Long Sunday run

Having accompanied the girls in their marathon training session yesterday, I decided that it would be nice to take part in François marathon training session today which comprised of a long run with 3 x 20' intervals at marathon pace. It was the occasion to do a long run and compared to the 80km of the Ecotrail, this was virtually a sprint, no?

We set off from the club and headed down towards the Seine at Le Pecq where we figured we would meet up with the girls who were doing their own long run along the banks of the river. We ran along the terrasse at St Germain before heading down to the river and finally catching the girls there. We were a small group with François, Wilfried, Bruno, Charles, Philippe and Bertrand. At Le Pecq we began the first interval and although I had initially intended to run with François, seeing Wilfried just ahead was too much of a temptation and I ran with him. This was my first mistake.

I find at the moment that I'm able to run 4:15 /km comfortably without undue exertion. This is 3 hour marathon pace and the speed that François had set himself for the intervals today. Wilfired is training for a 2:48 marathon and was therefore running his intervals at 15km/h or 4:00/ km. This may not seem much of a difference but believe me I felt it. I was happy to end the first interval after 20 minutes and when we turned to run back towards the others they were nowhere in sight. It took us 3 minutes running back along the river to catch them.

The second interval I eased off slightly letting Wilfried do all the hard work and towed along behind him. We average about 4:08 / km now and I was sweating heavily and feeling the tiredness in my legs. I'm sure that this is not advised as part of the recovery process one week after an ultra-trail. I was grateful when we finished this interval and had rounded the half way point at Rueil and were heading back along the other bank of the river now. Hold on, François indicated that for the last interval we were to run back to the girls and then back along the same side of the river so as not to put too much distance between us before accompanying them back to the cars. We were already over 15km now and I could see a 30km run on the cards. This is not what the doctor ordered and I was worried about my state. Needless to say that after 10 minutes when we caught up with the group of women again, I threw in the towel and ran with them. Enough was enough and I wasn't prepared to kill myself in training at the moment with no defined objective in place.

I ran back easily with the women to the car and then lay down sunning myself as they carried on to run the prescribed time (2:10). I'd already run for almost 2:30 by this time and 31 kilometres. That was more than sufficient for the day. An average pace of 4:46 wasn't bad going and I was happy with the result despite feeling the familiar pains in my thighs.

A call from Nico woke me from my sunbathing to tell me that he'd not managed to beat 35 minutes for the 10km in Houilles (36:39). I could tell that he was disappointed with his race but the last few days training and probably been excessive in the build-up.

Sunday run

For this first official Sunday run of the marathon training programme, I decided to run with Nico and to do some specific marathon training rather than running with the club and doing some specific 10km training. The idea was to run for 2 hours today at an easy pace so that the max HR remained around 70%.

When I woke up this morning with Laurence who was heading out earlier with some girlfriends, the weather was clearly not on our side. What has recently been sunshine and temperatures in the 20°C, was returning to traditional autumnal weather with some drizzle and heavy cloud cover. I put on an extra layer with my Gore waterproof top and half-filled a camelbak with some orange/water mix and a couple of chocolate bars in case energy levels ran low. The discussion as to where we were heading had already taken place and we were heading up to Princess Road and the long climb up before heading back left and back through St Germain.

We set off at a very easy pace completing the first kilometre in 5:24 and then sped up running the next just under 5 minutes, before falling into a steady rhythm at around 4:35 per kilometre. We chatted easily and the comparison with yesterday where we were unable to talk to each other with the effort was flagrant. The first difficulties came at the foot of Princess Road, where there is a 2.5km pull uphill until the crossroads at the top. I fell in just behind Nico and was happy to see the first kilometre uphill in 4:57 and then the second in a record 4:43! I knew we were pushing the pace because I was already hurting when we got to the top.

The road flattens out along the top and we fell back into our cruising pace immediately. I caught my breath back now and with plenty of other runners along the route, the temptation to catch and overtake them was just too great and we sped up again first to 4:20 pace before the main road and then around 4:05 pace along the road. It was now Nico's turn to hit a harder patch and he dropped off the pace slightly while he had a gel and some water. Taking on water while running at pace is some marathon training that he has yet to master and after recovering from a quick coughing fit, he accelerated again and ran alongside me.

