Grouchy again

Fantastic driving to work this morning: not a soul in sight as the Summer holidays have begun and tomorrow is a bank holiday so most people have taken a day's holiday to make a long weekend. When I got in to work, it was just as quiet.

I thought I would take it easy at lunchtime and go to the pool and then out to Grouchy Castle again for an easy run by myself. I ran down into the castle grounds but was then prevented from doing my usual loop by barricades all around the lake with signs 'Attention: Zone de Tir". I wondered what the hell was going on: had the townhall decided to organise a duck and goose cull by letting loose men with shotguns ? It was only as I finished my first short loop that I realised; July 14th tomorrow and the annual firework display in the grounds tonight to celebrate. I needn't have worried about the shotgun blasts anyway.

I ran fairly easily beginning slowly enough and then naturally speeding up as I began to feel good. I was running 4:50 per km at the start to finish the last 4 kms in around 4:15 - 4:20 pace.
The temperature was warm at around 27°C, so I was pleased with my performance. Nick, if you're reading this, you'll need to go for a run tonight to get the training in.

We've decided to enter a team of 4 for the Yvelines Marathon relay in October: Andy, Nick, Paul and myself. Nick is on holiday today so needs to keep up his training as he's been running great recently; Andy is training on his bike for 'L'étape du Tour', a stage of the Tour de France (172 k and Mont Ventoux to finish !); and no news from Paul recently so hope he's still training hard.

Anyway finished my run today: 10.65 k all up in 48 minutes. Good for an easy run and then fantastic to jump in the pool and swim 10 lengths. Training with the club tomorrow.

Duathlon

No running today but a bike and swimming duathlon instead.

I took the boys out on the mountain bikes today to give them some exercise and to get them away from the television. I decided that it would be good if we got some height in order to admire the views on another fantastically sunny day here in Aurillac. So, despite my fears about the moans that would inevitably be caused by this announcement, we kitted the boys out and got on the bikes. Laurence stayed at home since she was lending her bike to Henry, and so it was with some trepidation that I set out up the route des crêtes with Henry and Paul.

Henry has discovered a talent for cycling now that he gets to use a full-size MTB and after 5 minutes of uphill, he was already some distance in front. I stayed behind with Paul encouraging him to stay constant in his efforts, not to burn all his energy immediately and to enjoy the views as he went. Anyway, I had a problem with an excess of pressure in the rear brake system and the brake was creating an extra drag on the rear wheel.

We cycled up to St Jean de Done which is over 3.5 kilometres of uphill, so I was extremely pleased with both boys performance. They were happy with what they had achieved too and we carried on the road along the ridge until we reached the St Simon sign to descend. This was the road that the tour de France took to go up, right at the end of the Aurillac stage, and we went down at top speed today. Paul loved the downhill but Henry declared that he preferred cycling uphill to down. Along the road from st Simon to finish and the boys both left me as by now the extra heat had caused the rear brake system to grip even harder making every turn of the pedal feel like going up a 20% gradient. Nice ride doing about 13 km in total.

Swim this afternoon in Aurillac pool. Did 70 lengths and then played with the boys going down the slides.

Back to Grouchy

Grouchy by name and grouchy by nature today.

Depressed by work both for specific and general reasons, which I won't bore you with here, I decided that I would make the most of the opportunity of the midday run to burn off all that frustration and anger and convert it into speed and accelerations. Well, so much for the plan.

The reality... went running with François-Xavier on our usual swimming pool run. The day has been cooler than usual and it is very overcast. Perfect weather for running, we decided and despite F-X's pitiful attempt to convince me that he was feeling a little tired after yesterday's run and that we shouldn't force the pace too much today, we set off at a lively canter.

Down the hill from the pool into Osny centre and then the first effort as we climbed the hill on the far side to go up to the Chateau. I pushed the pace up the hill just to see how F-X was really feeling (I know - I'm a nasty piece of work...) and then we coasted around in front of the Château for the start of the first loop. I was feeling really good: the pace was comfortable; the temperature was pleasant; and the scenery is lovely in the grounds. At the end of the first lap, there is a sharp rise back up to the entrance of the grounds and I could feel that F-X was lagging slightly on the hill.

The problem running with F-X is that there is never any rest periods. Normally, on a solitary run, whenever the going gets tough you reduce the rhythm and catch a breather. Not so today, whenever I tired, F-X would pick up the pace and I'd be obliged to show him that he wasn't going to drop me. I'd then feel a little better and push the pace myself, and so it went. By the third lap F-X had begun to warm up and we pushed it hard up the hill at the end of the castle grounds and onto the final stretches on the road.

The effort was constant now and the final 1.5 km went by far faster than the previous kilometres. We both pushed hard to the roundabout before making the U-turn and down the other side of the railway track back through the town. The last 300m is a killer as we turned up the final hill back up to the pool. I used my last bit of energy to pull away again in my best effort at a sprint finish. All up in 46:42 so another 17 second improvement on last week's run. What on earth made me decide to take part in the hill run this Sunday?

Best part of this run is the cool down in the pool at the end. I definitely need to invest in a 25m pool at home - now where's my Loto card gone ?

Monday swim

A standard swim at lunchtime at my old favourite, Osny pool.

Very overcast today so the pool roof was well and firmly closed. Don't know whether everyone has left for the Summer holidays already but the pool was almost empty when I arrived. I dived in the cool water (as opposed to the usual near scalding temperature that they usual have) and swam my 60 lengths.

1.5 km: no watch, no stress, no pressure. I was stopped at one point to be asked if I was the owner of a white Peugeot 106, but that was my only interruption for the session.

