20 Minute Tempo (Inside a total of 7,35 miles)

Tenke was sick this morning, so I went out on my own, in the rain to do the 20 minutes at pace on my own.

Plan was to warm up to the naked lady statue, do ten out and ten back, no target time, just a target heart rate zone, which I decided was 4.

I pressed the start button and instantly the Garmin whined that my heart needed to beat more quickly, so I speeded up and then decided to ignore it.

3 mins in I get hit by a fly. It bounces off my eye flies into my mouth then back into my right eye were it dies and settles. All I can see is this massive black blob at the bottom of my right eye for the rest of the set. I decide to try and ignore that too. All this ignoring meant that before I knew it there were only 6 mins left on the session and so puis que c'est comme ca, on y va! I just felt the urge to conquer the hill at the end of the clip. Another six at this pace would surely take me to the summit of the hill and further along this side of the lake than I have ever been. Suddenly Garmin is whining that I've left zone 4 and this time it is an upper barrier breach and the hill has pushed me into zone 5, but with minutes left I hold the pace and push on to find Manor, a giant golden rabbit, a petrol station and le pape fondu (which is packed with people eating fondu). I tank it past the people at the bus stop who are bemused to see me jog back past them seconds later having cleared the twenty mins.

Then it dawns on me that I'm three miles out of town and it's 1:24 and I have a conference call at 2pm that I really need to be on. So, I go for it and surprise myself at holding a shade off the tempo pace no problem. The sun is now out, the view is dramatic and I'm actually enjoying it. The freedom that running quickly brings is great. Only pass a handful of diehards and we nod knowingly at each other.

So, warm up was just under a mile at 7:45 pace. I cleared 2.78 miles during the 20 min tempo, that's 7:12 pace and then the bonus back was 3.75 miles at 7:50 pace - but most of that was miles faster as I took the time to recover back down the hill.

Spent a total of 21 mins in zone 4 and three in zone 5. So I'm pleased with that. The pace is returning slowly.

Unfortunately, that's it from a running perspective for a while, as I'm off skiing for a week in Ovronnaz and then will be in NY with work for a few days.

5m Botanical Gardens

The last time I was out on the north bank it was a frozen waste land covered in ice. Today I needed shades, a short sleve shirt and shorts.

Wind was oddly with me outbound and against on the return today, so take something from progressively faster miles. I've completely lost my ability to run quickly.

Found a nice route with an underpass that connects the lake to the parks on the other side of the main road.

Was struggling to hold the pace at sub 8min miles. Far to much slow running lately, so I am forcing myself to think more about the training and focus on getting at least one good rep session and/or a tempo run done each week.

Tomorrow will be the Tenke Tempo. That should speed me up a bit....

ps Looking at the Garmin this was a very steadily increasing pace run. Finished last mile at 7:30 pace and each one was faster than the last one.

11x 1min off 30

Just had enough time to squeeze in today's reps.

Naked lady statue gave me a stern look which said something like "No stopping on the recoveries!" I didn't - honest - ask the Garmin.

Planned to do 5 out and 5 back, but uncle Garmin tells you reps to go (including the one you are doing currently) so after 6 I was still out bound and now struggling to make it back in time for my next meeting.

The reps were dire in terms of preformance and consistency. First one was way to fast (5:10 min mile pace) followed by 4 progressively slower ones, bottoming out at 6:43 pace! Then there were people to catch which helped gague the pace and I evened out at around 6:00 min miles. Last few got down below 6:00 min miles and were progressively stronger, although I felt I worked harder for them.

Only realised I was on the 11th when I thought a minute must be up, and the Garmin said run until you press lap. That one was 5:52 pace!

The HRT graph showed an appropriate drift up, but while on the ground it felt like 100% zone 5 of the 11 minutes flat out running only 6 of them were in zone 5.

Looking forward to the re-arranged Tenke Tempo on Friday.

5 flat recovery miles

Headed out and took it easy to the Yacht Club and then tried and failed to pick it up on the return leg. Niggle on achillies slowed me down as did a missed footfall at the edge of the path, I failed to notice the trees had started and the circle of mud around the first one surprised me and my right foot nearly went right over as it landed on the edge (luckily midsole first!), I hopped and when it came the next right footfallwas not as painful as I thought it was going to be. Still, noticed it on the way home.