It was the usual coast down the hill into St Germain and we went under 4:00 minutes here for a couple of kilometres before the big hill by the Musée de la Prieuré stopped me in my tracks and left me gasping with our last over 5 minute kilometre (just) for the day. Nico took the pace now and we ran through town and then back through the forest at 3 hour marathon speed, covering the half-marathon in 1:36 and then running all kilometres from here on in in 4:15 or under.

Even the last kilometre where Nico called time-out to recover before we got back home was covered in 4:31 showing that there was clearly energy left in both of us. Another great run proving the shape we're in at the moment and my last pleasant surprise was to see that I weighed under 75kg on the scales back at home, which hasn't happened since the beginning of the year. Things are definitely looking promising.

27.25 km all up in 2:02 or an average of 4:29 per km.

LSR - and I mean slow !

Something went wrong today. It was not immediately obvious but not everything clicked into place as I wanted. I'm not able to identify the causes either. Was it yesterday's run and trying to do too much, too soon? Was it due to the excess of alcohol with Laurence, Dad and Liz last night? Was it due to the lack of sleep accumulated during the week and the stress of work at the moment ? Whatever the reason, it didn't feel good and all the recent enthusiasm I've been having with the improvements in my training on the track went right out of the window.

I've got a couple of races coming up very soon: the 10km on Friday evening and then the 58 km trail in Brittany in June. I reckoned I needed to get some distance in for the trail and I was quite happy to run the long course around Feucherolles and St Nom la Breteche for a little over 30km to put some distance training in.

I filled up the camelbak and set off running the first kilometre in 5:11 into the forest. I increased the pace very gradually to run each kilometre in 4:50 after 5km. I wasn't able to increase the pace but I wasn't too bothered to begin with as I was focusing on completing the circuit in good conditions. By the time I got to the top of Princess Road after 11km, I was still feeling fairly fresh, if unable to go any faster. It was peculiar the feeling that I still had energy, but I wasn't able to summon any to increase my speed and I stopped looking at the Garmin at this point and just concentrated on maintaining a steady pace.

The highlight of the circuit was going through Feucherolles and seeing the end of the 24 hour running race: 24h des Yvelines.The runners looked surprisingly spritely and fresh despite the 24 hours on their feet, running around a 1600 metre circuit in the St Gemme quarter of Feucherolles (the winner managed to run 217km in this time or 135 loops of the circuit!). I pushed on and ran back into St Nom la Breteche and back up the hill towards St Germain. This was the killer for me and by the time I got to the top, I was exhausted and my energy drained from me. I was just looking to finish now. My fastest kilometre was in 4:18 downhill into St Germain whereas I normally run this in 3:50 or thereabouts.

I ran/walked quickly up the hill into St Germain and then limped home the last 7 or 8 kilometres. It was not impressive and I felt that not only had I not managed to run steadily, I hadn't managed to run reasonably at any point. It can only get better.

I ran the 33.5 in 2:44 which is my slowest time ever for this course and 17 minutes slower than my record. Average speed of 4:57 over the distance. Will try again next Sunday. Hopefully, it'll be a lot better.

Sunday club session

Sunday already and Laurence and I headed off to the club for our 9:00 am rendez-vous with Miguel and the other runners not taking part in any of the various events around the area this morning. It was a cold morning again with the temperature just hovering around the freezing point. There was no wind and no snow had fallen during the night.

I wrapped up warmly with 3 layers on top, ready for the warm-up session rather than the intervals themselves. When we got to the club, there was a good turnout despite the number of local races and Laurence was happy to find a number of fellow female fun-runners (couldn't find an appropriate noun with 'f' - any suggestions ?) with whom she could natter during her session and I saw Nico, Thierry, José, Bruno, Vincent and Anis. A 5x5' session had been planned off a 2'30" recovery so with these running companions, it didn't look as though I be doing much talking for my intervals.

