"Each step forward has a sacred meaning of its own"   Sri Chinmoy

Canal du Rhone a Sete Trail Run - May 2024 - Carnon / Montpelier

We had travelled to France for a Joy Day in Sommieres, which started late on Saturday afternoon, but flight times and other stuff meant we found ourselves in France on the Friday night / Saturday morning staying at Carnon Plage. That meant a chance to get started on my 2-week stint of crammed training for Czechman. Although what I really needed at this stage was bike sessions, a 2 hour run with some intervals was also on the programme so in the absence of a bike I headed out to the Canal du Rhone a Sete to run a flat 20k.

I jogged around the forest of masts in Carnon Marina, over a very modern and strange looking covered footbridge then found my way over the quiet roads (it was just-gone-seven in the morning) and a highway bridge to the spit of land between the Etang de Perols and the Etang du Grec. After  passing a couple of houses the road became a flat, smooth, gravel track that led out alongside the canal, forming one of the most incongruous sites I've seen in France. A canal, tucked between 2 narrow barrages, running through a massive inland sea.

The southern barrage was wide enough to accommodate a sea-wall of sorts and, sheltering next to it and alongside the canal, the gravel track led me out into the sea without having to leave dry land. It was mid-teens temperature wise, the sun rising behind me and already starting to warm things up. I saw flamingos in flight, then some standing in the shallow waters of the Etangs, as well as fat, well-fed herons lumbering into flight then gliding over the canal. At one point I saw a gull try to wrestle a fish that weighed as much as it did, out of the water, but it gave up as I ran past. I got the feeling it was using me as an excuse so as not to lose face in front of the other gulls.

At Palaves I ran past the junction of the River Lez with the canal, then back down on to the gravel track to eat up some more miles. I was running at a steady 9 mins pace and everything felt good - clear sea air, unbroken sunshine, perfect running conditions.

I finally decided to turn around with about an hour on the clock, when I got to an island with what I thought was an immaculate house or farm perched between fields and well-manicured rows of trees. There was a castle-style gate across the road on to the island but it was blocked by a gate. I later found out this was the Cathedrale de Maguelone.

On the return leg I hoped to get in 3 x sub-7 mile intervals to make it a worthwhile session, but after 2 (which lasted 6.44 and 6.46) I pretty much ran out of track. I wasn't about to try and run that pace while weaving around the boardwalk of the Marina, so I quit while I was ahead and just jogged back into Carnon. I stoppped my watch with 12 miles on the clock, outside the Boulangerie where my final task of the run was to get breakfast for both me and Kokila. That was an awesome training run - flamingos an unexpected bonus.

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