A meander around La Minière

I signed up for my first half-marathon last night, the Semi-Marathon de Boulogne-Billancourt on November 18th. I used to live there so I'm looking forward to getting reacquainted with the area, and racing in the infamous Bois! To start getting ready for it, I went our for a relatively long run this morning, a 15k steady jog in and around Les étangs de la Minière. It's one of my favourite spots for running, and it was a glorious autumnal morning for it.

The lakes themselves were used to feed the system of bassins and fountains in Versailles, and the scenery is gorgeous at this time of year.

It was good to get out and stretch my legs and I'm looking forward to the BB half-marathon!

Parcourir Montigny Urban Trail 2018

Last Sunday I ran in my fourth Urban Trail in Montigny-le-Bretonneux, the town where I live. It's a race which has evolved over the years, from a 2x5k loop back in 2014 to a 13k 'urban trail' this year. It's a challenge as the race includes both urban areas and wooded trails, with steps and slopes thrown in as often as possible.

I have to say I increasingly enjoy the local race with the number of participants in the hundreds, as opposed to the thousands taking part in the big Paris races. I felt ready and was keen to put a decent time on the board.

The weather was pretty grim, windy and overcast with little let-up forecast. I arrived early and actually had the pleasure of an empty departure line!

The race itself was pretty uneventful. I was aiming for in and around 01:05:00 and I finished in 01:04:44, 59/216 overall and 22nd in my category. There's still the niggling feeling that with more application, time and effort I could do much better and actually knock a lot of minutes of my finishing times. This was my 26th race in France and nothing else is planned for the moment. I'm looking at different options between now and the end of the year and I'm aiming at putting in the kms with some longer runs over the next few weekends. I'll be sure to update.

Happy running.