We ran down to a section of forest near Poissy known as Les Mouchoirs. Didn't see many handkerchiefs hanging around so no idea why this is named like this. Anyway, I was surprised to see that we managed to make it in the first place since Michel was leading the way and as usual he tried to take the most complicated, tortuous route possible but luckily for the group, his sadistic unconsciousness failed to surprise any victims today.

We set off on the first interval and I took the lead. Not that I am the fastest amongst the group but nobody else seemed willing to make the pace. So, despite the fact that I didn't have the faintest idea of where I was supposed to be going, I led the first interval with Nico just on my shoulder. I took the wrong turning at the end, but since we were just about to complete the first 5 minutes this didn't really matter. Flushed with success after this first interval, I took off in the lead again for the second, but quickly let Thierry past to lead since he knew where he was going. Nico and I hung on to him closely and we let Anis come past, running a good kilometre per hour faster than us, another league entirely.

The third interval went well too with me leading for the first 3 minutes and then Anis coming past initially closely followed by Nico. I let them go as I was beginning to tire slightly, which in retrospect, is my biggest mistake in that I am not ready mentally to make the effort when it counts. We finished this interval with Vincent and José just behind me with Bruno just after them. The fourth interval was the hardest as I entered the red zone and could feel my legs tiring, especially after yesterday's hills. We took a wrong turn near the start of the interval and then had to chase hard to go past the rest of the group and get to the front again. I trailed Anis, Nico, José by a long way and just concentrated on staying with Vincent, catching him at the end of the interval with Miguel just on my shoulder.

Disappointing last interval as we took the wrong path again and ended up running along the disused railway track, and then walking, scrambling a section to get back on the right track. All in all a good session, and feeling the effort in my legs at the end. Nico is still a level above in terms of speed on these intervals, and I came away telling myself that I need to push myself harder still. I always try and keep a little in reserve, instead of just going all out and not thinking about what will happen next.

15km all up in 1:26 with the intervals run at around 3:50 pace. Only 51km this week in 4 sessions so it has been a light week in terms of mileage.

Long Sunday

The Sunday training plan for the club stated that a 1:40 training run with 3x12' intervals was on the cards. I decided to run over to the club to add a few extra kilometres and then run back at the end in order to put in a good long run this Sunday.

I ran over to the club and spoke to Laurence who'd arrived in the car. It was at this point that Miguel announced that 2 sessions were on: the initial 1:40 run and a marathon training session of 2:40 with 4x20 minutes off 4' rest. I chose the latter and ran off, leaving Laurence for the first session and headed off with Thierry, Fabrice and Bruno B. We met up with José, Nathaniel and others at the Lycee Horticole after a 3km warm-up to get there.

We all ran to the top of Princess Road and instead of turning right to go to St Gemme, we turned left to take the long way round to get there. We started the first interval and I ran with Nathaniel just behind Thierry and José at around 4:05 pace. I felt really good, despite the tiredness of the week and I found the pace fairly comfortable.

The second interval was into St Gemme and I was running by myself now, behind the same 2 in front and just ahead of Fabrice and Bruno. I finished this interval and I definitely didn't feel as fresh as the start. No, I definitely felt knackered already. I'd been averaging 3:57 per km over this interval, admittedly mostly downhill. I wasn't looking forward to the next interval as we had to run uphill through St Nom la Breteche now.

My worst fears were confirmed as both Fabrice and Bruno came past me on the uphill section through the town. I felt like giving up but as soon as the road flattened out and we were heading back to St Gemme through the forest my feelings came back and I caught back up with them both. I ran just behind them for a while catching my breath back and then I pushed on past them. We were running at 4:08 per km pace now and I was shattered. I didn't know how I was going to manage the last interval. My legs were very heavy now, but my breathing was still relatively fine.

