Cora and back again

Well, despite Nick and my attempts to get a band of running brothers to join us for this morning's jog to Cora and back, once again we were left to ourselves. The excuses are getting worse and worse: Paul was home alone, Andy is still disabled with a bad back, Nico is running a race tomorrow and Didier had a meeting with a banker... pathetic ! This last excuse is especially poor, since Didier spends all week with bankers. Why on earth he wants to meet them at the weekend too is beyond me.

Nick and I had a good run to Cora, setting off easily enough and chatting to each other before the chatting become quieter and quieter and we were at 4:20 pace. Having noticed this appearing on the Garmin, I asked Nick if he was easy at this pace because I certainly wasn't. He replied that he thought that with my marathon training, that 4:20 pace was now a natural easy pace! I'm a long way off this yet so we slowed down immediately.

The rest of the run was run between 4:35 and 4:45 pace, slowing down slightly for the uphill sections. It was a really fantastic morning with a temperature around 14°C and clear blue skies. It couldn't have been more ideal for running.

I dropped Nick at his house and was running home to finish the 15k circuit in 1:11 when I saw Laurence and Paul heading off up Rue de La Marne at the start of Paul's weekly run to chateau du Val and back. Paul beckoned for me to join him so we all ran together into the forest.

This is Paul's 4th run since he's started his weekly commitment to run 7km around Chateau du Val to keep fit. We ran the first kilometre in 6:00 this morning which is already a vast improvement on the first couple of times I'd run with him. He looked a lot fresher and easier and we carried on into the forest where he ran the following kilometres slightly faster at around 5:50 pace. He didn't get a stitch this time and was motivated to beat his record of 44:26 for the course.

We were well ahead of schedule with 2km to go and he sped up from there on to the finish. There was even a sprint finish to complete in 40:01 so we were all really pleased with this result. A new record for him.

I completed my run then of 21.5km in 1:48. Not bad for an easy Saturday run. I'll run with the club tomorrow for my long Sunday run. Lovely day afterwards with an easy lunch on the patio and temperatures in the mid 20°s C. Good start to the weekend.

20x400m

I got back from Stockholm and from work on Thursday too late to make it to the club session so I skipped my Thursday run and postponed it to this morning. It is probably the hardest session I have left before the marathon and I can't say that I was looking forward to it.

The programme was to run 20x400m in 90 seconds off 200m recovery. This, together with a warm-up and a warm-down, would have amounted to well over 14 km and so I decided to reduce the recovery to 150m and save a kilometre over the total distance.

I set off in some of the mildest temperatures Le Mesnil has seen for a while. It was very humid with a mist hanging over the Seine when I got down there for the warm-up, but the temperature was probably around 15°C even at 6:00 am.

I started the session after a kilometre warm-up and ran the first 400m at an even tempo not wanting to burn myself out too quickly. I tried to relax my upper body as suggested in Tom's blog and Dave Sweeney's and this works well if you can remember to keep doing it on every interval. After about the first 4 intervals, it is more a matter of pushing the legs over and trying to keep a regular pace without over-exerting yourself.

The intervals went like this:

1:27, 1:25, 1:28, 1:24, 1:25, 1:29, 1:26, 1:25, 1:28, 1:27
1:25, 1:28, 1:27, 1:28, 1:27, 1:25, 1:26, 1:29, 1:28, 1:28

The recovery was constant at a minute off each interval. Pleased with the consistency but these would have all been faster around a track. It's hard to motivate yourself when you are not sure exactly how far you still have to run and to adjust your pace accordingly. I always tend to keep some energy in reserve just in case.

Pleased when it was all over anyway. Completely exhausted and sweating buckets at the end.

13.6k all up in 1:02 or an average of 4:35 per kilometre.Weighed in at 74.6kg after the run so have lost about 1.5kg with my marathon training.

Stockholm again

Wednesday morning saw me back in Stockholm again for an easy, early morning run.

Stockholm after the equinox is amazing. I was looking at the weather forecast on Swedish television, without understanding very much at all I must add, until they got to the end and showed the times of sunrise and sunset. For that Wednesday, Stockholm was losing 18 minutes of sunlight compared to the previous day. The north of Sweden was losing 24 minutes of sunlight. The last time I was there, I was rudely awoken by sun streaming in through my window at 4:30 am. This time I went running at 6:00 am and it was pitch black.

I chose my longer run in Stockholm. Since I only have 2 runs that I know well and the short one is only 7 k, I picked the longer one for my recovery run and very pleasant it was. There are loads of stairs and uphill on this run, so the recovery is perhaps not quite as complete as I could have wished but I enjoyed it nevertheless.

12km all up in 57 minutes. Very relaxing.

3x2000m

Early morning interval session planned for this morning of 3 x 2000m off 2' recovery. Each 2km was supposed to be run in 8:20 so just slightly faster than marathon pace.

I set off feeling fairly good about the session as it's easier than the last few outings have been. 2km in 8:20 is not quite relaxed but it's not a strenuous effort and so 3 intervals at this pace was not daunting.

