TOBOGGAN MEUDONNAIS

"I also own a Ferrari"

Last sunday, I met at 8:15am in Place de Clichy with my EPPG mate Hugues. We headed to te south of Paris in direction of Meudon to participate to the Toboggan Meudonnais. We registered for the 75K distance.
 
I did not really asked myself why this cyclosportive was called "toboggan" but it became quite obvious after the first few hills! Having cycled around 70km the previous day, I suffered during the first 40km of our ride...after a pause, an energy gel and Hugues adjusting the position of my saddle, my strengths came back and I really enjoyed the rest of the way.
 
At some point I forgot to start my cardio watch so I am missing a few km but we almost cycled 100km in total. It's my second longest distance on a bike after the Little lumpy ride I did back in the UK in 2011 which was 120 something km. I'm quite happy because today my legs are fine! I'm hoping that the weather will be as nice next weekend so that I can go on my bike again.

 

RUN & BIKE SOLIDAIRE

The triathlon season is coming to an end. It's become too cold to swim in open water. It is now the period of Bike & Runs.
In a bike and run, you compete in pairs. You need to cover a given distance with one person running and the other one cycling. There is no rule to swap the bike. The pair decides how often they want to alternate.

Today, I participated to the Run & Bike solidaire (10K) in Saint Cloud. This event is organised by the Française des Jeux Foundation which raises money to support athletes, disabled people and kids through sports.

We were 8 from EPPG Tri Club to participate (Léo, Charlotte, Yann B, Yann P, Olivia, Emilien and Marion, running with her boyfriend Gilou). I was pairing with Léonore with whom I trained and defined a strategy yesterday. Indeed, we decided that the best for us was to swap the bike every 500m. Why 500m? Because we can run full speed over 500m (more is too much) before taking a rest on the bike for 500m and so on.

Yann P, Flo, Léo, Charlotte, Gilou, Marion, Yann B and Olivia

The weather today was not great but at least it was not raining. After droping our bags and warming up a little, we made our way to the start area with the 400 other teams.
I ran first and Léo had the bike. We stuck to our plan to swipe every 500m. It was not easy to stay together and exchange the bike with so many other paticipants around us as the road was not so wide but we did ok. Then the terrain was quite hilly and sometimes you had to start running full speed right in the middle of a hill which was exhausting...but it was only a 10K so I knew the pain would not last too long. In the end, after giving everything we had in the last kilometer, we finished in 48mins18secs.

In the finish area, we found Yann and Yann as well as Marion and Gilou. We took some pictures with sports celebrities like Lilian Thuram and Marie-Josée Perec.

Léo, Marie-Josée Perec, Charlotte, Olivia, Florelle

We were all very happy because our club mate Emilien and his friend had finished first!
It was my first Bike & Run and I really enjoyed it. It's nice to run with a friend and support each other through the race. My next one is already planned on 23rd November in Palaiseau.

Gunnersbury 10K Fun Run

One of London’s best attributes is its parks. There are ‘heaps’ of parks everywhere in the city and they’re real nice. From Chiswick where I live, I have quick access to at least 4 or 5 parks where I can run. It’s cool because I can use lots of different running routes

so it is never boring. If I want a challenging run, I can go to Richmond Park that boasts a few steep hills. If I want a more casual run, I’ll ask my friend Melanie to meet up in Hyde Park that’s quite flat.

Last Sunday, a local running club (The Ealing Eagles) was organising a 10K fun run in Gunnersbury park that’s located literally 15mins away from my flat so I had no excuse not to go. The race was at 11am so not too early which is great as well!

I like running 10K distances because it is one of my Key Performance Indicators. I always look at my time on a 10K distance to measure my progresses. I ran my first 10K in 2006 in something like 1h10. Back in November, I did 51 mins. And this time, I was expecting to run under 50 mins.

I think I did but I am unsure because I had no watch to check my time (a mistake that I will not make again!) and there was no timer at the start and finish line. So I had to ask someone the time when I started running and again when I finished and from that I have worked out that my time must have been 48 or 49 mins. I am now waiting for the race results to see if I have beaten my PB…but they still have not been published. AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

10Ks are a nice little challenge for people beginning to run. It really only takes about 2 or 3 months (if you run about 3 times a weeks) for a total novice to get fit for that distance so it is achievable and not that hard (Try! You’ll see!). For me, it is an excellent way to train for the running part of a Sprint distance triathlon. In the triathlon, I only have to run 5K but I train on a longer distance to build endurance. I am now comfortable on a 10K distance so what I do is try to work on my speed whereas before, my aim was to finish the race.

I have set myself the target of running a 10K in 45 mins before the end of the triathlon season…so still a lot of hard work ahead of me!