Orgerus - 15 km

My prayers had been answered. God exists.

It rained last night. It rained and rained and rained and then it rained some more. When we went to bed last night it was 21°C and we left the window open all evening. When we got up it was 16°C and a lot fresher in the atmosphere. The one downside was that with the window open, the sound of the rain had kept me awake most of the night and I'd slept quite fitfully. The whiskies, wine and cider after our evening out hadn't helped either and I was definitely a little rough around the edges when I woke up this morning. Still given a choice of running in 24°C, which has been the average temperature recently and 16°C, I would chose the latter anyday.

We drove to Orgerus with Nico and Ilyes and met up with François, Katia, Pascal and Sandra before heading off all together for a warm-up around the start of the course. It was fairly ideal conditions with a cool temperature but a stiff breeze that might prove to be difficult to manage on some of the more exposed parts of the course. As we warmed up, we noticed some of the other good runners taking part. Already from our club we had Mustapha, Anis, Ilyes, Nico and Eric - it didn't look as though I would be even part of the first 5 members of the club home.

I lined up at the start with Nico and Fleg who suggested that we run together. I didn't know what sort of shape he was in in but I thought that we would be closely matched. The gun went and it was soon obvious that I wouldn't be able to stay close to Nico today. He was running well ahead and was just behind Eric on the initial downhill section of the course. I ran with Fleg and we shouted out 3:30 as we went through the first kilometre. After 1.5km we head right and start up a muddy track and I picked up a few places here and felt very good in my legs. I saw that I had closed on Nico and Eric and I began to feel that perhaps if I maintained this pace that I would be in for a shouting chance at the finish.

Unfortunately, all too soon I was running by myself. I stuck with a runner for a while but he moved ahead and I saw him catch Eric who'd now been left behind by Nico.

The kilometres went by as follows:

3:31, 3:45, 3:53, 3:46, 3:47, 3:48, 3:59, 3:57, 3:53, 3:53, 3:50, 3:52, 3:53, 3:50, 3:38

I tired at the half-way point as the continuous hills took their toll and I began to look over my shoulder just before 10km to see where Fleg was behind me. There was a good gap at 10km but this had narrowed rapidly by 12km and I was convinced that the group of 4 runners that he was with would catch me and overtake me. I prepared myself for the worst but it never happened and I was able to maintain a pace to hold them off.

I could see Nico and Eric in front all of the way around but they never came back to me and Nico, particularly, ran a great race finishing 2 minutes ahead of me in 55:41 while I crossed the line in 57:39, my best time ever for the course. Fleg finished only 12 seconds behind so I was grateful that I had the energy and guts to push until the end.

François had a good race beating Jean-François home with Pascal finishing not too long afterwards. I ran back to see how the women were doing and Katia beat Sandra in a final sprint to finish in 1:11:24 and 1:11:25 with Laurence finishing 30 seconds behind in 1:11:53.

Pleased with the run overall as I felt good at the start if a little drained by the finish in the legs from Les Clayes on Friday and lack of sleep. I checked some previous year's results and saw that I beat Eric's times from 2 and 3 years ago so I can still hope to improve in the next couple of years.

Les Clayes sous Bois - 10km

Piecing it all together afterwards, I still can't figure out why I was down to run this race. I can't remember who started the discussion about doing 2 races in the same weekend and how we managed to be 5 friends (Laurence, Katia, Nico, François and myself) with our names down on both lists for participation in Les Clayes on Friday night and then Orgerus on Sunday morning. Whatever the reason I spent most of Friday ruing the decision and wondering what on earth was going to happen.

When I drove into town at 7:30pm for the 8:30pm start I already had a load of excuses ready: it was too hot (23°C), I was tired after a tough week at work, I was lacking sleep. Meeting the others and then warming up around town only confimed what I already feared that the heat was going to be the main issue. We ran just under 3km as a warm-up and I was dripping with sweat already. The good news was that the course had been modified from previous years and instead of doing 3 loops with a bugger of a hill to manage, there were 2 longer loops this year.