Tenke was going to do 20min threshold with me tomorrow, but she's moved it to Friday now so I'm thinking of doing some short sharp intervals tomorrow - I'd decide what to do on the train on the way in.....

10M Perroy error

My plan today was to go long and easy. Out by the lake as far as I could towards Lausanne.

I had checked the map and while on the ground there were "Private keep out signs" it all looked petty passable. First secton was fine, but as the mansions became less grand I could actually see people in their houses as I ignored the private signs. I had to take next lane up to the main road. From here I missed the tourist walking signs and cut across a vineyard to get on the road to Perroy. Got there two miles in and then error number two was not going 100 yards to get to the next set of yellow signs, but following the ones pointing ominously towards the hill. I should have cut back at the railway crossing, I should have cut back at the motorway crossing, but a little voice told me that one day doing these hills will payback. So, I went for it. Straight up again, incline touching 9% and reducing me to walking pace in places. Slowest mile came in at 12:26!

Had enough. Looped around Bougy-Villars and dropped back down the way I had come. 612 feet in 2 miles. Even the down was too steep to enjoy and felt a niggle in my left shin.

Well slower than Kenny pace I looped around Perroy, which is a lovely village. Stumbled across the cafe I'd had drinks in with some friends years ago and a church where some friends were married, again years ago. Roast chicken stand was doing a roaring trade and if I had had 20 francs I'd have bought one too!

Cheered up abit by Perroy I headed on back lakewards and found my yellow signs. Make it to the Allaman beach and Abounne River nature reserve. From here St. Prex is signed and I know most of that route is lake side, so I'm hoping to get there next time!

Very slow. I was tired and the hill punched the energy I did have out of me. Ave. pace was 9:55 and even trying to "tank" the last mile home I only managed it in 8:30! Total time was 1h 36m 48s and I only did 9.76 miles.

Regular river run 10km, 49min.

10km, 49min.

Smuggled Tenke into the gym (don't ask!) and then off we went for the river run. I tried to make us go slower by talking and it almost worked.

However, Tenke can talk and hold the pace on the hills. I can do neither. I was dragged up the hills and pleased I only had 25mins each way.

In the end got back a bit quicker than the outbound leg and total time was 49mins.

Felt harder than an easy run, but not quite hard enough to be a tempo.

17km Aubonne

With me home alone with the kids any kind of early morning run was out of the question this weekend. However, I felt the need and decided to take the kids to Scouts. Rocked up and found the place no problem and while it took a while to settle Lia, by the time I had left I still had well over two hours to fill with a run.
My mother in law kindly gave me an old map of the area which has the contours, roads and trees on it. Bit like an OS map in the UK, but with one very important difference, it has the Tourisme Pédestre routes on it.
So once done with the scouts I was spoilt for choice and had a vague notion to try and get the up over with first so plumped for Arboretum.




No disappointment in the up department. Switzerland does up really well. While I was not going to try and relive the Signal de Bougy run the contours on the map were still pretty tight. I tried to go at “Kenny pace” and just enjoy the run.
Did not take too long to get to the Arboretum and it did exactly what it said on the tin - lots of trees from all over the place. I kept going and made the climb up to someone’s chalet thinking it was the route, but cut across a field back to the path. Tried to stay on the sunny side of the valley. In the shade it was still cold and snow on the ground. Some ice around the streams and rivers too. I crossed a lovely traditional wooden bridge with a chalet style roof on it.
Way down was good, soft underfoot with leaves and good to go downhill. But not for long, I decided to head for Yens and that meant another climb. Very pleasant rolling hills, grassy fields, wooded glades, vistas back to the château d’aubonne and the lake and the French alps.
On the way out I overtake an old lady with two ski poles and a back pack heading up the hill. She must have been about 90 and was seriously over-laden – she was only just moving forwards. I wondered if she was on the same training program as Kenny and was refusing to get out of zone 1.
Bit of a slog over to Yens, but I get there ok and loop the church before heading back for Aubonne. In the last bit I came off the yellow signs somehow and ignored two private signs and one danger path closed for wood cutting sign. I’m sure the château is just over the hill but the road is blocked by a tree eating machine and a farmer (complete with moustache and dungarees) is going for it with a chain saw and his son is helping out too. No way through other than to blatantly blag it. So for the second time today my French was put to the test, “Hi guys, I’m really lost! Could you help me get to Aubonne?” Are you looking for a bus”, “No, I’d like to run there”. “Ah I see. Right go to the end of my drive, turn right over the bridge, it’s a busy road not very nice for running, but after 200 metres take the first trail on the right and go though the woods, that will take you right to the centre.” “Thanks have a nice weekend” as I jump the piles of wood. Now he got the last laugh. That tail was 45 degrees and so steep I had to walk when it became steps. But it did take me to down town Aubonne and right at the castle gate and so a new tradition is born. All runs ending in Aubonne will finish by running though the castle gate
and climbing to the top.
Stunning views and the sheltered steps on the other side are perfect for stretching off. Amazingly the local school is now in the castle!

