Sunday club session

Laurence and I went to the club for the Sunday run this morning. There was a big turnout and the 2 coaches, Miguel and Michel, had each developed their training plan for 2 groups who'd be heading off in opposite directions. Michel was taking one group off to Joyenval for a long run around the golf course, whereas I was following Miguel for a 2 x 16' session with an increase in speed by 1 km/h every 4 minutes. Our group consisted of Ilyes, Thierry, Nico, Jean-Marc, Simon, Bruno amongst others.

We set off towards the forest next to Maisons Laffitte and started the first block beside the railway line. I ran with Nico at 14 km/h to start and then we accelerated after every 4 minutes, running at 15 km/h (actually slightly faster running this kilometre in 3:55), and then another burst to get to 16 km/h (3:44 for this kilometre) before the final 4 minutes and Nico pulled inexorably ahead. I didn't have the legs to follow and the path rising back up to the railway didn't help. I was supposed to be at 17 km/h but I actually ran this last section slightly slower in 3:54.

We turned back to pick up the rest of the group and discovered that we'd lost the few women that had started with us and Miguel. We know where his priorites are now. 3 minutes recovery and we set off again. This time we probably set off slightly too fast and each time we accelerated we ran faster than the set pace. The last 4 minutes was too much though and a final uphill from the railway to the road put pay to any intention to run at 17 km/h. Nico had pulled ahead again chasing Ilyes, Jean-Marc and Thierry. I was happy to maintain the gap and satisfied when the intervals finished.

We ran back to the club to recover, with Nico and I pulling away from the others as we sped up constantly starting at 7:00 pace to begin with and finishing at 3:59 pace. Great run and a good combination of speedwork and endurance.

20 km all up in 1:40 or an average pace of 5:00 / km. Laurence and her group came back from their long run having done 17.2 km. She'd have done better to stay with us ! We saw Gérald at the end who'd turned up slightly late and latched on to Michel's group, running with the girls. It was good to see him back and next time he might actually make it on a run with us. He admitted that he'd be running the cross country next weekend - Gérald is back!

Sunday run

Turned up at the club intending just to see the others and to take it easy. Miguel announced the session : 3 x 10' at threshold pace. I decided there and then that I would jog these intervals and catch the others while they were recovering.

There was a big turnout and Anis, Ylies, Nico, Gérald, Simon, Bruno etc. were all there. We warmed up easily and then the intervals began. I let myself be overtaken by everyone and ran at the back, picking up my jogging speed so as not to lose touch with everybody completely. Nico ran off to the front to challenge the leaders whereas I watched runners I don't normally run with overtake me and pull ahead.

By the second interval I'd had enough of this and pushed on slightly harder catching Régis and Bruno in the process and pulling Mireille on over the end of the interval. Gérald had given up mentally and was running behind me now. Then on the third interval, I gave it a bit more effort as I was back into the groove by now and chased down Nico who'd gone off too hard over the first two and was now paying the price. We were running at about 15.5km/h through the forest and this felt hard after all of my recent efforts. I was glad when it stopped to be frank.


16.5 km all up in 1:30 so no great shakes for the average time but it was good to be abck at the club and running with the others.

Conflans - 15km

I set out to do this race easily. It's not even been a week since I ran the marathon in Florence and I told Gérald that I would run with him to ensure his podium in the departmental challenge. He only needed to achieve 90 points to secure 3rd place which amounted to around 1:05 for the 15km, so the task was not arduous. I have to admit that I also had the objective set by Nick in the back of my mind: 58:13 for the 15km but this seemed well out of reach on the relatively tough course around Conflans, especially with 42km of racing in the legs and an improvement on last year's time of some 40 seconds.

The image above gives you the profile of the course with a steep downhill at the 3km mark and then 2 sharp uphills at 5km and then at 12km. The rest of the route follows the Seine up until the confluence with the Oise, where the course doubles back on itself and heads back to the start. I've run this race twice before and love the route through town, despite the hill, and the long straights by the river where you can set a rhythm and race properly. Last year was an epic ordeal though with a fresh layer of snow that fell in the morning prior to the race, making every corner a nightmare and the last lap of the stadium was reduced to one lane.

