Long Sunday Run (LSR)

Ok, ok - LSR is supposed to be long slow run, but we all know that if you run with Nico this is just not going to happen. I'd texted him last night to see if he was interested in a long run and was pleased to see that he was with the only proviso that he was back for 11:00 am. I suggested a 2 hour run and he texted back that it was a good idea but we should include 2 x 20 minutes of threshold in the run just for the training.

We set out at 8:30 am as I allowed for a little slippage in our timing and didn't want to be held responsible for Nico missing lunch with the family at one of the best restaurants in Paris. Some people just have all the luck. We set off easily heading up inot the forest by Le Mesnil church and corssing the forest in the direction of the club. We gradually picked up the pace over these first 5 kilometres until we were running at 4:20 pace which I find is our natural pace.

We ran in front of the club and passed Laurence and friends off for a 30km run through the forest. Laurence pointed out that I was having a nosebleed which I hadn't noticed. The next bit of excitement was at the end of the road when we tried to cross, only to avoid being knocked down by Jean-Marc. This is probably due to the fact that he's now worried about how close Nico is getting to challenging him over 10km!

We ran towards the other section of the forest now, towards the pony club and we both decided that trying to run 2 x 20' of threshold would be too much for both of us: Nico having run a hard session yesterday and me because I still hadn't recovered from my week in the Alps. We still had Princess Road to manage though, so as to push our bodies a little, I made sure that we ran up the hill as honestly as possible. Whenver I flagged, Nico would push on and when he eased, I would take over. I used to think that if I could run these 2 kilomtres uphill in under 5' each that I was doing well. We ran them today in 4:37 then 4:40 - the best I've ever managed and with a rucsac and water pouch on.

The road flattens out at the top so we hit marathon pace and ran the next 5km at around 4:15 pace before accelerating back down Princess Road and hitting 3:57, 3:40 then 3:52 in the process. A quick breather up by the horticultaral lycée and then we headed home at 4:20 pace.

27.25 km all up in 1:57, including the last 300 metres at 3:30 pace. Average pace over the loop was 4:19 so a pretty honest effort all up.

A photo of the scenery from the centre in the Alps. Mont Blanc is in the background on the left.

 Photo of me in action at the end of the cross country race in Les Mureaux

Long Saturday Run (LSR)

We switched the long run around for this weekend purely to be able to watch the rugby world cup final tomorrow morning. What better way to spend a Sunday morning than to watch France being kicked around the field by the All Blacks in the final ! So, having had a hard session on Thursday with the 20 intervals on the track, we now had another marathon training special up our sleeve for today. This one involved a 30minute warm-up followed by 3 x 30 minutes at 85% max HR off 5 minutes recovery before a 30 minute warm-down. So basically 2h40 of run in total.

I was running with Nico and Laurence was accompanying us both on the bike to carry water and some food bars and fruit gels for us. The plan was to start from the club and then run along the top of Princess Road at marathon pace or around 15 km/h for the 30 minute intervals before heading back down Princess Road for the warm-down. It was a lovely morning to begin with if a tad on the cold side as the temperature was hovering around 2°C.

We got to the top of Princess Road in just over 30 minutes, running very comfortably and chatting easily. Then the hard work began. To start with, Nico's shoe pod was playing up so that meant he was unable to gauge his instantaneous speed. The Garmin is not very accurate on this front either, so after an initial start at what was indicated at around 4:14 pace we sped up and the first kilometre went by in 3:52. In fact, the pace never actually really dropped from then on. We ran through the forest to St Gemme and the edge of Feucherolle before dropping down to St Nom la Breteche and the end of the first interval. We'd covered 7.77 km which calculates out to an average pace of 3:52.

Both Nico and I were wondering at this point if we hadn't gone out too fast and whether we'd be able to keep this up. The 5 minute recovery went by too quickly to dwell on the problem and sooner than expected we were off again. This time we had to start by running up the steep hill through St Nom and Nico made a few yards on me up the hill. We turned left along the forest track back towards Feucherolles and I put in an effort to catch him and to stay together. There is an extremely long straight through the forest here and a slight downhill which I used to maintain my rhythm. Nico appeared to be falling behind slightly but at the end of this road we turned right and he went past me now at this point. We would tire mentally at different places and it was the sight of the other pulling ahead that would encourage us both to react and to push the pace again. This second interval we covered slightly less ground with 7.68 km or an average pace of 3:54 but this included that first hilly kilometre in 4:14.

