Houilles - 6.9 km popular race

There are 2 races at Houilles, the last 'corrida' or town centre race to finish the calendar year in France each year. The most important of these is the 10km race, open to registered club athletes and providing a spectacle for both those participating and those watching from the sidelines. This year was no exception with 10 runners finishing under 29' and a sprint to separate the first 3 runners who cross the line within 2 seconds of each other.

This year however, I had decided to enter the popular race over 2 laps of the same circuit as the 10km race. Paul, my son and my brother and nephew, over from Australia also decided to run so we set up a little France v. Australia challenge to spice up the event. A quick warm-up and then we were down to the start line where I struggled to get a decent position. I was a good 10 - 12 rows back from the start with probably 400 hundred runners ahead of me. The streets around Houilles are narrow and I knew that the first kilometre would be difficult.

The gun went and we were off. Well almost. I shuffled forward for a few seconds before I crossed the start line and only then was I able to break into a jog. The next 500m were spent slaloming through the crowds with some other club runners who were obviously in the same situation as myself. I saw the split for the first kilometre - 3:59 ! I was only just managing marathon speed for a 7 km race.

As the runners spread out over the next couple of kilometres I was able to accelerate but I couldn't maintain either my motivation for the race, or my pace for that matter. The splits went as follows:

3:59, 3:28, 3:37, 3:40, 3:44, 3:42 and 3:34 pace to finish.

I was disappointed with myself as I couldn't bring myself to run faster and to push the pace or my heartrate any higher. I ran faster splits at Andrésy which was almost twice this distance. I finished the race and saw Jahom (or Philippe) who blogs regularly and who I follow. He ran a good 30 seconds faster than me to finish 8 places ahead and I spoke to congratulate him on his run and to tell him face to face that a sub 3 hour marathon was surely on the cards.

For the record, Australia won the challenge easily with my nephew running just under 2 minutes slower than me followed by my brother another 2 minutes behind and then Paul who ran 9 minutes less than me but off no training whatsoever. Paul and I need to improve by 3 minutes to beat them next time around.

Some photos of the race:

Aurillac circuit

I told Laurence that we would get off to a good start in Aurillac with a long Sunday run around the town so the Aurillac loop was decided on. This loop is 20km around the extremities of the town and not only is it a very pleasant circuit with some excellent views, but it also has a load of hills, especially towards the end making it an excellent work-out. There is around 300m of uphill that has to be negotiated over the last 8km of the loop, just when you're beginning to feel it.

I told Laurence that I wanted to accompany her around the circuit as after the Corra run yesterday, I had made all the effort I wanted to for the weekend. We set off and I felt easy whereas Laurence assured me that she was already at 5:35 pace which was not the relaxing start she wanted. I adjusted my pace to hers from then on and we continued to accelerate over the first half of the course. The flat sections would be run at around 5:10 pace and then on the uphills we would slow to around 5:50 pace.

Just after half-way, I began to tell Laurence that she would beat her record over the loop if she continued on at this pace. I had to manage my communication carefully at this point as we have an unspoken agreement that I am not to push her or in fact say anything that can be construed in any manner possible as either a criticism or encouragement when she is beginning to feel tired and hungry. We have started this tour of Aurillac several times in the past and only on a couple of occasions have we managed to finish the circuit together. In fact, possibly all I ever learnt about tact and diplomacy was thanks to running with my wife.

However, the improvement in Laurence's running is really noticeable now and it was obvious that the circuit was less tiring on her at this faster pace than on any of our previous runs. We finished the 20km loop in 1:49 or an average pace of 5:29 per kilometre and I promptly told her that within the next couple of years she'd be able to run this circuit another 10 minutes faster. Damn, I knew I should have waited until after breakfast before slipping this in. A refresher course in tact and diplomacy is definitely necessary...

Map of the loop:

Corra

After a few days off with the achilles tendon still sore from the trail, I felt it was time to try and get back into the usual training routine with Nico and head out to Corra. I can't remember who invited who, but I do remember that I made Nico promise to take it easy.

