Cross de Franconville

I didn't want to do this. I knew I didn't want to do this. And I can't say that I'm glad I did it now it's over.

I am not a cross-country runner. Some people like spending their afternoons traipsing around in mud sudden fields, getting their feet soaking wet and slogging up slopes. I am not one of them. Give me a nice road anytime, where you can find a rhythm, obtain a sense of speed, and just go for it.

The afternoon set off pleasantly enough as I watched Laurence running in the women's race. It was a 6.6 km course for them, one small lap and two medium laps (see attached photo for the laps - prize awarded to anyone who can work out what was going on!). Laurence ran steadily and set off at a more sensible pace for this race, in comparison to Montesson, and this paid off as she was within spitting distance of Aude until close to the end when Aude found a sprint finish. I wasn't able to see the end of the race as I was already lining up for the start of the veterans.

Our race was longer as we had one small, one medium and two large loops for our race for a total of 10.2 km. It had snowed heavily yesterday and despite the rise in temperature there was still a fair amount of snow lying around. Of course, all the snow that had melted had turned the previously grassy areas into mudbaths and then there were the hard forest paths that meant that spikes were most uncomfortable top wear. Well that's the excuses out of the way then so what actually happened ?

The usual suspects were lined up for the start: Eric (who I only ever see at races and is a class above), Thierry, Francisco, Bruno, Nick, Régis, Gérard, Patrick and myself. We got all of our excuses out of the way before the race started: Bruno was still suffering from his achilles, Régis hadn't been training much having returned from skiing, I had been marathon training and not tapering, etc. etc. The sun finally came out and the afternooon began to warm up a little. So shorts (borrowed from Jean-Marc as I only brought tights) and runnig top it was. We lined up, the gun went and we were off.

I set off at a steadier pace than at Montesson too. I wanted to be able to handle the extra distance and keep something in reserve for the end of the race. The Garmin clocked me at 19.8 km/h for the start so I managed this really well. Not.

Nevertheless, I felt good for the first kilometre. The path was tough but not excessively and there were stretches were I was able to lengthen my stride a little and push on. There's something about the mud though that just saps your energy. I slowed slightly and the kilometre times dropped to 4:28 at my nadir around 4km. On the first big loop, in the forest section, Régis pulled alongside me. This took me by surprise as I felt that my speed was improving now (which the Garmin confirmed). I tried to stay with him but he inched ahead and by the end of the third lap and into the last, he had 20 metres on me by now.

I was running in a group of around 6 runners and I concentrated on leading them. I feel so much more comfortable leading a group than tracking others. I tried to pull in the group ahead and was pleased since I wad passing runners in the latter part of the race compared to the last cross-country where I went backwards. Régis refused to come back though and he was stronger and stronger towards the end. I pulled off a sprint finish, just to keep the guy behind me from overtaking and ended in 43:08 in 131st position out of a total field of 224. I turned to congratulate the guy just behind me at the end and he thanked me for the pace-making I'd done throughout the race. Just a nice touch that made me feel a little better about the race. Not enough to make me want to do another though.

So 4th finisher from the club as Francisco pulled out with a sore hamstring on the second lap. Finishing positions were:

Eric (39:41), Thierry (42:14), Régis (42:33), Me (43:08), Bruno (43:44), Gérard (44:50), Nick (45:27) and Patrick (46:23)

I was pleased to be within a minute of Thierry, sorry not to have been able to stay with Régis, happy to have beaten Bruno (again) and surprised to have beaten Nick by over 2 minutes (not normal).

Good training but glad it's all over.

A few photos of my suffering:

Laurence running her race Photo of the St Germain veterans with Miguel

Me suffering

Régis beating me soundly Laurence and Christelle

Just why is Miguel pinching Eric's bum ?

Map of the course courtesy of Google Earth

Snowstorm

Had a lie-in this morning and the promise I made to myself to go for an easy run this morning almost flew out the window when I saw the weather outside. It started hailing first thing and I lay in bed for a while listening to the hail hit the Velux window in the bathroom. It was only through a sheer sense of duty and commitment to my marathon training schedule that I managed to force myself to get up and look at the conditions more closely.

This, of course, didn't improve the situation in the slightest. Laurence was determined to go for her run and we tried to convince Henry to come with us. Henry was having none of it and Laurence wasn't in the mood for a fight with him so we left him and set out just the two of us.

We set off very easily, heading off around the Chateau du Val route. The snow was falling ever faster, leaving a thick white blanket that covered our tracks within 5 minutes of our passing. It was wonderfully silent in the forest with the snow muffling all of the sounds and the cold discouraging all but the most insane from leaving the warmth of their houses.

