Safari

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up.  It knows it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up.  It knows it must run faster than the slowest gazelle, or it will starve.  It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or gazelle - when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.

I went for a run with my gazelle this morning. She'd pushed the club session last night and not been able to manage the complete 20' at threshold pace and decided that an early morning run was necessary. And like the big-hearted lion that I am, I decided to run with her. 

The early morning runs have totally changed dimension now that they're run just after dawn. Firstly, the quality of the light at this time in the morning is surreal, bringing a fresh, new feeling to the surroundings. The birds are chirping away merrily as we run down by the river and the cockerels have begun to crow, welcoming in the day. They really do make a "cock-a-doodle-doo" noise whereas the French insist that its "cocorico". What continues to amaze me is how many we hear when we run. I don't know what percentage of the French population keeps a cockerel but it's most impressive around where we live!

We ran into the park behind the castle and the wildlife here was scarce. Not even the early morning joggers today. Out of the park and onto my favourite section: running through the forest along the railway line and then up back into Le Mesnil using the forest tracks. We scared a few rabbits as we ran, but no wild boar or deer around. It was a great feeling to be out so early and the run helps your body to wake up gradually, and making the most of the outdoors all the while.

8.3 km in 46:30 or 5:37 per km. Very easy run and fantastic to be out.

I contented myself with muesli for breakfast, leaving the gazelle for another day.

Thursday Tempo

I figured that I probably wouldn't have the time to get to the club session tonight and since I'm on a bit of a roll at the moment, I shouldn't let up on the chance to get a decent session in. I decided that running an interval session on my own wasn't very motivating when I don't have a clear objective or training programme to work to at present. I finally settled on a tempo session with the unspoken objective of running at marathon pace around the 10km route.

When I woke up, the day had already begun and it was another beautiful day with a clear blue sky. It was only when I got outside that I realised that the temperature wasn't as warm as I expected - around 6°C. Cool but perfect running weather and I set off at a good pace.

I was feeling better in my legs after Tuesday's intervals and I noticed how several times after a hard sesssion, the tempo runs seem to be easier, more natural. I felt good being out there and enjoyed the speed aswell as the thought that there was still room to push it further. I felt good enough to reconsider my route and to add in an extra 2km around the park in Maisons Laffitte, plus the added luxury of coming back through the forest from the railway line. I only started looking at the Garmin after the 5th kilometre when the lap showed 4:33. I was surprised by this as I felt that I was going a lot faster. The next 2 laps went by in 4:17 and 4:11 so there might have been a glitch on km5 but that just spurred me on to run a little faster.

13.33 km all up in 57:30 or an average of 4:18 per km. Just below marathon pace as an average and a great boost mentally this morning. I've got to the point where the training is beginning to pay off again and it encourages me to push harder.

I've been reading Marathon Mama's blog this week and she has been writing about her running ethos. She quotes one from Velominati, rule number 10 which states 'It never gets easier. You just get faster'. I talk about this with Laurence frequently, especially after a particularly hard session and you wonder what the whole point is. It doesn't matter whether you're a leisure runner, just looking to keep your weight in tow, or an international athlete, the training always hurts the same. Your objectives are different but the pain is constant. Changed the subtitle on my blog to show how important this is to me.

To quote Velominati again: 'Training is like fighting with a gorilla. You don’t stop when you’re tired. You stop when the gorilla is tired'.

Intervals in the forest

Arrived well in time for the club session tonight and the evening was perfect: a beautiful bue sky, temperature set steady at 19°C, and perfectly dry with a very light breeze.
There was a good turnout at the club with all the usual faces and most of the fastest youngsters: Nico, Jérémie, Ilyes, Robin, Romain, Gérald and then some older faces such as Thierry, Régis and Philippe. Laurence turned up after me and decided that out of the 2 sessions on offer, she was going to take Michel's session with 6 x 90" off 90" recovery in 2 blocks whereas I would run Miguel's session of 7 x 60" off 60" recovery in 2 blocks. It was a case of 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.

