Races that I did

8ème Tour Pédestre du Canton de Genève 9K x 4, May-June 2002.
This is a 4 stage race in Switzerland in the Geneva county. Each stage is about 9K long and there is one stage per week for 4 weeks. As they are all held on wednesdays in the evening, this is a great way for me to get some racing experience and some real speed workouts without using week-ends. Each stage is a mix of road and off-road stuff.

Divonne les Bains, 10K, France, April 7 th, 2002.
This was my first race since the ankle injury that ruined my 2001 season. Had this race not been right where I live I would not have participated since it is too early in my training and the risk of injury is great. On the other hand, getting your ass kicked is a great way to start the season.

Tri-Distance Run, 10K, Gainesville, FL, April 29th, 2001.
It was a nice 60 deg. F Sunday morning in Gainesville. Driving 2.5 hours from Tallahassee to Gainesville was worth it. This race has a sentimental value as it was my very first running race. I did a 5K there in 1999 and 24:47 was all I could do at the time. This year I crossed the 5K line in 21:22 and had another 5K to go that I would do a little bit faster.

Havana 5K, Havana, FL, April 7th, 2001.
Havana is a little town 5 miles north from where I live in Tallahassee. As I drove past lake Jackson through the fog I checked the temperature. 70 deg. F. This was warmer than I would have liked at 7:30 am. But that was OK. My intention was not to do a personal best but to take a measurement of my fitness level at the beginning of the season. I would be happy with a time just under 21 minutes.

Springtime 10K, Tallahassee, FL, March 31st, 2001.
It was a nice 60 deg. F Saturday morning in Tallahassee. The biggest running race in the city: Springtime -- 701 runners. I missed it in 2000 so I had to do it this year. I finished 94th overall (out of 701 runners) and 8th in age group 30-34 (51 runners in this age group). My average pace was 7:09 minutes per mile, which is good for the beginning of the season on a hilly course when my body weight is 10 pounds greater than what it was when I did the Marine Corps Marathon. Still, I need to get that below 7 minutes per mile soon.

Marine Corps Marathon, Washington DC, USA. October 22nd, 2000.
Herve is HAPPY: the hard work paid off. It is 7 pm on Sunday and today I raced my first Marathon. I am so glad to be sitting in my hotel room right now. My legs are so happy when I give them a rest! And they do deserve that rest as they got the job done, and did even better than expected. My finishing time was 3h26:35 according to my watch. That put me in 629th position. 24,588 runners registered, 17,641 actually started the race and 17,186 finished! Official results are available at http://www.marinemarathon.com/theresults.html.

Bon Air 5K, Arlington, VA, July 27, 2000
First race in Washington area. One of my training objectives that you can see at the top of my Marathon training plan was to do a 5K in 20 minutes or less by the end of August 2000. Today was a little test: I finished in 20 minutes and 10 seconds. I passed the 3 mile marker in 19 minutes and 30 seconds, 33 seconds faster tan my last race: an average of 6:30 minute mile.

Melon Run 3 miles, July 4, 2000
Another small local race but this time in Gainesville. It is not a fast course because there are two significant hills and the temperature is always high this time of year in Florida. I did the very same race on the exact same course last year. This year my mile splits were 6:39, 6:47 and 6:37. Total time: 20:03, 5th in my age group.

Bare Bottom 5K race, June 24, 2000.
This was a fun way to do speed work for my marathon training. Nearly 300 runners met for a race on sand about one mile away from my house. My mile splits were 7:08, 7:09 and 7:08. I finished in 22:03 quite exhausted. That gave me an overall position of 44th out of 283 finishers (7th in my age group).

My first International distance triathlon: St Anthony.
Sunday, April 30th 2000 - St Petersburg, Florida. I competed in my first international distance triathlon: 1.5Km swim, 40Km bike and 10Km run. So did my friends Carlo Ciuffoli (Oracle colleague), Cameron Martz (WKPP diver and personal trainer) and Jonathan Bojar (WKPP diver).
May. 03, 2000

Tallahassee: my first 1/2 marathon: January 16, 2000.
Perfect temperature: 55 deg. but very hilly course. I was not sure I could make the distance when I saw the course. But I did it in 100 minutes and 23 seconds. Started at 8 min miles (pulled by others). Mile 1: 8:05. Mile 2: 8:15. Then picked up a bit. Hit Mile 5 in 38:50. Still wary of shin. Mile 7 felt perfect so picked up a bit but still carefully. Forgot about my knee until it started hurting a bit. Catching up a few groups of runners. Mile 10 (bridge) knew that I would finish, so picked up more. But the vicious course design bugged my knee a lot. They made us take detours in small lots with sharp turn around and back on course all on steep slopes. I got to finish line all fresh, smiling.
 

Orlando: my first 15K race: Sep. 6, 1999.
Warm 80 deg. F on the temperature side. 700 people on the starting line. My finish time was 78:12. (avg. 8:23 min miles). Finished 26/71 in age group 30-34. 1st age group did 60:31, 18th overall. Last: 133:34, 659th overall. 700+ people started. SPLIT times -- Mile 1: 8:43, HR157. Mile 2 8:22, HR160. Mile 3: 8:29, HR162. Mile 4: 8:29, HR160. Mile 5: 8:20, HR169. Mile 6: 7:53, HR171. Mile 7: 8:33, HR171. Mile 8: 8:26, HR173. Mile 9: 8:32, HR175. To finish: 2:21 HR191 -- puke threshold again.
 

Clermont: my first sprint Triathlon: August 9, 1999.
Clermont: .25 mile swim, 11 miles bike and 5K run. Hills everywhere. 1:06:39. Out of water within 7 minutes. 30 minutes on bike. 22:40 run. Finished 41st in age group 30-34 out of 71 people. 317th overall out of ~ 900 entries. Winner age group did 52:13, 7th overall. Last did 1:32:32.
 

Calico Jack 5K: July 30, 1999.
Gainesville: my first really hot run (95 deg. F). I finished in 21:50, first place in age category 30-34. My first mile took 6:48 but it all went downhill after that.
 

Melon Run: 3 miles: July 4, 1999.
Gainesville: my first hilly run. I finished in 22:52. 2nd in age category 30-34. The 1st guy in my category was Michael Feuchtinger,34 -- 19:36
 

My first 5K race ever: April 24, 1999.
Gainesville: tri-distance run. 24:47. 2nd out of 5 in age category 25-29. I did a slow first mile, picked up on the second mile and went as hard as I could sustain it on the 3rd mile. I finished on the threshold of puking land.
 

My first race ever: a baby triathlon (half a sprint): March 1999.
A good reality check for me. I had just started running 1 or 2 months ago. I finished in 35 minutes and 20 seconds. I limped through half of my run. I was just not in shape and finished 8th out of 9 in my age group: 25-29.