I lined up at the start with the rest of the gang and when the gun went I made a mental resolution not to set off like a looney. I was surprised to see François ahead of me for the first 200m when he finally saw reason and Nico and I ran past in a small group of 4. We ran the first kilometre downhill together and then turned and ran up a long slope for the next 500m before turning into a little park for some greenery and views of the old part of town. This was the little respite before pulling up 2 more steeper hills albeit shorter, and then the road flattens out and heads downhill with some long flat straights to complete the circuit.

Nico had taken the lead on our little group heading up to the second kilometre marker and I concentrated on getting past the other 2 runners and not losing touch with Nico. The steeper hills killed me though and with the heat, Nico made some good ground on me here and I would never be able to get back in touch after this. I was now focussed on losing my adversary from Gally who was getting a lot of local support. He came past me at the 4km marker and I hung onto him going through the end of the first lap and then on the downhill section of the second loop.

As we ran back up the slope to the park, I put in a little effort and came past him again. I just concentrated now on maintaining the best pace I could manage as the heat had drained all motivation from my body. I could see Nico about 100 - 150 metres ahead now and knew that I had no chance of catching him. I slowed even further on the steeper hills, putting in a kilometre in 4:04 and I was just praying that the runner behind wasn't feeling any fresher than I was. I could hear him just behind and didn't dare turn to see where he was as I didn't want to encourage him. Instead, I tried to accelerate away on the flat and put some distance in to discourage him if he thought of attacking again.

I was by myself now and watched Nico turn at the 8 km marker and spot me 150 metres behind. I saw him ease off the pace and smiled to myself as he had nothing to race for now. I wasn't going ot catch him and there was no chance of a time in this heat and on this course. I couldn't ease off as I had my Gally runner behind still and he hadn't given up the chase just yet. I pushed on until the final bend and then had the last 150 metres of uphill to the finish line which I sprinted as hard as I could. If he was going to beat me now, he'd have to put the effort in with the crowds cheering him on. He finished 2 seconds behind me. Relief.

I finished in 37:16 in 7th place and 2nd vet with Nico one place ahead in 36:48. François finished in a slightly disappointing 41:18 as he's capable of beating 40 minutes regularly now - too much cycling and not enough running recently. Katia finished just ahead of Laurence in 46:52 and 47:06 respectively with them picking up 1st and 2nd place in the female vet category. Another podium and this one is becoming a regular in their racing calendar.

Good to have a meal all together afterwards after an interminable wait with one of the most verbose presenters ever encountered for the prize winners.

Long run

Nico was running the Paris St Germain course tomorrow and I wanted to put in some distance to try and achieve a 100km week. Sunday's run was going to be hard to fit in as Laurence was running the same race as Nico and I'd promised to accompany them both on the bike and make the most of the race as a spectator.

François agreed to come along with me and although he wasn't keen on doing the 30km that I proposed initially, he would run 20km with me. That was decided: I would run t the club and meet him there for a 20 km run together and then I'd run back. This way I'd get my 30km in and he'd run 20km with me.

With the prosect of the CCC approaching, I decided on running in Marly forest to put in some hill training. I ran through the forest to the club and picked up François there and we set off together in the direction of Princess Road.

It was a very pleasant run together at a very relaxed pace. François had eaten a large breakfast and this was obviously weighing on him to begin with but after the first 8 km, he began to feel better and the pace picked up. We ran around Joyenval golf course and then through the forest on the far side of the A13 before coming back and contourning around the south side of the golf course on the way back to the club. Realising that if we headed straight back to the club from the lycee horticole, we ran towards down some little paths through the forest back to St Germain golf club and then back to the club.

I left François at this point and headed back home. I'd been feeling great all of the way around the run despite having only eaten a cereal bar before leaving. All of a sudden, I could feel that my energy levels were running low and it was a relief to finally arrive back at the house. I still managed to run these last 5km between 4:00 and 4:20/km pace.

30.7 km all up in 2h30 or 4:55 / km on average.

Paris Marathon

I was assuming pacing duties for the girls today around the Paris marathon course. I had arranged to meet them just before the 5 km marker and run the rest of the marathon with them. A modified photocopy of Laurence's bib would hopefully ensure that I wouldn't be ejected from the end of the circuit by the marshals and would allow us all to finish together.

