Gym - pretty close to zero miles

Given my immanent office move I decided to use the gym today.

Span the legs on the dreaded treadmill, hated it. 1.0% incline, eased into 4min kms after ratcheting for 8 mins and held it there for 3 mins, which got the hrt up to 160 then I eased off and went outside to stretch.

During the few minutes at race speed I noticed my right thigh tighten ever so slightly and refuse to ease, this in turn made me run heavy on the left to compensate. By the time I was done I had a muscle spasm on the front of my left shin that took some effort to shift, but the sauna helped!

7m easy does it

Mr Leaky requested 9km and breakfast, so we set out with my son's head still spinning from the arithmetic. But dad, if you are only going to do 9km why will you be away for so long?

Super slow was the order of the day and the rain that had woken me an hour earlier stayed off and the big black cloud overhead was blown away with out doing any damage.

Make it to the river and then looped back. Must have been around 7m all in, well let's just say we were out more than one hour.

Freshly baked pain au chocolate were duely purchased at the bakery to complete the deal.

7.44 miles, airport hill

Not often I can keep up with Tenke, but today was special as I was ahead of Tenke, twice.

Firstly, she needed the loo. So I did the right thing and just kept going so she had to catch me.

Secondly, she was suffering from getting lost in france and ending up in a field with abandon cars, seeing movement in the trees and deciding best to high tail it outta there pretty fast. So she was very tired.

But she still ate the airport hill like it was not there.

I struggled to the top, but made it. She also made us do a little extra to make sure we were out for the whole hour. We did 1hour 2mins.

On the way down the hill I had suggested we use this as downhill speed work and she reminded me of this. So I got to sprint off down the hill and wait for Tenke at the bottom. Great fun and enjoyed looking at the guys coming up as I was tanking it down the hill.

Hit 2:28 min kms on the downhill!

Garmin stats

8.44km Tour du Pays de Vaud - Etape 3 Mezieres

The first of the TVP crew assembled on nice air conditioned train that whisked us effortlessly to Morges. Stefan was changed by not numbered up. We got confirmation that Tenke had arrived in Morges so I changed on the train and then right on schedule in Morges, Jason arrived with none other than the man of mystery himself Mr Leakey. See, my friend does exist.
On the way up Tenke noticed the small plaster the nurse had put on my arm after I gave my blood sample this morning at the doctor’s – it provoked this comment, “Niall, you’d better take that plaster off before someone wants to know what you what exactly you have been injecting yourself with.”
This entertained us all the way through the traffic jams to Mézières.
Managed a decent warm up at the start and had the hrt well above 100 before joining the start. I spotted “Bob le coureur” – aka Alain as ever about 12 rows back from the start and so I figured where I was (4 rows back from him) would be just about right.
The first steps were annoying as the funnel was tighter than the width of the massed runners and I nearly went over as I lost my balance. Quickly recovered though and was soon strong again using my elbows to make sure no-one got too close. Pace felt good and I could see Alain up ahead, some 40 in front. Closed though the first km and went though bang on 4. Perfect.
Now came the first of the three tests or challenges of the Mézières race that the guy on the tannoy had been gobbing off about. Hill One: 85m climb into the forest. Hrt red line from here on!
I enjoyed the next part of the course most, through the woods, wide paths, moving on through and at one point I was 4 people behind Alain.
Km 4 to five is a joy as back down nearly to the bottom, I get another sub 4min km, but by now it is clear that the flat and the hills are not so good for me. There seem to be a lot more good runners tonight. Around this point a noisy lady joins me to the rhythm of “allez, hah, merde, ahh, allez ah”. Very charming, this motivates me to push on and stop the rot! By now I am enjoying the alpine horns echoing thought he woods and I even notice the guy tossing the flag, as is the tradition. Nice touch.
Hill Two, the 2nd challenge. I do ok, but am net down. Alain is 20 ahead and super strong on the hills. I just can’t keep up. I’m feeling it and as I’m at the top of zone five and can’t see the finish line I do the sensible thing, ease of on the downhill and recover a shade for the final push.
The Third and final challenge. In theory the easiest of the three hills. But with 7 hard kms in the legs this was not going to be a sprint finish, we come out of the woods and get a good long look at the last km as we run along the tree line. Up the field then along the top before the sprint to the finish. My body is screaming at me to stop. The guy in front is reduced to the walk of death. I focus. That is not my race, I will keep running. I think of Stefan’s wife and kids in the crowd and pretend every family is them and that stops me walking. Finally, I’m at the top and let go for the finish. Collect a few places as I’m light and quiet on the track to the finish funnel.
39:13 official time 43/193 for my age or 148/599 overall. Looks like all the good runners turned up tonight!