Another 4 minutes rest and we were off on the last interval. Hell on earth. I'd already run about 28km now and I was wondering how on earth I was going to get home. We were heading back to the top of Princess Road and it's precisely 11km back home from here. If I couldn't find a lift back, I was on for a 44km run. This weighed heavily on my mind, plus my heavy legs and my heavy breathing, all of this made the going hard. I concentrated on staying ahead of Fabrice and Bruno. At this point José pulled up and started walking with an Achilles problem. I carried on and was relieved to begin the downhill down Princess Road and finally stop. I'd managed the session depsite the mileage in my legs and I'd stayed ahead of Fabrice on every interval. I was pleased and confident in my running at the moment. A good marathon performance is definitely on the cards if I can hold my body together.

Garmin ran out before the end of the run, but I'd already clocked 33 km when the battery gave out. Around 40 km all up in just over 3 hours. Definitely a long Sunday run.

Oh and the really good news: Laurence picked me up from the club at the end of the run. I was on my knees by now and my knight in shining armour showed up! Best part of the run.

Long Sunday Run - LSR

This was to be the last long Sunday run before the taper for the marathon in 2 weeks time. I was really looking forward to it, a nice long run before 2 weeks rest. The normal route was planned over 33 km, and this too meant that I'd be running over 100k in 7 consecutive days.

We woke late since we been out at F-X's last night. We had a great evening where we talked about running and eaten and drunk well. Especially drunk: the Bollinger, the Puligny Montrachet, and the Moulis all went down very easily. The Aloxe Corton was frankly unnecesary, but we drank it all the same ! As a result, it was almost 9:00am when we woke and the thought of going for a long run was slightly less appealing than it had been yesterday. We headed out nonetheless.

I set out with Laurence beside me on the bike. It was very regular for the first 8 km when I was within 2 seconds of 4:30 per km for each kilometre. I slowed down going up Princess Road and it was there that we ran into (almost literally) the club doing some hill training. Most of the runners were there: Jean-Marc leading José, Nico and Régis. Bruno trailing a little behind. Miguel was training the group and he greeted us as we went past. I pushed harder to finish the hill and then it was a right turn towards St Gemme and the prettiest part of the route through the forest.

The forest is magnificent at the moment with the trees taking on their autumn colours. It was nice to run through this part of the forest when the sun was out, the temperature mild and the wind not to blustery. I sped up a little here completing the kilometres in around 4:20. It was only after St Gemme that we were more exposed to the wind and the going got tougher. Laurence was struggling too at this point. She had a bad stomach and being bent over on the bike wasn't helping. In fact, after St Nom on the road to St Germain, I actually wondered if she hadn't had an accident or had to do a "Paula". I was feeling relatively fresh here and my pace improved again as a consequence. I was running at 4:10 pace and then to 3:50 down the hill into St Germain. These sensations continued as far as the forest towards Le Mesnil and it was only at the 30 km mark that I began to lose energy.

This morning when we left, we had run out of isotonic solution, so I watered down some orange juice and put this in the Camelbak. I now know for sure that orange juice is not half as efficient as Decathlon's powder for maintaining energy while exercising. The last 3 km was an effort and I could feel my reserves depleting with every step I took.

A relief to finally arrive home and look forward to the taper over the next couple of weeks. 33.5km in 2:27:25 or an average pace of 4:24 per km. I'm better prepared than I've ever been for the marathon, and if I don't achieve my objectives this time around, I'll frankly be very disappointed.

LSR - Long struggle of a run

Guilt - it is the only explanation. Guilt, my guilt, is perhaps not the main cause for my suffering this morning but it is definitely one of the causal factors.

The long run for the week is always on Sunday and for a few weeks now I've been running the same route from Le Mesnil out through the forest, past St Germain, up the Princess Road to Feucherolles, back down to St Nom la Breteche and then back through St Germain, through the forest and home. It's a pleasant route with a mixture of trails and road sections, uphills and downhills and some lovely scenery in places. Nick was starting the run with me again this morning, with the intention of runing 25k, while I was running the full circuit of 33k.

