I'd been trying to hook up with a friend of a friend since I got here and today we managed it.
We headed straight uphill right through the vineyard behind Stuart's house, as it might not have been steep enough to go on the road. First km was a struggle, but by the second I'd just go used to the 6% incline, which compared to some of the hills around here is ok. After 3km we turned as we had hit the top. The paths were ok, if a little muddy. Stuart was kind enough to go easy on me with the uphill sections, but he let rip on the downhills, I could just about keep up and any faster would have been dangerous with all the branches and roots lying around.
Nearly came a cropper as I was running alongside him when he called a sharp left into someone's garden while I'd committed my self to the more likely route of down the road!
We were chatting about running in London and it turns out Stuart is an ex-rocket, who knows Neil. How weird is that, he was there until 2006 so we only just missed each other, although I'm sure Stuart was more of a B kinnda guy.
We go past a sign that says Gland 2km and and I can see what I think is his place. His Garmin reports that we're under distance and so after checking out his hill rep hill we flypast the house and add on a little tour of Vich to get us up to 9km in 45mins. Not a bad easy run, considering terrain, conditions, and my general lack of training.
Saturday 27 February 2010
Friday 26 February 2010
8km, Yacht Club de Geneve
The sun popped out at 11am and I'd made good progress at work and already had a French lesson, so I was all set for NY start of day and decided to go for a run outside, now I had joined the gym.
However, they wouldn't let me in. It seems they actually wanted me to pay and after much hassle I did pay and they handed over my membership card and I blagged yet another towel card. While I was at it, I pushed my luck and managed to get a week pass for a buddy at work. I then got them to explain to me how to get out the back as I did not fancy going through the department store in my gear. All in French....
Outbound was easy, I found it hard to stay slow and lakeside was lovely. There were two clues about the trouble ahead. One was the flags whipping in the wind and pointing the direction I was travelling. Two were the dead leaves that overtook me, they don't normally do that.
I was running free and so had no idea how far or fast I'd gone, but decided to head home from the Yatch Club de Geneve. The wind was so stong and head on it nearly knocked me over. Then I saw the wall of ice rain rushing at me from Geneva. Nothing I could do about it but run through the storm, I was soaked in seconds and as I was in shorts the tops my thighs started to freeze, they were red raw by the time I was back at the gym.
There was a guy ahead so I closed on him and caught him with about a km to go. Chatted for a while in French until he asked me where he was from and we both fell about laughing as he was an English bloke! So Joe is training for Berlin marathon and I'm sure we'll meet again lakeside.
The way back to the gym is via a lift shared by several offices and the department store. I dripped through the lobby and called the lift. By the time it came I was joined by two pretty young ladies who were very amused at how wet I was. They held the lift for a bloke who worked with them and he was a little wet, but could not resist comparing his soaking to mine. Again, this had the girls in stitches.
Nice hot shower and then as I was getting changed some interesting French chatter with three blokes moaning about the English taking over and how Geneva was turning into London. They were especially miffed about the ones who could not even speak any French. I waited until just one was left before chipping in with my best French that I'd just arrived from London myself. Peter laughed and shook my hand, but you're ok my friend your wife is swiss and you have an accent Vaudois! Two new buddies in one day.
On the way to pick up some lovely co-op pasta the sun decided to come out. Tres mauvais timing.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/switzerland/gen%e8ve/559126721568557269
However, they wouldn't let me in. It seems they actually wanted me to pay and after much hassle I did pay and they handed over my membership card and I blagged yet another towel card. While I was at it, I pushed my luck and managed to get a week pass for a buddy at work. I then got them to explain to me how to get out the back as I did not fancy going through the department store in my gear. All in French....
Outbound was easy, I found it hard to stay slow and lakeside was lovely. There were two clues about the trouble ahead. One was the flags whipping in the wind and pointing the direction I was travelling. Two were the dead leaves that overtook me, they don't normally do that.
I was running free and so had no idea how far or fast I'd gone, but decided to head home from the Yatch Club de Geneve. The wind was so stong and head on it nearly knocked me over. Then I saw the wall of ice rain rushing at me from Geneva. Nothing I could do about it but run through the storm, I was soaked in seconds and as I was in shorts the tops my thighs started to freeze, they were red raw by the time I was back at the gym.
There was a guy ahead so I closed on him and caught him with about a km to go. Chatted for a while in French until he asked me where he was from and we both fell about laughing as he was an English bloke! So Joe is training for Berlin marathon and I'm sure we'll meet again lakeside.
The way back to the gym is via a lift shared by several offices and the department store. I dripped through the lobby and called the lift. By the time it came I was joined by two pretty young ladies who were very amused at how wet I was. They held the lift for a bloke who worked with them and he was a little wet, but could not resist comparing his soaking to mine. Again, this had the girls in stitches.