Tenke won the ladies race so that was a cause for great celebration, only slightly marred by Tenke’s normally spotlessly glowing white high heeled racing shoes getting a speck of mud on them. This provided the entertainment for the journey home.

Good warm down with Tenke after for a few km.

The data sport guys and girls sat beside us for dinner, so we solve some more TVP mysteries.
Firstly, the gun time is your start time. No chip mat to run over or detector in the arch. But there is one at the finish. The guys with the zappers are a second control, but the time you cross the line is the time you get.
Stefan, Tenke and I had had two beers and dinner by the time Richard and Jason appear looking very fresh having showered and changed into clean clothes. Lots of talk about endorphins flowing, must ask James if that is covered in Brokeback!


Official results here.
Garmin connect here.

3.5m easy run

usual route, 32 mins bang on.

Super slow and a bit of work up the hills, total recovery along the top and fast down to the lake through the woods. Scared some poor guy having a furtive wee in the trees. Super slow home with some strides through the tourists admiring the water jet.

Felt controlled and well inside myself. Nice to move quickly, but with out any pressure or goal other than to stop soon and not go too far and not go too fast. Job done, all set for full rest day tomorrow and TVP e3 on Wednesday night.

Off to solve the logistics of that one now!

6m with 4x 4min reps of 90s

It was raining and I was tired and had a headache.

Still managed the set at race pace.

Details here

4.6 miles - Botanical gardens

Easy enough run. Slow out and shade faster back. Ran out a few niggles from the race last night and picked up the pace on the climbs in the field.

Came back harder then the out. Heat was back and that slowed me down plus last night's efforts at the race.

Mostly zone 2 out with some drift to z3 on the return.

On the tunnel to the botanical gardens a policeman on a bike nearly took me out. As he had a gun I decided not to complain that bikes should not be on the footpath and jumped out of his way.

Over took a guy in an ING top on the way back. Very orange.

Details

8.0km Tour du Pays de Vaud - Etape 2 Genolier

Hilly, with agression.

The rain meant only a handful of spectators on the course. We got there with just enough time for the traditional sprint from the carpark to the start line.

Warmed up with Stefan and spent the next 10mins cooling down in the crowd waiting to start. I'd moved significantly closer to the front this time. That made a difference and I could have gone further if I had been a bit more agressive.

But the wide road and downhill start made it fast and furious. After 2km I was happy with the pace where I was which was around 4 min kms.

It was a stunning route with plenty of off road woods (some of which I'd been to before, including the site of the famous max hrt test I did for Jason). At some points it was very technical.

I ran harder tonight than at St. Prex. Ave. hrt was 158 (although it was 160 at St. Prex - proof I was not feeling 100%) and I managed the hills well. Many people had to walk up them or slow right down. As usual I was moving through people on the up and on the down, but being overtaken on the flat. Not much flat though!

At about 7km there was a sharp left turn down into the forest. I let the guy outside me past and waved my left hand out pointing down. Now, what I meant was there is a sharp left coming so watch out that's where I am going. The bloke behind me decided it meant go on buddy, over take on the inside and cut me up. Right, now I'm mad. I take my time down, then over the bridge and then I have my robin hood moment. There is a gap in the trees and the path is near vertical so I let rip. 1, 2, 3 then 4 got beyond him and jump back onto the path in front of the guy. Oh dear now I'm whacked and there is still plenty of work to do. Hrt spikes and so I have no choice but to back off a bit and recover. Pick it back up and suddenly we're there. I though it was 8.5 but someone decided to lop the .5 off the route with out telling anyone so 8km it was. As we turned at the top of the building suddenly 70m infront is the finish line and I drive the arms to get up to top speed. Go past 2 or 3 people who notice me far to late to do anything about it. Just not enough time to catch the guy who cut me up. Oh well, next time.

I was standing at the finish line looking out for Stefan when the guy gobbing of in French on the mike suddenly appears next to me and asks who I am waiting for - so I got to speak French to a crowd into a mike - been a dream of mine for a while! I missed Stefan's finish, but I saw Jason's. He powered down the back straight like his life depended on it. Focused, determined, aggressive. I was clapping and screaming at him. To my amazement he responded and got even faster and must have over taken about 20 runners in the last 50m. I was so proud. This is a guy who has caught the racing bug. Stefan too was full of stories about catching girls with tattos of horses - honest that was part of the race....