So what went wrong ? Well, things got off to a bad start due to my guilt. Laurence normally accompanies me on these long runs on her bike and she carries the isotonic solution in the rucksack. I seriously messed up yesterday and she wasn't coming with me this morning. So what was all the guilt about ? I ran to Cora yesterday with Andy and when I got back, Laurence wasn't in the house. She had gone on a long run with a friend with the intention of running 30k, so I wasn't to expect her back for 3 hours. I got back to the house and decided that I really fancied some croissants and pain au chocolats with some fresh bread. I jumped in the car and bought 3 of each for myself and the 2 boys. I didn't buy one for Laurence. How could I be so stupid ? I assumed that since she would be back from her run just before lunch that she wouldn't want a croissant and that lunch would suffice. Big mistake. Laurence loves croissants and she would have liked nothing more than to have been welcomed back with a nice cup of tea and a croissant. As it was, she had neither and I was in big trouble. Hence, my start this morning with the rucksack on my back and a litre of isotonic solution inside. Laurence stayed in bed.

It was tough from the start. I met Nick and Anne (on her bike - Nick doesn't make mistakes about croissants apparently!) and we ran together through the forest and up the Princess Road. We got to the top of the Princess Road (11k) in 55 minutes this morning, compared to 52 minutes last week. I felt that I'd been holding Nick up all the way along. He was running very well and appeared to have lots of energy. I didn't.

We carried on along the top towards Feucherolles and then Nick and Anne turned off left to get back to St Germain the short route whereas I continued on to Feucherolles. We were running at 4:30 pace now and I didn't improve on this pace for the rest of the run. What a difference to last week when I was running 4:10 pace over this section. The route continued and I continued to suffer along with it. I was sore in my shoulders from the sack, tired in my legs and the motivation was lacking. I couldn't figure out what had gone wrong since 7 days ago when I had energy abounding.

I managed to carry on all the way around the course without walking although the temptation was great in places. As soon as there was a rise in the road, I would suffer and the tempo would slow from 4:30 pace to 5:00 pace. It was a real relief to get past St Germain and back into the forest for the last 5 km. I could see the finish now, the end to my suffering.

I completed the 33.6 km in 2:38 or an average of 4:42 per km. I put all of this suffering down to the guilt, or at least having ot carry the rucksack all the way around. I'm sorry love. It won't happen again.

LSR - Feucherolles

It was the first time in a few weeks that I have not had a race organised and was able to go for a long steady run on Sunday. I was really looking forward to it as I believe that so much of my recent improvement is due to this weekly run and the associated increase in mileage. I can't say that I was frustrated by the recent week's races but I did feel that I'd been missing out on a vital part of my training programme. My intentions to go out after the races and to run a few more miles all came to naught, as I was either too tired, or too hurt to get out.

Today was different: back to the long loop through St Germain to Feucherolles, back through St Nom la Breteche and St Germain to home. I had asked Nick if he wanted to come along for his long run too, but he only had enough time to fit in a 22km run today, so we agreed that we would run the first 11 km together before he turned back. Laurence was accompanying us with the isotonic drink solution on her bike.

As we set out, we appreciated the beautiful clear blue sky with not a cloud in sight. There was a slight breeze which turned into a definite wind a little later on but we were protected by the forest and didn't really notice this to begin with. The temperature was warmer than of late as it was almost 15°C, similar to the 18°C that we had last night at dusk. Nick and I ran slowly to begin with as we warmed up the first couple of kilometres were at 5:15 then 4:47 pace. We then settled into a pace around 4:40 per km which we kept up until the hill behind the lycée horticole, a 2 km slog uphill where we slowed to 5:11 then 4:56 for these 2k.

We said goodbye to Nick at this point, after 11km which we had covered in 52:48 or an average of 4:48 per km. He turned back down the hill and I carried on with Laurence along the flat in the direction of Feucherolles. I picked the pace up here, telling myself that I would run for 30 minutes, or 7 km at marathon pace, just for training purposes. I felt really good along here, as I still had plenty of energy, having started the run at a moderate pace. In fact, I averaged these next 8 km at 4:08 per km until I reached St Nom and the hill up out of the town. I slowed down a little here, before speeding back up once I got to the top of the hill. I had run these last 11km since leaving Nick in 46:30 or an average of 4:14 per km.