I stood waiting in the cold (6°C) just before Bastille watching the elite go past and then searching hopefully for François and Benj on their quest to beat 3 hours. No sign of them at all but it's so hard to spot individuals in the mass of runners and if you don't concentrate really hard, all you notice is a blur of bright shoes and running gear passing in front of your nose. For Laurence and the girls, we'd specified the spot where I'd be but it was still a relief when I saw Laurence in her Florence marathon running top and Katia and Sandra beside her. I left the pavement and dropped in behind them.

The aim was simple 4'58 per km for 42.2 kilometres and they were slightly ahead of schedule when I met them. I was happy to just sit in behind them to start with and chat easily while they focused on the race. I would act as the gofer at every feeding station, picking up 4 water bottles at each and then sharing out the Gu chomps that were appreciaed by all. We went through 10km in 44:33 and the pace was steady and all of them looked pretty fresh.

We were joined by Stéphanie at this point, who was recovering from an injury with sore ribs (don't ask!) and was looking to run a marathon easily with her girlfriends. A capable runner, she has the potential to run a good 10 - 15 minutes faster than the objective for today. We headed into Vincennes and admired the staging set up for François Hollande's presidential rally in the afternoon. Both he and Nicolas Sarkozy had chosen today to hold their Paris meetings, with the marathon too it wasn't the best day to be in town if you wanted to get anywhere in a hurry.

We had been running for over an hour now and Laurence and Katia were slightly red in the face, whereas Sandra still looked very composed and relaxed. She was suffering from a bad hip but this didn't show at all in her stride or her running today. There was a glimpse of sun from between the clouds and I was happy that the temperature was beginnning to rise as I was feeling the cold. This feeling wasn't shared by all as the girls were obviously more strained and looked slightly warm now. I proposed to share a sponge at the next sponge station situated every 5km but no sponges were to be found. You had to carry them from the beginning or find an alternative. Mine was a piece of cotton cloth I found beside a bucket which I dampened and passed to Laurence to cool her down.

We left Vincennes and through the 20km mark in 1:38 so still slightly ahead of schedule but nothing outrageous compared to the pace fixed for the race. Sandra would shout out every now and then to slow Laurence or Katia down if she thought that they were pushing the pace too hard. I was happy tyo sit at the back of the group and watch as they ran. They had plenty of admirers in the field too. Several male runners would come and latch onto the group, passing on encouraging remarks to the girls. I told one bloke to stop chatting up the women as they were my groupies!

The group held together until 30km when Laurence who had complained of a stitch just before fell back slightly, and Katia who had suffered herself just before, pushed on in Sandra and Stéphanie's wake. Pascal accompanied Sandra from the 22km mark and I dropped back now just to accompany Laurence through her wall and to get her to the end. The pace dropped as we left the Seine, heading up to Porte d'Auteil, and whereas we'd been running at under 5'00 per km until then, we now ran at 5'07. The marathon starts at this point and I could see that Laurence was going to find the end hard. The road rose before getting to Roland Garros and we slowed to a 5'30 pace before picking it up again as the road flattened out.


The last 7 kilometres were a case of gritting your teeth and getting on with it. Katia had disappeared from sight now too, accompanied by Michel the girls' coach. I encouraged Laurence onwards, telling her that it was only 3km to go, a short track session before the finishing line. We passed this point in 3h16 and I knew that we wouldn't go under 3h30 but we wouldn't be far off. It was only a case of hanging on in there which Laurence did admirably, passing literally hundreds of runners in these last kilometres as they were racked with cramps and crying out in pain. The last roundabout appeared and I told her that there was 300m left to run. We managed to accelerate slightly, recovering the 5'00 pace to end the course in a time of 3:33:29. Once over the finishing line, she burst into tears and told Katia, who we saw limping a few metres past the line, that she couldn't breathe.

A great race by all, capped by the news that François had beaten the 3h00 barrier to finish in 2:59:23. Benj missed out by a couple of minutes having suffered from cramps after the 35km mark. Marvellous race for all overall. Sandra and Stéphanie managed to beat 3h30 by a handful of seconds, with Katia finishing a minute ahead of Laurence.

37.6 km for me in an average time of 5'03 per km, completing a good week for mileage with 92km on the clock. Congratulations to all on an excellent marathon and looking forward to Amsterdam now to take part myself and share in the record-breaking attempts.