Nice hot shower and then as I was getting changed some interesting French chatter with three blokes moaning about the English taking over and how Geneva was turning into London. They were especially miffed about the ones who could not even speak any French. I waited until just one was left before chipping in with my best French that I'd just arrived from London myself. Peter laughed and shook my hand, but you're ok my friend your wife is swiss and you have an accent Vaudois! Two new buddies in one day.
On the way to pick up some lovely co-op pasta the sun decided to come out. Tres mauvais timing.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/switzerland/gen%e8ve/559126721568557269
Wednesday 24 February 2010
5k in the Gym
How could I resist?
I got the call at the right moment. The phone rang, I picked up, got some German, replied in French and the slick lady from the gym instantly switched to English "So, M. a 'ave a veree spesial offer for you today...."
Not even 24 hours go by before I'm signed up, blagged a spare towel ticket and on the running machine.
In the gym nice and early before you need to queue up for a machine and the few people already running nod at me and some even smile. So far so good. The runing machine speaks no English and I get the distinct feeling that minute miles won't be poping up anytime soon on this little Euro trash screen in front of me.
So it's km par minute pour moi and on y va. I use the first km to warm up and notice two annoying things. No heel strike, but right leg is kicking out to the outside rather than simply just going up. Or is it just that the maching is not at right angles to the mirror, hard to tell. Second issue is the bobbing head. I try to focus on that and drift forward on the machine whacking my hand on the control panel. Opps.
First km takes for ever and is close to 5mins, so I nudge it up to what feels like a shade off 10km pace (turns out to be 4:36 minutes par km) and I hold that ok for a couple of kms.
By now I'm going miles faster than anyone else and the machine is shaking. I notice the poor guy next to me crashing into the ground with locked knees heel first - not pretty and very loud. I get a feeling that I'm being watched.
Get very bored and decide to ramp the pace to 4 min kms for the last one. Half a km in I start feeling dizzy and light headed, but figure I can just hold it for the rest of the km. I'm really working now and focus on holding the form over the effort and catch myself drifting forwards, but correct it before hitting the control panel. With all eyes on me now there is no way I'm not finishing this km at 4 min pace. I watch the screen mock me as the 10m ticks take for ever to spin around. Then suddenly I'm done. 5km in 23 mins, with one km at race pace.
Now the speed work is in the bag I'm going easy and long soon....
I got the call at the right moment. The phone rang, I picked up, got some German, replied in French and the slick lady from the gym instantly switched to English "So, M. a 'ave a veree spesial offer for you today...."
Not even 24 hours go by before I'm signed up, blagged a spare towel ticket and on the running machine.
In the gym nice and early before you need to queue up for a machine and the few people already running nod at me and some even smile. So far so good. The runing machine speaks no English and I get the distinct feeling that minute miles won't be poping up anytime soon on this little Euro trash screen in front of me.
So it's km par minute pour moi and on y va. I use the first km to warm up and notice two annoying things. No heel strike, but right leg is kicking out to the outside rather than simply just going up. Or is it just that the maching is not at right angles to the mirror, hard to tell. Second issue is the bobbing head. I try to focus on that and drift forward on the machine whacking my hand on the control panel. Opps.
First km takes for ever and is close to 5mins, so I nudge it up to what feels like a shade off 10km pace (turns out to be 4:36 minutes par km) and I hold that ok for a couple of kms.
By now I'm going miles faster than anyone else and the machine is shaking. I notice the poor guy next to me crashing into the ground with locked knees heel first - not pretty and very loud. I get a feeling that I'm being watched.
Get very bored and decide to ramp the pace to 4 min kms for the last one. Half a km in I start feeling dizzy and light headed, but figure I can just hold it for the rest of the km. I'm really working now and focus on holding the form over the effort and catch myself drifting forwards, but correct it before hitting the control panel. With all eyes on me now there is no way I'm not finishing this km at 4 min pace. I watch the screen mock me as the 10m ticks take for ever to spin around. Then suddenly I'm done. 5km in 23 mins, with one km at race pace.
Now the speed work is in the bag I'm going easy and long soon....
Sunday 14 February 2010
The only way is up! Signal de Bougy
I know that somewhere above the tree line, somewhere above the snow line, lies a very pleasant place called Signal de Bougy, where children play in water parks and lots of interesting animals wander around their enclosures and even more useful there is a network of off road paths all around the site. For those who have never been click here.
The only thing separating me (in Rolle) from this promised running wonderland was the rather steep looking hill. Compared to the mountains all around, especially the ones on the other side of the lake, this is definitely a hill. But what a hill.