Photo from last year's race, heading back along the Seine around the 9km mark.












I lined up at the start this year with Gérald and it was a different kettle of fish altogether. The sun was out, the temperature was not too cold and there was only a strong breeze to spoil the conditions. We decided to take it easy and not to sprint off initially. This was indeed the case; for the first 200 metres at least. We then began passing runner after runner and when the Garmin beeped to indicate the first kilometre in 3:36 I shouted out to Gérald to ease up. We slowed slightly and I found a nice rhythm that I was happy with at about 3:45 pace. This was too much for Gérald though as he lacks a little race practice and training at the moment and dropped behind me. I felt bad for a milli-second before deciding that I was enjoying the run and the pace and that Gérald should use me to pull him along.

I was watching another runner Fred at this point who beat me last year by 5 metres (wearing red in the photo above). He was running well and we'd spoken before the race and I could see that he was in great shape and that the chances of staying with him this year were slight. I was encouraged by the fact that nobody was overtaking me and that, on the contrary, going uphill through Conflans, I was actually keeping up and overtaking others while reducing my stride and increasing the rhythm.

When we went around the turning point at 8km it was bliss. The strong breeze was now coming from behind, helping to push the pace and I stretched to make the most of this. I thought about the marathon and the necessity to maintain the pace no matter the different thoughts in my head about easing off as nothing was at stake. A quick look at the Garmin and a rapid calculation and I realised that I could actually beat the 58:13 target now, if I could maintain 4:00 pace average over the last few kilometres. Admittedly, there was the steep hill, la Sente des Laveuses, to manage but if I could speed up again after this, the record was on the cards.

Amazingly, everythhing went according to plan. I used a flagging runner to accelerate before the hill, overtaking him just at the foot and then leaving him rapidly before focusing my attention on another 2 runners just ahead. I never caught them but they pulled me unconsciously as we neared the stadium and the night of free beers was a feasible proposal.

A last sprint around the track and I crossed the finish line in 57:54 almost a minute faster than last year. What's more, I'd beaten the 58:13 target time set by Nick earlier this year. I'd achieved 4 out of the 5 targets, failing only in the half-marathon which I haven't run competively in 2011. Gérald finished 3 minutes behind, a broken man, in 1:00:48. He was so upset with his race that I wondered whether I should call suicide watch or not. The fact that he could have beaten his course record if he hadn't eased off completely over the last kilometre, letting another runner from our club come past, Charles, was beyond me. He felt that he'd hadn't run well enough to deserve to beat his own time, so he slowed. Gérald has a logic from another world so please don't try to understand. The fact is now that the counter shows a 7-0 victory in my favour and he'll have to pull his act together if he wants to get closer next year.

A great way to end my racing year for me. Really pleased with this final result.

Champion's return

A special effort to get out of work in time for the club session last night in order to go and soak up some praise from my fellow athletes after the resounding victory over Nico at the weekend. I almost got stuck in traffic but I arrived at the club just in time to be welcomed by a round of applause as Miguel was giving the pre-run chat. I made the most of it and put on my most modest face even though I was brimming with pride.

I was only up for a warm-up jog with the group accompanied by Fred, Gérald, Ilyes and Simon who all congratulated me on a great race. I got back to the track to be met by Régis and Dominique who joined in on the congratulations and wanted to hear how the race went. Of course, I told it how it was, with no embellishments, especially the part where Nico crossed the finish line distraught and full of anguish following his humiliating defeat, or something to that effect...

A few laps around the track and Gérald joined me at the end and we discussed tactics for the race at Conflans on Saturday. I'll see if I can keep up with him around the course and help him to the 90 points he needs now to clinch his 3rd place on the podium in the departmental challenge.

All in all, I must have run 9km without the Garmin at a very easy pace. Just what the doctor ordered.

6 x 1000m - Club session

Damn, damn, damn. Despite leaving work at a reasonable time, or at least what I considered to be a reasonable time, I knew after 10 minutes stuck in a jam on the périphérique that I just wouldn't make it in time. I called Laurence to warn her and to get somebody to keep the changing rooms open for me. This was exceptionally important tonight, of all nights, because I had all my shower stuff with me to get changed after the training to take part in that other important club business - Beaujolais Nouveau !