It was my first session back after a while and I didn't want to kill myself. We set out and I had energy abounding. After being cooped up in the house for a while, it was a relief to be out again and feeling good on a run. The niggle in the achilles was still there but it wasn't such a distraction that I felt the need to ease off or stop running.

Caro and Laurence were out with us too, but both on their bikes. It was drizzling lightly and we were all equipped for the cold but it looked as though it would be the wet and not the mild weather that needed to be dealt with. We set off esaily and after a couple of kilmetres Nico started to push the pace unconsciously. I followed and then moaned after a couple of kilometres that quite frankly 3:49 pace was not easy in anyone's books. He promised to ease off after Corra which is what we did and then we gradually increased the pace again on the route back.

We arrived back home with the girls completely soaked on the bikes. We'd completely the circuit in 1:01 whch was an excellent time by anybody's standards.We had to strip all our clothes off in the basement before traipsing through the house and sitting down to breakfast after a relaxing shower. The Christmas holidays could begin...

Forest run with club

It was an easy choice tonight: a track session with Miguel or an easy run in the forest with Michel and the girls. My ankle has not improved much from Tuesday and I decide that it's not wort risking further injury or prolonging the injury I have by running hard over a track session. This was a shame as José and  Jérémie were there and I'd been enjoying our regular track sessions these last few weeks.

I put on the headlamp and ran with Katia and Laurence after the usual warm-up run around St Germain. We set off and ran towards Poissy at the end of the cycle track, we waited for the slowest member of the group to catch up and then we set off again. And then we repeated the exercise. It wasn't as though we were running fast either. At an average pace of 6'45/km, we weren't exactly pushing it. So, I was basically very frustrated, regretting my choice of sessions for the evening, despite the fact that it was pleasant to chat with Katia and Laurence. The achilles felt alright and the dull pain that was present at the start of the session had virtually disappeared by the end. I did, however, have other niggles that started such as pain in my right knee and pain under the sole of my right foot.

A couple of laps around the outside of the track when we got back to the club with Katia and Laurence and we managed to complete 12.2 km in all. It just took us 1:22 to manage this though! I'll just count this as a very slow recovery run, helping the achilles back into shape.

Club session

It was with pleasure and a little intrepidation that I went to the club session tonight. The achilles is not completely better but a few strides with casual shoes on convinced me that it was no longer as painful as before and that an easy warm-up with the club couldn't do any harm.

I met François, Momo, Nico at the club and we warmed up together. When Nico and Momo asked if I wanted to speed up a little during the warm-up, I agreed as the achilles was pulling and I could feel a dull ache, but nothing like the pain I experienced on the trail when it all started. We sped up to around 4'30/km pace - I can't be sure as my garmin was still charging on the bedside table when I left for the club.

After the warm-up, the group was running 20x200m and I decided that I would definitely give this a miss. I ran with Laurence and Katia instead on their intervals with 20x200m run in 41 - 43 seconds per interval with a 200m recovery. Katia was slightly ahead with François, who was also in recovery phase after the trail too, and Laurence and I were about a couple of metres behind. Both the girls were very constant and it was good to see them working on some VO2 max sessions for a change. I checked this pace on McMillan when I came home and it corresponds to a 44' 10k pace and it would be good if they could both go under this for their next race.

A quick warm down at the end and we were done. I calculated that we ran 14km in all for the evening.

Trail du Tour du Canton - 82km

"Why was I here ?", was the first question I asked myself on Saturday morning when I got up at 4:15am. It was only the promise of obtaining 2 points for completing the trail around the Normandy countryside that would then allow me to enter the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB) and its 160km and 10000m of uphill that pushed me to participate. You might find this hard to fathom, and I have to admit the logic isn't clear to me either, that someone only enters a 82km trail to be able to compete in an even harder, even longer trail next year. Well, not only was I here, but I'd persuaded François to take part too whereas Laurence and Katia were running the 42km trail a little later in the day.