Thursday club session

Got off to a great start this evening by smashing the car before I arrived at the club.

I was in a hurry, leaving work slightly too late to be comfortable for the drive to the 6:45 pm club session. I left at 5:55 and 50 minutes is just a little tight with the evening traffic coming out of Paris. With this in mind, I negotiated the roadworks around the Paris périphérique and then just as I turned left to stop at a traffic light the woman on my left who I'd been overtaking (on the wrong side admittedly), decided to change direction and drove into me. 20 minutes later, having filled in the insurance declaration together, I was back in the damaged car, in a bad mood, and wondering why I'm always in a hurry for these sessions.

I turned up 30 minutes late, got changed in the car and headed to the track. François was doing a marathon training session with Nat of 6 x 1000m at 4:15 pace. I decided that I would run with them and set off almost immediately.

It was a really good session and François has been training hard to achieve his 3h00 marathon in Paris next week. I'll be disappointed for him if he doesn't pull it off because he's followed the plan that I've used for the last 4 marathons most diligently.

The times for the intervals were as follows:

4:14, 4:11, 4:07, 4:09, 4:08, 4:08

So all very consistent and both François and Nat looked fresh at the end. 11 km all up in 50:21 so an average of 4:36 for the session. A whiff of scandal surrounded the session though following the declaration that one of the latest female runners to have joined the club (and closely watched by other married women runners) invited a male runner to share the female changing romms with her before the other runners arrived to open the male changing rooms. This is the sort of news that could change the reputation of the club permanently... and we wouldn't want this to happen, would we. Would we? Anyway, my only risk following this announcement is to smash up the car more frequently in an attempt to arrive earlier!

Long Sunday run

Having accompanied the girls in their marathon training session yesterday, I decided that it would be nice to take part in François marathon training session today which comprised of a long run with 3 x 20' intervals at marathon pace. It was the occasion to do a long run and compared to the 80km of the Ecotrail, this was virtually a sprint, no?

We set off from the club and headed down towards the Seine at Le Pecq where we figured we would meet up with the girls who were doing their own long run along the banks of the river. We ran along the terrasse at St Germain before heading down to the river and finally catching the girls there. We were a small group with François, Wilfried, Bruno, Charles, Philippe and Bertrand. At Le Pecq we began the first interval and although I had initially intended to run with François, seeing Wilfried just ahead was too much of a temptation and I ran with him. This was my first mistake.

I find at the moment that I'm able to run 4:15 /km comfortably without undue exertion. This is 3 hour marathon pace and the speed that François had set himself for the intervals today. Wilfired is training for a 2:48 marathon and was therefore running his intervals at 15km/h or 4:00/ km. This may not seem much of a difference but believe me I felt it. I was happy to end the first interval after 20 minutes and when we turned to run back towards the others they were nowhere in sight. It took us 3 minutes running back along the river to catch them.

The second interval I eased off slightly letting Wilfried do all the hard work and towed along behind him. We average about 4:08 / km now and I was sweating heavily and feeling the tiredness in my legs. I'm sure that this is not advised as part of the recovery process one week after an ultra-trail. I was grateful when we finished this interval and had rounded the half way point at Rueil and were heading back along the other bank of the river now. Hold on, François indicated that for the last interval we were to run back to the girls and then back along the same side of the river so as not to put too much distance between us before accompanying them back to the cars. We were already over 15km now and I could see a 30km run on the cards. This is not what the doctor ordered and I was worried about my state. Needless to say that after 10 minutes when we caught up with the group of women again, I threw in the towel and ran with them. Enough was enough and I wasn't prepared to kill myself in training at the moment with no defined objective in place.

I ran back easily with the women to the car and then lay down sunning myself as they carried on to run the prescribed time (2:10). I'd already run for almost 2:30 by this time and 31 kilometres. That was more than sufficient for the day. An average pace of 4:46 wasn't bad going and I was happy with the result despite feeling the familiar pains in my thighs.

A call from Nico woke me from my sunbathing to tell me that he'd not managed to beat 35 minutes for the 10km in Houilles (36:39). I could tell that he was disappointed with his race but the last few days training and probably been excessive in the build-up.

