I have spent the last two weeks in Hawaii, tapering and enjoying the sunshine, then flew directly to Paris, stopping for an overnight at home to collect some fresh running clothes. Needless to say when I arrived in Paris on April 8th, I had no idea what time zone I was in! We arrived about 3 in the afternoon Paris time, checked into the apartment, and jogged over to Luxemborg Gardens for some marathon paced intervals. Then dinner in our neighborhood and in bed by 11pm. We spent the 9th visiting the expo, learning the metro, and rehearsing the metro ride over to the race start. Since the race begins and ends near the Arc de Triumphe and Place de la Concorde, it was no hardship to go over there anyway; it gave us an opportunity to wander around the courtyards of the Louvre and visit Tuilleries Jardin. We spent a bit of time walking, so we decided to forego the pre race run on this day. Instead, we got some carry out food on our way back to the apartment, plus some groceries for the next few days, and tried to go to bed early. Race Morning! Up early, bag packed, and off to the start. The start is at 8:45, which is pretty strange, and it is clear and warm in the morning. Already shorts and a light sweatshirt feels pretty comfortable. Arlane (my running buddy on this trip) and I check bags and agree on a meet-up place for post race, then make our way to the start line, pausing for a few minutes to take a few pictures in front of the Arc de Triumphe. There are no corrals or anything, but there is an 8:45 pace person, so I get in the pack near that marker. In just a few minutes we are off and running, amazingly on pace. I feel packed like a little sardine, and find that I am running a bit defensively, elbows out! First few miles are a bit off pace, due to rounding the Place de la Concorde and slowing at the tight turns. I am at 8:40ish for the first two miles. After that, I settle into exactly 8:25-8:30, which is what I am after. It is surprisingly not that hard even in this crowd; self seeding has apparently worked out pretty well, and everyone around me is running about the same pace. I try to run as straight as possible and not dodge and weave too much, always keeping the pacer in sight just ahead. The crowds on the sidewalks are enormous and VERY vocal! Really wonderful. For the first 10 miles, we are running South, down Champs Elleysee and towards a large forrest called Bois de Vincennes. We pass Notre Dame, Paris Opera House and the Bastille along the way, but my focus is in a sphere about two feet around my body just because of the crowds. There is a water and refreshment station every 5K, where the water is served in tiny plastic bottles. My first reaction is that this is a horrible waste of plastic, and it is, but the bottle allows you to grab a bottle and sip it for a mile or so before discarding it. There are also oranges and bananas AT EVERY AID STATION! If there is anything in the world that makes me completely sick it is a banana. I cannot stand the smell of them, so I spent a lot of time near the refreshment stations dodging plastic water bottles, caps, gu cylinders, and banana peels. I was pretty sure that if I stepped on a banana peel, the race would be over. I grabbed a water bottle at just about every station, drank it, and, as it got warmer, poured some over my head. At the halfway mark, I was at 1:51:something, exactly where I wanted to be! Pace felt fine, and I was trying to eat a shot block every mile or two. At about mile 15, I heard "merde!" off to my right, and a 200 pound man fell over right on me, absolutely smashing my right big toe! It hurt so badly I wanted to cry, and my left arm came up, caught him mid fall and literally threw him off of me! I didn't even look at where he went, but I imagine him sort of splatted all over the runners behind me. My toe hurt like absolute hell for about a mile, and the whole thing was a bit scary. The race at this point was still elbow to elbow, no different from the start really. I hit my wall at about mile 19, and just felt no fuel left in my legs. My pace from this point slowed a whole lot, and I finished in 4:05:23, a little bit off of my 3:45 goal. But of course this is the best marathon I've ever run anyway. No injuries, no ambulances, just the running! Just to finish running with everything feeling good was such a hurdle for me. I obviously need to get in more fuel during a race, but I'll figure that out for next time. I didn't even find Arlane at the end, and had no idea if she was ahead of me or behind me, so eventually I just got on the metro and headed home. There were thousands of people crowding onto the trains, so many that they just opened the gates and let everyone just stream in. I felt sorry for the few people on the train who hadn't run a marathon; we must have smelled pretty bad! I didn't think I'd be saying this, but already I am looking forward to the next one! I won't do a Fall marathon, thought, because I want to focus on biathlon, triathlon and duathlon over the summer, plus mountain biking. I am looking forward to running speed workouts and doing some track events too. I will plan another marathon for Spring 2012. Just wanted to add a couple of things. It got very warm on marathon day! 70 plus by finishing time. I don't think the heat was a factor for me; I wasn't too hot, but was rather surprised that it got so warm. Also, I ran the marathon in the Saucony Kinvaras! I have really loved that shoe, but never imagined that I'd run a marathon in such a light shoe. I don't see any reason to ever have another shoe now.
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