Avignon (pas de pont)

Well, it was close to Avignon anyway and another early morning run at 6:30 am before the training session for work.

I ran with Armel and Jean-Charles. Armel is an iron-man finisher and trail runner and we both ran at around the same pace. Jean-Charles found the going slightly harder and we had to help him around at the end.

We ran 10km which is the furthest that J-C has ever run. All up in 48:40. Lovely countryside but hot and humid even that early in the morning.

Wednesday morning run

Another busy week and no blog write-ups all week. I'm ashamed at how slack I'm becoming. It's already hard enough to get out running but now I'm also finding it hard to write up my runs at the end.

I missed Tuesday night training session with the club and went out for an early morning run the next day instead. It was a lovely morning and despite being caught short at just after 3 km into the run, I managed to run each kilometre in around 4:15 or thereabouts.

I ran my old route down by the Seine and through the park at Maisons Laffitte before coming back via the Church in Le Mesnil and down by the town hall.

Finished with a burst at over 15km/h. Good run. All up in 47:19 so no record for the 11.1km but a good time nevertheless.

Orgerus

Nick and I had decided that we would run Orgerus this weekend, after Nick's disappointment with La Pastourelle and my objective to beat the hour over a 15 km course.

My training during the week had left me feeling that I was capable of beating my goal over the course despite my quick research on the web with runners saying that the course was not the flattest in the area. We arrived in this little village in the south of the Yvelines well in advance of the start and we picked up our numbers and had a quick warm-up around some of the little roads in the area.

The weather was perfect, with the temperature around 13°C and some sunshine in between the high clouds. We lined up for the start facing down the slight hill that we would set off down for the first kilometre. I told myself that I had to control my start in order to run as consistently as possible over the course. The whistle went and we were off down the hill. It was a dense pack and I had to be careful to avoid other runners feet over the first 500 metres. This then thinned out and I found myself in the first 40 runners. I could see Miguel, Thierry and Jean-Marc ahead at this point and then we turned right and started running uphill. I passed a group of around 10 runners at this point as I felt strong on the hill (probably improving from La Pastourelle) and then reached a no-mans land point where I was on my own. This didn't last long as I was joined by another runner at this point and we set a steady pace together.

The first 5 kilometres went by easily enough in 3:44, 3:57, 3:57, 3:57, 3:58. This was despite the rises in the terrain. My partner would push the downhills and leave me slightly and I would push the uphills, giving him some food for thought.

At 6 km we passed another lone runner who he obviously knew from Issou and he made some remark about too many races to him. I still felt good but I could feel my legs now and was starting to tire a little. The undulating countryside, although very pretty, was tough going and I knew that last weekend's efforts were having an impact.

We stayed together, just the two of us, maintaining the rhythm: 3:45, 4:01, 4:02, 3:54, 4:06.

We went through the 10km marker in 39:43 and I knew that I didn't have much room for manoeuvre in slowing the pace. My only consolation was that I had looked at the map of the course with Nick prior to starting and knew that the last few kilometres were mostly downhill.

I began to tire considerably now and mentally I was strained. As if he could hear my thoughts, my partner took off at 12km, leaving more more vulnerable than ever. I could see him catch one, then two runners ahead of us, while hearing others catch me up behind. I had nothing left to give and was just counting down the minutes to the arrival. 2 km - 8 minutes to go; 6 minutes to go - OK it's just like an interval session, 1km - 4 minutes to go.

I hit the outskirts of the village and gave it my last. The end was in sight and my objective too. I pushed on and managed a semi sprint finish (19.2 km/h according to the Garmin) to end the agony in 59:45. Too tired to celebrate, I just collapsed in a corner, recovering with my head in my hands.

Nick finished a couple of minutes later in 1:02:30, pleased with his time too. Really pleased now that I've done it, but it was a real effort and bloody hard work.

Finished in 27th place and 11th veteran. Will post a link to the results when they're out.

Poitiers - Futuroscope

Poitiers has one of the biggest permanent cinema exhibitions in France and was the site of our training on Friday.

I went for another early morning run and left the industrial zone of Chasseneuil-du-Poitou to find some more pleasant scenery.

