Training Log Archive: AC

Last weekend's races in the Vercors drove home my lack of fitness and strength on hills. With the O'Ringen and Lakes 5 Days both featuring hilly terrain, I decided I need some last minute training on hills. a bit late and a bit desperate, but better than nothing I suppose. So drove half way to Parc de St Cloud (saving 6km of dead running) and headed onto the hilly tracks just inside the park. Did a longish (750m) hard run up a relatively gentle hill then 4 times a short steep hill (200m) that I have used for hill reps in the past. Was much slower than I was a few years ago (of course!) but put in a good effort (1.22, 24, 26, 29). Followed up with another hard run up the longer hill then 2km effort trying to keep around 5min/km (4.54, 5.01) on the way back to the car. Very hot (30 degrees) and so was pretty wrecked by the time I got back home.

It has been a rough week at work with many meetings a an exhausting trip to Berlin and Budapest that was plagued with travel snafus. Plus the soreness and stiffness from last weekend's activities added to the difficulties in getting out for any exercise (had hoped to at least do a decent run in Budapest, but that didn't work out).

French Orienteering Championships, H55, 23rd place (from 70+ competitors). Starting and finishing in a ski station is always a reliable sign of a tough race! And so this one proved. The map was okay, the terrain was steep and rocky, and the planning was pretty ordinary. Th navigational challenges were minimal - basically run along a track and duck in to collect the control, then back out to the track. Still, I managed to stuff up the first couple of controls. For #1, I miscounted the number of ski tracks to cross and found myself in the wrong forest compartment. Dropped 3-4 mins there. Then a long downhill run to #2 was fine but then was on the wrong spur for the control. Dropped another 1-2 mins there. The rest were fine with the exception of #10 where I lost 1 min by coming in off th track too early. The major problem, however, was physical. The long climb from #4 up to the trac to run towards #5 was too tough for me - despite walking the steep climb, I still ran out of legs towards the end of the long track run and my back started to tighten up quite badly. Really struggled for the last third of the course and walked all the uphills and jogged the downhills. Disappointing run in the end, which was a shame as had done some (but not enough) training. The mistakes didn't help as they were quite simple legs. Should have been in the top 15 without the errors, even with the slow running.

Tried to work out the kinks in my legs after the long 6 hour drive to the Vercors. Went out for an easy walk/jog with Nick and Jane on one of the training maps for tomorrow's Championships race. Very rocky and lots of bracken. Walked for 40 mins then jogged easily for the last part in the forest and along the road.

Absolutely stunning day and lovely balmy, sunny still evening. Took full advantage with a post-work MTB ride up into Parc de St Cloud. Took it reasonably easy with an eye on the French O Champs on Saturday. Back a bit stiff and more stretching needed. Good ride.

Morning interval session. A bit tired after a long day trip to Berlin yesterday with a 5am start and 11pm finish. Did 10*1min/1min. Good set of intervals. Felt pretty strong even if the times weren't stellar - a bit of traffic to deal with at times was a touch inconvenient.

Low key Departmentale race on a Fontainebleau area that was new to me, which is quite unusual. 2.5m contours indicated that it was fairly flat and so it proved. Navigation wasn't too challenging but I still managed to make a number of relatively small errors, especially on #1, where I wound up in the wrong re-entrant and lost 2-3 mins. Lost a few more minutes on #11 looking for a depression in a vague flat area and #13 looking for a knoll in sea of knolls. Back started to play up towards the end but held together. Ran the whole way, which was pleasing, and felt reasonably strong. A good morning's exercise.

A very nice late afternoon spin on the mtb out to Parc de St Cloud. Took it fairly easy.one big advantage of these rides in the late afternoon and early evening is that the crowds have largely gone, making the riding much easier as not having to dodge picnickers and walkers. Nice ride.

Still feeling pretty tired and lethargic and decided to put an effort in on this run to try and work myself out of the slump. Good hard run but felt like I was working excessively hard to maintain a fast (but not very fast) pace. Still, good to get this one inder the belt. Felt good to stop and feel a little virtuous.

