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:

And the winners are ...

A photo of the sprint finish yesterday with these 2 (Imane Merga just finishing by a whisker in front of Micah Kogo) finishing the race in 27:47 and 27:48, beating the course record in the process by a few seconds. When I weigh the same amount as these 2, I might be able to challenge them (or not ...!!)


Thanks to Frédéric Poirier for taking the photo and letting me use it.

Corrida de Houilles

The Corrida de Houilles is the traditional end of year race in the town of Houilles. Over the years, this race has grown into a high-quality international competition with a number of top-class international athletes showing up to take on the 3 lap course. It's not an easy course either with a good hill lasting 350 metres in the loop which has to be ascended 3 times. This year, it was also the final for another challenge: the James v. Nico 2010 challenge with the scores at 2-2 for the year, this race was to be the decider.

After a tough series which saw me off to a good start at Rambouillet, literally exploding Nico after 7 km and leaving him for dust, things went downhill at Fontenay le Fleury for the 10km there (such a low point that I stopped writing my blog at this point). I was racing this having run the Paris Marathon a month earlier and with the heat and the race fatigue form the marathon, I was in no shape to run competively, and Nico overtook me at 7km in this race at which point I dropped out. Definitely the nadir of my running in 2010. So we were at 1-1 at this point. Nico had been improving rapidly throughout the year, coming into form after beginning running mid-2009. The next challenge was Orgerus (wot no blog!), a 15km race in early June. Nico and I were together until the 7 km mark and then I tired a little letting him escape so another victory to him. The revenge was in September at Conflans, my favourite 10 km race of the season. I had started marathon training and was in better shape than earlier in the year. What promised to be a close event turned into a stroll in the park, with Nico not worrying me at all in this race, allowing me to recover in the series and now tying at 2-2. What was going to happen today ?

We met up at the club before the race so that we could go there together. Nico and Mireille were already there when I arrived and Miguel, as coach for the race, drove us in his car to Houilles. The banter began early with me telling Nico that he'd obviously enjoyed his Christmas lunch as I could tell be the size of his stomach and he answered in much the same vein. I could tell that he was stressed by the race as he was quieter than normal, and I was concentrated, telling myself that I was to do my best. My pronostics for the race results had already been posted: Gérald, Nico, me then Mireille. However, I wasn't going to go down without a fight, but I have to admit that having seen Nico in training and the space he creates in our intervals, I didn't believe that I was in the same shape that he is at the moment.

We arrived at Houilles and saw Eric and Gérald as we jogged around the 3.3km course. Gérald gave us the usual "I'm not in great shape, I'll be taking this easy" rubbish as we warmed-up. None of us were convinced though as we've seen Gérald in training and recently he's been flying. The next pleasant surprise was to see Laurence who come along to watch the race, wrapped up in a thick overcoat and 2 pair of gloves! This cheered me up no end and I promised her to do my best. We lined up for the start of the race in almost ideal conditions: dry, no wind and a temperature of about -1°C. It was cold but not as cold as predicted (-9°C forecast initially). The gun went, 4 times in fact andI thought for a moment it was a false start but since no-one slowed down, I wasn't going to be the only one to stop now. Mireille had started fast and was just ahead of me as we left the flat section and started up the hill for the first time. I pulled her in and ran up the hill alongside her. I made sure to stretch out down the hill as soon as we'd passed the top and at this point Nico came past me and we went through the first kilometre all together in 3:29.

We turned left onto a flatter section at this point and Gérald sprinted past to catch up with Nico. In my head, I was satisfied to be on target for a sub-37 minute time and happy for Nico that he was running a more aggressive race than usual. I was running with Mireille now, slightly surprised that she was runing at this pace since she struggled in the 10km race in St Germain and has been well behind in training recently. We passed through 2 km in just over 7 minutes and I began to feel the pace and when Mireille continued at this speed, I dropped a couple of metres on her. I could see Nico and Gérald about 50m ahead and now Mireille had gained 5m on me. We finished the first lap in this configuration and I threw my headband to Laurence as I went past. I wasn't cold at this speed and looking to be as easy as possible, the headband was just an annoyance.

I passed Miguel at the foot of the uphill section for the second lap; "Let the storm pass and push on", he encourages me as I pass. I'm in the red already and I can't help but smile at his words, does he believe I'm not trying here ? I negotiate the hill slower this time, running the kilometre in 3:44 but I can see from the Garmin that I'm still ahead of the 3:40 pace virtual partner by about 10 seconds so I focus on that information and keep going. This second lap proves to be the killer. I'm nowhere now, no group of runners in front of me to push me on and a lethargy begins to settle in. Unconsciously, I ease off the pace and run through 5 km in 18:25. Mireille has more than 50m advantage over me and I can no longer see Gérald and Nico. I'm on my own now and the usual thoughts of abandoning the race enter my mind, only to be banished rapidly as I don't want to let myself and Laurence down. I finish the second loop and Laurence shouts out to me that I'm nearly there. There's still a lap left yet, but I'm encouraged by the thought of only one more climb up the hill before I can run for home.