This is a great way to relax after a race the previous day and it kept me alert for the beginning of the afternoon - well for half an hour at least !!

Run and swim

Kill or cure - I felt really bad today: churned up stomach, lethargical, and just generally down. To cheer myself up, I decided to maintain the same Friday run and swim session as last week.

François-Xavier was having none of it though. Having run 63 km last Saturday, he decided that he needed a rest (I mean what a wimp - but then again, he is French!) so I went out by myself. It was a lovely sunny day but the temperature was still reasonable at around 22°C. I set off slowly through Osny and then into the castle grounds, doing 3 laps and building speed gradually over the course of each lap. I felt better over the end part of the course compared to last Friday and stopped the watch at the end in 46:59, an 18 second improvement.

A quick change at the pool and then 10 lengths of breaststroke, mainly just to cool down after the run. The swimming pool roof was open and the sun was shining through and this is the best way to relax after a training run. The pool was a lot cooler both today and yesterday in comparison to normal. In fact so cool, that as I dived in the breath was literally sucked out from my lungs and I spent the first length just trying to breath normally. Not quite thermic shock stuff like diving off a block of ice in a lake 1800m up in the mountains, but not bad nevertheless.

Oh yes, I timed myself over 1000m yesterday in the pool : 22:22. A real disappointment as I thought I was swimming at around 20 minutes per kilometre. James, you'd have beaten me by over 5 minutes if you're reading ! More training needed.

Sunbathing

Fantastic day here in the Paris area, so when I went down to the swimming pool at lunchtime for my swim, I wasn't surprised to see that the roof had been retracted and that the pool was bathed in sunshine.

I did my usual 60 lengths of crawl in just over 30 minutes. I must remember to take a watch in future to time this session properly and to see whether I am actually improving or not. It feels easier swimming now compared to a year ago, but I'm not convinced there's been any progress in terms of speed in the water.

The pool was lovely today. Not too hot, as it can be sometimes, and the sun was shining down brightly on the pool. It does wonders for the tan after half an hour's workout !

Just a quick word for François-Xavier who ran the 6 hour race in Briouze on Saturday. It was a 3.5 km course and he managed 18 laps (or 63 kms) before time was called. I think he's nutty personally - a marathon is bad enough without putting yourself through such pain for 6 hours. Anyway, congratulations are in order and I've found a couple of photos on the web that he doesn't mind sharing with others:

First photo is during the first hour of the race and the second is after 4 hours running already. I'll let you all do a compare and contrast between the two.

Grouchy running

Grouchy - perversely irritable: synonym for crabby, cross, grumpy, bad or ill-tempered.

Well this was the site of the lunchtime run today with François-Xavier. We got changed at the swimming pool at Osny and then ran to Grouchy Castle before doing 3 laps of the grounds and then heading back in a convoluted way to the pool. The route can be seen here: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2026316 .

François-Xavier had his Garmin 305 on, which he dutifully programmed before we set off so that we could run constantly at 13 km/h for 50 minutes. Marvellous, the wonders of modern technology. We set off and I was happy to follow F-X, having neither run around Osny before and having forgotten to pack my own watch. It was rather a warm day (about 24°C) and after a little while, I began to sweat heavily. This is par for the course so I knew that I'd already run over 2km. "How far ?", I asked F-X. "2.5 km" was the reply. "What speed ?", I enquired as already I felt that we were a little fast. "13.5km/h" was the reply. So much for technology as F-X had decided to ignore his virtual trainer and to test my pace and endurance !

However, the grounds of the castle are lovely as can be seen in the photo below:

It was really pleasant to run with someone and to be able to talk as we did so. When we came out of the grounds, I asked F-X if we could extend the run slightly by taking a longer way back to the pool. He gracefully obliged and halfway along this long stretch of road informed me that he was beginning to feel good now. I was beginning to feel shattered so this last piece of news was really depressing. Putting a brave face on, I tucked in behind him and let him set the pace. We turned the bend and headed back and were now running above 14km/h (so much for the Garmin 305!). A last pull up the hill to the pool and finished the 10.7km in 47:17.

A quick change then 12 lengths of the pool to cool down before heading off to the canteen for lunch. Great lunch-break - must do this more often. The run definitely did not live up to its name.

Swimming outdoors

Summer has arrived.

Well it actually arrived at the weekend and since then the skies have been blue (or blueish!), the sun has shone and the temperature has risen by a few degrees. All of this has had a disastrous impact on my race performance for the running but it has had a significantly positive performance on my other activity - swimming.

I visit the pool close to my work at Osny: a small, 25m long pool which has the advantage of not being too popular as it is housed in a 30 year old building that has seen better years. In the Winter it is dark and oppressive and frankly, it is only because I've taken an annual pass to the pool and am conscientious about training regularly, that I go. Recently, however, all of this has changed ...

The pool has one huge design advantage: a retractable roof, that slides forward over the administrative part of the building, leaving the pool open to the skies. Lunchtimes are now transformed as I trundle down to the pool to swim my 1.5 km in full sunshine. It is amazing the effect that this has on my whole outlook - a few rays of sunshine, a swim in an outdoors pool and life is full of hope. I can forget about work for a moment and arrive back after the swim refreshed and full of energy for the afternoon. Unfortunately, the positive effects of the sun stop there: I'm still not swimming any faster, or finding it any easier but there's hope ...

To try and improve my technique, I did some research on the web and found this video. One day I might be able to swim in a similar fashion, in the meanwhile just watch the real thing, it's amazing:

Here's hoping that I improve over my next few sessions.