The end of a tough week at work so headed out for a decompression ride up into the Parc St Cloud. There aren’t many options in terms of tracks so it is just a strategy of mixing up the few options available and having fun. Nice ride and stopped off for takeaway Thai at the end.

Feeling very tired and stumbled around a very slow and uninspired 5km loop before work. Left knee tender but not enough to stop running as yet. Will take it easy on it as I have a lot of races coming up in the next couple of months.

No meetings today (Sunday) and a late afternoon flight out meant a good opportunity for a bit of a sleep in and a leaisurely morning run. The sleep in didn't happen, but still lazed about in bed for a while before venturing out for a run on a lovely sunny morning. Had decided to do a bit of a tour of the battle sites of the British invasion of Quebec on 1 September 1759. Very well marked trail with great explanatory panels at various points. Made for a very stop and start run, but that was fine. It was also very hilly as I made my way up to the top of the Plains of Abraham and then headed right down to the river's edge where the British soldiers landed and scaled some pretty impressive cliffs to surprise the French defenders. Very steep run back up and then did a lap of a popular jogging track up the top. Back along a lovely trail in the forest above the escarpment and decided on a whim to have another go at the steps from yesterday at Le Cap Blanc. Burning thighs again - it would be very good training to do these stairs a couple of times a week! Excellent run although the km rate was quite slow due to the hills and to touristing! Left knee a bit sore towards the end and gave it a good icing back in the hotel room.

C • excellent 2

In Quebec for the G7 Summit and time zone difference meant a very early start was possible. Squeezed in a touristy run around town. First down into the old part of Quebec, then along the river's edge before climbing up the longest staircase they have at Cap Blanc - 389 steps. Thighs were really burning about half way up but persevered. Great hill climbing training!

Very wet week so no chance for a ride so far this week unfortunately.

Morning interval session. Heavy and humid weather and feeling very slow out of the blocks. But decided to have a crack at a loop I used to do in the Bois that was kind of a park terrain loop. Uphill for 2/3 of the loop and then downhill, all on rough-ish terrain. Good for O training. Did okay - 3.21, 3.20, 3.19, with 1 1/2 min rest between each. Then followed up with 5 x 1 min on / 1 min off on the way home - reasonable pace but all over the place (4.12, 32 (traffic and stray dog), 14, 18, 07).

Late night with work and pouring with rain, but still dragged myself out for a morning shuffle around the Bois. Took a while to get going but eventually got hte legs into gear. Rain eased off to a pleasant drizzle rather than tropical downpour and good running conditions (if a bit muddy underfoot).

Drove over to a spot a bit closer to Parc de St Cloud to save the long boring run to and from the park. Very warm morning and the first half of the run was basically uphill, with a long downhill last half. Felt pretty tired after yesterday's double training but kept plugging away. Right hip started to get quite sore in second half of the run - physic tomorrow morning. Last km across the bridge in the heat very challenging. Character building run!

Dropped Freya at basketball training and headed off from the Stade Francais HQ for a run around the Bois. Almost immediately started getting caught up with the pedestrians streaming in for the French Open at Roland Garros, which would have been frustrating if I was running with any kind of pace. But it was okay as I was still struggling to get my legs moving. Started feeling better around the Hippodrome Longchamp, where there were the usual massive Saturday morning peletons doing their Tour de France impressions.Quite warm and humid and stopped a few times for a drink at the nicely positioned fountains. Really got caught up with the French Open crowds on the way back, quite unadvertently as I had misjudged where I was leaving the Bois (how long have I been running in this area!?!). Good run overall.

Beautiful evening so headed over to Parc de St Cloud for an easy evening spin on the mtb. Cruised around but did wind up going up a few hills quite hard as was being chased by a couple of mtb guys and felt obliged to stay in front. Very pleasant evening ride.