Marseille-Cassis Classic International Oct 30th 2005 !!!

Hello Rach, how are the legs today?

Guess what! At the duty free at the airport they had a pair of Reebok PRL'S for 24euro's, did you see them? They were blokes and size 9 1/2.....just thought I'd mention it. :)

Sub-2? Steady you wouldn't want to overdo it and need assistance! :)

Joking aside sub-2 is a definate possibility.

Well after I hyped it up so much over the last year, do you reckon M-C was worth the effort ?

Definitely right up there, a race everyone should have a go at. Wouldn't like to do it in the wet, though. Wonder if people run on the wall when it's raining?

Hmmm ... I think Paris Half in March ... you may well see me at that. Not doing PV again though, once is enuff. ;-) Bet you were glad chivalry isn't dead, eh Rach?

Fancy doing Vienna, Munich and Amsterdam (again) next year. Definitely want to do Vienna, you can fly into Bratislava, get hammered there, catch the hydrofoil to Vienna on the Saturday (takes under two hours), go around the Prater Park etc, get muntered in Vienna, train to Bratislava Monday (40 mins), fly home. :-)

Lol...you know same day as M-C there's a 16k ish race in St Tropez.....not as scenic....from a landscape point of view, but more bars!











....there's a half in Canne in March as well........

Legs not too bad today thanks Jelly. Quads still aching a bit but I reckon a nice easy run will sort them out. Hoping to get out later for a little 18k... got a last 50 mile week ahead of me so can't start slacking! ;)

Right, off to check out the piccies...

Oh yuk, fat photos! Looking quite happy with life though!

I thought your photo's were fine, mine look like I'm a contender in a gurning competition and I thought I was beaming at the camera.

I reckon to beat 2 hours, you want to get to 10K by 1'10, then you'll beat it for sure. 1'15 I think would be pushing it a bit. 1'20 and you haven't got much chance. Although it does depend on your style, some go faster downhill for the same effort than others! I got passed by a few (including some clown) on the down hill which I then sped past easily on the flat.

Without wishing to be seen as an oily flatterer, I can't see any fat on you Rach. You do look nice and relaxed in your's as well.

I've had a few 'orrid ones been taken of me (probably still on the web somewhere ...), so I won't take the mick out of Jelly :-)

Thanks B I appreciate the sensitivity re the photo's...that's the last time I have swordfish vindaloo for a bet the night before a race! :)

Maybe she was looking at my photo's? :)

:-))

(And it would explain the gurning!)

Been a bit bored at work (honest!), so been playing around with Excel.

Assuming it took me 6 mins to cross the line (I only started my watch at 1k), I did 60 mins going up to 10k and 46 coming down.

If that 4/3 ratio hold for all runners, then to break 2 hours, I reckon you need to do 1:08 or better going up to stand any chance.

How nerdy! Slow day at work today (plus I'm knackered, almost fell asleep at my desk).

I just ran 18k without too much difficulty. Last big week then taper for La Rochelle. Feeling well up for it after Sunday's race! :)

I was sure Jelly said something about us hitting 10k in 1:08 - perhaps I was hallucinating in the heat though. If that's the case, then I should probably work on my down hill running style. I did find the last down hills into Cassis a bit scarey to be honest. Don't know if I'd have been able to let myself go if it'd been raining.

And on another note, Jelly, what's the name of the salsa place? I think I might come over for a session in December...

Last year B, I ran up in 1.12 and down in 47mins. Going up I stopped and took lots of photo's and didn't worry too much about the time. Going down I figured I'd give it all I'd got and see what I'd do. I came in in 1.59.53..scraped it. I can't remember if 1.12 was to the 10k to go mark, which is on the down hill side of the summit or at the summit.

However we hit the summit in about 1.08 and the 10k to go mark in 1.10.56 so did the last 10k in 58.15. I reckon if you're in good shape you can run the downhill section around or below your 10k pb time. I think Rach was a couple of minutes outside that and that can be put down to walking through the water stations. The last three miles to the summit were the slowest but that was because it got progressively harder, I know that from my heart rate, which climbed over those three miles.

You can make up a huge amount of time on the down run and I think the key to that is quad and core strength, if you've got those you can really exploit the down hill section, your legs will go long before your lungs do.
I'd love to see the splits for the first 5 home.

Rach an easy 18k? I should think so after the light work you made of M-C, for someone who 'doesn't do hills' you don't do them quite well! :)

Salsa! So you think you'll be sufficiently recovered from La R by December to salsa! :)

Thanks for the photos Jelly. Some great ones in there.