2 x 3000m

Another early morning. Another freezing morning. Days pass and the routine remains the same. The only difference is the session that is planned each day and today was 2 x 3km at marathon speed. I planned to apply my usual ambitions over this distance: 11:30 per interval; the time I use for my 3-2-1 sessions.

I ran down to the Seine in the freezing cold and wondered if all those reports I'd read about the impact of the cold on your heart-rate had any truth to them. I defintiely wasn't tempted to hang around as the cold on my face was freezing my smile into a grimace. My mouth felt swollen and I couldn't have spoken anything more than an unintelligible mumble even if I had wanted to. I started the interval after this kilometre warm-up, to get it over with more than anything else.

I don't know how fast I was running. I was just running as fast as it seemed possible for 3km. It was hard but it wasn't as bad as an all-out sprint session. I prefer these longer intervals where you are just out of your comfort zone as opposed to the full-out max HR sessions which fill me with despondency even before I start.

After 1.5km I'm already thinking that this is hard but the legs keep flowing and sooner than I expect the Garmin beeps for the third time and the first interval is over (3:50, 3:55, 3:51 so I miss my target by 6 seconds but I don't discover this until afterwards). A 3' recovery and I set off again. This second interval feels harder and easier at the same time. Harder because my legs are pushing faster and the ground is slippier, forcing me to shorten my stride with the patches of ice underfoot; easier, because my heartrate is not quite so high as before.

I finish the second interval (3:49, 3:54, 3:44 and well within the target this time)  and can now relax for the remainder of the run home. 12.8 km all up in 55:18 or an average pace of 4:19 / km. Long live the summer.

Freezing

No rest for the wicked and the marathon training programme imposed a run for today. As usual, I ignore the schedule for the Monday run and go and run a recovery around my 13km route. It's hard enough to get out of bed at 6:00 am to go for a run with the thermometer hovering around -10°C, but to have to run at tempo pace too is just too much to bear.

It takes me longer than usual to pull my clothes on due to the extra layers and perhaps due to my lack of motivation to leave the warmth of the bedroom. I get outside and the cold instantly registers: the cold grips you all over your body and squeezes the breath out of your lungs. It is very cold and I jog from the house to get moving as quickly as possible.

I run at 4:30 pace to begin with but then as I near the park in Maisons Laffitte, I speed up a little and down Avenue Albine, I'm running at 4:10 pace. There aren't many other souls about and even the woman I normally meet in the park walking her dogs is nowhere to be seen. The cold is too much for everyone and they're all insides for once, keeping warm.

12.8km all up in 55:00 or an average pace of 4:18. Too cold to hang about.

Cool Friday

I might have been complaining about snow earlier in the week, but this was worse. A chill wind has blown in from eastern France, straight from Siberia and temperatures have plummeted. When I left for my early morning run on Friday, it was -9°C and bloody cold.

All thoughts of intervals and other tempo runs flew out of the window. I was just going to get around the loop as quickly and as safely as I could without losing any body parts in the process. I had 3 layers on top and pants and skins for bottoms. A ski hat and a buff completed the ensemble. It took me 4 minutes longer than usual to leave as I had to put all of this extra kit on.

Not much to report once I was out. There was nobody around, not surprisingly, and I ran at a good pace after the first 3 or 4 kilometres. I finally managed to discover how to work the backlight on autolap on the Garmin which was a miracle. You need to put the light on and then lock the bezel before setting off and change the backlight setting to data entry and other. Too complicated by far and apparently it's a lot simpler on the 605 - which sounds like a good excuse to buy one.

12.8km all up in 53:39 or an average pace of 4:10 / km. Cold spell is set to stay for a while which is a pity as it's going to hamper my marathon training.

Tired Monday

I've read my French friend's post about his recovery run this lunchtime where he managed to average 15km/h over 12km without feeling the tiredness in his legs. I just want to state one thing: he can't have been trying hard enough yesterday.

I felt my legs as soon as I began to run. It was a recovery run though and I resisted the urge to look at the Garmin after every kilometre. Besides, nobody has shown me how to make the backlight work in synchro with the lap function, so I can't see a damn thing at 6:00 am. I'd like to give this impression of a confident aloof runner taking it easy having bust a gut yesterday. The truth is more like an old-aged, short-sighted, bad-tempered git, who squints every time his damn watch beeps at him and spends several seconds trying to work out the lap time in the half-light, failing every time. So I'm not cool - actually I was close to freezing as the cold weather is back again and it was just below zero this morning. Good job I had 3 layers on top to encourage me not to run too fast...