I arrived at the club over 5 minutes late. I'd seen the runners at the beginning of their route around St Germain for the warm-up but I wasn't too bothered as I'd figured that I could get changed and go on the warm-up in the opposite direction and still cover a couple of kilometres before hitting the track. Jean-Claude and Miguel let me into the changing rooms and chatted while I changed into my running kit. Apparently, the annual cross country chellenge organised by the club is only 2.9km and not 3km! Scandal or what ?

I ran out to find the others and after just over 1.5k I passed them in the other direction. I looked for Laurence in the dark, but not seeing her, I tagged onto the back of the last group, running with Anis and catching up on his news. No sign of Nico who'd obviously chickened out nor my wife which was more worrying. I ran back to the track passing the groups as I accelerated and saw Gérald once I'd got there. He agreed to run my 6 x 1000m session with me and we saw Nico who'd started his 4 x 2000m already, having to hurry as he had a council meeting just afterwards.

We set off on the session almost immediately. The marathon training plan was to run every km in 4'. I reckoned that this was a little easy and decided that I would run each in 3'45 to keep the pace honest. I started with Gérald and I found the first very easy, finishing without breathing excessively in the slightest. This was too easy and didn't demand enough effort. We ran a 200m recovery and started again, this time a little faster. This is how the session went and with Gérald running with me to the end for which I was very grateful.

3:46, 3:39, 3:37, 3:35, 3:32, 3:28 all off 1'15 recovery for the 200m.

A brilliant session which encouraged me no end for the marathon. I'm in top form and runing better than ever.

13.1 km all up in 1:06 or an average pace of 5:01 per km. Laurence, Katia and Sandra looked good running their 2 x 4km and Nico averaged 7:30 for his 2km stretches. All is looking good for some excellent results in florence. Fingers crossed now for the final week and the last sessions.

Good evening with the beaujolias nouveau. José and Laurent were on top form. Nico suffered from his absence. No comments now but all will be revealed after Florence !

Vélizy 10km - 36:32 and new PB

I've given it all away in the title and there'll be no suspense in the race description now. I have nothing to suprise my readers with but since most of them were at the race anyway and know the results, I'll just get on with it.

I picked Nico up this morning to drive him to the race. We discussed our respective form and how the day was perfect for achieving a new record. He was aiming for 35:00 and I was aiming to beat my record and be not further than 30 seconds behind him. In fact the 30 seconds was a lie to myself as internally I was ready to accept a gap of up to 1 minute. If he was going to achieve 35:00 then I would have to do 36:00. I've been running well in training recently and I was convinced that I could beat my record. My intervals and reps and distance work have helped build up my speed and stamina and the weather was perfect: sunny, dry, no wind and a temperature between 8 - 10°C. There were no excuses for not achieving.

Neither Nico nor I knew the course nor where to park in Vélizy for the start and after a little visit of the town (thank God Vélizy is not a big place) we found the stadium and the start of the race. We were both focused on our marathon training and although we were here to run the race, we were also aiming to complete the training for the day of 1:45 with 25 minutes at marathon pace. The 10km would resolve the marathon pace issue but we decided on a 30 minute warm-up followed by a 40 minute warm-down after the race. All was set.

We warmed up around the small loop of the course to begin with after having picked up our bibs and met with a number of other runners from St Germain including Gérard, Françoise, Thierry, Simon, Robin, Aude and Gérald. The course was organised into 2 loops: the first a short loop of 3 kilometres, followed by an extended loop through town and then through the forest back to the stadium for a 3/4 lap to finish.

We got in line for the start about 8 minutes before the race was due to begin. In all of my racing experience, which admittedly is not extensive, this was by far the worst start I've ever been in. The officials forced us to back up so that nobody was over the start line and we were compressed like cattle in a pen. I was leaning over backwards with the pressure from the runners in front and I couldn't move my feet backwards as there was no space behind me. We "stood" there praying for the race to begin so that we could be released from our misery. Finally the gun went and we were off and miracle of miracles, nobody fell in the first 10 metres and was trampled to death.