I warmed up down to the 1km mark and then set off on the first interval. I ran at what I considered to be a brisk pace but without killing myself. When I went past the first kilometre, the Garmin beeped and I read what I thought to be 4:12. I thought that I'd been taking it slightly too easily so I stepped up the pace slightly and ran harder to the end fo the first interval, completing the second kilometre in 3:53. It was only when I got back to the house at the end that I saw that the first kilometre had actually read 4:01 !

I was able to recover well after 2 minutes and had even started building the pace up again before the end of the recovery. Off I set again completing the next 2 kilometres in 3:57 and 3:59. Another 2 minutes recovery and the final interval was run in 3:54 and 3:57.

Very pleased with the overall result, running each of the intervals in under 8 minutes off 2' recovery and after the third interval, I seriously thought about running a fourth interval for a little while before reasoning that I have a 20 x 400m session to do on Thursday and burning myself out early would not be wise.

12 km all up in 53 minutes.

Easy Monday

A 50 minute recovery run was planned for this morning, and I was happy that today at least I was able to follow the plan to the letter ;o)

An early morning start which saw me outside at 6:00am in relatively mild weather (16°C) and a light drizzle. The first few steps convinced me that I wouldn't be able to go hard as I could feel my thigh muscles after yesterday's run. More worrying, was the slight discomfort, pain would be too strong a word, that I was registering in both my knees.

I kept the pace easy and started the first kilometre in just under 5 minutes (4:50) and then maintained this pace all the way round. Breathing was very easy and no strain but the legs were tired. I'm looking forward to the end of this week's training and an easing of the programme over the last 2 weeks in the run up to the marathon.

Nobody was out today, the rain having put all of them off presumably, and I day-dreamed as I ran around.

10.3 km all up in 49 minutes. Good recovery.

Trying times

It was the long Sunday run for today and in my head I'd planned the same run that I did at this stage of my marathon training for Paris: a 4x20' at marathon pace plus.

I can't say that I was looking forward to it. I knew that it would be draining from an energy point of view but it would also be a big confidence booster if I was able to do better than in March. I set out with Laurence on the bike carrying all of the water and sugar tablets and a fruit bar. It's so much easier when you don't have to carry all of the equipment yourself and I was really appreciative of having Laurence with me.

I set out steadily, completing the first kilometre in 5:00 dead and then speeding up to around 4:35 pace. I carried on like this until Princess Road finishing the last 2 kilometres of uphill in 5:13 for each. I was already a little disappointed by this pace as when I'd run with Nick at the end of August, we made it to the top of Princess Road without going below 12km/h (5:00 per km pace).
I was tired at the top and after a quick drink of water, I carried on and began to start my first 20' interval. I was running well but found it tiring: after the first interval the garmin beeped to say that I'd run the kilometre in 3:44 - this was too fast. I eased off and ran the next kilometres in 4:16, 4:08, 4:04. This was definitely better but still an effort.

I slowed for a 3' recovery and then set off again. I only managed 5' before the effort required was too much and I gave it all up as a bad job. I wasn't ready for this sort of effort and I relaxed into around 4:30 pace. I caught up with a couple of runners at this point and discovered that it was Bruno with a friend. I ran past them, after saying hello, and carried on at about 4:30 pace downhill. As I entered St Nom La Breteche I slowed again up some small hills. I was completely shattered already after 20km (1:30) and even the smallest slope was slowing me to under 12km/h.

I entered the town centre of St Nom La Breteche and at this point I'd had enough. I walked and was completely disappointed with myself. I thought that I was in better shape than this and I couldn't understand why I was letting myself down. The 4x20' had disappeared completely as an objective and now all I could think about was getting back without pinching Laurence's bike!

I started jogging again and once I was up the hill on the plateau before St Germain, I began to run at 4:30 pace again. I sped up slightly down the hill and managed to run the rest of the route at around 4:30 pace.

33.4km all up in 2:34 or an average of 4:35 per km. Cross with myself for not having done better but satisfied that I managed to complete the distance. 3 weeks to the marathon and still plenty of doubts as to my ability at the moment. Biggest problem is still lack of sleep and I need to recover better if I'm going to run well in Toulouse.

About 86km for this week's training.

Saturday run

The usual run to Cora again today with Nick for company. All our other running mates were busy, injured or away. It was nice to just chat to Nick easily and we ran easily at 4:40 pace to begin with, building to 4:30 pace by the time we got to Cora.

It was a warm morning, with a temperature hovering around 16°C. It also looked very dark and the risk of a sudden downpour was high. Both Nick and I had donned set seather gear to begin with but when the rain didn't materialise, we stripped these off as it was too warm. This may explain why I found the pace so tiring, but more likely are the late nights, lack of sleep, and high mileage I've been racking up lately.

Still the run was mostly uneventful until we crossed the railway line on the way home, after Pavillon de la Muette. I went to take a small path to the left and put my foot on a length of kerbing, only to find it slide away from under me and finding myself falling. I put out my hands to break my fall but I rolled over a couple of times before I came to a stop. Nothing hurt, except for the jarring in my neck which was not the ideal way to deal with my current problems here. Nick was impressed and after checking if I was alright mentioned how the fall was quite spectacular.

No more mishaps after this. 15km all up in 1:11 or an average pace of 4:46 per km.