Back at home I was able to look at what I'd achieved: 12.8 km in 55:06 or an average pace of 4:19/km. I'd started at 4:35 pace and finished at 3:45 pace with the latter part of the loop run at around 4:20.

While in the park at Maisons Laffitte, I crossed a number of other lunatics runners including Sylvie going the opposite way to me, still running although suffering from loss of cartilege in the hip, causing intense pain. Don't know how she does it - stubborness and frustration probably. Hope I'll still have this courage in 10 years time. Starting my marathon training again now with the objective of Rambouillet half-marathon in early March. Will serve me well for the ecotrail 80km race a couple of weeks afterwards.

Frozen Cora

It was Saturday and this meant the usual route out to Cora. I'm definitely a man of routine and although Nick and Andy are away at the moment, the run out to Cora had to be done.

I'd run with Gill and Laurence the day before but today I was heading out by myself. I ran easily through town to begin with, wrapped up heavily since it was -1°C, and again my legs felt heavy as I tried to get them warmed up to turn over more quickly. I wasn't particularly worried about pace as this is one of my relaxing runs of the week. I was also capping off a big week in terms of disctance as I'd been running every day this week and was going to cover 80km including this run.

I ran down to the railway bridge and the puddles of the previous day had completely frozen over. I arrived just in time to see 2 cyclists crossing the bridge and the second man skidding on the ice, falling down heavily, cracking the ice and completely soaking the right-hand side of his body in close to freezing water. His cycling partner just laughed at him and as I pondered whether to make any remark, the poor guy looked so miserable that I just let it go.

I ran out to Cora, picking up speed as I went. I started to feel good before getting to the pond and was surprised by how little water there was in there. I was expecting to see a nice expanse of ice stretching over the usual pond, but instead there was patches of ice and large patches of earth which the water usually covers. What has been going on ?

I headed back up to La Pavillon de la Muette and then back home without any further mishaps. The forest was really lovely, covered in a layer of frost that glimmered in the early morning sun. I felt good to be out.

15km all up in 1:06:13 or 4:24 per km. 80km for the week.

Cold

The temperature has dropped and winter has finally arrived and properly.

I woke up at 6:00 am with the alarm and pulled on my running kit. I'd prepared the ear warmers in the form of the headband, and 2 tops to be able to take the colder weather outside. I got dressed quickly and went outside as fast as possible before I changed my mind about the whole proceedings. It had been cold at the weekend at Issy and I presumed it would be the same this morning. I was wrong. It was far worse.

I didn't realise it to begin with. I felt the cold air instantly, obviously, with my first steps outside. I started running immediately and a few seconds later the extent of the cold began to take effect. My breath hurt as the cold air entered my lungs with every inhalation. I ran faster so that my body would get warmer through the exertion. This didn't appear to work so I picked up the pace again. What was initially supposed to be an easy early morning run was quickly turning into a speed session. The cold made itself felt on my hands as the fingers grew first of all numb and then painful as the cold bit harder and harder. I regretted not having put on gloves and carried on in the hope that the blood would begin to circulate and warm through eventually.

It was a lovely clear night and there was no wind. Everything seemed quieter than usual, as if the cold had kept everybody indoors, under the cover of the bedclothes. I thought of Laurence still in bed and wondered why I'd bothered leaving the warmth of the bed to go running anyway. I kept the pace up and felt good. My legs felt strong and I was running well. The time seemed to go quickly, probably due to the fact that I was still half-asleep, and I only woke up when the cold crept through my running tights freezing my testicles and my buttocks.

I was over half way by now and I was looking forward to getting back to the warmth of the house for breakfast. I left Maisons Laffitte and the park to run infornt of the church at Le Mesnil and then down to the town-hall. A quick sprint back along the main road and I was back home in 47:07 for 11.1 km or an average of 4:16 (marathon pace) per kilometre.

Back inside the house and Laaurence had only just got up. She admitted that she wondered why I didn't move when the alarm went, not realising that I'd already got up and left the house for my run. Some people have all the luck ! By the way, the thermometer showed that it was -6°C outside. Definitely cold.