Easy club session

I hadn't made it out running once this week, so I was pleased to be able to get to the club on Thursday for an easy session with the guys. I wasn't bothered about not running as I was tapering before the Ecotrail but I couldn't help feeling a pang of remorse for not having been getting out before then.

I turned up with nothing special on my mind for the session. I was pleased to see François and to chat after his excellent run in Rueil where he beat 1:24 finishing 2nd in his category in the process. He was planning a 12x200m session with Nat and I was happy to join in with them.

Before starting we made the most of the evning light by all heading into the forest for the warm-up. There was a good turn-up and plentyn of discussions around the forthcoming races and the events in Aubergenville. Nico ran a good 35:17, slightly disappointed I think not to beat the 35 minute barrier and Jean-Marc pulled out, together with Ylies and Eric C. Most of best runners from the club pulled the lever, leaving Momo to rock home in 31:50, a new club record over the distance.

Back to the track and the seriousness began. Not for me, but for Nat and François who were both aiming for their 200m intervals in 38 seconds with a 100m recovery. They went as follows:

37, 37, 37, 36, 37, 36, 37, 36, 36, 36, 36, 32 (just playing for the girls!)

Recoveries were all around 50 seconds long.

10.7 km all up in 1:05. Nice, easy session as it wasn't too long but allowed me to stretch my legs for the week.

Ecotrail here we come.

Long Sunday run

I wanted to get the mileage in before attempting the Ecotrail at the end of the month. I'm very conscious that I'm running after 2 hares at the same time (French expression): I want to beat my record at Rambouillet and go under 1:20; secondly, I want to be able to complete the 80km run through the forests of western Paris. So on one hand I need some pace training and now to taper until the race next weekend, and then I also need to keep up the mileage so I don't suffer terribly on the long run.

I chose a compromise by heading out on my long run to St Gemme and St Nom by myself with the firm intention of taking it easy and not pushing the pace too hard. Laurence had told me that François and Philippe were running a 2:15 run from the club and as I ran through the forest from Le Mesnil towards St Germain, I thought it could be a good idea to stop at the club and then to run with them.

I did just this and said hello to the girls and Nico who were doing their own plans for the morning. Laurence and the girls were going for a 2 hour run, and Nico was doing the club session. The turnout was not enormous with the Paris half-marathon on this morning and Thierry and Miguel notably absent. I set off with Philippe, François, Antoine (a friend of François) and Pascal. We headed off to St Gemme too and they informed me that they were running 3 x 15' at marathon pace which suited me fine. We took it easily up the hill to the top of Princess Road before beginning the first of the intervals.

I assumed my pacing duties for François and we set off at 4:15 pace in order to be in line with his 3 hour marathon objective. We did the first interval pretty much in line witht he objective, in fact it was run at 4:10 pace, the start pace defined by François for the next marathon. We then had a 5' recovery during which we were overtaken by a mystery runner going at a fair lick which turned out to be Thierry. He said hi as he passed but didn't stop or chat. The next interval which was a lot harder as we had to run the uphill through St Nom to finish and I began to lose François towards the end as the hill began to hurt.

Another 5' recovery now and for the last interval I headed off at my own speed as I was feeling full of energy and eager to push the pace a little. The first kilometre was 3:56 which was resonable and then I was surprised to see the second in 3:49. The was a slight uphill now and I kept the pushing the pace to see if I could maintain this speed and managed a 3:51 before heading downhill for the last section. A 3:29 pace down the hill to top off the session for the day before the warm-down back to the club with the others.

30.75 km all up in 2:23 so an average pace of 4:40 which is fairly honest. I waited for Laurence to get the lift home from the club although I had enough energy to run the 5km back through the forest. 90km all up this week.

10k race almost

We had all registered for the 10km race in Vincennes this morning. I'd picked up a spare bib from Régis who was injured and the intention was to run with François, taking him under 39 minutes for the first time. Laurence, Sandra and Katia were all aiming to beat their records over the distance and with their recent training, this was looking very feasible.

We woke up to a layer of white. It was still snowing and at -8°C the snow was showing no intention of disappearing immediately. We decided we'd meet up at the carpark at St Germain before making a decision, but by the time that Laurence and I arrived there having slipped our way through the forest in the car, it was clear that we wouldn't be able to make it as conditions were just too dangerous. We transformed our race into a session in the snow and at this point Nico rang to say that his race in the Yvelines had been cancelled and that he'd join us for a training run too.

