Paris Marathon

Hi! 

I'm in Paris now, woke up a bit early despite the sore muscles, hangover from the excitement of running a marathon and champagne. 

First of all, thank you for your understanding of closing the salon on Saturday and Monday. 

I could have come back to London yesterday, but I needed to enjoy dinner with fellow runners and wasn't sure if I could walk after I finish as it was my first full marathon. 

I started training in cold January after I got back from Japan. 

I downloaded a training plan on Asics app for 4h30min marathon. 

When I saw '32km run' on it, I was a bit scared. Can I do it? 

I did long runs on Sundays in cold, rain, wind..  And two short jogs and one speed session during the week. 

It was tough, but was interesting to see the progress. 

Training done and here I came Paris. 

Get my bib. Found my name amongst 57,000 runners. 

Got the bib. 

Carb loading 

Ready! 

......... 

Can't sleep! 

I am not a good sleeper especially if I stay in the hotel... 

In fact, I could not sleep AT ALL. 

Should I pull out? 

Is it safe to run a full marathon without sleeping the night before? 

I went to my friend's hotel to get kinesiology tape done for my feet and hip, and I felt OK, so I decided to run. 

Walked to the start in Champs-Elysees. 

The weather was really sunny, without clouds. I wish I'd had my phone to take pics, but I can't carry extra weight! :) 

As I didn't sleep, I was somewhat so emotional, I nearly cried when I started. Lol. 

Up to 20km, I felt OK, but around 25km I needed to go to the loo. But there is no loo in sight, so I pretended I didn't need one. Tried to shift my thoughts to something else. Amazingly, it worked. 

But my breathing became uneven, started having stitch on my stomach. 

Want to walk... Walk.... Stop! But I kept jogging slowly. 

At 30km, I found my friends cheering us on with big Japanese national flags. Got some energy. 

Around 32km, there was long stretch of slight incline. Ah I did start walking. My thighs gave up. It must be the Wall! 

After that, I kept running / walking. 

Found another supporter of ours at 37km. Got some energy. 

Oh my, after that, it was the longest 5km I've ever run. 

But I made it! 

4h38min.

I didn't cry like I thought I would, but it was quite emotional experience. 

It was really long journey from January. 

I couldn't have done it without all the advices from the fellow runners. (including some clients who have done some before) 

And all the support I got. 

I would definitely do it again. (hopefully I can sleep next time) 

Back to work tomorrow all refreshed. 

Look forward to seeing you in the salon! 

Ryoko