Ah and Bob le coureur? He whipped me again. He was 20 places overall ahead of me and 3 in our age group. Look for him but did not see him.

Had a very pleasant and well deserved sausage and chips with a beer to wash it down. Post race photo with Jason and Stefan.



Results click here I was 36th out of 188 in my age group and 115th/533 blokes. 3 slots better than at St. Prex for my age and 21 slots overall! Yipee!

Garmin stats

I would like to point out that Richard Leaky does exist and may even turn up at the next Etape. But then no-one belives me as we expected him at the Nyon Tri, the St Prex run, etc etc.

3.5m Easy run

Usual stuff, but with a couple of twists.

Firstly, I noticed my hrt spike straight away, right into zone 5 and I was bearly moving. I eased off and told my heart to beat slower and sure enough it dropped away and I held the slower pace and dropped right into zone 1 before I was comfortable again. What was that all about?

By this time, slow runner and mad ginger bloke had gone past. I caught a group of super slow runners then closed on the slow runner. But mad ginger bloke (mgb) was going crazy. First he zig zags on the prom. Then he jumps onto the higher level and takes 100s of tiny steps at pneumatic drill speed before slowing to run pace. He did that a few times.

At the naked lady I tried to throw in a km or so at 4 min per km pace. I got close, but felt the effort and then it settled just of 4s. Zone 4. Disappointing, but that's life. At least that got me past mgb who by this time was stationary.

Instant recovery back to zone 1. Nice. Loving that. Jog back and enjoyed the Park trails - ate the hills nicely.

So that's me all set for etape deux demain. There, I've gone native now....

Nothing much to blog about

Saturday was all day in Avenches with the kids.

Sunday was super wet, so stuck inside working on tax forms all day, but a window of opportunity opened before church.

The rain went of and the forms were completed. Just enough time to squeeze in 19 minutes of hard running to spin the legs. Must have cleared 4.5 km and was seriously motoring by the last km as overshot the route and needed to make the time back on the return.

Today was wet again and I had to go to the gym to sort out the accounts so decided that 155 CHF per month to shower was an outrage so I went in and did 10 mins on a bike and 10 mins on a runner super slow, focusing on posture and form. The guy next to me seemed to be in some kind of race and I thought his runner might explode at the speed he was going at. Predicatably short lived and noisy.

Bored out my skull the streching zone was full so I went on the terrace and loosened up outside. Very nice too.

Easy day tomorrow as TVP Etape 2 draws closer. I am seriously considering running the first downhill section at red line then trying to hold on for the climb back up. Thing is "Bob le coureur" is on my case now and I think I might beat him on this etape....

8m Rhone trails and field loop with Tenke

Tenke ran in from home so I ran out along the lake side and we met just before the naked lady and she was going significantly faster then I would have considered running today.

Thankfully she was tired/ill/badly hydrated and mal nurrished so I could keep up for once. We took the trails and Tenke got comment of the week for the following, while climbing some steeps we both sighed and I said, "let's walk up those steps" to which the scathing reply was "No, this is a running group, not a walking group!".

We got over the road bridge then looped the field and came back on the route out.

Tenke needed a fountain (boy do I know that feeling!) and we stopped when we found one right at the end of the trail. By chance a group of embarressed looking ladies in running kit appeared and they were most definately a "walking group".

62 minutes of trails with Tenke would have killed me not so long ago. Felt fine. Nice one.

Yesterday, did some stuff in the gym, some Malcolm Balk dills and streching.

9.1km Tour du Pays de Vaud - Etape 1 St Prex

The pre-race photo is above, Tenke (who came second in the ladies race), me, Jason and Stefan. Unfortunately, after missing the Nyon tri Richard also missed out on this run too. Like a mackrel freshly caught on the west coast of scotland, he was well and truely gutted to be missing out!

The traffic was heavy and my estimate of 13mins to get there was way off. The warm up was the sprint from the car to the hall to get the numbers!

At the start Jason and Stefan positioned themselves cunningly at the back to chat way the first couple of kms and I wished Tenke well as she pushed to the front and I settled where the club runners seemed to out number the cotton t-shirts, about 250-300 from the front.

The start was bang on 7pm and we headed up - even on the wide road it was a struggle to get to race pace and then it narrowed to single track roads where it was even harder to overtake. Slow progress.