The run along the plateau above St Nom is beside the main road. The great advantage of this section is that there is a wide cycle path just beside the road so you get the benefits of a smooth main road, without the exhaust fumes of the traffic. On a Sunday morning, this road is also fairly quiet, so the traffic noise isn't an issue. I sped up again here running at 4:09 along the flat and then 3:59, 3:48 and 3:52 down the hill into St Germain. I was still feeling fresh and had energy left at this point. I was pleased by this as on my previous runs around this course, I was always shattered by this point. I crossed the main road into St Germain and then negotiated the steepest hill of the course, slowing to a fast walking pace as I struggled the 300m to the top. This takes a lot out of me and my pace dropped to 4:54 then 4:35 as I recovered after this section.

I left St Germain and ran through the forest back home, happy to be heading back and thinking of the nice cup of tea that would be made shortly. In fact, these last 11 km were also run in 46:30 or 4:14 per km. So I managed 22km at marathon pace. I should be able to manage my first marathon in 5 weeks time in under 3 hours barring a major disaster.

33.38 km in 2:27:33 or an average of 4:25 per km overall. Great run and pleased with my progress. All bodes well for La Rochelle on November 29.

Tired Sunday

I got up this morning with the alarm to go for the Sunday run at the usual time of 9:15. Laurence was coming along too as her knee joint is improving and she wanted to try a 40 minute run in the forest with Anne. I'd promised Nick I'd be there having let him down last weekend when the tiredness was just too much ...

I ran up to the meeting point at the church and bumped into Nick and Anne on the way. They were jogging slowly and so we agreed that today would be a rest day and that we wouldn't push the pace. These plans were short-lived as when we got to the church, we saw Philippe looking in fine form and eager to stretch his muscles after a week off.
Le Mesnil le Roi Church

In fact, there was quite a good turnout as Pierre-Henry, Jean-Jacques and Isabelle had come along too. We set off slowly enough and then most of the group left us in order to run the short loop, whereas Nick, Philippe and I carried on, following the longer loop paths. We were running fairly easily, but as expected it was too easy for Philippe and so he started pushing the pace. We quickly went from running 6:00 per km to 4:49 and then 4:16. To cap it all, we caught up with the others and put on a further burst of speed just to impress them. The Garmin shows that I managed to reach 16.3 km/h at this point. I pulled ahead of Philippe and managed to tire him out. He's got clear potential to be a very good runner, but off a training base of one run per week, he lacks the endurance and stamina to maintain the pace over the distance. He's also a front runner, rather like me, and when you come past him, he quickly loses the will-power to put in the effort to keep up.

We stopped and waited for the others at the barrier and then started again slowly with them. The second half of the course was a replay of the first. Having overtaken the others along a long flat section, there was a slight downhill and Philippe pushed the pace again. I kept up and put on a little more pressure and we dropped Nick in the process. Philippe tired and dropped back and next time I looked behind me, there was only Nick. We ran in together at a reasonably fast pace at just under 15km/h. Philippe finished a couple of minutes afterwards but if he upped his training, he'd be able to beat me no problem. I'm trying to convince him to do a little more and then try and get him to join the club.

Good run overall but not the rest I had intended. Wondering whether to go out tomorrow now, but it's already been 4 days on the trot. Starting to feel good again and I'd like to keep this up.

12km all up in 56:55. Average of 4:46 with a max at 16.7 km/h. So much for a rest !

Sunday run

Another lovely morning, and it was a real pleasure to go out and run with the group in the forest from Le Mesnil. Laurence was accompanying on the bike this morning, as her knee problem has not improved. She's forcing herself to rest,but like all runners deprived of their daily dose, she's suffering from withdrawal symptoms and going cold turkey. Life alongside her isn't always easy.


There was a fairly good turnout this morning with Ralph, Louise, Pierre-Henry, Sophie, Philippe, Yann and Thierry. I set off with Philippe at a steady pace thinking that we were the only two that would be running around the full course, but Yann followed so we slowed down so as not to lose him. I haven't run with Philippe in a while and he's improved tremendously. If he carries on at this rate, it won't be long before I'm struggling behind him to keep up. We ran with Yann until a kilometre before the barrier and then stretched out to about 16 km/h (3:45 pace) to reach the barrier. Philippe struggled at this point, but since he only runs once a week, this is not surprising. I told him how much faster and stronger he would be if he ran even 3 times a week - great potential.


