Kevin's musings

I met my first major objective of 2017, the Paris Ecotrail on 18 March. I ran this race in 2014 and finished in 10 hours and 46 minutes. At the time the Eiffel tower was being renovated so the finish was just across the river at Trocadero. This year, you had to climb 328 steps to the first floor to cross the finish line. Read on to see how that turned out.

For preparation, I was averaging about 65 km per week in the 2 months leading up to the race. That consisted of 3 runs during the week, plus usually a Saturday run and a long run on Sunday. My long runs in January were about 20 km with increasing distance up to 42 km two weeks before the race.  I usually did one up-tempo paced run during the week. A week before the race I started to feel some left knee pain. My major worry was about how that knee was going to hold up for the 80 km.

On race day, the weather at the 12:15 PM start was cloudy and 50°F with some gusty winds. During the afternoon the temperature got up to about 55°F. I would have liked a few degrees warmer, knowing that I would get cold late in the race with the wind, a slow pace, and a wet t-shirt. I wore a long sleeved shirt, over the knee running tights and high compression socks. I had a versatile running scarf. You can make into a cap and pull it down over the ears, or wrap it around your neck, or hands to keep them warm. In my backpack I had a lightweight running jacket that also became a necessity in the last part of the race.

Below is the trace from Strava. You can click thru to get to the data, splits, elevation profile, etc.

I started out in the pack of 2400 runners. Here is a short 22sec video just before the start. The first 20 km are mostly flat and easy. There was only one choke point where you had to wait a few minutes for your turn to cross a bridge over a highway. I was feeling a little pain in my left knee on the downhill portions.

Video from the first rest stop at 22 km when everyone was still in a good mood. The next rest stop was at 45 km and this stretch was the most difficult with many short steep hills. I was sufficiently hydrating and eating some energy foods along the way. Also every hour of the race I took a salt/electrolyte pill to keep in balance.

A video at the chateau, a water stop. It definitely helped to have already run this course. By the time I got here I was in much better condition than 3 years ago. I was tired but still in good spirits and surprisingly my knee pain was almost gone.

The next section of the course continues with quite a few short hills. The course goes through the forest for the most part and is soft and easy on the feet. It was a dry track with not many rocks or roots to trip on.

The rest stop at 56 km is where I started to get cold. I took a 5 minute break to get some hot soup, put on my jacket, cap and head light as it was starting to get dark by then.

The final rest stop overlooks Paris with the Eiffel Tower in the distance. When you get there you know you’ll be able to finish the race. There are only 12 km left and almost all is down hill or flat. There was still the climb up the Eiffel tower but I was counting on adrenline to pull me thru there. Running along the Seine didn’t seem so long this time for some reason. I was running along with one or two others and we kept each other going.

At the foot of the Eiffel tower there was a big crowd. To go in you actually have to put your backpack through a scanner. For sure, I didn’t run up the steps, but going up was less difficult than I thought it would be. At the top I crossed the finish in 10 hours and 27 minutes, bettering my time from 2014 by 18 minutes. I finished 142 out of 343 in my category and 934 out of 2400 overall. So I was very happy with that.

It was very windy up there (here’s the video) so I quickly grabbed my medal, my finisher t-shirt and took the elevator back down to meet Gaby.

I signed up for the La Rochelle marathon rather late. This fall I was in good shape and some people I knew were running at La Rochelle so I jumped in. My objective was to run a 3:30 which would qualify me to register for the Boston Marathon 2018. The cutoff for my age group is 3:40.

On my last post I forget to link to the Strava data. Here it is:

And forget to mention that as I was waiting for Gaby to come pick me up, along came Thomas, powering up the hill, fire in his eyes and as determined as ever to get it done. And he did, finishing in the darkness a few hours later! Great effort Thomas!!

Sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you…

This time the bear was the OCC that chewed me up and spit me out. But it was an unforgettable race with magnificent mountain vistas, a top-notch organization, encouraging spectators, and a festive atmosphere from start to finish, a finish that I never got to experience unfortunately.

