74.38km –10H23’
Altitude : 259m
Vent du Nord = Favorable au coureur!
North wind = good for the runner!
There are days when inspiration is not present and this 4th of June is one of them. I believe that at 7°C, the rain and the cold is numbing our brains. And this vegetative state does not encourage positive thoughts. Relentlessly, time slips by and Serge is still running, steadily and now spending almost 11 hours per day on the road, as opposed to 9 ½ when he started. He is patient, always driven by the same motivation, which is just as it was on the first day. It’s as if he were programmed for such a challenge, for this “endurance race” (it’s the expression I use) which gives him such a feeling of well-being.
I know that many of you would like Serge to voice his feelings, his state of mind. The same questions are always asked: Why does he run like this? What does he think about when he is running or doesn’t he get bored during the long hours, when he is usually alone? Well, here is a story:
At km 61, he took off his long pants and at km 65 he said to me « look at that squall that is coming behind us, it’s for us” and then added “it’s beautiful, aren’t we fine here? I’m stunned. How can he always be so motivated? Where does his perpetual optimism come from? I ask him, saying that now that we are back in Finland there are pine trees along the roads and birches with their pale green leaves and we have seen so many of them. After the olive trees in Spain, René and I are now suffering from an overdose of pines and birches. But Serge isn’t tired of them and replies, “it’s the race that makes me optimistic,” then he adds “all runners are positive when they have finished their run”. A drug, madness, well-being which make the spirit and the body stronger, that’s for sure. For some people it brings balance, and I would add that it doesn’t hurt anyone.
Serge changed his cardio belt (which he wears around his chest and which registers his heart beat rate while he runs). The old belt was registering inexact heart beats because at 250 beats per minute I think Serge would be dead at such a rate. This incorrect data did not go unnoticed by some people who have been looking at the Garmin Connect site which posts the information recorded by the 310XT wrist watch during the stage and which is downloaded daily. It is worth mentioning that the wrist watch is still working after 7 months and more than 70 hours per week. It is normal to change the cardio belt occasionally. This is the 3rd belt Serge has worn since the start.