We went back to run with the girls at this point and then set off again faster over the second half of the course. Philippe was determined to catch the other blokes who hadn't stopped half way and he pushed the pace faster than I (or my legs) were inclined. Managed the 11.5 km in 55:00, so an average of 12.5 km/h.


The others stoped after this loop, but determined to increase my mileage, I set off with Laurence on another loop at a faster, more regular pace. It was hard work and the last few days had taken their toll, but I was running at between 4:20 - 4:30 per km, finishing down the road in a last kilometre of 3:58.


All up in 23.9 km in 1:52 or an average of 4:42 per km. Great run on a lovely day.


Some photos of the trail from Friday (thanks to Christèle). Laurence looking good despite the knee.

Sunday club run

Nick was busy at home, entertaining this weekend so I decided that rather than go running with the usual crowd from the Church at Mesnil le Roi, I would head off for a longer Sunday run with the club. Pay-back time for "moi-je.com" will have to wait until another day.

It was a busy weekend and when I turned up at the clubhouse this morning, it took me all of 5 minutes to greet everyone. The training session planned was a threshold session of 14 mins , 12 mins, 10 mins effort off 3 minutes recovery. The idea was to run out to the Golfclub at Joyenval, and the are known as the Retz desert (le désert de Retz) to run these intervals.

Plenty of competition to maintain the pace this morning: Thierry, Fred, Yannick, Jean-Marc, Bruno, Adrien, Philippe amongst others. We set off and arrived at the golfclub after about 30 minutes of warm-up and then began the first interval. Jean-Marc, Fred and Thierry set off easily enough but as I joined them they pulled away again leaving a small gap that I couldn't close. We ran up through the forest and up some hills, bringing back fresh memories of Friday's fell race and my legs slowed instinctively. There's a lovely track through the forest near the top that contours around that I've often cycled along and I followed the others with some distance along this path.

Disaster struck at the end of the path when I reached a crossroads and couldn't see which way the group had turned. Yannick caught up at this point and he pushed ahead with Adrien on his tail. A few minutes later and it became obvious that there were no other runners along this path and so at the end of the first interval, we pulled together the remainder of the group, about 10 of us and back-tracked. We went down the hill this time and turned right under the motorway and the second interval was then a little marred by dead-ends on the path and numerous U-turns. Maggy wouldn't have approved.

It was only then that I understood that they were trying to find there way back to the golf-club and the start. I'd assumed, naively, that the others in the group knew where they were going and I just followed blindly. For the last interval, I led for the first 6 minutes until we hit the right path but as Adrien and then Bruno went past, I couldn't summon the energy of the willpower to push on and follow and so the ended up 30 metres ahead by the end.

Last interval was run at a steady 16km/h which I found heavy going. Met up with all of the group again by the end, more by luck than judgement, and jogged back to the clubhouse.

18 km all up in 1:39. Average of 5:30 per km. Nice long run with some good hills. Photo as promised of my feet. Please don't examine if you're squeamish !!

Sunday club run

Despite the dire weather forecasts we've been listening to over the last few days, the rain continued to hold off and the Sunday run was all the more enjoyable for that.

I went to the club this morning in order to run with some company although the turnout for today, with 2 main races taking place, wasn't as high as I'd expected. Still Mireille was there so we were able to chat about the marathon. She didn't realise at all that I was there at 35 km onwards as she was also in her "bubble" by then. She was thrilled with her time and to go under the 3 hour barrier and this will entitle her to an "elite" bib in next year's race. She was ecstatic about being able to start with the Kenyans, although perfectly realistic in that she won't be with them for long !

16 km was planned for today and no specific exercises over the course, just an easy jogging pace. We certainly set off easily enough with the crowd of about 25 runners jogging at 6:15 to 6:30 pace. I chatted to Franck who also ran at Paris and finished in 3:46, just 1 minute ahead of me. He told me how he was disappointed not to have spotted me so that we could finish together. This morning, after 30 minutes we stoped and met up with Thierry and the group split up into 2: one, with the slightly faster crowd, eager to cover slightly more distance at a faster pace; and the others intent on carrying out the initial plan.