Here is the link to the organizer’s page where you can find the route and profile: http://tracedetrail.fr/fr/trace/trace/20003

The course is 55 km, starting at Orsieres in Switzerland and winding it’s way thru the mountains to finish in Chamonix. The total vertical is around 3,500 m (11,483 feet).

The day started with a 3:45 AM wake up to catch the bus in Les Houches for the 1.5 h bus ride to Orsieres. There, I met my wingman, Thomas. The race started at 8:15 under a cloudless ski that promised a warm sunny day. The first few kilometers were lined with school children encouraging the runners. We passed thru several quaint Swiss villages to the sound of cowbells being rung by the locals lining the streets. We stopped do dip our hats into the village fountains to keep cool.

Then things got serious with the climb to Champex. At the aid station, Thomas and I somehow got separated among the frenzy of runners refilling their water containers. I eventually caught up to Thomas about 5 kms later and we attacked the long climb (about 700m) to La Giète. Most of the trail up was in the shade with only occasional stretches where there were no trees. Near the top it was open and we were fully exposed to the sun. The altitude tops out at around 2000m where the temperature was about 22°C (72°F).  I kept up a steady pace on the climb and made a good descent into the aid station at Trient. In the valley it was much warmer, about 30° (86°F) in the sun. The air was dry, humidity low, so the warm weather did not seem oppressive. The heat was nothing compared to runs that I did in North Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, and Texas this summer.

On the climb and descent, Thomas and I got separated again, with me in front this time. My time at the Trient aid station was 4:34 for the 24 km, which works out to a speed of just over 6km/hr.

Try to find me going thru the aid stations in the videos at this address http://utmb.livetrail.net/coureur.php , enter GRIFFITH and search.

Next was the 800m climb to Catogne. This climb was very difficult for me and I had to stop every 50 meters or so to keep my heart rate under control. I was climbing at about 2km/hr. My legs were still OK with no cramping. I was taking a salt pill every hour and hydrating sufficiently to avoid the cramps.

I made another good descent into Vallorcine aid station where I took a good 20 minute break. Starting out again, I thought that the break would revitalize me but on the gradual 5km climb to the Col de Montets I again had to stop every 50 meters to rest. At that point near the Col, I was still facing two significant climbs that I’m familiar with and had already struggled on during the Mont-Blanc Marathon. At 40km and 8:37 into the race, I sat down by the side of the trail, waited about 20 minutes thinking about what to do. Attempt the last 15 km at a 3km/hr pace? Wait for Thomas to come along and try to stay with him? Considering my heart rate getting into the red zone and my shortness of breath every 50m, I finally decided to call Gaby and have her come pick me up.

Here is a link to photos showing the magnificent scenary. https://goo.gl/photos/ypTzm9vNq2Gwknc29

The prestigious Marathon du Mont-Blanc I completed on 25 June was one of my major objectives of the year. This marathon is arguably the world’s most difficult with 2730m of positive elevation gain and 1700m negative over treacherous terrain.
Here is the route and profile:

My wingman, Thomas, and I were back to Chamonix for our second run of the race. We completed it in 2014 in cold, rainy weather. Because of the conditions that year, the course was changed to finish in Chamonix. This year, the weather was just about perfect. The organizers kept the finish high in the mountains making the course more challenging. Improving on my time of 7 hours in 2014 became a formidable challenge.

The race starts in the center of Chamonix at 7 AM. The course winds it’s way up the valley over some relatively small hills. We started out slow and towards the back of the pack of 2300 runners. At the village of Vallorcine, 18km into the race is the first fully-stocked aid station. We came in still feeling strong in about 2:15.

My garmin ran out of battery. I plugged in my battery pack but the recording did not restart so I ended up carrying the watch, the cord and battery pack for nothing.

At Vallorcine is where the real race starts. Coming out of town you attack the long ascension with more than 900m of vertical to the Aiguille des Posettes. It took us about 1:45 to get to the top. At several places near the top we crossed snow pack. The descent was very technical, steep and long as well. We were in heavy traffic with runners all around us making it hard to concentrate on simply not falling head over heels. Our knees, feet, and hips took a serious beating. The aid station in the valley at km 31 was more than welcome. We were 5 hours into the race with three major climbs remaining. I started out on the long climb toward La Flégère while Thomas took a 10 min rest.

