Spring in Paris

Yet another good week. 65 miles and 9 consecutive days of training culminating with the Paris Marathon On Sunday.
Mac and I travelled out on Thursday and stayed in a lovely hotel in the centre of Paris. We spent the time resting, eating, reading, eating, running and eating - well you have to carbo load before a marathon you know?! It was our wedding anniversary on Friday so we made sure we had a really special day - we ran in the morning, went to pick up our running number and chip in the afternoon and went out for a fantastic french meal in a typical parisian bistro in the evening. We probably did have a little too much french vino - but made sure we drank loads of water too!
I was still nursing the head cold that I had developed the day before. I quickly emailed Steve for advice about whether I should run or not on Sunday. The outlook did not look good and I really had to dig deep to stay positive. I had been looking forward to Paris since last September. It was always going to be the highlight of my training and I hoped the place I did a PB.
I kept taking my resting pulse and that seemed normal so we just decided to wait and see how I felt on Sunday Morning.
Still did not feel too good in the morning but decided to go along to the start anyway. I had got all prepared the day before - clothes laid out, drinks prepared etc. By the time I arrived at the start I felt OK and raring to go. What I decided was that I would take it easy and not push my body too much, probably forget about a PB and just see how the race panned out.
It was chaos trying to get to the baggage area as 30 thousand people squeezed through a hole in the fence - some going one way and some the other (bit of an exaggeration but it was quite mental).
We did some jiggery-pokerry and I managed to sneak into the same pen as Mac - 3:30 expected finish time. This was ambitious for me but we thought we would try to set out running together. This we did but after a short while realised that Mac was stronger and he shot off in front. I was still holding back due to the head cold.
Drinks stations were bonkers - runners darting all over the place, stopping dead in their tracks to drink and you also had to avoid banana skins and orange peel. Also at too many points during the race you had to slow down (at one point actually walk) as you went around tight bends. So even though it was a flat course I don't believe it was one where a PB was on the cards.
At 16 mile I saw Mac in front of me - I had caught him up. We ran together for a couple of miles but then I pulled away. Woohoo! The miles I have in the bag were paying off.
I ended up running a negative split (the second half of the race faster than the first) and finished in 3hrs 47s. Mac came in at 3:55. The first time ever that I have finished before him. He says he now has a strategy for the Lochaber Marathon (19th April) and will get me back. Bring it on I say! Next rest day now Saturday 18th April. Only 30 days to go1