Training Log Archive: AC

Down in the Cevennes in the south of France for a weekend break. Very mountainous area with few options for a run. But spied a promising trail on the satellite pictures and headed off on that, not quite knowing how it would pan out.

Started up the road from the B&B and dived off on to the trail after about 1.5km. The trail, which turned out to be the route for the Grande Randonee 68, had been very well-built at one stage, with rocks laid down to form a relatively even path. This must have been a major undertaking back in the day! Unfortunately, the ravages of the weather, erosion and marauding wild boars have turned the path into a jumble of rickety rocks, making running quite demanding. But good fun and good training for hill running! Got about 3.5km into the run and it wasn't quite clear where I was going to wind up nor how I would get back to the road. The GPS on the phone was helpful to show me which way I should be heading but the path seemed to be heading in the opposite direction. So I decided to tackle the route to the road through the forest, which was lovely and relatively open, but very steep (necessitating clambering up on all fours for the last few hundred metres).

Eventually popped out on the road and started the long run back down to the B&B . Lovely run back down but quite long at 8km. Legs were getting pretty tired by the time I finished - it has been a long time since I ran that far on a bitumen road at a constant descent!

It turns out I should have stayed on the trail a while longer as it intersected a forest road after another 1-1.5km of uphill and a few more switchbacks. The Strava map clearly showed the trail network - unlike the map on the phone). This forest road then joined the main road just above where I popped out after my uphill trek through the forest. I might do this longer run when I come back down next weekend (the family is staying down for the week as I have meetings in Paris to attend to :-()

A good run if more adventurous than I had anticipated!

In Costa Rica for a very short work trip (basically 26 hours on the ground in San Jose!). Jet lag worked in my favour and got out for a very early run having woken up at 5am. Was right next to the Sabano Park so started out with a lap of the park. There was a surprisingly large number of runners doing laps and circuits in the park, many going very quickly. So I decided to jump in and do some intervals with one group that seemed to be going at a pace I could handle. Well, I managed for about 500m before they drew away. I decided to cut my losses at 750m and settled on an improvised plan of 4 x 750m with 2 mins break. This worked out okay as I kept jumping in and out of fast groups as they scooted past. My pace was not great (did the 750m in 3.23, 3.23, 3.26, 3.34) but it was a good hit-out before a very full day of meetings and speeches and an evening flight back to Paris.

Very impressed with the Costa Rican running scene, as least as was manifested in this small experience in Sabano Park in San Jose. There were at least three training groups that I could spot in different parts of the park, each numbering around 20-25 runners, with a good mix of men and women, varying abilities from very fast to just a bit slower than me, and with at least two coaches with stop watches and clipboards. Very professional and serious but all having a good time as well. great to see!

Full day so morning run required. Interval session on the cards as need to get much fitter based on the evidence from last Sunday's run. Did 5 x 3 mins H / 1 min E. Good pace (by morning standards) and only slowing up on the 4th interval, which was slightly uphill. Pace was (4.13, 15, 14, 26, 14). Pushed through on the intervals and felt virtuous at the end of it.