We headed off into the forest half way between the St Germain terrasse and Chateau du Val on the salamander trail for the warm-up. After almost 30 minutes running easily around the forest we started the session. I felt good from the word go, after being fairly apprehensive firstly by the quality of the turnout and then by my ability to cope with VO2 max sessions at the moment. I was surprised by how easy I felt over the first 3 intervals and I was able to keep up with the front runners in their group of 6 or 7 with Thierry showing the younger members that it's not because you're a veteran that there's no;life left in you. I stuck to Miguel in this first block and Gérald was just a little behind, suffering slightly after the 10km race at the weekend. The feel good feeling had worn off by interval n° 5 and I was suffering now, with my mind pushing me on and my legs refusing to respond. Definite lactic fatigue.

The second block started well and I was determined to keep both Gérald and Miguel behind me. Gérald had other ideas though and he pushed on for the first 2 or 3 intervals before blowing up and finishing with Miguel. Nico looked easy up in front with Ilyes and there were some good individual battles going on. All of my splits were run between 3:15 and 3:30 pace, except for one in the second block at 3:38 pace where I had to run uphill during the whole interval.

Finished feeling pleased with my performance. I wasn't too far behind the leading group and the sensations are returning. I need some more speed sessions like this if I'm to get back to peak condition.

12.1 km all up in 1:09.

Monday run

Just a recovery run this morning to try and run the tiredness out of my legs. Now there's a contradiction if ever there was. I'm supposed to run the tiredness out of my legs, as if that's going to work. It's like saying I'm going to walk myself to sleep or I'm going to sit and talk to myself to avoid boredom. Not that I do much of either of these last two, but I'm losing the point ...

Early morning, easy jog just as day was breaking. Weather has taken a turn for the worse and it was drizzling as I ran around this morning. I just took it easy all of the way around and must have fallen asleep after 4 kilometres because all of a sudden I woke up and I was at the 6 kilometre mark. Too tired to do anything harder.

Maisons Laffitte was hardly awake either and I only saw 2 runners over the course in the park in front of the castle. I think Sylvie was one of the runners but I was in too much of a hurry to get back to the house to hang around and find out.

10.3km all up in 49:00 or 4:47 per km. Just a standard recovery run.

Sunday club session

Rolled up at the club with Laurence this morning just in time to hear the pre-run instructions and then we were off. The menu for the day was a Miguel special : 10', 12', 10' at threshold pace off 3' recovery between each interval.
I was suffering from the beginning with an excess of alcohol from last night and an excess of food. In fact, this was my main motivation for the day: burning off a few calories in order to compensate. There were plenty of runners present, despite the 10k race organised in Boulogne: Nico, Thierry, Vincent, Simon, Anis, Ilyes and Jean-Marc. There was going to be plenty of fighting up front and I didn't need to worry about finding my way through the forest.

We warmed up easily along the terrasse and then back into the forest by Chateau du Val. Another quick pep talk by Miguel and we were off. I took it easy to begin with (or at least it felt easy) and ran with Vincent and Bertrand chatting about where Nico had got to as both Anis and Ilyes pushed through at rocket speed to take the front. I was feeling tired in my legs from yesterday's run and I knew that with 32 minutes of intervals in total, I didn't want to be pushing the pace too hard right from the start. These thoughts were then thrown out of the window as Jean-Marc and Nico came by and I tucked in for the ride - 3:45 for the kilometre. I saw the Garmin record this kilometre and I couldn't believe it - we were running at 16km/h and this isn't my threshold pace. I felt the pace now and eased off instinctively. First rep over.

Second rep was more constant and I let the front group go and just concentrated on holding on to the back of this group with Miguel and Vincent just ahead and Simon just behind. Pace was very constant with each kilometre reorded at 3:54. I was tired now and the fresh feeling that I'd felt at the start was just a distant memory. The temperature wasn't a problem as running in the forest meant that it was relatively cool. I wasn't looking forward to the third interval though and wondered what excuse I could pull off to escape.

The third rep began and the pace felt slower. I was near the front of the group and nobody seemed to be pulling away from me. This lasted for about 500 metres before the others warmed up again and started to pull ahead. I ran 3:52, 3;54 and then 4:01 pace to finish even though we were on the tarmac now beside the Poissy road heading back to the club. I was shattered but pleased to have held on until the end, completing the intervals and keeping Miguel and Vincent just a few yards ahead.