One left to go now and we headed back along the top path to the St Germain / St Nom road and ran around this 4km loop twice. I was beginning to tire now and it was all I could do mentally to manage to maintain the effort. Nico appeared to be cruising and looked more comfortable than I felt. Laurence noted that I was white above my mouth, a sure sign that I was putting the effort in. I'm glad that she didn't tell me this until afterwards. I was able to hang on until 5 minutes left when I suddenly found a final burst of strength and caught Nico up and went past slowly. We finished together covering 7.74 km for the last interval or an average pace of 3:52.

Nico and I after the run with Laurence our sherpa, dressed for the Arctic, for the training.















37 km all up in 2:45 exactly. Another huge performance and with tomorrow's early morning run, I 'll be well over 100km this week in training. If this doesn't work, nothing will.

LSR - again

It had been a hard night with the boys. Nico, Nick W and myself had decided to go into St Germain to watch the match in the pub. To be perfectly civilised, we thought that we could get a burger there and eat out. Unfortunately by the time we got to the pub there was no space left at their tables so we had some pasta next door accompanied by a nice bottle of red wine. Things became less civilised from then on when we went back into the bar and met Nick B and a mate over from Oz for some beers while watching the match. Man Utd took a well-deserved beating much to Nick W's delight, being a long-time Liverpool fan. So when I woke up this morning, the last thing that I wanted to do was go for a 33k run with a camelbak on my back.

Laurence saved me at this point by saying that she wanted me to run with her over the first portion of the course as it's a little isolated in the forest and she was a little concerned about who she might meet. I instantly comforted her by telling her that Nico had met a guy in the middle of the forest while out for a run last week who was wandering around completely starkers. Personally, I think that Nico came up with this excuse as he was worried that somebody had caught him on camera with a naked bloke... Anyway, I was the perfect gentleman and eagerly agreed to accompany my lovely wife around the course.

We set off easily at a pace just below 10 km/h. I thought that Laurence was capable of getting around the course in 6' kms though and by the 5km mark we were running regularly 5:45 pace. I was perfectly happy at this speed as I needed to recover from yesterday and was just keen to burn off the calories and alcohol from last night's excesses. When we got to the top of Princess Road, Laurence stopped for a quick rest and told me that she didn't want to run with me anymore as I "stressed" her. I was ordered to run on and finish at my own pace and even to beat last week's time. I announced that this would be difficult as at the same point last week I had passed some 11 minutes earlier. But, since there was no point in arguing I set off again; this time on my own.

The next few kilometres to Feucherolles were far more comfortable than last week and I managed them at 4:40 pace. I'd run 16km now and I was tired so I stopped to walk for a while. I just didn't have the energy to continue running permanently and it was this for the rest of the way around the course. When I was running, I was a lot easier and faster than last week but my legs and head were telling me to stop whenever it got a little hard. I accepted the fact and just focused on getting around. In the end, I finished the loop in 2:55 so 11 minutes solwer than last week and exactly the same time difference as at the 11km mark. So despite the more frequent stopping, I managed to complete the last 22 km at the same pace as last week.

33.3km all up in 2:55 or 5:15 per km. This brings the total mileage to the week to just under 97 kilometres. Another week like this before I taper for a week before the trail.

Long Sunday Run (LSR)

It was hard to get out of bed after a night out last night and getting back to bed late. We decided not to set the alarm and it was 10 o'clock when we finally got up.

Laurence and I both decided to run our long runs this morning as this was the last one scheduled before the marathon in 2 weeks time. I had been so disappointed with my run last Sunday that I decided to run the same course and to just run it steadily to see how I would fare.

I set off slowly so as not to burn myself out too early and ran the first kilometre into the forest in 5 minutes. I sped up gradually from then on getting to the top of Princess Road in 52:30 almost a minute faster than last week. Despite this faster time, I felt a lot more energy and I didn't stop at all pulling a chocolate bar from the rucksack as I ran (no mean feat either as I fumbled with the zip for a good 3 or 4 minutes) and eating this with a slurp from the Camelbak.

I didn't try and attempt any intervals this week but carried on running steadily, just accelerating slightly to around 4:20 pace. I maintained this speed to Feucherolles and then sped up again downhill before easing as I hit the hill out of St Nom la Breteche. This in fact was my slowest kilometre at 5:08 and I could feel the fatigue settling in. I had some more water and took on sugar and I instantly felt better again. This was probably the best managed run I've achieved in taking on solids and I need to remember this for the marathon.

Back up to marathon speed (4:14) along the plateau and then a fast descent into St Germain (3:50) before another long slog up into St Germain and back to marathon speed through the forest to finish. I was pleased with my speed at the end despite the tiredness which just goes to proved what you can achieve when you think you're beat.

33.5 km all up in 2:31 or 4:31 average per kilometre. This brings my total mileage for the week to 103 km and a nice taper now for the next 2 weeks. I'm as ready as I'll ever be.