5.3 Airport hill

I set out thinking that a fast one might be on. But the rain had stopped and the sun had doubled the temperature.

There was still water on the ground so the bottom field was not on and that meant hitting the hill before being fully warmed up.

Over took a few on the hill and Garmin said 8:45 for the mile with the hill. Kicked at the top and felt like I flew down to the woods, but no I was still struggling to get below 7:30.

Thought about taking the longer little path in the woods but in the end decided not to get muddy and kept on the main route. Struggled back up the hill and realised although the perceived effort was high the speed was not there. Pushed to the top and enjoyed a splash of water at the restaurant du fontaine before the downhill.

Tried to get close to a sub 7 mile down the hill but could only get to 7:03 and even that only had my min mile ave at 7:56 which is the same as last week with half the effort. Turns out (o the joy of Garmin connect's compare activities) that the last mile was faster than the other recent airport hills but I am not going up hill as fast as I should me. More hills.....

Garmin

10x 100m reps, 1 min recovery

Finally manage to drag myself to the track for the first time in ages and I decided to go for 100m reps with one minute recovery.

Stefan lives right by the track to I warmed up by swinging by to see if he fancied it. No chance, as I had blisters from 11km of mountain running in Aubonne yesterday, well done mate!

Although I was very glad of the water he provided for me at the end of the session.

It was far too hot, mid day on a scorcher was not the best plan, but I felt the need and this was the only window of opportunity to get out so I took it.

In spite of the searing heat and slight snivels, I was a shade faster than the last time I did this session in Geneva back in Oct 2011 with Aurelien.

Garmin

5.5m Bois des Chenes, La Cezille, Bassins valley

With the mini foulee Glandoise - it took a while to get going.

There were lots of people and many had great excuses for not going up hill. As usual Paul shot off with the young guns and I muddled along in the middle looking out for the hills and fixing my bearings. At each turn there was a lengthy debate about which way to go.

The switch back was fine and finally the 6 broke off with a lead young gun and up we went. A farmer put a baby rabbit back in the woods which was very sweet and as we climbed the views back down to the lake were fantastic and the farmland and woods were majestic in the early evening light.

Paul was right there with the two teenagers the whole way. When we waited for the ladies to catch up he lay down to recover and got plants thrown at him by the big boys.

The top path on the other side of the sawmill was very muddy and wet, which was fun to run through.

At the end I've never seen Paul look so tired, but he held the pace all the way and we got back to the cars together - agreeing 500m out that neither of us fancied a sprint finish much!

Fantastic running from the wee man, well done Paul I am a very proud dad.

Garmin

5.5m Airport hill

So another wet and almost cold day in Geneva.

Did the airport hill again and caught two sets of two runners during the Penthaz climb.

At the top I decided to go for the big loop again but do it backwards, to get the still hill on the way back to the fountain restaurant.  It seems much harder and I had to work at it to keep going. Came across the same two ladies that I overtook the last time I was up here at the top.

On the way back a mad police type siren sounded at the US mission. It was coming from a big black sedan with the blue diplomatic plates on it. The purpose seemed to be to encourage the very ordinary looking car in front of it to budge up so they could both fit in the bomb blast gate and raise the barrier behind them. It worked and the security team seemed to find this hysterically amusing - I guess they have a pretty uneventful life. 

Got back and felt like I had really worked out hard. Was gutted to find I was one second per mile slower than yesterday. Grey zone? Could be. Next up easy run and some reps, I really need some reps. 

Garmin

6m Airport hill

Cold and wet june day today.

Headed out with a mind to catch the two guys going out of the changing rooms as I went in.

Failed as the routes did not match.

Stupidly forgot to start the garmin until already down in the botanic gardens.  Avoided the bottom field given the days of heavy rain we've had. Pushed up the hill with conviction today thinking the two guys 100m ahead were my buddies from work. Nope. Oh well that dragged me up the hill in under 9 mins which is a first for a long time.

Went on the wide loop and seemed to be mainly serious runners out today, all of whom smiled or waved. 

The bus at the top of the Pregny climb kindly waited to avoid squashing on the super narrow turn. Tried, and managed, to hold sub 8 min miles and reached the dizzy heights of 7:30s on the way down the hill.

Detour to the UBS cash machine to get some money to buy lunch. 

Trending faster, finally. A full 20s per mile faster today. Time for some planning and some workouts with Tenke.

Garmin

5.3m with Tenke, lower field loops

Tenke wanted soft surface for a shin issue, so we met lake side and then backtracked to the lower field which we did 4 time.

Tenke turned right to go down on loop one as I went left to go up first. Funny how we have different traditions.....

Funny how the pace reverted to that of a snail when tenke heady home.....

Garmin

5.8m Rhone trails with Tenke

Old running trails revisited with Tenke.


Neither of us feeling very fast so easy does it out to the bottom Rhone trail and back. Hippy commune camped out at the end of the Rhone trails, Tenke wins comment of the day "Occupy Geneve". Classic.

Garmin