Running

Ok, i'm getting a little obsessed. This pic is bad quality because it's an official picture from the marathon and they want me to buy it, not download it for free. So here i am, beating those cobble stoned streets at kilometer 24, in front of the Bastille opera house. With 6 spots along the route where they were taking pictures, i'm a bit disappointed that there is only one of me, but oh well.

The paris marathon is great for statistics if you are a woman. First of all, there were very few of us out there, (4812 out of 30 739 people who crossed the finish line), so we got cheered a lot. Then come the finishing stats...

My overall place was 21734 out of 30739 people.

My place in the "all women" category was 2084 out of 4812 (official place, not timed place).

My place in my "senior women" category was 806 out of 1722 (again, official place).

My official time was 4 hours 26 minutes (because it took my almost 10 minutes to cross the start line).

I feel even better about my perfomance now!

This is about 45 minutes before the start of the marathon on sunday. There were pictures taken all throughout the race but they won't be available online until tomorrow. If there's anything worth posting, i promise to do so.

Time: 4:17:14

Place: 21 734 (out of 35 000 signed up)

My goal was 4 hours and 15 minutes so I am very happy with the results. And most important “ I feel great.

I really didn't like training for this marathon. It's long and boring to do those long runs solo. But I loved the race. It went by quickly, there were a ton of spectators (including a few for me!) and there was music and other entertainment almost every kilometer. The hardest part was kms 38 to 40, where there were few spectators and we practically doubled back for a loop before going into the home stretch.

My blood glucose levels also behaved really well, which made it possible to run in the first place. I ate bananas, oranges and sugar every 5 k and didn't need to adjust my insulin at all (other than lowering my basal rate from 0.7 to 0.5 units per hour for the whole race).

It's going to be a rough couple of days recovering, especially for the feet! I'm nursing a few blisters and a few bruised toenails and am not looking forward to putting shoes back on. For the muscles, a few anti-inflammatories and some rest should get me through the next few days. I took tomorrow off work.

I had a nice long bath with Epsom salts this afternoon and now it is 9pm and I'm going to bed!

That's the bib number.

Sunday is the Paris Marathon. Only 2 more days of mental preparation. The physical prep is done and now my main goals for the end of this week are WATER and REST (and WATER, and WATER). I am still a bit in denial as to what i'm about to put my body through, but i think it should go alright.

We went to the Marathon expo last night to pick up the bib, as well as a bib for my back with my name on it. I'll add a canadian flag on my back too. I bought a marathon mug to go with my Paris half marathon mug from last year. But i think you're right, Cindy, i should have bought a shirt. Maybe i'll go back tomorrow.

Sunday's weather forcast is not exactly ideal, but could be worse. 3°C and sun/clouds at 8 am and around 10°C with light showers by 2pm. I won't mind the cold so much, but it would be nice if the rain holds off until well into the afternoon.

I promise to post after the race.

This morning was the Paris half marathon. This afternoon, my legs hurt!! I'm sure it will be worse tomorrow though. The race was good. A bit of snow as we were waiting for the gun, but the sun came out and it warmed up around km 7. At km 14 i thought that my hips were going to give out, but after a banana, a few orange segments and some water at km 15 i felt much better.

I came within 24 seconds of my PB. I ran ottawa almost 3 years ago in 2:04:08 and today i ran 2:04:32. I was hoping to do less than 2:10 since i was not nearly as trained for this one as i have been for my other halves. So not so bad.

Now i just have to deal with the sore muscles, the bit of chafing (ouch!), the few little blisters and that darn second toe nail on my right foot that always gets badly bruised during long races. I don't think it will fall off this time though.

A little break from running is on the schedule but the Brussels 20k is coming up at the end of may...