I was behind Thierry, Simon and Robin and I could see Nico and Gérald well in front. However, there was no way through and I didn't want to slalom the first kilometre. I held back on the pace and waited for the gaps to appear dso that I could slip through. After a 90° left bend and then a 90° right bend the road widened out and I was able to pass down the left-hand side where there was plenty of space. I noticed that Nico had gained a little lead and after passing Thierry, Simon and Robin, I focused on Gérald who was running well and tried to pull him in.

I caught Gérlad after 1k and put some space on him immediately so that he didn't decide to tuck in behind me. I now looked ahead and watched Nico run with Fred, a former St Germain runner, who had told us just before the start that he ran 36:50 last Sunday, qualifying for the French nationals over 10k in the process. This was my time objective for today's race and I figured that I wasn't running as well as I thought or I should be with these guys ahead. Having thought this, I carried on at my pace which felt fast enough for me and the virtual partner showed that I was already 20 seconds up on the 3:40 pace I had programmed on the Garmin.What really surprised me though was that after the first short loop, I could see the gap between Nico and me reducing with Nico dropping off the pace set by Fred and others in their little group.

It was really happening. At about 3.5km, I knew that I'd catch Nico. The gap was now about 8 - 10 metres and my only thoughts were whether I could keep this pace up and how would he react when I pulled alongside. At 4km, I caught him and didn't even make a sign to let him know I was there. I was too worried that he'd tuck in behind me and I wasn't sure how I could cope with this mentally.I saw on the Garmin that I was 33 seconds up on my virtual partner at this point and although I was tiring, I still felt that the pace was not unsustainable. I passed Nico and made a mental effort to dig in and to keep pushing.

I don't have many recollections of the race for the next couple of kilometres only seeing Momo looking as though he was leading as one section doubled back on itself and the leading pack came past going the other way (he was in fact in 5th position but the first 4 were well ahead). We went past the 6th kilometre now and the gap between Fred and myself was closing. I focused on reeling him in and when I pulled alongside at 7km, he spoke to me "I'm not going to give in easily James" and the bugger tucked in behind me. We took it in turns to lead through the forest and the last track section with a slight uphill. He gained a couple of metres on me and despite my acceleration over the last kilometre, I couldn't pull him back. The motivation wasn't there as I knew I was on for a new PB and overtaking him was not going to give me any more satisfaction (Complete bo**ocks of course as I regretted this after the race - but I wasn't thinking this at the time).

I entered the stadium and half-sprinted the last 300m to finish in 36:32 a new PB by 25 seconds. Really pleased with the time as it confirms my form at the moment and is promising for Florence. Nico finished in 37:46, having walked at one point and almost DNFed, before deciding that he wouldn't drop out of a race and ran to the end. Gérald did much the same but ran slower finishing in 40:40 and one of his slowest 10k race's ever, but he'll be back soon. Pleased to beat Thierry and Mireille which is also a new first and finsihed 2nd from the club behind Momo.

Splits went as follows:

3:29, 3:28, 3:35, 3:38, 3:39, 3:36, 3:42, 3:42, 3:46, 3:34 and then 18 seconds for the last 100m to the finish.

23.5 km for the day including the warm-down and 98km for the week. If I'd known I was so close, I'd have insisted on another 2km today!

Guerlédan 13km

The sun was shining and the sky was spotted with little fluffy white clouds while the temperature hovered around the 15°C mark. It was ideal race conditions and I was even relaxed about the whole affair.

Laurence and I had arrived at the Guerlédan site just before midday after a 5 hour drive from the outskirts of Paris.I'd been very chivalrous and driven the whole way as we left just after 6am. The sight of Laurence half-asleep in the passenger seat wasn't conducive to her taking the steering wheel anyway. After a non-eventful journey (apart from being stopped and breathalysed by the police at 6:30am), we had arrived safe and sound for the club's trail weekend in Britanny. Over the next couple of hours, we were gradually joined by all the other members of St Germain over for the weekend: Nick and Anne, Gérald, Régis, Delphine, Philippe and Catherine, Stéphane and Claire to name but a few. There were 40 of us in all for 3 events: 13km trail, 23km trail and the last - the 58km trail. 3 of us had signed up for the "défi" or the challenge. This involved running the 13km trail on Saturday and then the 58km trail on Sunday morning with the winner based on the combined times over both races. Gérald, Stéphane and myself had signed up as our own personal challenge with Stéphane, a seasoned trailer, using it as preparation for the Tour des Glaciers de la Vanoise (TGV).