I set of following the yellow diamonds and soon enough one of the yellow signs mentions Signal de Bougy, 1h. These signs are given in the time it would take a reasonably fit adult to walk briskly to the destination. So I figure I can get there and back in one hour. After half a mile the route swings left directly up hill and it hurts. I ease off the gas and to keep moving forwards without the heart exploding I need to go at sub Kenny pace.
The ice at the side of the waterfalls is stunning. I run through vineyards and past detached mansions with views over the lake. By now I've decided 30min and I turn back. Just as I get to Bougy-Villars there is snow everywhere and it starts snowing. I'm at 25mins and suddenly there is a sign on a tree with a map of Signal de Bougy.
On the steepest section I rack up a 14 minute mile. I turn the corner and the road is completely covered in 5cm of snow on top of ice and the 100m to the top looks like it is vertical. Some deer check me out from a snow covered field and decide I'm nothing to worry about. I have to zig zag as it is too steep to go straight and just before the top I recognise a building - I sneak through a gap in the trees and hey presto I'm on the stage of the open air theatre! Judging by the tracks in the snow the only performance here for a while has been by animals with paws and four legs. I add my tracks to the mix and loop back to the top the road I'd been trying to climb. The top is completely blocked off by a 6ft snow wall so I clamber over that and make my way down, instantly putting to good use the frolicking technique so loved by my good buddy Paul.
I enjoy this thought and the speed until the first hairpin when I nearly don’t make it around the bend! I slow down again and decide to wait until I am below the snow line before picking it up again. I do, but it is tough not go too fast when the downhill is so steep, I can feel my back and knee taking a thumping as it is very hard to land mid sole on such an incline, I revert to more frolicking and zig-zaging.
Take the high road back long the railway and am amused to find the total time was 48:47 with 30 of those taken to get me to the top and only 18 required to get back to the bottom.
This one is worth looking at in the fly by video, pause it at the top, zoom out, spin around to look at the lake and admire the view.
The only thing separating me (in Rolle) from this promised running wonderland was the rather steep looking hill. Compared to the mountains all around, especially the ones on the other side of the lake, this is definitely a hill. But what a hill.
I set of following the yellow diamonds and soon enough one of the yellow signs mentions Signal de Bougy, 1h. These signs are given in the time it would take a reasonably fit adult to walk briskly to the destination. So I figure I can get there and back in one hour. After half a mile the route swings left directly up hill and it hurts. I ease off the gas and to keep moving forwards without the heart exploding I need to go at sub Kenny pace.
The ice at the side of the waterfalls is stunning. I run through vineyards and past detached mansions with views over the lake. By now I've decided 30min and I turn back. Just as I get to Bougy-Villars there is snow everywhere and it starts snowing. I'm at 25mins and suddenly there is a sign on a tree with a map of Signal de Bougy.
On the steepest section I rack up a 14 minute mile. I turn the corner and the road is completely covered in 5cm of snow on top of ice and the 100m to the top looks like it is vertical. Some deer check me out from a snow covered field and decide I'm nothing to worry about. I have to zig zag as it is too steep to go straight and just before the top I recognise a building - I sneak through a gap in the trees and hey presto I'm on the stage of the open air theatre! Judging by the tracks in the snow the only performance here for a while has been by animals with paws and four legs. I add my tracks to the mix and loop back to the top the road I'd been trying to climb. The top is completely blocked off by a 6ft snow wall so I clamber over that and make my way down, instantly putting to good use the frolicking technique so loved by my good buddy Paul.
I enjoy this thought and the speed until the first hairpin when I nearly don’t make it around the bend! I slow down again and decide to wait until I am below the snow line before picking it up again. I do, but it is tough not go too fast when the downhill is so steep, I can feel my back and knee taking a thumping as it is very hard to land mid sole on such an incline, I revert to more frolicking and zig-zaging.
Take the high road back long the railway and am amused to find the total time was 48:47 with 30 of those taken to get me to the top and only 18 required to get back to the bottom.
This one is worth looking at in the fly by video, pause it at the top, zoom out, spin around to look at the lake and admire the view.
Thursday 11 February 2010
Hill reps in the gym
It was too cold to be running outside. The sign said minus 8, which was why it felt like the bise whipping of the lake had nearly frozen my left ear off on the way into work. Looked out my woolly Scotland hat, which will go great with the whole smart private banker look.
Armed with my free day pass I rocked up the top floor of Globus and tailgated some guy past the security door and acted like I owned the place. Worked ok until they spotted the name on the pass and "Christine" was instantly summoned and like a scene from "I wanna quit the gym" in Friends she duely applied the pressure.
But I managed to defer the "rendez-vous" until after my "entainment".