The pace picked up from then on and we ran the remainder between 4:50 to 5:15. A nice steady pace to relax after my last 2 day's runs. I could feel the tiredness in my legs and the pulling in my left thigh. This was a nice reminder of the mileage I've put in recently and it didn't stop me chatting with the others as we ran along.

Talk was generally about marathons and the ideal race for the Autumn. The consensus was for La Rochelle as it's cooler and a flat course that is very well organised. Looks like our minds have been made up as Laurence arrived at the same conclusion.

18 km all up in 1:37 or an average of 5:28 per km. Very easy and steady. Just what the doctor ordered.

Sunday run

Back down to earth today, or at least a lot closer to sea level.

We met up at the church as usual, but we were far fewer than the usual crowd due to the holidays. Nick, Anne, Laurence and I set off on our standard Sunday run through the forest next to Le Mesnil on a damp Spring morning. The forest had changed completely since the last time we had been running: the leaves were fresh and green and the undergrowth seemed to have thickened considerably (much the same as the green stuff that covers our supposed 'lawn').

We took it easy for the first half of the course chatting about how much weight we'd put on over the last week (1.5 kg) despite our daily skiing. At the barrier, reached in around 23:30, we turned back and caught up with the girls before continuing the second half of the course at a faster pace.

We managed to pick up speed to 4:08 per kilometre before easing off slightly and finishing at around 4:30 pace.

Nice run in the drizzle to get back into the old routine. 13.8 km all up in 1:08.

Long Sunday run

The bible said: "Thou shalt run for 1 hour at a steady pace and then thou shalt speed up a little to marathon pace before slowing down again to run for a total of 1hour 40 minutes". James did as God did command and he saw that this was good.

Well, in actual fact, it didn't feel quite as good as the above would have you believe. I ran the first loop of the usual Sunday course with Nick and Philippe. Nick was complaining of having nothing left in his legs (all down to the beer I think, but don't tell Anne as it was a bone of contention between them already when we met up first thing) and Philippe was champing at the bit, asking what pace we were running at. I just took it comfortably for the first lap going around the course at a 4:40 pace on average. We sped up a little towards the end, to keep Philippe happy mainly, but it was a pleasant run, if a little cold when the wind picked up in places.

The second lap, I was supposed to put in the famous marathon pace effort for 3 kilometres. I set off after 14 kilometres and then managed to push the pace to 4:07, 4:14 and 4:11 for the next 3. My target marathon pace is 4:16 in order to achieve a 3 hour marathon, but I'm aiming at 4:10 pace just to maintain a small safety margin. Those 3 kilometres today were hard to achieve and I fully appreciated the effort that will be involved on race day. The following 2 were managed in 5:04 and 4:50 as I recovered and then I was back down to 4:35 where I feel comfortable.

All up 24 km in 1:52 so an average of around 4:42. I was pleased and it ends a good week of training where I have managed to cover 84 kilometres. I am convinced that the objective is achievable and that the training programme is appropriate. Time will tell.

Running religion

Usual Sunday route with Paul and Nick and the ladies this morning. Nice running through the forest in the snow with some pants on underneath the tracksuit trousers to avoid any thermal incidents today. Laurence and Anne ran 2 loops for their marathon training and as Paul asked, we felt no guilt at all in heading for home after one loop ourselves.

As we jogged home, we passed some friends with their families all dressed up smartly in several layers on their way to church.

Paul commented on their diligence in getting all togged up just to head to Church. I pointed out that our own efforts in going out on Sunday morning where almost as ridiculous. Running is our own religion where we beg forgiveness for our sins in eating and drinking too much throughout the rest of the week. We go running on Sunday and don't feel half as bad afterwards as we tuck into a good, solid breakfast and then Sunday lunch later on.

As a religion, it's far more direct and immediate than heading off to a place of worship for ultimate forgiveness in the afterlife.