In the trees the guy 3 in front of me went over and was covered in dust, but unhurt. That was enough to put an end to my sprinting through the trees to overtake people. Out of the woods and finally some down hill and the field opens up a bit. Two kids in front become my mark and I try and catch them. I notice the hrt is close to red line, but I decided I'm going slowly and will live with it. (86% of max was ave!). Also notice how I move through the field on the down hills (see my skipping works) and on the ups - some specific training paying off too. Unfortunately, on the flat I'm slower than everyone else and so I trade places with lots of people lots of times.

At about 6km I see the family again, Paul tells me I'm in the top 150 so I decide to hold that spot and try to move up the field a little. Turns out he just guessed that but it was a good guess and about right. I finished 136th of 533 men and 39th in my age group (out of 187).

At 7km it goes from the lake back up before looping around to my long run route's farthest point and I know the way home well. Take every corner nicely using the racing line to stop anyone coming past on the last km. Very narrow and my reps pay of as the back to speed from the right angle turns is no problem. I'm at the back of a group of 4 as we hit 100m to go and I let rip, all three melt away and I go through well ahead to cheers from the family.

I made my time 41:10, but officially I was 41:26 (which is about the gun time). I was dissappointed at first, but the course was busy, tough and hilly. However, looking at the hrt data I think I would have struggled to put in much more effort. Next time I will start in the thick of the club runners. Things can only get better, plus as I've never run the course before that's another PB in the bag!

Click here for the offical times

St Prex TPV etape 1 by nmcintyre at Garmin Connect - Details

10m and the easy 3.5m run

Not been out for a while. Semi-intentianal taper.

Ran round the island last week in three stages. First from Kames bay to the water sports centre, where with Grandad and the kids we waited for Katja, Ru and Davina to catch up. The latter two arrived on a tanden, newly weds!

I asked for and received a start for the next stage to Fintry. I was sure they were going to catch me any minute and that supured me on. On the little climb to the BBQ corner at Fintry I overtook an English couple on bikes. They asked for a tow! At the top I heard the lady say to the bloke let's catch that guy on the down hill. So they tried. Each time I heard them get close I accelerated. By the time I got level with the cafe I was at full race pace with two very surprised cyclists zooming along next to me. I side stepped on to the pavement and stopped dead at the cafe and watched the guys on the bikes trying to figure out what had just happened.

About two mins later Paul appears going like the clappers with Ru in his slip stream trying very hard to get past with Davina screaming for him to slow down on the back of the tandem. Brilliant. Then Katja and Lia come in followed 5 mins later by Dugald compaining bitterly about cycling around the island on his own!

Last leg was nice enough, with the no over taking grandad rule meaning the pace was much slower. Nice touch from Paul though as he came back to keep me company!

Bit of tennis and swimming in the lake (highlight was ambushing Richard in the deep water), but unfortunately went over on my left ankle during the tennis. It is stiff and tight.

Ran today, super slow Park Eaux-vives easy route with a few strides and a couple of race pace spurts which felt ok if tentative on the left leg, especially on the up hills.

13.2 miles / 4.8 miles

With Tanya (Davina's sister) now in town and talking about running a mad plan was hatched. Stewart came out with me to Westbourn and we went off in search of the mouse. Never found it, but we did find the tree. Coastal path to Fintry was fun. At the Hush Hush we tried to find the metal ring in the rock and did not, but we did find a seal. It is possible to look at seals and run, but Stewart and Tanya were determined to slow to walking pace at every possibility.

So at the water sports center I took a "long cut" and retraced the footpath this time not going straight over the hill but following the path to the farmhouse, the path goes through the buildings, but the dog made sure I took the field route to miss the house itself.

By now I was sure they would be miles ahead of me and I kicked hard to try and catch them thinking I'd be able to do so just before the town. Two fields out and there they are chatting away walking up the hill. I did a few circles of shame and then we ran down together. Stewart called it a day, but I still had to get Tanya home 1.5 miles away, which I did via some photogenic spots for her to take pictures of the cathederal of the isles were Ru would be getting married.

By the time I had got back to the house, I'd cleared 13.2 miles in the shocking time of 2:13 - an all time personal worst!

Next day Dean (my new brother in law) arrived and he and I agreed to meet at 7:20 at westbourn. Now, given we made this deal at 1:38am in the Tavern I am amazed it happened. I was even more amazed to see Tanya there too.

She took the first footpath up to the golf course and dean and I took the second, but not before going under the tunnel at Fintry!

I pushed the pace up the hill through the wet grass ferns and brambles. Tough going and before I knew it I was at the top with the hrt high and happy as larry. Oh shoot, Dean! I doubled back and collected him, one field gap so not too rude. Trotted back to town and took him to see the cannon in the west bay wall. 4.8 cleared.