surely on the cards.

For the record, Australia won the challenge easily with my nephew running just under 2 minutes slower than me followed by my brother another 2 minutes behind and then Paul who ran 9 minutes less than me but off no training whatsoever. Paul and I need to improve by 3 minutes to beat them next time around.

Some photos of the race:

Running with Paul

Went for an easy run Satruday morning with Paul and Laurence to chateau du Val and back.

Paul had decided that he was not going to enjoy it today and made a fuss about the whole affair. We ended up running the first kilometre at a reasonable pace (5:40) and then it went fast downhill from then on. Finished the circuit in 47:28 or an average speed of 6:37 per km.

It's terrible to see the impact of your mind on your capability to run. Once he'd decided that it was too much of an effort and that he wasn't motivated, he just gave up mentally and didn't want to make an effort.

Disappointing run for him. I was not bothered as I was running a race that evening and didn't want to push hard in any case.

Slothful Saturday

Just a short run with Nick this morning as he's taking part in the Ekiden tomorrow at Taverny (together with Nico who'll be running in the Senior team). We jsut ran into the forest towards Cora and then turned back after about 3km.

We pushed the pace uphill along the forest path in order to get a bit of speed in before Nick's race tomorrow. I felt good all of the way around.

After I got back, Laurence and I accompanied Paul on his run to Chateau du Val and back. Paul is running better and better and every week he is showing some improvement. Today he ran the first kilometre up the hill in Le Mesnil in 5:42 and then ran the next kilometre at exactly the same speed. He sped up slightly for the third as the path flattened out and then descended slightly and slowed to 5:40 for the uphill section of the 4th kilometre.

I told him at this point that he was going to beat his record and I could see that he was concentrating on maintaining the pace and had a look of determination to beat the 40 minute barrier for the course (7.2km). We ran back into Le Mesnil and back along the road to finish. This was the only point in the course that he ran slower than last week (5:02 v. 4:50 a week ago) which also showed that his speed had been steadier and that he was tired to finish. No sprint this week at the end but a good time of 39:03 or an average of 5:30 per km. Good to see such an improvement and really pleased for him. If he continues to improve at this rate, he'll be leaving Laurence behind soon and me next ;o)

15km all up in 1:18. Very easy going today.

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.

Accompanying Paul

Went out with Paul this evening to accompany him on his weekly run to Chateau du Val and back.

He wasn't eager to go and tried to get out of it but I was having none of this. It started badly but by the end he was running more steadily and more relaxed than he has on either of the previous 2 occasions.

7.2km all up in 45:08 or 6:19 per km average.

Just under 80km running this week plus a triathlon so not bad despite my missing 2 runs mid-week.

Triathlon de St Germain

There was no escaping this triathlon. We'd signed up again but it was hard work to get up early this morning, to get out of the house and to take part. I wasn't really over my neck problem either and it wasn't the most sensible idea to go diving into a lukewarm swimming pool at 8:30 am in the morning.

However, there we were again and plenty of participants organised into 2 teams from Le Mesnil. I was in the English team composed of Nick, Paul, me, Sophie and Axel; and there was a second team made up of Didier, Eric, Patrick, Laurence and Pierre-Henri. Didier had done all the organising and everything was ready when we arrived at the pool.

After a quick warm-up in the pool, about 150 athletes waited in the water for the gun to be fired. We were off and the water went white with thrashing of arms and legs. I had a few blows from feet and arms in the head and torso and my googles were hit causing me to go sightless in one eye as they filled with water. An order was then created based on the speed of the different swimmers and I settled down into a steady rhythm, abandoning front-crawl for breaststroke despite the neck pain that this caused.

I thought that I was swimming at roughly the same speed as Nick until the guy I had mistaken him for dropped half a length. I climbed out of the pool to see Nick already changing into his cycling gear. We exchanged a couple of words and he was off outside, 30 seconds later I left to see that he'd already disappeared and that I was chasing again. I was on my old bike so that I could benefit from lighter weight and not need SPD shoes. The saddle was too low though and I lost some time from not being able to use more leverage on the pedals. I was relatively steady, but it was still a relief after 20k when I could leave the bike and start running.

As I had entered the bike park, I'd seen Nick leaving on the other side for his run. He had almost exactly the same start on me as last year when he beat me overall by 50m. This was my chance to see if I could run faster this year, and catch him before the end. I set off feeling good in my legs and running at around 14km/h (an estimate since I didn't have a watch to check speed or pace). I picked up speed as my legs got used to the run from the bike and I started catching other athletes and overtaking them.

When I reached the last hill alongside St Germain terrace, I could see Nick now about 100m ahead and I concentrated on catching the runners between him and me and chasing him down. I knew that there was about 500m to go when we left the terrace wall and he was about 25m ahead. He saw me on the last corner as he looked around going past, and I made an enormous effort to catch him and another runner from Houilles. As I drew alongside, he asked if we were going to sprint to the end or finish together. I didn't fancy a sprint to the line now and I was pleased at the idea of finishing together so that's what we did, crossing the line in 1:18:43.