17km cleared in 1:49. Not fast, but very hard work. The only way to do these mountain runs is slowly.
Heart rate closely followed the hill profile and pace is meaningless.

Bodybalance

I was tired. Even after no run on Thursday, Wednesday's reps with Tenke had taken their toll on the legs.

Was planning an easy run, but the walk to the gym in the ice wind made up my mind that I was going to do a class. After all, I'm paying for them and Bodybalance sounded like something that might work for me.

I was a few mins early so 10mins form work for a warm up on a treadmill did the trick. Arrived warmed up and right on time. 30 women and 2 sheepish looking blokes. I join the blokes at the back and try to follow the mix of tai chi, yoga and Pilates. Just about keep up with out falling over and making a complete idiot of myself. Oh yeah and all the instructions were in French, "Zone de comfort" was my fav and I was happy enough to stay in it. Best bit was at the end when I think I might have fallen asleep during the relaxation section at the end.

I'd do that again as I felt the effort in the abs and stretching element was good.

Reps 4x6 off 2 and no stopping!

These pictures should convey how cold this run was. No danger of water skiing today. Far too cold. The wind blew the spray from the lake and the water froze. Amazing stuff.
I love the simplicity of this set.

In theory it should be straight forwards, go at 10 km race pace, which for me is bang on or hopefully a shade under the all important 4 min per km mark to get me around 10km in under 40 minutes. One day, one day.

It was another ice wind day. La bise had stopped blowing at 160km per hour ripping various bits of buildings in Rolle, most notably part of the petrol station. That made the news! However, she was still blowing firmly in from the lake towards Geneva and it was bitterly cold.

Tenke said she'd run at my pace. Hmmm. What that translated to was, I'll run at your pace until there is any hint of you fading then I'll drift in front just enough to drag you through the rep at the target pace. Which, into that wind is a particularly kind thing to do.

We started at the naked lady, which Tenke claimed was not naked. I'll let you make your own mind up on that one.

The ice wind bit hard and I struggled to find my rhythm. The Garmin went into over drive screaming at me to speed up. I decided to ignore it. Tenke demanded to know why the Garmin did not know we were running into the wind.

The rep finished and Tenke circles like a vulture while I'm bent over double gulping frozen air in and trying to get some blood back into my head. We jog through the recovery.

Rep two feels better and I ignore the Garmin and am delighted to hear the final beep as the rep ends. I assume the post rep bent over double position and suddenly Tenke is not circling anymore but standing over me with her hands on her hips and a stern look on her face. She barks "NO STOPPING!" at me in a thick Dutch accent which is quite scary. It has the desired effect though, as I jog through the rest of the recovery and dare not ever stop again during reps!

By now I realise that the 3rd and final outbound rep will take us further than I've ever been. I enquire about the route beyond the crane. Yeah it's fine, just run up the hill - that's how I run home....

So, the last half of rep three is both into the ice wind and uphill. Only the thought of coming back down keeps me going to the end of the four minutes. Tenke is disappointed that we don't make it to the top of the hill during the recovery - yes she made us run UP the hill on the recovery!

Rep 4 was a joy. Downhill and the ice wind behind. 5 and 6 were solid too and we nearly made it all the way back to the naked lady by the end of the set.

