Final straight

Well it's one of the last sessions before the marathon and for today the training guide suggests 3x1000m at marathon pace with 2' recovery between each interval. So not the toughest of sessions as the idea is to imprint the marathon pace as the reference these last 2 weeks so that the day of the race everything is controlled.

I woke just before the alarm and wondered whether I shouldn't just lie back down and go to the club session this evening. I thought that this would probably be even more frustrating as I would want to join in the session and it wouldn't exactly be the taper that I need. I put some kit on and left the house without the garmin which was showing a battery level of 4%. It was going to be the usual course and I know the kilometre markers by heart.

I set off easily and ran the first 3 kilometres at recovery pace before starting the first interval. It was hard to accelerate and I could feel my legs struggling to cope with the increase in pace. I don't know whether I was running at marathon pace (4:15 / km) or faster but I could feel the effort and all the doubts as to whether the 3 hour barrier is feasible or not flooded my mind. The next 2 intervals passed in the same fashion but as usual I found that they were easier and easier to manage as I progressed.

3 kilometres to warm down at the end and a total of 10.3kms for the session. It's now just a case of wait and see.

Tapering

I spent Sunday morning in Taverny watching 3 teams from the club battle it out in an Ekiden.

I decided that since it was the last Sunday before the marathon that I wouldn't do a long run but take it easy and encourage the teams invloved in the regional Ekiden this weekend. I wasn't disappointed.

I love the atmosphere in these races. It's the team spirit and the encouraging of every runner in the team to do their best that is really gratifying. You have the time to see what is going on in the race (especially if you're not running...) and to boost everyone with a few words of encouragement or in my case to run alongside everyone for a few minutes to tell them how the others are doing and to try and encourage them in their race.

The end result was that the seniors beat the veterans in a hard fought race, with only the final runner really making the difference. Both the women and the verterans beat the qualifying times to take part in the French nationals, so with a bit of luck, I'll get to take part again.

Good runs from Nico (37:36) over 10k and Nick (18:58) and Gérald (18:02) over 5k. Good performance all around and I was proud to be there with my team-mates.

An easy run this morning with 11.5 km around the park in Maisons Laffitte with 3 kms run at marathon pace off 1' rest. I was happy to run at marathon pace, finding the right speed without too many difficulties this morning. Feels about right but still plenty of doubts as to how the hell I'm to keep this up over 42km. We'll see how it goes.

11.5km all up in 53:00 or an average of 4:36.