I was just beginning to wake up as I left the zone and found a little path heading off into the forest. I followed this as it meandered around only to find myself beside what appeared to be a large pond. The path promptly disappeared, forcing me to fight my way through nettles and the undergrowth, before I found myself back on a track again.

7.5 km all up in around 40 minutes. (I'd forgotten to pack my Garmin in the hurry). Oh and the large pond turned out ot be a river, so it would have taken me a while to have run around it ;o)

Reims Cathedral

Busy with work all week so took my running kit along in order to keep up the training despite being away.

Late night and then an early start as I left the hotel (frankly, one of the worst places I have ever stayed at - don't believe the photos on their website) at 6:20 to go for a run around the city. Reims city centre is well worth visiting. It was just a shame that most of the streets seemed to be in the process of being dug up for repairs. It made for a harder run as I kept having to change pavements.

10.5 km all up in 46:31 or an average of 4:30 per km. Good run and a great way to wake up for the day.

Sunday - St Simon

Decided that despite having run the Pastourelle yesterday that I would take Nick out around my favourite route in Aurillac, the old road to St Simon and then back along the new road. A 9km circular route.

As soon as we got outside, I realised that the mental energy I had was great. Unhappily, the physical energy was no match. I had even thought about extending the normal course to add on some cross-country sections from St Simon. A kilometre along the road and all ideas about running any further than 9k were banished from my mind.

We set off steadily enough at around 5:15 per km and then slowed as we went up the hill. We pushed on a little once we got to the top and wrere running at around 4:30 pace. Laurence and Anne caught us up on the bikes at this point as they coasted down the hill. Over the bridge at St Simon and back along the new road. We picked the pace up again, accelerating to 4:13 then 4:09 per km.

All up in 42:33, well outside my P.B of 38:30, but then again I hadn't run a 31km race the day before !

La Pastourelle

It's been a busy week and I've only just got around now to writing up my running diary for the past week.

La Pastourelle was the big event of last weekend, with a 32 km race in the Cantal around a circuit comprising of over 1000m of uphill.

The profile of the course looked like this. The big challenge was between kilometres 3 and 11 with 8,5 km of climb and 850 metres height to be gained, so an average gradient of 10%.

The day turned out bright and hot. Laurence, Anne , Nick and I had all travelled down together and arrived at the start an hour before the off. Having picked up our bibs, we spent the next 10 minutes appltying the sun cream liberally to protect ourselves from the afternoon sun. It was about 22°C, so too hot for me and I promised myself that I would take it easy over the course.

The start was given and we were off. The beginning was easy enough with 3 kilometres of downhill and I coasted at around 3:46 per km. At the foot of the moutain, we left the road and starting heading up a small track. I ran for about 2 km before starting to walk for a while and then started running again. At this point I was overtaken by the first woman who ran up steadily with small paces, never pausing in her stride. Mentally, I couldn't keep this up as the effort and the heat was too intense. Only an hour and 20 minutes later was I finally at the top of Puy Violent and ready to run the 22 km back to Salers.

Unfortunately, this is where I made my second mistake. I had assumed, naively, that once on the top I would be able to pick up speed easily and run downhill at a regular sustained pace. The reality was totally different, with a narrow track, steep downhill sections with large boulders, and worst of all: more uphill ! The uphill sections proved to be too much and I ended up walking many of them, further slowing my average speed. The tiredness increased and the afternoon heat too. At least on top, the wind had cooled me down substantially whereas with the descent, the breeze dropped and I began overheating. I was very careful to avoid a repeat performance of the marathon, so I stopped at every feeding station to take on liquid and food. These were well organised and situated every 3 - 4 km along the route.

I finished by walking up the steep roads into Salers, applauded by the spectators. Even the thought of the finish line was not motivating enough to get me to run. Total time for the course was 3:14:32 in 62 position out of 556 finishers. Laurence and Anne finished in 4:40 and Nick had to be helicoptored off the mountain after his heart began racing (tachycardia).

Great scenery, lovely course but very demanding. I'll be back next year to improve on my time and will be better prepared mentally for the effort necessary.