When Nothing Goes According to Plan - My 2014 Paris Marathon

On paper my plan looked perfect, the best of all wolds.  "It's an opportunity that I just cannot pass on", I though to myself, when the company I work for, announced that they will be sponsoring the 2014 Paris Marathon and they have entry spots for company employees.  What could be better, a trip to Paris, running a marathon with work colleagues and the race fee is all covered for. I'm in - where and how do I sign up?  So I did. Paris marathon date was April 6, 2014, doable goal I was thinking back in the fall, yeah I'll have to do my long runs in March, but by then it should not be a problem.  Or so I though ...

This past winter ended up being the coldest and snowiest winter I have ever experienced and with a marathon date beginning of April it meant that almost all my long runs (or runs at all) will have to be done in the freezing cold and on icy roads, hmmmm, not really an option for me.  I ended up doing most of my training indoors, on the treadmill, followed by strength training to compensate. Ouch.  Luckily, for my weekend long runs I had access to a woodway treadmill at Equinox Health Club (thank you Equinox for having those). 16 mile run indoors is no fun (OK, some of you probably think 16 mile runs, in general, are no fun, I give you that), but I was committed and determined to do this race and not just finish but finish with a good time (PR maybe?). I had several work colleagues who had signed up as well, and there was a lot of talk at work about the race, training, goal times, etc that added to the pressure.  Not an ideal start for sure.

Closer to the race, my sister set her wedding date for the week before the Marathon in Israel.  This is prefect, I though, I'll get a week of vacation before the marathon (and some outdoors running in the nice and warm weather of Israel) and then just fly to Paris, no jet leg too.

March has arrived, I'm getting ready to start packing and heading home and then to Paris, but what looked like the perfect plan, took another unplanned turn, and ended up to be the worst timing for a vacation from a work perspective. A project I have been working on for months has been peeking up speed and of course, the one week I am scheduled to go on vacation was scheduled for negotiations and signing in Paris.  The decision was made, I'm not canceling my trip home (hey, after all it's my sister's wedding), but I will be available, as needed, over the phone. Oh boy, "as needed" turned out to be almost all the time, including during the wedding reception itself. I found myself trying to balance family commitments, trying to see my friends back home and work.

This was taken by my sister
as I was constantly on the phone

Balance is probably not the right word to describe it.  The result, very very stressful week that left me drained emotionally and physically, by the time I arrived to Paris on Wednesday night. To make things even worse, back home I had the opportunity to run outdoors, which was great, but my legs were not used to the hills so my caves were cramping like crazy.

So I am in Paris now, working for a few days at the Hive (that's how our company's headquarter is nicknamed), and everybody at work are pumped about the marathon, everywhere I go I hear "what is your goal time?," "bon courage" (good luck, in French) and so on, and in my head that is the last thing I want to do.  All I want to do is go home and sleep.  My legs feel tired, my body feels tired and my mind is just not into it.  What do I do? well I'm in Paris already and I am no quitter. On Friday I decided, I will run, but treat this as a long run, good base for my main goal this summer Ironman Mont Tremblant. No dreams of RP, which is hard when you have all the people at work asking about your expected time and talking about the race, and your boss announcing to the world that you are going to be fast (I have no idea where he got this from, as I am never fast).

Friday late afternoon, after work, we all go to pick the packets. I though once at the Expo I'll start getting excited, I'll get into the race mode as normally the case, but no, it didn't happen, I didn't even snap one picture at the Expo. Ok all good, I have until Sunday to get into the mindset.

On my Saturday's Run

On my Saturday's Run

I woke up Saturday morning and decided to go for a run, get my legs moving, see if I feel better. I left my hotel, which was in the cool area of Le Marais and headed to the Seine. Running by the Seine was lots for fun. I couldn't resist stopping a few time for some pictures.  After my run, I met with my friend Caroline from NY who was visiting her mom in Paris.  Caroline was supposed to run the Marathon as well, but had to pull out due to an injury.  Saturday ended up being a fun day, and I was starting to relax a bit.  My body was still feeling tired so I was sticking to my plan B of a long run.  I chose to run with my IM Wisconsin shirt with my name somewhere in the M DOT for extra inspiration and managed to get a good night sleep.

Sunday morning, I met I with a work colleague and the two of us headed to the race start.  We arrive to our start corral, and it is already full.  Music is blasting from the stage and they have dancers that are getting the runners into the mood.  This is the biggest race that I have participated in, it is even bigger than the Chicago marathon that I race just after I moved to Chicago, and definitely standing on the Champs-Elysee with the Arc de Triomphe in the back is super cool.  Tom (my work colleague) and I go stand in line for the port-a-toilet, which took forever and finally we were ready and its 10 minutes to go time.  Music is still blasting, I try to get into the mood, say good luck to Tom and see ya at the finish line, and disappear into the crowd.  It's 2 minutes to start, I put my own music on, and then we are moving, walking toward the start.  We pass the start line and I start running.  Running on the cobbles of the Champs-Elysee is very cool, thousands of people around me, I start running faster enjoying the views.

This is what it looked like from the air
(Taken from Schneider Electric website) 

Passing Place de la concord, running on the street of Paris, I am getting excited. I am running too fast, I know that with the way my body is I cannot keep this up for much longer, definitely not for 26.2 miles.  I slow down, but keep running.  We get to the section of the route that I know (I ran the Paris half marathon the year before and the course is similar).  Mile 10, I am starting to feel it, it's getting hot out, I am over dressed, not used to the heat (cold winter - remember), I slow down a little more.  Just keep going.  Mile 16, my caves are cramping, I stop by the side of the road, shake my head, I fight the urge to stop and give up, and I start running again.  The next 10 miles were very painful, I'm going slower than I hoped I would even for plan B, but I'm moving, running, not walking.  Finally, I entered Bois de Boulogne, the last few miles.  I am almost done, and here is the finish line, a few more steps and boom, I crossed the finish line (a little disappointing, from the map I though that we would finish seeing the Arc de Triomphe, but it was nowhere in sight).

Marathon number 3 (well 4 if you include the one as part of the ironman) is complete. Someone puts a finisher medal over my head and I grab the finisher shirt.  I'm done.  4 hours 6 min. My slowest marathon yet, but I did not give up, I have pushed through it. I think to myself, a good long run!!! Fun? I don't know if I can call it that, but definitely an experience running in Paris, and I do think everything sounds much more fun in French :-)
Here is a link to a cool video of the race http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1miq7m_best-of-schneider-electric-marathon-de-paris-2014_sport?start=37

Celebrating with a steak
and some great wine 

I head to the Schneider tent to meet up with my work colleagues.  We decided to head back to the hotel, shower change and go celebrate with a nice meal and some great French wine.





Next year, 2015, my company is sponsoring the Paris Marathon again, and now since it's been a few months, I am considering racing this again. OK, who am I kidding, I probably will.  Will this be my redemption race? I guess I will have to wait and see.