I had looked at the results of the défi last year and thought that a 1:15 run for the short trail and then 6:30 run for the long trail was possible and that this would put me in the first 6 or 7 runners. A podium might even be possible but this would obviously depend on the quality of the field, the weather conditions and my shape on the day. Gérald was looking to compete with me, but never having run a trail before or run further than a marathon, he was going into unknown territory. We agreed however that the défi would be won or lost on the long trail and that we shouldn't burn ourselves out on the 13km race, so we could run together. With this in mind, we lined up together on the start line.

The gun went and we set off together at what felt a reasonable pace. The Garmin indicated the first kilometre along the flat and beside the river in 3:58. I told Gérald this and that we were running easily. The nice flat section suddenly took a turn for the worse and we ran the next kilometre up the road gaining 120metres in the process (12% average slope for you non-mathematicians!) - Garmin beeped again, only this time showing 6:00 ! Gérald looked easy and could have run on, but I found this hard not being a natural hill-runner. He looked around and slowed down a little, waiting for me to catch up the 5 metres that separated us. The course flattened out a little now and I followed Gérald, letting him set the speed along the track as we left the road behind us. Another short uphill section and then a long steep downhill and I was pushing Gérald and then passing him as he used more caution in his descents.

We went through the 3 kilometre marker and then a steep uphill section again past 4 then 5km. The track was now too steep to run and we walked as quickly as possible trying to maintain our places amongst the other runners. Gérald walks quicker uphill too and he gained another 10 metres on me here as he outstrode me up the slopes. I quickly caught this up as we went downhill again and he told me to press on. Years of reckless scree running paid off now as I descended quickly, passing a couple of runners in the process. We went through 6 kilometres and then out onto the road near the start having completed a small circuit to the east of the start.

We set off westwards now to complete the circuit with a loop in the forest on the other side of the start. This firstly involved an uphill section in a sort of natural half-pipe. The leaves had settled in the bottom of this gulley and were covered in moss. As we ran up this, I had the impression that we were running on a sort of natural bouncy castle; and the going wasn't easy. Gérald caught me up again here and we ran together for a while with another runner before we hit another downhill section and I pulled ahead again. Another uphill, then downhill and Gérald and I continued our cat and mouse game until we reached a long downhill section and I pulled ahead determinedly. We hit a flatter section and I looked behind to slow down and wait for Gérald. I saw the colours of our third runner and decided that although we had agreed to run together, I wasn't going to lose a place now waiting and so I pushed on.

Apart from the uphill sections, I didn't have the impression that I'd been racing flat out. I was relaxed and not in the same frame of mind as say a 10km road-race. I followed the forest track and saw a runner ahead of me for the first time in a long time in the race, as the trees and forest meant that the head of the field was never visible. I decided not to push it and to just run easily but I was steadily pulling him in. I had just run past 11km now and a marshal told me that there was 2.8km to go. So the 13km race was actually 13.8km and I still had a chance to catch him. The 200m that separated us slowly reduced to 100m and then 50m. I figured that we had about 500m to run now and when we hit the last road section, I was so determined to catch the guy that I really picked the pace up and began to fly. I'd underestimated the distance to run though and my sprint lasted a lot longer than I'd first thought was necessary. To make it worse, we had a stream to wade through, a bank to climb and then 100m to run through the grass to the finish. Having overtaken the guy, I wasn't going to let this get me down now and I ran this last kilometre in 3:36 (stream, grass and all!).

I finished in 30 place, having completed the 13.8km course in 1:10:22 or an average of 5:05 per km. The Garmin shows almost 500m of uphill over the course, which is a little optimistic, but I think that 350m would be fairly close. I was pleased with my performance and also to see Gérald finish just behind me in 32 position and 1:11:02. So now I had a full 40 second advantage for the trail the next day, but would that be sufficient...

To be continued.