Easy warm down and some rough calculations cheer me as I am sure that was around 4 min kms on all the reps.


Did not get a chance to look at the stats until now and am pleasantly surprised. Shade slower than 4min kms on the outbound 3 into the wind, but just a shade faster than 4min kms on the way back so net-net all six were at an ave of 03:56
pace. Now all I need to do for sub 40 10km is add 4 more reps and remove the 2min recoveries!

Heart rate was also spot on. Hit max on last rep and spent 14mins in zone 5 which is the most I've spent in the intensive zone for a long time.

3.3 miles, three parks and the Ice Lake

La Bise blew hard and cold today. My left ear nearly froze on the way over the bridge to work in the morning and from the whipping flags I knew the sun was trying to lull me into a false sense of security.

I had hoped to make either stretching or yoga at the gym, but the usual round of meetings put a stop to that. I thought of the treadmill (I was thinking 5km hard) or out in the ice wind, hmmm. Ice Wind here I come.

Out of the lifts without a hitch today and decided to rediscover part of Geneva I used to know well when selling software to hedge funds. I'm been to a fair few conferences in the President Wilson hotel, with its stunning terrace and pool area (check out bay view on the link). I also ran past the good burgers munching their expensive lunch in "La Perle du Lac" which is my all time favourite restaurant.

On the way out I tried not to push too hard, but the Ice Wind did its worst and just moving against it had my hrt of the scale. In the parks, it was more sheltered and less like hard work. Hrt dropped back to zone 3 at 8:30 min miles.

But today was all about the unworldly effect of the wind whipping the water of the lake onto the promenade and promptly freezing on anything it landed on. Entire ports were cornered off as they were covered in ice, the railings, the paths, the walls, the boats, even the icicles were not vertical but going with the wind.

In the park I saw what must be one of the rarest things ever. A complete set of fully grown trees completely iced over! Absolutely amazing, that's how cold it was.

Turned at the last horse statue and was blown effortlessly back to Geneva. Total 3.35 in 27:30 ave. 8:15, but big negative split due to the wind.

7.5km (est.) Rhône cut short, easy

With the ice wind blowing hard off the Alps, I decided to go inland today and try and re-trace Tenke's Rhône route.

Got off to a bad start in the lift. I took the "third" lift which looked suspiciously like a service lift and had a serious lack of 0 button. Now was R or RE the one I needed to get out. Before I knew it I was on the floor -2 with a surprised looking lady and a chef. All in French, I admitted I was lost and asked how one got to ground level to leave the building. The chef was most helpful and stopped the lift in what appeared to be a shoe workshop and explained how to get out of the building through the workshop on to the Rue de Rhône. Nice one mate!

Followed this route (click here) as far as the ponte Butin, including the Tenke switchback by the river, as having done it once already that counts as a tradition. I made the mistake of exploring slightly beyond ponte Butin where the mountain goat trail became even more dangerous and the graphic sign of the guy falling in the river and being washed away needed no translation. The elf n safety brigade would be having fits by now, so I turned for home.

Unfortunately, just after mile two the Garmin ran out of juice so no data from then other than the hrt was through the roof on the first mile, recovered in the second and basically it is impossible to go much faster than 9min miles on most of the trail without risking a dip in the Rhône or worse.

On the way back I tested a theory that worked. I figured running up the middle islands on the river (they all looked connected) might get back to the office avoiding the tram works that have messed up all the road crossings. That worked pretty well - including the Quai des Moulins where I thought I was going to have to run through a restaurant, but fortunately there is an alleyway through the building that I use to get by without interrupting the lunching businessmen!

Time on feet was 42mins and distance covered probably about 2km less than the River route last time.

Frozen inverted pyramid, what does it mean?

So, I was due to meet with Tenke again today for some lakeside reps, but the business world contrived against us both. I had to be back by 2pm, but Tenke couldn't get out of a conference call in time to meet me so it was Billy no mates for me down by the lake again.

Well not quite. Uncle Garmin was beeping away refusing to find any satellites. So I stopped were the water jet is supposed to be (off today as too windy) and let it sort its self out while I tried to avoid freezing in the ice wind. It was so cold the splashes from the waves on the lake had frozen on the rocks, it looked like someone had covered them in cake icing!