We headed from the club to the Croix de Noailles through the forest on the Poissy side of the road before heading down to Pavillon de la Muette and then on to Corra in the snow. The conditions were lovely with the fresh snow crunching beneath our feet and the sky gradually brightening as the snow stopped falling. There was a good layer of between 5 and 10 cm of snow and although we were running easily, it wasn't too long before we could feel the extra effort necessary with each stride in our calves.

The garmin ran out of battery on me just before the end but I'd covered 18.5 km at this point and the whole run was probably just under 20km. So with the total time for the run at 1:45 this implied an average pace of 5:15 over the distance. Laurence and Sandra finished a little behind with Sandra running on empty for the last 10km.

Shame for the race as François had been looking forward to it aswell as the girls, but a nice run in the snow for the start of the season.

Paris XIV - 10km

I really thought that I would beat my record over the distance today. McMillan was forecasting a 36:06 and I was hoping to break the 36 minute barrier for the first time ever. I'd even announced this to Nico, Laurence and others so there was no hiding my ambition but how would it go?

I first ran this race 3 years ago and it was the first time that I managed to go under 40 minutes over the distance. I remember my feeling afterwards, elated by my race and with the distinct impression that there was more downhill than uphill despite it being 2 loops of 5 kilometres with the finish line just next to the start. Laurence was running this year too and had convinced Sandra and François to take part aswell. François was aiming to beat 40 minutes in his first ever 10km race. He was totally convinced that he would do it as McMillan predicted a 39:40 for him off the back of his marathon performance in Florence (3:06). McMillan is now his running bible and if he sees it there then it's the gospel truth.

We drove into Paris and my first disappointment was to see that the swimming pool changing rooms were no longer used to get changed and to store your clothes in. There were 2000 runners taking part this year some 800 more than when I last ran. So a quick inspection of the site and then we dropped all of our stuff off and ran a warm-up around the 5km course. The weather was quite clement with the temperature around 7°C and after the warm-up we went immediately to the start area and jumped over the barriers to push in near the front.

Despite these efforts, it still took me almost 10 seconds to get over the start line and to begin to run. I spent the next 1.5km weaving in and out of other runners while François was less lucky and tripped over a stray leg falling down and cutting his hand open. Unfortunately McMillan couldn't predict this sort of event. I focused on getting into a stride, looking at the Garmin that showed the first km in 3:33 and then the second in 3:25. The third kilometre takes you past the only big tower in Paris (beside Eiffel's of course), Montparnasse. I struggled after this point as there was a slight uphill follwed by a flat to end the fourth kilometre and then a long slight uphill back to the start point and the end of the first loop. I only managed these in 3:40, 3:35 and then 3:49.

I began the second loop and my heart wasn't really in it. It was exactly like the cross country last weekend where I went through the motions but I was preserving myself. I could feel the tiredness and I just told myself to ease off and that the pain would go away. So too much thinking and not enough racing really. During the sixth and seventh kilometres, I suffered from a slight stitch in my right-hand side and told myself that it couldn't be as bad as the runner 15 metres in front who kept holding his right hand to his side. A funny way to run but I still couldn't catch him and a couple of runners passed me at this point.

Back past Montparnasse and the 8 kilometre marker. 3:35 again for the kilometre but that was after having benefitted from the downhill. The last hard work was to come but I had already eased. I could see from the virtual partner that I was 21 seconds behind schedule putting me on course for a 36:21 but I knew that I wouldn't be able to hold it up the hill as I was supposed to be running 3:35 pace. I was right and the seconds ticked by. At the end, I didn't even bother to sprint completing the tenth kilometre in 3:54, my slowest over the course.

I just managed to hold on to 36:57 on the official clock and a real time of 36:48 as there was a timing mat at the start. François finished in 39:22 qualifying for the French nationals in the process (under 40:00 for V2), I qualified for V1 (under 37:00) and both Sandra and Laurence qualified with their times of 35:00 and 36:12 respectively (under 48:00 for V1 women). Satisfaction all round for everybody who beat their PB except me. I was relatively satisfied as it's my second fastest time ever and I can't state truthfully that I bust a gut in the process. I know that there's more yet to come.

