2h40 with 3 x 30' @ 85% MHR

A long run in perspective for this monster session where we begin to train at marathon pace. I can't say that I was looking forward to this but then I haven't been looking forward to any of the training runs on this marathon programme really. I was lucky enough to have Laurence to accompany me on the bike and she agreed to carry the water and food bars so that was a one worry less, having to manage a rucksack too.

I set off easily on a cool, damp morning and ran through the forest at around 4'45" pace until the club and then through the forest on the other side of St Germain and up Princess Road. I calculated that with over 90 minutes of effort the usual long loop was going to be too short if I started from the top so I changed my intended rout with a double back to St Gemme before heading back down Princess Road home.

I set off from the top of Princess Road as planned and the sensations were fairly good. I definitely wasn't comfortable at this pace but I wasn't distressed either. It was hard work but manageable. Laurence kept a close look at the watch for the 30' and when she called time, I was almost at St Nom la Breteche after 7.7km of running and an average pace of 3'52" / km. The second interval was going to be harder as I would have to run uphill to start.

The uphill section was hard after this initial effort and the first kilometre was managed in 4'29". I almost gave up there and then but I reached the top of the hill back towards St Gemme and I thought I'd see how it panned out along the flat. My pace went up to under 4'00/km and I carried on. It was easier now but definitely harder than the first interval. I gritted my teeth and ran to the end of the 30' finishing on the uphill just before the flat section at the top of Princess Road. 3'57" / km average pace for this section.

Another 5' recovery and some more water and cereal bars and I set off again. I started on the flat section and after the first kilometre headed down Princess Road where I ran a couple of kilometres at 3'35" pace. The hill up to the Lycée slowed me down but I still covered the kilometre in under 4 minutes and I ran on until just after the club before stopping. An average pace of 3'50" over this section, aided by the downhill of Princess Road.

39.5 km all up in just over 2h52 so an average pace of 4'22" for the session. Pleased to have finished and happy with the distance.

Hill session

Bank holiday today in France so the club session was at 9:00am instead of in the evening. I cycled in on my mountain bike and saw that the turnout was fairly scarce in the absence of both of our trainers Miguel and Michel. Still François, Philippe, Jean-Marc, Ilyes, Romain and others were there so there was plenty of runners for company.

We decided to respect the programme that had been posted by Miguel and head up to Princess Road to do 10 hill repeats. It was a long warm-up at just over 30 minutes when we reached the last section of the hill up Princess Road before the crossroads at the top. This is the steepest part of the hill and although it is just over 200m, it begins fairly shallow at first before reaching a gradient of around 10% by the end. Perfect for training.

The first repeats went well and although I was slower than Jean-Marc and Romain, they were slower on the downhill recovery and I was soon ahead of them and they would pass me on the uphill. Ilyes was well ahead and intent on running 12 repeats instead of the 10 for us mere mortals.

After 5 repeats Jean-Marc and the others called for a longer recovery before re-starting. I didn't feel that I needed this and it was a good incentive to keep going and to stay ahead. The last 5 were difficult with my breathing a lot shorter and tiredness settling in. The last 3 were hard as the lactic rose in my thighs and I wondered if I could keep running to the top. Happy to finish them and satisfied with the quality of the session.

Jogged back with Ilyes at recovery pace (4:30/km !) and got back to the club after 16.4km and 1h26. A short bike ride back home to finish.

Saturday session

I received an SMS from Nico yesterday: "Let's do Sunday's session tomorrow". Oh no! I'd been hoping secretly for an easy run to Corra and back before accompanying Laurence for 37km around the Paris marathon course. Worse, there was more: "and I've asked Ylies to come too". Running intervals with Nico is bad enough but I now had visions of being left behind by both of them chasing them over the 6', 10', 12' then 3' intervals that had been planned. I was not a happy bunny.

Nico drove me to the club this morning where we were to start the run and I had the first piece of good news. Ylies was not feeling well and probably wouldn't be coming. Obvious concern about his health but internal jubilation that I wouldn't see them both disappearing off into the distance.

We set off towards Princess Road and once at the top, we had a quick stop to stretch before we set off on the first interval. I told Nico that by my reckoning his plan of running 2 loops on the top would be 10km plus the 6km to the top of Princess and 6 km back meant a 22km run for the morning. He decided that this was too long and furthermore, he wanted to end on the downhill section so we decided to run 1 loop and then the long straight before heading back.

I set off quickly over the first interval and was surprised to see Nico behind me to begin with. I wondered how long this would last before he came charging past. I managed a kilometre and the Garmin showed 3'16" before a few hundred yards later he came past and I just hung on. I was counting down the seconds to the end of the first interval but was pleased with the speed I'd managed to start. 2 minutes recovery and we were off again.

Nico led this for a few yeards before I pulled ahead again. We were closer now and every time he came past, I'd put in a little spurt to stay with him, even pushing him hard on the slight uphill sections where he'd tire. This was most unusual. We ran a the first kilometre in 3:29 before a 3:40 uphill and then back to 3:34 for the last section and again looking at the Garmin, wondering how long I could hold on for. 10 minutes is interminable at this pace...

Nico slipped into the bushes for this recovery and I jogged on really slowly for the 3 minute recovery. When I turned around to see where he was, he'd only just finished and was 200m behind. I jogged towards him but too late, we had to start again for the last long interval of 12'. I was knackered now and just trying to hold on as best I could. The pace slowed as I ran by myself and I only managed 3:37, then 3:39 when Nico joined me as I turned back at the end of the long straight. We got back to the top of Princess Road and ran down to end this interval - 3:34/km. 24 recovery and off for the final sprint downhill. Nico had more speed downhill and pulled away. He managed 3:04/km while I could only muster 3:14/km.

A quick jog back to the clubhouse and I ran on to do a round 20km in 1:26 or an average pace of 4:19 over the distance. A tough session to start the weekend and some good practise for a 10km race soon.

All the best to the Paris marathon runners tomorrow. Firstly Laurence and the girls (Katia and Sandra on their 3h30 attempt); followed by François and Benj on their run to break the 3h00 barrier for the first time. I'll be running with Laurence from 5km to the end and Nico will be adopting pacing duties for Benj and François from the half-way point onwards.

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.