It was packed (except for the out side terrace) so I found a spot and stretched off. A running machine became free and after I fought with the controls I eventually convinced it to let me do some reps. Seemed to be about half a km at 1.5 incline (recovery) and 3 for the hill. Nudged the rep pace up to a slow 10 or 12 and did the recovery at 10km/ph. So very slow. However, in front of the mirror I was able to focus on reducing the up and down movement on the recovery and think more about deliberately toeing off on the hill and driving the knees to the top. After 30mins of that I felt better on the hill but was still seeing up/down movement on the slower section, but did notice a much more even midesole striking, at first I was landing inside first and rolling to the outside but by the end there was little if any inside to outside rolling. Just over 5km cleared in 30mins.
Good session to mentally prepare for the mountain run at the weekend. Just venturing into the foothills, but need time on the new terrain and the guy I hope to go with wants to clear at least 16km. Eek. Time to get a map.
Armed with my free day pass I rocked up the top floor of Globus and tailgated some guy past the security door and acted like I owned the place. Worked ok until they spotted the name on the pass and "Christine" was instantly summoned and like a scene from "I wanna quit the gym" in Friends she duely applied the pressure.
But I managed to defer the "rendez-vous" until after my "entainment".
It was packed (except for the out side terrace) so I found a spot and stretched off. A running machine became free and after I fought with the controls I eventually convinced it to let me do some reps. Seemed to be about half a km at 1.5 incline (recovery) and 3 for the hill. Nudged the rep pace up to a slow 10 or 12 and did the recovery at 10km/ph. So very slow. However, in front of the mirror I was able to focus on reducing the up and down movement on the recovery and think more about deliberately toeing off on the hill and driving the knees to the top. After 30mins of that I felt better on the hill but was still seeing up/down movement on the slower section, but did notice a much more even midesole striking, at first I was landing inside first and rolling to the outside but by the end there was little if any inside to outside rolling. Just over 5km cleared in 30mins.
Good session to mentally prepare for the mountain run at the weekend. Just venturing into the foothills, but need time on the new terrain and the guy I hope to go with wants to clear at least 16km. Eek. Time to get a map.
Sunday 7 February 2010
Premier Rolle
I was itching to get out. Last run was Fed 10miles race and I could feel the legs wasting away. Upper body is fine from moving boxes and putting together furniture and generally moving things around. But the legs....
Out the appartment and hit the "tourisme pédestre" tail at the exit to our appartment and followed it in the general direction of Morges to see what happened. The nearest wine place assured me it was now 8 above zero and felt warmer in the glorious sun. The path went left and I was not too keen on heading to the snow line today, so I took the Rte du lac and it did exactly what it said on the tin.
Past the castle out to the casino and then the tip of the port, past harp island, before heading up again and trying one of the little paths from the Grande Rue which took me to the kids school from where I headed towards the Secondary school to check out the running track and if it was accessible at the weekend. It is. Next to the track is a football pitch and one of the hoodies waved at me and said "Bonjour!". Another one appologised for nearly kicking the ball back to the pitch as made my way up the path the ball had strayed onto. Interesting cultural observation.
Found a brand new area of Rolle still being built on the Geneva side with a massive allotment site and went up about as far as the auto route before heading home along another "tourisme pédestre".
So that's two routes to explore on the next couple of outings.
On the last 100m I decided to pick it up from the 9min mile pace I'd been doing and tank it home, was glad I did as the kids were on the playground outside the flat so as I came into view they were cheering and shouting for me like it was the end of a race!
Out the appartment and hit the "tourisme pédestre" tail at the exit to our appartment and followed it in the general direction of Morges to see what happened. The nearest wine place assured me it was now 8 above zero and felt warmer in the glorious sun. The path went left and I was not too keen on heading to the snow line today, so I took the Rte du lac and it did exactly what it said on the tin.
Past the castle out to the casino and then the tip of the port, past harp island, before heading up again and trying one of the little paths from the Grande Rue which took me to the kids school from where I headed towards the Secondary school to check out the running track and if it was accessible at the weekend. It is. Next to the track is a football pitch and one of the hoodies waved at me and said "Bonjour!". Another one appologised for nearly kicking the ball back to the pitch as made my way up the path the ball had strayed onto. Interesting cultural observation.
Found a brand new area of Rolle still being built on the Geneva side with a massive allotment site and went up about as far as the auto route before heading home along another "tourisme pédestre".
So that's two routes to explore on the next couple of outings.
On the last 100m I decided to pick it up from the 9min mile pace I'd been doing and tank it home, was glad I did as the kids were on the playground outside the flat so as I came into view they were cheering and shouting for me like it was the end of a race!
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