After an early breakfast, we hitched a ride with Fabrice (a guy we met the previous night at the hotel who was running too) and by 5:45am we were all ready, dressed in running tights, compression socks, a couple of warm layers and the headlamp ready for the briefing by the organisers. So there would be lots of mud, plenty of refreshment stops and the hardest parts were at the end - that was as much as I could take in at this time in the morning.

We walked down to the start from the gym and waited patiently for the off. They lit the red flares, played the loud music and we were off. It waas an impressive sight as the headlamps flickered down the streets in the red shadows cast by the flares.

François and I set off together, slowly working our way through the runners until we were in about 20th position and running at a steady 5'15/km pace. I'd hoped that we'd be able to manage 5'/km for most of the race but François was unsure of his capacity to maintain this, never having run further than a marathon before.

I was a little cold despite my 2 layers on top with a cold wind that was cutting through the fabric. My jacket was in my rucksack but I couldn't be bothered to stop and unpack it, besides which it was too big for the elements as I'd erred on the side of caution with a jacket adapted for heavy Normandy rain. The paths went through fields and we soon had an idea of the mud that we'd have to run through. Nevertheless, the first kilometres were also along plenty of tracks which were generally dry and fairly rapid. 1 hour already and the first 11 km were under our belts. A couple of kilometres later and we were at the first feeding station and I took the opportunity to eat and drink rapidly.

It was still dark for the next hour too and we ran another 11km at a steady pace. François was slowing slightly and I would wait every 4 or 5 km to let him catch up and to start again together. Despite trying to run alongside François and to let him set the pace, naturally I would drift a little ahead, building a gap of 300 - 400m in 20 - 30 minutes. This was not a problem since we didn't talk much with both of us focusing on the job in hand. The second feeding station was at 25km and day was jsut beginning to dawn when we arrived. We both enjoyed a nice soup here and some more food before setting off again. I could see that François was feeling more tired now and the pace was around 5'30 / km compared to the initial 5'15 we'd been averaging. I was still feeling very easy at this stage and wondering if I'd feel this good until the end. There were fewer road sections now and more fields and tracks through the woods. Would this have an impact?

A typical muddy field that we'd have to cross. The terrain was generally mostly flat in the first half of the race.








At 37km we entered Bolbec, the main town in the area, for the third feeding station and the roughly halfway point. We had organised a bag to be here with a change of clothes but neither François not I felt the need since it had not rained. We were joined by Fabrice, our driver, who asked if he could run with us so we set off again after some more soup as a little group with a couple of extra runners who'd also tagged on. I chatted easily to Fabrice about our experiences on the CCC and waited every now and then for François. It was just before the next feeding station at the 50km mark that disaster struck. I was crossing a muddy cornfield with the plants reduced to a cut down stump, forcing a higher stride when I felt a pain in my left achilles tendon. No doubt that I'd strained this again. However, it was when I left the field and ran along the road to encouragements of how it was tarmac until the feeding station that I realised just how bad it was. My achilles pulled incredibly and the agony was almost unbearable. I adjusted my stride to a shuffle, gritted my teeth and carried on to the next stop where I had some soup and waited for François. I told him about the pain and that I continue at my own pace in the best manner possible.

To make matters worse, the course began to get difficult from here on. there were virtually no roads until the end. We ran down paths that had been washed away and that looked like riverbeds that had dried up, twisting your ankles as you ran and sending pointed stones into your ankles as you scuffed them with your feet. I was tired with the pain and the distance and to add to my woes, I had problems with my eyes focusing on the track ahead. I was seeing double and my only solution was to close one eye as I ran. This was the low point of the course : cold, wet, in pain and unable to see properly, I seriously thought of abandonning now. I just wanted to get to the next feeding station to see how things would be, knowing that this was situated at 64km and there would only be 18km to go.