Satellites finally locked on I needed another warm up before starting the inverted pyramid (4on 2off, 3on 1.5off, 2on 1off, 1on 0.5off, 1on 0.5off, 2on 1off, 3on 1.5off, 4on 2off). I decided on something today. Reps will from now on start at the statue of the naked lady between the water jet and the beach.

The Garmin instantly started whining about my lack of pace and told me to speed up, I should have accelerated into it rather than a standing start. I'd worked out the reps were going to be tougher out bound than on the way back as the wind was blowing towards Geneva. Sure enough, that's what it felt like. I felt comfortable on all the reps (probably too comfortable looking at the stats) but some glimmers of hope in there, like the very low heart rate (normally I race at 165) and some hint of speed on the second one on that came in at 3:38 pace. I was holding back on that one too.

The only point of note was the last rep. In the second last one I noticed I was closing on a lady in a blue top. I thought I could catch her on the last rep, with the full four minutes. I did catch her and she responded, but too late as I had engaged stealth mode by running in her footsteps so the first she knew of my move was when I went past. She came right on my shoulder for the rest of the rep, but each time she accelerated I had more than enough in the bag. I forgot about her and focused on trying to make it back to the naked lady statue, but the Garmin beeped stop about 75m short, but still even enough for my liking. Then the blue top lady screamed past going at my rep pace, but looking bemused at the fact I'd just stopped for no apparent reason. She looked around several times and then she herself hit the stop button as she drew level with the naked lady statue. Next time I'll just keep going to her end point!

So for those following this, I don't know what to make of the data, so I'll share it here and let you all comment constructively.

10km in 52 mins: Rivers, parks and another ex-rocket

I'd arranged to meet an ex-locket today to get the inside track on running away from the lake.

Tenke was there right on time and we were away. Dodging in and out of the road works and trams and trolley buses we followed the Rhône as it flowed out of the lake and towards the med. We stayed with it for 3 miles, with Tenke calling the paths on the few occasions I drifted ahead.

The riverside path was great. Mainly woodland with some steep sections and a couple of bits so steep you had to walk up.

Tenke can do a half marathon in 1:14. Yes, I double checked that number. Not 1:24, but 1:14. So I was very glad this was an easy run - although I spent most of it in zone 3 or zone 4.

We were cruising at around 5 min kms, and ave pace was 8:30 min miles, but that was very lumpy due to the terrain.

I'm not so sure how I will get on if we try reps or a tempo, but that's for another day....

Exploring Parc des Eaux-Vives, 11km in 59mins

Lovely day as I set of the gym to get changed for my run. The guys all remembered Friday and reached for their umbrellas!

No worries. Lovely day and I headed out with the idea of exploring the Parc des Eaux-Vives I had spotted on Friday. Stunning park which you can read all about by clicking on me.

Some nice sections for hill reps we spotted and next time I know I can hug the "off road" trails right on the edge of the park through the trees. On the second loop I found myself in front of the old chateaux which is now a restaurant réputé. We'll they didn't expect me panting through their patio, luckily too early for any lunches out side, but mental note to self to go around the back next time.

Went out past the jet d'eaux and past the yacht club. This time the wind was against on the way out so I let myself go further before turning back and really enjoyed being blown home. The visibility was amazing, jet d'eaux was stunning with the old city skyline to run back to. Picked of a few tubby zone 1 boys and nodded to plenty of more serious looking runners.

The whole lake side thing is crying out for some reps.

Saw one of my colleagues out for a walk and it was a nice feeling to stumble across someone I knew.

With about 1 km to go I drifted in to check my reflection on a bus stop and to my horror noticed a lycra clad racer closing in on me fast. So I went for it. Upped the pace to something close to 10km race pace and held it not looking back and darting through the people in Jardin Anglais like I was racing the hound and hare. Delighted to totally drop the guy.

I'd been super slow on the way out (9 min miles) and from the turn I'd been getting faster and actually managed the last one at 6:55 min miles. Felt much faster than that. I am in dire need of some reps! Ave pace was only 8:36 min miles.

There was a band playing soft relaxing music at my end spot and as the sun was out I enjoyed the moment and stretched on the quai. Perfect end to an interesting run.