Jogged back to the club and then waited for Laurence to arrive. She'd run really well staying with Delphine and Muriel and got back to the club to announce that she was running back to the house through the forest and that I needed to leave to put the kettle on for her!

15.3 km all up in 1:18.

Over in Boulogne, Mireille failed to beat her 10k record but won the race anyway and Gérald finished in 38:19. I had predicted a 37:40 for him while Nico forecast 37:10. Looks like the beers are on him next week. Cheers !

Cora with Nico

The Saturday run to Cora has been a standard fixture in my running diary for some time. I used to run this with Nick and Andy on a regular basis starting at the beginning of 2009. It used to be my longest run of the week and a real pleasure to run with Nick and Andy as the pace was comfortable and we had a good chat about work, life, current events, etc. along the way. Unfortunately, neither Andy nor Nick are running now. Andy has stopped permanently after suffering from serious back problems and Nick has still not recovered from his running injuries. My new running companion for this weekly excursion is Nico.

We'd agreed on the 8:00 am start and I was pleased to see a nice blue sky when I woke up and a temperature that was far cooler than the last few days. I left the house and found Nico immediately outside, wearing his Niscayah team top and raring to go. We chatted about recent performances and other runners from the club and took the first kilometre fairly easily, running this in 5:07. We headed into the forest next and the pace quickened going from 4:36 to 4:15 or my marathon pace after a couple of kilometres. The quality of my conversation is inversely proportional to the pace I'm running and at this speed it's pretty much inexistent. Nico is still chatting away and I'm replying in grunts or vigourous nods of the head.

This is only the beginning though and as we get closer to Cora, there's another increase in pace and we're now running at 4:08 pace. I try telling Nico that I'm not comfortable at this pace and he replies that he isn't either; not because of any respiratory problems though but an excess of junk food on Friday is now weighing on his stomach. I'm secretly pleased at this announcement as it means he's going to have to do a Paula. My pain isn't over yet though as we complete the next kilometre around the lake in 4:01. We get to the uphill section, Nico slips off into the trees and I jog up to Pavillon de la Muette, extremely happy to be able to catch my breath back and ease off the pace. Almost 2 kilometres before he catches me again (6:13 and 5:47) and it's off at marathon pace once more.

Hold on, this isn't even marathon pace we're running. 4:05 and then 4:01 as we run uphill, through the sand of the forest track. Secretly I'm pleased at being able to hold the pace but physically it's beginning to show.

We complete the course on the tarmac of Le Mesnil's roads with the last kilometre in 3:59 just to show that we can. 15km all up in 1:07:55. This is a good time in any circumstances but with a couple of kilometres et 10km/h pace, this time is nothing short of miraculous. Nico announces that next week the record will fall. I just hope that I don't fall with it !

There's definitely a different quality to the Cora run nowadays. Whereas before I was relaxed and my partners would finish tired, the roles have now been completely inversed. Nick - please get well soon. I'm missing you !

Early start

Having missed Thursday's club session after getting stuck in the evening traffic around Paris, I reprogramme an early morning run for Friday morning around the usual route of Maisons Laffitte.

It all starts fairly well as after a couple of days rest, my legs feel as though there is a bit of energy in them and although I don't have any specific targets in mind, I'm happy to be running easily again. The first kilometre I get a little carried away to begin with and then realise that I won't be able to keep this speed up for the whole distance and so I ease slightly. The first 5 kilometres are run at a very constant pace at around 4:30 per km.

At the 5 kilometre mark, everything clicks into place and I relax and accelerate slightly running the next few kilometres at 4:20 pace. I then make the most of the early sunrise and the daylight by turning into the forest after crossing the railway line and leave the tarmac for the soft forest tracks. I manage to avoid running into any wild boar (despite being prepared mentally to sprint to the nearest tree) and the only wildlife encountered is a rabbit.

11km all up in 48:00 or an average of 4:21 per km. Great morning run.