I pass Miguel again who shouts out encouragement and gives me a push as I go past. I egt to the top of the hill and suddenly I wake up. Another runner pulls alongside me and tries to overtake and I see that it's Myriam Akdim, one of Mireille's biggest local rivals. This gives me the boost I need to wake up and put some more effort in. She overtakes me and I stay with her. We run for a kilometre like this passing the 8km marker. As we round one of the bends, taking it as tight as possible, I accidently clip her heels and she holds out her hand as if to apologise. I will not give in and as the road bends downhill slightly I push the pace and pass her now. I don't ease off and her breathing in my ear is a permanent reminder of just how close she is. We head into the town centre and pass the 9km marker. 3 and a half minutes of effort I tell myself and maintain the pace. The finishing line comes into sight as we round the last bend. 200 metres to go and I begin to sprint. 2 men come past at a fantastic pace now and I breathe a sigh of relief as I thought it was Myriam. I finish and stop my watch - 37:29 for the 10km. Not bad for the course and I see Gérald and Nico ahead and find out how they've done.

So official results are here for the club:

Eric 35:08 new PB for him
Gérald 36:20 new PB for him too
Mireille 36:53
Nico 36:59 new PB for him

Huge regrets from my part not to have been able to hang on to Mireille during the race but I couldn't take the pace when she left me. I was pleased that I ran a lot better race than last year, beating last year's time by almost 1minute 30 in the process. This is my best time for this course so no real regrets. Quality of the race was outstanding : 369 finishers in total and Gérald ended up in 101 place in 36:20! 13 runners ran under 30 minutes with the winner (Imane Merga) finishing in 27:47 beating Micah Kogo in the final sprint (27:48). These 2 are running at 21.5 km/h!

So, Nico wins the 2010 challenge and hats off to him for finally pulling his act together and showing the pace over 10km that he is capable of. We now have to decide the races for 2011 that will count. I have decided that we will need to race together over 5km, 10km, 15km, half-marathon and marathon to be able to determine next year's champion. All suggestions for races will be studied in detail ! Looking forward to it already and my new year's resolutions are fully prepared.

Disappointment - Corrida d'Houilles

What went wrong ?

OK let's get the bad news out straight away: 10km - 38:52 - 215/541 and 60/153 vet.

It's hard for me to sit down and to be brutally honest as to why I didn't do better in this race. I set out telling myself that I wouldn't achieve a PB over this course. I told myself that I'd be happy to finish under 38 minutes. I couldn't even achieve this.

I was racing with my sister in law, Gill. It was a nice opportunity to enter her into a 10k race in France, especially a race with such a high quality field. She is recovering from a stress fracture in her foot, and so her aim was just to finish the race without pain and if possible under 48 minutes.

We lined up at the start with others from the club: Nico, Fabrice, Patrick and I'd spotted Mireille earlier warming up. It was not warm but not too cold either. No excuses for not doing a good time from the weather. There was a little breeze but this was not too strong to be bothersome. The gun went and I set off as best I could. The initial problem was the sheer quantity of runners and the bottlenecks that were forming. I hadn't intended to set off at breakneck speed but this was still a problem as I had to weave in and out of runners and then keep to the extreme side of the road as I ran up the hill. The first kilometre went by in 3:58.

After the hill the road flattened out and wound its way gently downhill. I stretched out now and made the most of the wider roads and the fewer numbers around me. The second kilometre marker went by and a couple of runners next to me shouted out 3:36 and I checked the Garmin which confirmed the new pace. I slowed down again towards the end of the first lap as the road wound its way through the town centre. The constant bends and the accelerations each time were tiring and I lacked the motivation to push myself hard. I was happy to see Alec, Laurence, Jack and Sophie cheering me on at the end of the first lap and even if Alec said that I was looking good, I certainly didn't feel it.

The hill was harder this time and I caught up with 2 runners who I followed up the hill not having enough strength to go past until I reached the top. I went past a female runner dressed in black and was happy to be overtaking some other runners now. I thought of the end of the race already and how happy I would be to finish and relax. This was a mistake as I still had the end of the second lap to complete and a final lap to run. I overtook Batman towards the end of the second lap but I could feel that my legs were beginning to tire. I passed Alec and Laurence again to more encouragement but the desire to push hard was lacking and I just wanted to finish.

The last lap was the worst: the hill felt twice as hard as before, time was slipping by and I just thought about getting the race over with and moving on. To cap it all, Nico passed me in the last 200m and I didn't even notice. Perhaps if I had, I would have made an extra effort to speed up. Perhaps not. I'd passed caring by this point.

I finished in 38:52 to discover that Nico had beaten me by 5 seconds and Mireille by over 2 minutes. This was the final straw. 2010 will be the year when I beat her well and truly in an official race. The determination is there, I just need the opportunity. Rambouillet will probably be the first opportunity.

Gill finished in 47:02 official time, so under 47 minutes real time. She was pleased and deservedly so coming back from injury with this time. We were all thrilled for her result.

I was just depressed by the whole affair. Still, I've learnt my lesson and if I'm going to take part, I need to participate seriously and not half-heartedly.