Didier had finished ahead and his bike training paid off as he gained 2.5 minutes on us. Paul finished about 6 minutes behind and Laurence just after Paul in 1:27.

Laurence did a fantastic job finishing as 3rd woman and 2nd veteran overall. I was happier with her performance than my own as both Nick and I completed a minute slower than a year ago. Race didn't do any good to my neck and lack of sleep was a factor too. Still it was good to see everyone taking part and hopefully we'll have an even bigger team next year.

Sunday recovery

My obligation once per week is to run with Paul to make up for the lack of sport he doesn't do at school.

Chateau du Val again today and I was pleased to do a run with him if only to run at a 6 - 6:30 pace to recover from yesterday's race.

He beat his record set last week, finishing the 7.2km run in 44:26. Pleased to get out and finish the week with an easy run. Missed running with the club though but I'll try and go with them next weekend.

95km all up this week. 5 weeks to go to the marathon.

Chateau du Val

I came back from the race this morning knowing that I still had another 7 km to run with my son Paul. Since he refuses to sign up for any sport at school, his commitment is to run once a week with his parents (either me or Laurence) over a 7.2km course.

Paul and I set off at a steady pace (6:20 per km) and the objective was to get him to the end without stopping and not completely disgusted by the whole idea of running. He was very consistent in his pace at around 6:30 / km and we finished the Chateau du Val loop in 45:02. Good warm-down for me bringing my total kilometres for the week to 95km. Great marathon training.

Paris XIV - 10 km

Some times things don't always go the way you want them too.

I don't want to make excuses for today's result but I'm asking myself what went wrong today during the race.

Nick and Paul picked me up at 8:00 am this morning to go to Paris for the race. Things got very serious first thing as Paul proposed that we competed against each other using our PB's as the basis for the handicap. The loser was to pay for the coffees for the others at the end of the race. I knew that I wasn't on top form and that my PB was unlikely to fall today, but I'd been telling myself that with the club training sessions, I should be looking for a sub 38 minute time.

We arrived with 40 minutes to spare before the start and the organisation was as good as last year: the race numbers were easy to obtain, the changing facilities excellent, lockers for the bags, etc. We did a short warm-up and then lined up at the start which is the worst part of this race. The start is fairly narrow and we were already situated a good 6 rows back from the front. I warned that the start would be a bit of a scramble and some slaloming would be necessary. The gun went off and we surged forward. There was a little elbowing and a little forcing necessary but overall I wasn't hampered too much. By the first kilometre mark, there were no longer any crowd problems and we'd settled into a good rhythm. I went through the kilometre in 3:44 so I was spot on schedule, especially due to the density and the time necessary to cross the start line.

I settled into my stride and the second kilometre went well too: 3:38. The course is slightly downhill over these first 3 kilometres so this was no real surprise. The surprise was that the 3rd kilometre split on the Garmin was out: 3:54 but the autolap went well after the road-marking (about 60m out). I thought nothing of it and tried to concentrate on the sensations instead.

Just before 4 km there is the first little uphill which I tried to push on concentrating on some of the other runners around me now. This then eases before a slight uphill over the next kilometre bringing you around to complete the first loop. I was overtaken by a woman at this point who had an easy running style and was trying to catch another male runner from her club. I tried to latch on to her but I lost the willpower and mentally my race was shot from here on in.

She only made a few metres on me at first but I couldn't (or didn't have the energy) to pull her back. The gap then grew and I started going backwards. This is always my weakest point in the 10km races at about the 6-7 km markers. From 8 km onwards, I know that the end is approaching and I can manage to concentrate on the pace again. This just didn't happen today. I was overtaken by runners and I lacked the motivation to keep up with them by putting in any effort. I think that I'm still not fully recovered from my succession of colds and am lacking stamina to finish my races correctly.

The Garmin shows clearly that I slowed down at this point running a few kilometres in 3:59 - 4:01 times. I lost interest here and just wanted it to be over. At 9.5 km around one of the last bends before getting to the finsihing town square, I was overtaken by a group of 6/7 runners. What was going on? It was another woman being encouraged by a group of men around her! I maintained my speed and finished the course in 38:30.

I just had time to pick up my goodies bag when I saw Nick arriving. He'd finished in 38:51 beating his personal best in the process. This was an excellent result considering the course is not one of the fastest, it was slightly cold at 3.5°C and there was a nasty headwind in some sections. I was really pleased for him. He hadn't seen me ahead of him, having lost me after the first kilometre but he was within shouting distance of beating me today. Paul finished just afterwards in 41:14, so 1:15 down on his PB. He bought the coffees.

My conclusion: need to build up the weekly mileage again; concentrate on the quality sessions and push these; ease off on the races until the semi in Rambouillet; get more swimming into my weekly routine and lose 3 kgs. It's as easy as that !

Oh yeah, I almost forgot: the first woman who passed me finished in 37:41. I would have been happy with that. Can't help but think about what might have been.