Running to Paris by sshaw

Well what a geat morning - a 26.2 mile tour of Paris with 40,000 others for company in beautiful spring weather. And if that's not enough a PB by >10 mins as well (3:46:40 by my watch). Back off out to enjoy Paris in the spring now ....

The bags are packed and we set off to Paris very shortly. It's not quite been plain sailing this week though. I got the passports out Monday evening (not sure why - but glad I did) only to discover that my daughter's one expired last June!. Aaaargh! Fortunately I was able to get an appointment at the Passport Office yesterday afternoon to get a new one. So the form was duly filled in, photos taken, form checked, double checked, triple checked etc.etc. and off I headed for London. Thankfully the appointment went without a hitch and I then had ~4 hours to head off around the capitals streets as I waited for the new passport to be ready. 4 hours around a capital city's streets - hmm that sounds familiar ...

Really looking forward to the weekend in Paris (weather looking great) and all ready for the run. Good luck to all runners this weekend, wherever you are, whatever you're running! 

I realised half way through this week that I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to be doing during this tapering lark. On the one previous occasion when I've trained 'properly' for a marathon (last years FLM) I fell ill just prior to the taper so my weekly mileage dropped from 45 to 0, and I had a few days feeling a bit better just before the race to do a few short runs and convince myself I could get round.

So I started my taper a week or so ago and wasn't really sure what I had to do. A bit of a read around realbuzz and other sites offered lots of advice but nothing really definitive. So I decided to just go out for short runs every other day and concentrate on slowing my pace (I have a tendency to run the same pace whether I'm doing a 10K, HM, FM, LSR...) So I've focused on trying to run a steady 8mins/mile pace each time I've been out just so I know what it feels like. I've been pretty successful at maintaining that pace so even if it's not doing anything useful physically it's good for my peace of mind. I know I can't improve my fitness now but I can do little things to get me to the start line in a positive frame of mind - so far so good.

Other good news this week was the removal of the threat of railway chaos next Friday. Not having to worry about getting to Paris is a weight off the mind. So 5 days from now we'll be in France - I can't wait.

To all who are running marathons over the next few weeks the very best of luck, hope the training has gone well and you are looking forward to your race as much as I am mine

So 'the taper' is well and truely under way now. Last week (Mon-Fri) was 'normal' - speed and hill sessions plus a couple of gentle 'mid-distance' runs. Sunday morning was the last long-ish run. The night before I plotted a 17.3 mile route and predicted that should take me ~2hrs 20mins at my LSR pace. Without checking the watch I did it in 2hrs 18mins! I wish I could confidently predict my pace for the next 9 miles - but I really don't know how long that would take me - 70, 80, 90 mins - guess I'll find out on the 11th.

So I've done all I can now - just need to try and stay fit and healthy over the next fortnight. But is it going to prove harder work getting to Paris? With our Eurostar tickets booked for the last day of the RMT strike, who knows. Eurostar state that it is there 'intention to run a full service'. I'm sure it is - but then I could state it's my intention to run the marathon in under 3 hours but that ain't going to happen. Fingers crossed ...