A lovely easy run that makes you appreciate the sport. 7.2 km in 40:45 or a leisurely 5:44 per km. This'll make up for tomorrow's efforts.

Lunchtime run/swim

I went out with François-Xavier for a lunchtime run. The instructions were very simple: 45 minutes not too fast, aiming for an average speed of around 13km/h.

We set off from the swimming pool in Osny and the sun had come out for a change. I had been expecting the worst and was wrapped up with 3 layers on top plus my fleece hat. Obviously as soon as we started running, I realised that I had gone over the top and that half of the layers I was wearing were unnecessary. The hat came off and went in the pocket but the 3 layers on top stayed on, meaning that I lost a couple of kilos in weight in sweat during the session.

We set off to Grouchy Castle and ran around the grounds 3 times. Despite the easy pace that we had set ourselves as a target, the going felt tough and my legs were still heavy from the previous night's training. We ran fairly steadily with the only variations in pace coming from the steep hill at the far end of the grounds that has to be climbed steadily.

We managed the course and I was thinking about the marathon and the pace that will be necessary for the 42 km. This began to daunt me. 9.3 km all up in 42:34 so an average of 4:36 per km. The pace was spot on target but the legs were feeling it today.

Threshold session

Thursday night with the club. I was able to escape early from work and get to the session with enough time to get into my running kit for a change. The bible stated that the plan this evening was to do 3 x 5 minutes threshold off 1:30 rest. The club was taking it easy due to the cross country championships on Sunday, in which I'm taking part too, so I was on my own.

Well actually, there are quite a few runners training for the marathon at the moment, but since they were running other distances and schedules, I decided that I would run 3 x 1600m off 200m recovery. I was aiming for a 3:45 / km pace which meant 6:00 minutes for each interval.

I set off steadily at a sustained pace just to see what time this would give per kilometre. I had forgotten to take off autolap on the Garmin so it was a little tricky calculating my split times as I was running round the track but they went something like:

6:04, 6:08, 6:06

So not quite the 6:00 minute pace I had envisaged but I felt good at this speed and not too exhausted. Very happy with the session and feeling that I'm progressing well and coming back into form. I haven't felt this good since September / October time last year in fact.

12.4 km all up.

Brass monkeys

I've been reading Tom's blog a lot recently and wondering about how he manages to run in the heat. Well, at the moment here in France, the problem is quite the opposite as it's almost 40°C cooler.

I didn't realise how cold it was to begin with. I set out my running kit the night before and this entails at least 3 layers for the top, my fleece skiing hat and some long running tights or tracksuit bottoms. Today this was capped off with the frontal headlap so I must have looked very fetching as I set off in the dark for my 1 hour endurance session.

I was aiming for 4:43 pace or thereabouts as this corresponds to 70% of my max HR. So basically, 13 km in an hour before going to work. I managed the first few kilometres with difficulty as my legs were still tired from last night's session. This and the cold, as I learnt that it was -5°C when I got back to the house, meant that I did the first 2 km in 4:45 then 4:40 despite the fact that it was downhill to the Seine. Once I warmed up a little with the effort, I was much better and by the end I was able to push the pace slightly finishing the last 2 km in 4:25 and 4:23.

13.3 km all up in 1:01 or an average of 4:37 per km. So still on target and happy with my progress. Roll on Springtime and some warmer weather.

VMA session

This is the hardest session of the week, no doubt about it. I begin to get tense even before I start running hard over the intervals. Mentally, it is just about as tiring as it is physically. But it might be the toughest session of the week, but it sure as hell does you good.

An easy warm-up with the club around St Germain. There were a good few participants tonight but Bruno and Jean-Marc were missing notably. Nick and I had a good chat on the warm up especially about Mo Farah and the return to form of some British athletes. He mentioned the Steve Cram write-up in the Guardian, which I've just read. Most disappointing though as it's more of a rant against Dwain Chambers than an interesting piece on Farah's run.

Anyway, once the warm-up came to its end, far too soon of course, it was time to face the track. The planned session tonight in the marathon training schedule (hereafter known as the Bible) was 10x500m in 2 series. Each 500m was to be run in 1:45 for a 3 hour marathon objective. Unfortunately, the club session was 10x400m, so I was on my own.

I set off and found the first interval relatively easy and finished it in 1:42. This was looking promising and in my mind, I had set my objective on 1:40 intervals. This never happened.

They went as follows:

1:42, 1:43, 1:45, 1:44, 1:45, 1:44, 1:44, 1:44, 1:43, 1:43

What was worse, was being overtaken by a runner on 400m intervals running each one in 64 seconds. I felt a real loser !

I had a nice warm down and ran 15km all up. 1163 calories burnt so I deserved my chocolate this evening.

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.