I was able to grind through the last 14 km which was mostly uphill over rocky terrain. I used running poles which helped on the climbs. This is the first race in which I used them and am kind of disappointed because they often got stuck in the mud and came apart as I pulled them out. Then I had to fumble around with them to put them back together while still trying to concentrate on the trail ahead.

I had a backpack with a 2L hydration pack which I emptied about 3 times. About every 1.5 hours I took salt tablets and I think that helped avoid cramps. The aid stations were well stocked and I had a few gels with me to keep the energy level up. One thing to note for future races in the mountains: put on some sunscreen. I wasn’t in the sun very long but did get a slight burn on my arms and back of the neck.

The last few kilometers were on the ski trails leading up to where the gondola lets out at Planpraz. It was a struggle, but I got there. I finished the race with an official time of 8 hours 49 minutes and immediately collapsed in the grass to wait for Thomas who came in about 10 min. later. He measured 44 kms on his watch so I’m saying it was longer than official marathon distance. I finished in 1792nd place out of around 2300 participants and in my category was 206th out of 247 finishers.

It was an awesome race and am glad that I was able to pull through without any mishaps. Looking back at a race like that, it’s just amazing that at one time or another you don’t trip, fall, twist an ankle or tumble down a ravine.

This race was good training for the OCC on 25 August which starts in Switzerland, passes thru some of the same trails and ends in Chamonix 55 km later.

On April 10th I did the Jouy-en-Josas 50k trail run in 6 hours, 39 min. Officially, that was 108th place among the 140 participants. In my category, I was 21st out of 30. I am happy with that result given the the mild case of the flu in March that put me out of action for about 10 days.

I really enjoyed the course which was about 90% on forest trails.  It’s surprising to find so much trail only 15km from Paris. It had rained a lot in the days before the race so the trails were muddy and treacherous. There were many short, slippery ups and downs. In some places we had to slog thru ankle deep mud.

Here is the course layout. You can click thru to see my data.

The weather was just about perfect for the race. I would have liked a few degrees warmer. It was about 4° C at the start. With a cloudless sky however, temps rapidly rose and in the afternoon it was about 17° C. The sun kept me warm in the later part of the race when I was not going so fast.

Things started off poorly for me. Something moved in my backpack and caused my water container to start leaking. I had to stop pull everything apart and tighten the connection of the tube to the bottom of the container. Meanwhile, everyone passed me and got a good 3 minute lead on me, except my wingman, Thomas! We were dead last and slowly but surely made our way back into the race passing runners one by one.

With the slippery conditions and the hills, the pace was slow but steady. We stopped at aid stations at 7km, 17km, 25km, and 38km. The voluteers had lots of good food and drink with equal amounts of encouragement and good cheer. I ate and hydrated well throughout the race. I think this was key in preventing leg cramps later in the race.

Those last 12 km sure were long. For the most part I was able to keep jogging along except for the uphill portions. It was a struggle as all long races are, but was very enjoyable with the nice weather and the always twisting, turning trail.

At the end I ceremoniously deposited my New Balance Leadvilles in the garbage bin. After 1,063 km they started to come apart at the side seams. Those were good shoes that carried me through many a race in the last year.

This is a continuation of yesterday’s post.

Well, the body is back to normal now which was confirmed with a 31 km sortie last weekend. “Normal” is relative because I’ve always got that chronic big toe pain that only goes away whenever another part of my body is giving me more intense pain.

The month of March will be mostly dedicated to training with only one race, the Bailly-Noisy half marathon, which is run on a paved trail through Marly forest, my home turf which I know like the back of my hand.

In April and May, I’ve got two 50 km trail races that count toward the Natura Trail Challenge. Basically you have to place high in at least four of the six races to earn points. The Hivernal trail is in the Challenge also, but I’m not sure if I earned any points.

