Run

For several weeks I have run with the Ochsner Sport Runday Monday Signy group. Last night the run began at the Abériaux parking before heading towards Gland and skimming the Domaine Impérial before then heading back through some woods towards the parking, before then stopping by a plage for a swim and apéro, before heading home and sleeping.

The course was around 8.8 kilometres long going along the woods and a water fountain where we could get fresh water, before running along the road, turning left, and then right, and then into the woods, before making our way towards the edge of the woods and crossing towards the Aérodrome de Prangins, before running along, and then turning back towards the same woods, and making our way back to the water fountain. We then picked up swimming stuff and went to the plage.

For several days I either had bad allergies or I had a cold. Both are possible because we went from cold and rainy, and cold and snowy to spring like so three or four trees at once dumped their loads of pollen into the sky at once.

Since so many people are coughing and spluttering at the moment, it’s likely that some generous individuals onpassed the virus to me. The result is that for several days I didn’t run or cycle. I even had one or two short walks, rather than long ones. My short walks are still long for many.

Last night at around 05:30 the alarm went off and either before or afterwards I heard lightning. I also heard very heavy rain. The question was whether the weather app was to be trusted. I could see that it would rain heavily while I walked from home to the meeting point but that for the duration of the rain it would remain dry.

I chose to take a good raincoat and walked in the rain towards the meeting point. For a moment I thought that I would be alone. Luckily two others turned up, including the person that suggested the run.

This morning I woke at Four, before birds started to tweet, and before the sun started to rise. I woke so early, not to deice planes, like I did years ago, but to go for a group run with five hundred and fifty other people, in theory. In practice I think some people paid to participate but failed to wake up.

Wake Up and Run, in Switzerland, is based around a simple concept. Lunatics, like me, pay 38 CHF to join a 5km run at 05:30 in the morning. We get coffee, breakfast, a purple/pink t-shirt, a wake up and run glass and more.

When you drive to a place you don’t have a place for it. That’s why it’s good to use sites to find recommendations. Usually I like to explore routing opportunities with Komoot, to look at routes, what they offer as sites and sounds, and how long the route is.

Last night and this morning I let another site decide. I told Strava that I was going to start from one point, and I looked at what it recommended. I then drove to the start, and ran the route. In the process I found that the route it recommended was not as intuitive as I thought.

On Friday I cycled in to Geneva to drop off my bike for a quick check after I noticed that when I shifted gears in one direction it seemed to block. I could have hung around for three or four hours waiting for the bike to be ready but chose to leave it overnight, to be picked up at the same time as the group ride.

Walking with cycling clothes is not comfortable, especially over two kilometres. That’s why I exceptionally chose to take the bus. I arrived early, thinking that it was at 5 past, and 33 past. I then saw that the 5 past bus is only on week days, not weekends. As a result I had to wait fourty minutes for the bus.

This morning I ran towards the lake. If I had continued going west I could have gone to the Piscine De Colovray, had a swim, and then walked home or taken a publibike, once I was tired enough. In fact I live along the course for the Nyon Triathlon so I could easily train for the triathlon without needing to use a car.

I believe that I suffer from Rhume des Foins (hayfever) so when I went to sleep congested, and woke up congested I thought “There’s no way I’m doing that 10km run. I checked what my Garmin watch recommended as a run and when I saw that the recommendation was a 35 minute run I grabbed the chance. Even with pollen a 35 minute run is comfortable.

Normally I like to go for a run in the afternoon, after I have had a productive morning. This morning I went for a run first. This afternoon I have to go to an indoor meeting, which doesn’t fill me with euphoria. I feel an e-mail would achieve the same thing within a few minutes. Having said this I have skipped that meeting for three or four years so I feel obligated to go this afternoon.

In theory I am waking at 0400 or earlier tomorrow to go and run in Vernier at 0530 but in practice that is now in doubt, not because I’m lazy but because I have a sore throat.I really hope that what I am fighting is just a short lived bug, nothing more.

For the first time in years I went to Geneva, and I spent time indoors, and in a city and within two days I’m fighting a bug. I don’t think it’s serious enough from running tomorrow.

Yesterday I woke up feeling tired so I questioned whether I should cancel the Gruyère hike but chose not to. I felt more tired than usual and I couldn’t understand why until I checked my activities. I ran five kilometres on Friday, then again on Saturday, and then Sunday I went for a relatively short walk.

Originally my plan had been to rest oon Saturday but for some reason I didn’t listen to that desire. The result is that my calfs felt taut, and when I walked to the train station I felt slow and heavy. Now it’s clear why I felt this way.