Friday 30th March MARATHON 74

30th March - Day 77. Woke with alarm at 6:15, promptly re set for 6:50! Alarm went off I hit snooze and eventually up at 7:00. Still very tired but feeling better, kit on and out for a run in St Fulgent! Basically one high street with a few spur roads, I ran up, north through, not a lot of a village and out past a few rows of houses to a roundabout. There were a lot of people waiting at bus stops, young school kids and older people going to work. I ran past and out to the roundabout, turned right into an industrial estate, a bus passed me and stopped and all the adults waiting at the bus stop in the village got out! Just over a mile! I jogged on through the estate to another roundabout and not a lot more! I went round and started to return towards the estate. Another bus pulled up and all the kids got out and went to the school I had not noticed, less than a mile and a half from the village! Is that the same in England? It may be but I just have not noticed it or thought about it before! Anyway back to the hotel garage via the big church, kids waiting for the bus there as well. 8.5k in 53 minutes, felt a bit better but still felt weak and empty! Only one thing for it, get the porridge out! Showered and in the restaurant just after 8:30. Very nice people, 2 bowls of porridge cooked and consumed with honey, our PG Tips tea bags, 2 croissants, french bread and toast and fruit. Felt a bit full but a lot better. Back to the room, a bit of chill time to let food go down, wash clothes that should have been done yesterday and plan today's route. Dad went for a walk and returned with ham, cheese and salad baguettes for after the run, well done Tom. We loaded the destination in the sat nav, got frustrated as we could not get it to go on the smaller roads, gave up, got ready, in the van and off to the finish of yesterdays run in Las Essarts. Felt very anxious about today's run following yesterday but convinced it was caused by eating at the wrong time, too early, for the 2:30pm start! Basically I ran out of fuel and burnt up stored fuel, fat, that I have already used up! That's why I run to catch up before breakfast, refuel and go again normally between 10:45 and 11:45 on the marathon. Anyway I set off steady, first couple of kilometres at 4:50 pace then settled to 5:10 pace. Beautiful country run along the D39 through again lovely villages and farmland. The saying,"when cows lay down it is going to rain" does not apply here, "when cows lay down it means their hot and they are tired" I only saw the odd cow standing! The run was controlled but lacking energy, my knees and hip pain kicked in just over half way, the lovely route kept my mind off it as much as possible but I slowed in the last 10k. However I got the job done. Marathon complete in a town called Mormaison, in a time of 3'55"23, still under 4hrs so pleasing but legs had nothing left. Fantastic weather again for my post run routine, back in the van feeling a lot better than yesterday and it was a lot earlier! Stopped for a bad coffee in the sun then made our way back to the hotel garage. I am not sure about the 2 night stops we are now adopting, it is easier for kit moving but does involve a lot more travel! Dads brother Ted and his wife Kath had a few calls with dad on the way back and I think they were trying to come and see us as they were having a long weekend in Nantes. Back to the garage, hotel and restaurant shut so looks like it is another cook along with Tom night!