In June the main event is the Marathon de Mont-Blanc. Thomas and I did this in 2014 and it took me twice as long as a normal marathon. Yes it is very difficult. I bought some high-speed trekking poles to help get up those never-ending climbs and to keep me from falling head over heels on the treacherous descents.
July is empty for the moment and we will be doing some travelling. I will probably need July just to recover.

In August it’s back to Chamonix for the OCC. The OCC (Orsières – Champex – Chamonix) details are here http://ultratrailmb.com/en/page/217/occ.html. With 55 km in the Alps and 3,300 meters of positive elevation gain (about the same as the Laurel Highlands Ultra) it should be a real leg burner. I’m hoping I can enjoy the amazing scenary.

In September, I want to run the Imperial Trail again in the Fontainebleau forest. It’s 62 km of short up and down hills with lots of boulders to negotiate. Doing that in eight hours will be a success for me.

October has another leg of the Natura Challenge and in November the last leg with the Flambeaux night trail race. I did this one about 6 or 7 years ago and although it is relatively short at 17 km, is not easy given the poor visibility, and usually poor, sloppy trail conditions.

There you have it. It will be an adventure. I will try to do race reports to document it all.

February 2016 is here and my yearly running plan and objectives exist only in my head. It’s time to write it down and commit.

For cumulative distance, 2600 kilometers is the target. That’s 100 more than 2015 and works out to an average of 50 per week. The key to getting there is consistency. If you get behind it’s hard to cram in a lot of kms in the last few weeks of December. It just so happens that I’m already significantly behind at the end of January. More on that later.

For races this year, there are lots of challenges to chose from. Basically, I’m planning on one race per month. Here’s the list.

• Jan 24th: Hivernal at St-Leger-en-Yvelines, 24 km trail
• Feb 21st: Versailles – Rambouillet, 51 km trail
• Mar 20th: Bailly-Noisy half marathon
• Apr 10th: Jouy-en-Josas 50 km trail
• May 22st: Cerfs 50 km trail
• Jun 26th: Marathon de Mont-Blanc
• Aug 25th: OCC, Chamonix, 55 km trail
• Sep 18th: Fontainebleau Imperial trail, 62 km
• Oct 1st: Rosny-sur-Seine, noctutrail, 18 km
• Oct 9th: Adainville trail, 35 km
• Oct 16th: Magny-les-Hameaux trail, 27 km
• Nov 12th: Monfort l’Amaury Flambeaux, night trail, 18 km

That’s an ambitious schedule and based on past years, I probably won’t be doing all those races considering potential injuries, unforeseen events, maybe travel, and ensuring that I get my inscriptions in on time. Sometimes the races are kept small and the available entries are quickly taken.

The race missing from the above, the annual Laurel Highlands Ultra, filled up fast and stopped accepting entries about 2 weeks. I wavered and did not get my entry submitted in time.

So my two major objectives for the year are at Chamonix: the Marathon de Mont-Blanc and the OCC in August.  Both races are selective and “sell out” early as well. I have an accepted entry for both. For the OCC, I did not get selected in 2015 so that doubled my chances for this year.

I mentioned earlier that the year got off to a bad start. On 1 Jan I got out of bed, either too quickly, without adequate stretching, without being careful, or maybe it was related to too much partying the night before, but just in getting out of bed I hurt myself. I felt sharp pain in my left heel and hobbled around for about 2 weeks. And then just as I was getting over that my right heel started acting up with the same pain.

Even given those issues I was able to get out and run several times and was healthy enough to knock out my first race of the year, the 24 km Hivernal. Thomas and I ran through a lot of mud and were able to finish without aggravating anything. We are preparing for the 51 km Versailles – Rambouillet which is coming up fast and is very early in the year for such a long run.

Part 2 in a post tomorrow

On 19 September I ran the 62k Imperial Trail at Fontainebleau with an objective of finishing in under 8 hours. Objective met with a finish in 7 hours 53 minutes. That was good enough to be 100th overall out of about 300 and to be 9th in veteran’s 2 category where there were about 45 runners.