When I finally reached the feeding station, it was lovely and warm inside. I called François to see where he was and to encourage him with the news that the resting place wasn't far. He arrived a couple of minutes later and he looked as tired as I felt.We sent a couple of messages to the girls and after another cup of tea and some food, we headed back into the cold to finish the final legs. I ran with François all the time now and we felt good knowing that there was only one more feeding station before the final leg of 8kms back to Beuzeville. I encouraged François to try and overtake an older man we'd seen at the last feeding station who looked like he was a V2 (over 50). We caught up with the runner in front, only to find it was a young man (who was running like an 80 year old due to the tiredness!).Having overtaken this runner, we were soon able to see another runner 250m ahead. I didn't dare tell François that this was our guy, having made the mistake once already. I caught up with him and checked first. It was the V2 runner, so I waited again for François and urged him on. We didn't catch up with him for another kilometre and then we stopped and chatted together at the last feeding station. I felt better now, knowing that we'd made it as there was only another 7 - 8 kilometres before the finish.

François asked for a cup of tea and I couldn't believe it. Here we were next to the runner he wanted to beat and he asks for a cup of tea. The V2 leaves the feeding station and I hassle François to finish his tea and go. This last leg is the muddiest section yet. There are 2 deep ruts full of water and mud or the middle of the track which is deep mud. Hobson's choice: I chose the ruts - at least the water wasn't as slippery as the mud in the middle. We caught the V2 runner and I left François at this point, trying to accelerate to catch Laurence and Katia who I knew were ahead having run the 42km with the same last 8 kilometres to the race. The phone rang and it was Laurence asking where I was as she had just finished. I explained that I was about 5k from the end but didn't know exactly as my Garmin had died after 4 hours. I spent the next kilometres chasing down the competitors from the 42 km (and 1 from the 82k race) and overtaking them. I finished exhausted and waited for François who came in 10 minutes behind me. What a relief.

It was a good race with an excellent organisation but unfortunately my achilles wasn't up to it in my trail shoes. I finished 26 overall in 9h11 with François in 9h21 in 28th place (and just in front of the 4th V2!). The girls ran well finishing 2 and 3rd from scratch and 1 and 2nd in the V1 category. Laurence was thrilled.

The recovery went well from the race and I'm only nursing the achilles which I hope will improve in the next few days. Quiet now until the end of the year.

Injured

Some things are hard to write. I left off writing my blog for what felt like a very long time a few months back as I was unable to run, to train and to take part in any competitions. It was very frustrating and I wasn't able to put this into words and pretend that eveything was fine. I think that the pressure I was feeling at work didn't help and I kept these feelings bottled up for a while. Well, I'm injured again after yesterday's race, for which the race report and photos will follow shortly, and I thought it was more important this time to get this out of my system than to write about the race.

When the achilles started aching yesterday, I was half way across a very muddy field at the time. I remember the moment exactly and I just thought "s**t". I left the cornfield and the woman on the road gave me encouragement by announcing that it was all tarmac now until the feeding station. The pain got worse running on the road. I felt like pulling the plug and abandoning. I couldn't run properly and was hobbling as I ran, gritting my teeth with the pain as every stride caused a lance from my heel up my calf. It was bearly bearable.

I waited for François at the feeding station and told him about the achilles. I couldn't give up now as I didn't want to leave him and I wanted those 2 points for the UTMB. I would just carry on as best I could and see how far I could get. The pain as awful for the next 10 kilometres and then it died down a little, letting me run but not letting me forget that it was there.

That was yesterday. Today I'm wondering how I managed to run yesterday as the few strides I made today were awful. My ankle is clearly swollen around the achilles and I've applied ice to try and reduce this. However, this time it's my left ankle and not my right that is injured. I've been through this twice before and I feel better about it this time as I'm sure I'll be able to get over this more quickly and deal with it better. God, I'm even able to write about it.

Race report tomorrow. For those of you who watch 'How I met your mother', in the words of Barney, it was legend.... wait for it... dary !!!