At least there was hot soup at the finish line so some of the traditions hadn't died out. We've created our own traditions by declaring that every time a personal record is broken, we celebrate with a meal out. I think it's going to be an expensive year.

Corra - with company

Nico was on for a run to Corra this Saturday which was good. He said that we had to run it easily and not force the pace with the marathon so close which was better. I managed to persuade François to come along and to run with us just to ensure that Nico did not get out of hand which was even better still.

We set off at 8:30am to a crisp morning and a beautiful blue sky. As we ran through the forest, the morning sun was just rising above the trees and burning off the low lying mist. Rays of sun would illuminate the mist creating a poetic impression to the forest scenery. It was so stunning that one runner we passed stopped and pulled her i-phone out of her pocket to take a photo. Unfortunately, we weren't so well prepared so all you have are these words to try and describe the scene briefly.

Everyone was true to their word and François, Nico and myself set off at 5' pace and gradually sped up to 4'30 pace over the course of the usual Corra circuit. It was a good run and we chatted easily about the forthcoming marathon, training and the political situation in St Germain. There were suite a few other runners out and about but the best surprise was bumping into Laurence, Brigitte and Hélène on their Saturday morning training station just after crossing the bridge by Pavillon de la Muette. Congratulations to Hélène on her first training run after the New York Marathon which has now inspired Brigitte to take part in Paris marathon with Laurence agreeing to accompany her.

15 km all up in 1h10 and the most reasonably paced Corra run that we've done in a while. Average pace of 4:41 / km.

Running easy

The sacrifices that you are prepared to make to go for a run are incredible. I sacrificed Sunday morning in bed today as having agreed to run with the girls, Laurence finally admitted that the training was to begin at 7:30am so that Katia could fit in her daughter's confirmation this morning. She then told me that we weren't running from home but had to drive 10km to get to the meeting point aswell. At least since I didn't make too much of a fuss, I should have earned some wife credits in the process.

It was a beautiful morning outside. Or, at least it must have been a beautiful morning, but for the moment it was still dark so we couldn't see anything of it. Autumn has arrived, so the temperature was a brisk 6°C this morning and when we arrived at the car park and met Katia and François, we decided to start immediately before we all caught colds. Sandra and Pascal had pulled out of the run at the last minute, informing us that they weren't ready to forsake their Sunday lie-in. Some people are sensible.

We ran up Princess Road to start at a steady pace and I felt very easy, recovering after my long run yesterday and easing the ache in my thighs and calves. I was concerned about my left achilles since I woke up this morning with a dull ache here, but everything went well as I ran. I chatted with François, while Laurence and Katia ran together just a few metres behind. As we ran I tested a theory about the difference between men and women and their running styles.

Women have an amazing propensity to talk when they run at speeds that leave men breathless. Katia and Laurence were running now at marathon pace, still chatting to each other. When Nico and I run at marathon pace, we grunt at each other and normal conversation is impossible. Today, by the time we'd covered 5 kilometres, they'd managed to discuss their children, life at school, weekend activities, you name it, it had been covered. François and I had just had time to discuss our respective training schedules. Chat about the family was on the programme, but only in 5 weeks time!

François had 2 x 20 minutes of marathon pace (around 4:25 / km) to do during the session this morning, so we set off together once we arrived at the top of Princess Road. We began at 4:25 pace but then sped up to 4:20 before finishing downhill into St Nom la Breteche at 4:15 pace so averaging 4:18 over the first interval. We ran back to the girls and then accompanied them up through St Nom and back onto the forest road towards St Gemme when we set off on the second interval. This we ran slightly faster than the first averaging about 4:15 / km for the 20 minutes allotted.

The sun was risen now and we could really appreciate the morning as the sun lit up the mist in the forest, creating an eery effect. The temperature rose a couple of degrees too which made the run very pleasant. To finish, I made the most of the last few kilometres back down Princess Road to stretch out and let loose downhill. Last kilometre in 3:38 feeling very easy which is all very promising for the test in 2 weeks time.

25 kilometres all up in 2:04 which brings me to 110 km for the week. This is probably the farthest I 've ever run in a weeks training and if this doesn't pay off I'll go back to enjoying my lie-ins on Sunday mornings.