I almost didn’t make it through the starting gate. When I arrived to pick up my race number I was required to show my medical certificate showing that I was clearded to run by the doc. In France all competitions require this. I didn’t have a copy with me. I had sent the certificate in by email so I thought that that would be sufficient. Using my smartphone I showed the officials my certificate and emailed them another copy and they gave me the race number finally.

I met Thomas in the starting area and we had a cup of coffee together. His back was acting up so he was unable to run this year.

The weather was real nice, not too cool, not to warm and the track was dry. Here is a link to a photo of Kevin, feeling fresh

The terrain is hilly with many, many short small hills with lots of twist and turns between, over, around, and under boulders. There is about 1,500m of positive vertical.

I was able to keep up a slow running pace except for the uphill sections with only the threat of an occasional cramp in the last 20km.

Running in the Fontainebleau forest is really nice. This is a race to do again and again.

This was my third attempt at the 70.5 mile (113k) Laurel Highlands Ultra (http://www.laurelultra.com/) on 13 June. In 2013 I abandoned after 46 miles and last year I successfully completed it in about 19 hours. This year the objective was to get under 18 hours which was the cut-off time many years ago.

I’m writing this 6 months after the fact so many of the details have faded away. That’s a good thing because many details were quite painful.

The weather was exceptionally humid that day. At 5:30 AM the temperature was a seemingly cool 64°F (18°C). It was nice and pleasant just warming up but when I started to run in the high humidity I quickly realized that this was going to be a serious obstacle.

I made it up and over the 3 major climbs to reach the first aid station at mile 11 in about 2:30. The crew was there and with everyone still being in good spirits we yuked it up a bit. The next 8 miles cover a few smaller short hills. I got to the first checkpoint after mile 19 in about 4:09. The last 500 foot climb into the checkpoint is one of the most difficult parts of the entire course. I was losing a lot of liquids and was overheating. At the checkpoint I gave up on my garmin that had run out of battery and I shed my t-shirt in an attempt to keep cool. I had never tried running with the backpack and no t-shirt. This type of improvisation is not a good thing on a long run as I would learn later. But, I was still in a good mental state and highly motivated at that point in the race.

In the next section, initially I was feeling great without the t-shirt and on the relatively flat trail was enjoying the run. By the time I got to aid station #3, just before Seven Springs, my backpack began to seriously rub my back raw.  I stopped and filled up with water and reversed the pack, wearing it on my chest. As I crossed Seven Springs resort I was all alone. This is about marathon distance and by here, the reality of the day long trek begins to work on your mind. There is still almost two marathons yet to run. Also, physically I was suffering from the onset of cramping in the legs. This slowed me considerably even on the descents. In this state I began to lose clarity in my thinking. The water seemed too heavy and I thought that I didn’t need all of it to make it to the next water point. So I foolishly dumped half my water, a decision I would later ruefully regret on this humid day, for just a few miles later I had consumed all my water and there were still about 5 miles to the next checkpoint. At my speed, that was about 1 hour without water just when I desperately needed it to help avoid cramps. To avoid cramps, what has worked for me in the past is taking salt pills every hour.

Upon arriving at checkpoint #2, the crew there gave me a boost of motivation. I got there after about 7 hours and 6 minutes. I filled up with water, ate some fruit, and put on a shirt to protect my back. After about a 10 minute break, I set off again for the next section which crosses the turnpike, goes thru aid station #5 at mile 39, and then continues to route 30 just before mile 46.

I crossed the turnpike, waving to the truckers below. Before arriving at aid station #5 I had consumed my 2 liters of water already. I arrived there at 9 hours 9 min. which was about 2 hours of effort since the last fill up. Cramps were coming on more frequently and I was going at a slower and slower pace.

The 6 miles remaining to route 30 turned into a slog with frequent cramps. It was not possible to run any longer. Dizziness began to come on. After 46 miles and 11 hours and 11 minutes of effort I trudged into checkpoint #3. In that condition with 25 miles remaining I decided to call it a day. I didn’t want to have to walk those last 25 miles so I signed my race number and turned it in at checkpoint #3. This was probably a wise decision as later in the evening at about 10PM a heavy thunderstorm rolled through.

