Club Med Palmiye

So I arrived in Turkey not really expecting to do that much running, but the sport's info board announced "footing" (French for jogging) at 8am every day.

What the heck, worth a go and I might meet some people. Also handy for being at reception first to book the special restaurant as bookings officially start at 8, but if your French is good enough then the guy behind the desk might just reserve you a place before the run starts.

Leo, Edmund and Caesar were the GOs who did the footing and they all had the same idea of doing 3 loops of the hotel at 10 minute mile pace. Ken would have loved it. 18m difference between the high point and the beach.

The loop starts at reception and follows a path through the trees between the tennis courts and then onto the main road into the complex. The bridge takes you over the water collection channel and past the workers' accommodation, then sharp left back onto the guest paths. The "hill" kicks in from the football pitch and rises past the archery station and then right at the top back down past the villagio boules pitch. Leo's route went behind the mini-club over the sand to get to the board walk while the other guys preferred the path in front of the mini-club and the switch back to the beach behind the circus. Either way still makes a perfect mile. The beach board walk is around 400m of straight flatness crying out to be run hard.

At the end of the beach back up to the main hotel, around the back of the building to finish the loop in front of the hotel.

I did six loops one day on my own and ten another. Mind numbing stuff to do the same loop 10 times. Then the 610 ran out of battery and it took me a few days to work out when the electricity was on in the room so ran free for a few days then captured data again.

I think I ran every day except 2 or 3.

Second week I ran every day and there were some elite boys in from France. We tended to run the 1st and sometimes the second loop with the group, then split for sprints up the hill and along the board walk on the beach, or just simple ratchets pushing the pace up each loop.

Palmiye
Palmiye
Palmiye 6m
Palmiye 10m
Palmiye
Regatta, for fun on a very slow boat!
Palmiye concentrations
Palmiye 5m

Total of 54 miles in two weeks!