The finisher rate this year was 66% compared to the 83% from 2014. This stat attests to the difficult weather conditions in 2015. In 2015 conditions were difficult but far from the conditions in 2010, when temperatures soared to more than 90°F and a resulting 50% finisher rate.

You hate to abandon a race, but as they say, sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you. On this day I was on the menu.

This race starts in the Bois de Boulogne, crosses the Seine, over the hill at Suresnes, thru Croissy-sur-Seine, then up the final hill to finish at the Chateau de St-Germain-en-Laye. It’s about 20km. It is a fast course except for those 2 hills which take your breath away.

I finished the 20k in 1:40 official time which was 790th place overall out of 3682 and 74th out of 440 in my category.

I think I ran a good race except for the last climb where I kind of dialed back the effort level. At the finish I ate some fruit, picked up my finisher’s medal, turned around and started the run back to the start line. I wanted to get in my last long run before the Laurel ultra. Plus I had to go back and get my car.

I ended up doing about 37km.

The Trail des Cerfs in the Yvelines department is a comparitively easy 50k with only about 742m of positive vertical. There are some short hills but nothing extremely arduous. It is run in the Rambouillet forest, starting at La Queue-les-Yvelines where the Yvelines marathon always started.

The weather was cool (7°C) and sunny and the course was dry for the most part.

My goal was 5 hours and 30 minutes and I was able to finish in 5:13 so I was happy about my perf in this race. That was good for 74th place out of 184 runners and 8th out of 31 in my category.

I ran the Gatinais Trail Marathon on 12 April at Maisse, France which is southeast of Paris, not far from Fontainebleau. The course goes in and around a forest which is a mix of pine and deciduous trees. There were 21 small hills on the sandy trail which was about 50% single track. Some of the hills were quite steep as you can see in these grade stats with sections greater than 28%, basically climbing with hands and feet. My garmin measured 895m of vertical.

Grade stats from Gatinais Trail Marathon

The weather was a cool 6°C for the start at 7:45 in the morning. The start was delayed for 15 minutes to let the late-comers arrive. There were about 120 at the start line. Just before the start the reigning women’s world trail vice-champion arrived Aurelia Truel. I lined up next to her and charged out of the gate a step ahead of her… and then she took off like a sprinter and left me in the dust.

The sun was out and with the first few hills I warmed up fast. I started with my camelbak half full with the first water stop being at 13.7 km. I glanced at my watch as the first hour passed and had covered just under 10km. I stopped for water had some banana and cereal bar plus a few pieces of chocolate.

Here is my strava map. You can click through to get to data with km splits.

Between km 19 and 25 there were some tough hills where I suffered mightily, along with everybody else. Then during a nice downhill stretch I started to feel better and better and was able to keep a decent pace on a steep hill at km 29. We broke out into a long open field and I started passing runners right and left, one by one. At the end of the field we had a short water break at km 31. I ate my snickers and took off with new energy. I still had good legs and needed them, because the last 5 km had some tough steep hills.

I finished in 4:31:55 which was good enough for 7th in the old, old men’s category and 40th place overall. Looking more closely at the results, I see no one older than me bettered me. I crossed the finish line and was congratulated by my good friend, Thomas, who had just completed the 23km race. I was happy with my performance, finishing without incident or injury.

It was a great race, perfect weather, with a good organization, a challenging trail with lots of twists and turns, and an excellent surface for running without too many rocky sections. This is one that I would definitely like to do again.

I ran a good race from start to finish. It was a cold, overcast day with 3.5°C at the start. I met Thomas in the park at Versailles an hour before race time.

We tried to keep warm while preparing and deciding what equipment to carry/wear. My equipment list:

• below the knee running tights,
• knee length compression socks (a new piece of equipment),
• Salomon XT Wings trail shoes,
• a long sleeve running shirt,
• gloves,
• the good luck bandana,
• camelbak with 1.5 liters of water,
• 2 Snickers bars,
• two packs of  GU Chomps,
• a granola bar
• a space blanket,
• my telephone,
• 5 salt tablets,
• my portable charger,
• Garmin 405 GPS watch with charging cord in place and wrapped around my wrist

The first runners started at 10:45 but we were in the 2nd wave and started at 11:05.

The race circles around the water and in front of the chateau. I should have taken the time to stop, whip out my camera and take a photo.

The first 10k is relatively flat and we ran that in about 56 minutes. There were only two aid stations, at 28k and then in the Park St Cloud at 39k. Our race strategy was to average 10k per hour, quickly refuel at aid stations and just try to keep the legs moving forward for the last 11k. This would allows us to hit the 5:30 overall objective.

Here are the Strava stats and course trace.

Our strategy pretty much worked as planned out for me. Thomas fell behind a bit but still ended up bettering his time from last year. I hit the 28k aid station at 2:47. There, I made a toilet pit stop, refueled and met up with Thomas who was following a few minutes behind.

Chaville aid station

I came into the 39k aid station at 4:12.

 As soon as I stopped, I started to get the chills. I filled my camelbak with about 500ml, ate a banana and some salty crackers, and snapped this photo of Paris with the Eiffel Tower (the finish line) in the distance.

The final 11k was a struggle, as it always is for a long race. For this race, there is an easy descent to the Seine and then the course follows the Seine to the finish line in front of the Eiffel Tower. There was a brisk headwind for the final 5k that gave me the chills. I kept looking at my watch and was motivated to keep running to ensure a finish in less than 5:30. The long awaited finish line came into view and I was happy to cross in 5:24. In the old, old, men’s category I was 53 out of 254 finishers, and overall I was 472 out of 1546.

Physically, I came through the race OK with just the hint of a cramp in the right thigh a couple times. My Salomon shoes gave me a blister on the end of my toe on my left foot, so these shoes will not do for a longer run. I felt my toe hitting against the toe box on the descents.

On March 8th, the 43,000 runners had exceptional weather for the Paris half with sunny skies and 60°F. In the middle of the immense crowd in front of the chateau de Vincennes I prepared for the race with Emmanuel and Thomas.
Pre-race photo:
With the nice weather we were able to run in shorts and t-shirt for the first time this year. The course started near the chateau and heads towards Paris, Place de la Nation, Place de la Bastille, and Rue de Rivoli, before turning back in direction of the Bois de Vincennes. There is a short upgrade along Rue Daumesnil and then the course goes into the Bois with the finish back near the chateau.
I started with the runners in the 1:35 gate which was my time objective. We had to wait around in the crowd for 30 minutes or so before the start. My first km was slow in the heavy traffic, and then I had to stop to “water a tree” where I lost a precious minute of time. Note to self: don’t drink too much before your next race. I jumped back into the mass of runners and picked up a brisk pace covering several kms at a pace below 4:30 per km. I was about 50m behind the 1:35 pacer who carries a flag high above the crowd.
I kept on target pace until about the 10k mark with the pacer about 50m in front of me. After that, the pacer gradually pulled away from me.
Here is my data from Strava:

I finished with a fairly good sprint, good enough for 344th place out of 2776 in the old, old, man category (V2H) and to be 5003 out of the 43000 or so overall.

Here are the 5 km splits.
0 – 5 km: 00:23:26
5 – 10 km : 00:22:46
10 – 15 km: 00:23:48
15 – 20 km: 00:24:22

I was happy with this performance with it coming so early in the season.
Some pics of me tearin’ up the asphalt…
   

I completed my first race of the year on 1 March. It was a 21 km trail race (3 Pignons) at Noisy-sur-Ecole in the Fontainebleau forest. It was mostly a flat course with sandy trails and only one short hill with 20% incline. I ran with Thomas and 886 other runners. My time was 1:54, with the official time 1:57:26. In the old man’s category V2M I was 128th out of 220, and overall 519th place.

Here is the data:

My next race will be the Paris Half Marathon this coming Sunday. The weather should be perfect, I’m in good shape with no injuries so I’m looking forward to a good race. It’s somewhat early in the season and it’s been difficult to get out to train in the dark and cold conditions so I’m not sure I’ll be able to get close to my PR of 1:35 but that is the objective anyway.