Another race in the books! 🎉 Alright, let me tell you all about it.

Goals

It's always best to have multiple goals going into a race, just in case something goes wrong and the main goal becomes unreachable. So here were mine:

• My main goal was to maintain an average pace of 4'30"/km on the watch. The real/official pace reported on the certificate after the race is always a few seconds slower. So 4'30" would translate to ~4'33"/km real pace.
• My secondary goal was to finish under 3h15'.
• My third goal was to PR (personal record) and beat my previous time (3h27').

To be honest, I knew before starting that my main goal was a little unrealistic. I was going to set that pace on my watch and try to hold it, despite the many ups and downs of the course. The total elevation of that marathon is nearing 300 meters, so very challenging.

My secondary goal had been my main goal for a while until I settled on a target pace of 4'30"/km, which then became my main goal. Anyway... This meant a 12-minute improvement over my personal record, which was 3h27'. Quite significant!

Training

I signed up for the Paris Marathon exactly a year ago, but I did not start training specifically for it until early January this year. After my first marathon in October last year, I took November off from running and slowly eased back in over the month of December.

I created a 14-week training plan using the app "Kiprun Pacer" by Decathlon, the same app as for my first marathon in Dresden. I mostly stuck to it and hardly skipped any session. I only missed a few in the last week of January since I went skiing. During that week, I also swapped intervals with a slow jog. The first week of February, I caught COVID but I did not skip any session. It's probably stupid but it did not seem to hinder my healing. 🤷 Symptoms lasted about 6 days. They were pretty mild.

The plan created by Kiprun comprised of 4 sessions a week. Most weeks looked like this: one short easy jog, one run at marathon pace, one session with intervals, and one long run. The weeks were grouped in multiple blocks:

• The first week was an evaluation week, which ended with a MAS test.
• Then came the ramp-up block.
• Then came the MAS block, aimed at improving my max speed/MAS. It was concluded with another MAS test to assess improvement since the beginning of the training plan. Spoiler: this one turned out to be slightly slower that my first, a few weeks earlier 😅.
• Then, a marathon pace-specific block. I think it was 4 weeks long.
• And finally, a 3-week taper (a.k.a. sharpening).

In addition to the 4 sessions per week scheduled by the app, I added a fifth session every week. A short (< 60 mins) and slow (not faster than 5'20"/km) jog, run with barefoot/minimalist shoes (Altra Escalante Racer 2), aimed at strengthening my legs and feet without risking injury.

So a typical week would look like:

• Monday: jog, sometimes with active (i.e. faster) segments
• Wednesday: marathon pace
• Thursday: jog with barefoot shoes
• Friday: intervals
• Sunday: long run

On top of running, I was swimming on average once a week (between 1,000m and 2,000m), commuting 40 kms per week by bike to work, and would add one bike tour on Saturdays from time to time. From March onwards, I also added one or two sessions of home trainer per week (< 45 mins each session). I had pretty full weeks!

February was a very challenging month, with temperatures very often dropping below zero degrees Celsius and almost 3 weeks of snow that stayed on the ground, which made it very icy and slippery!

But overall, these 14 weeks went by pretty fast. I suffered absolutely no injury. My motivation remained high until the last month or so before the race, during which I "failed" a couple of sessions, which had a pretty massive impact on me. Fortunately, that did not last long, and I regained motivation during the tapering phase. All in all, I'd say this was a near-perfect preparation.

Pre-race

Carb loading

Carb loading went pretty smoothly. Like last time, (almost) no vegetables, more carbs, less fruits, and less fat from Thursday onward. Potatoes, white pasta, rice, bread, eggs, maltodextrin... that was my diet. Increased calorie intake on Thursday and Friday, (almost) back to normal on Saturday.

Travel

As the race was held in Paris, we decided to fly there instead of riding a train as we usually would do, to avoid being seated for hours. We flew in on Thursday after work and had Friday off work. We decided to go get our bib numbers on Friday so as to avoid the Saturday crowd.

Hotel

We stayed with family from Thursday until Saturday afternoon and only booked a hotel for the night from Saturday to Sunday. We booked a very nice hotel in the 8th arrondissement, only 2 kms away from the starting line. That would be perfect for warming up on Sunday morning. The surrounding area was really nice. Despite staying on the first floor, street side, the street turned out to be very quiet at night, being a narrow one-way street.

Apparently, most hotels in Paris leave one room for runners to shower after the marathon. Ours was no exception. Not only were we allowed to check out at 1pm, but we could use a shower from a ground-floor room all afternoon. This was perfect!

Friday: the expo (Run Experience)

Friday was expo day. We went there in the late afternoon. Damn, the place was HUGE. Probably the biggest expo I've ever been to. Decently crowded, a few queues of people here and there to take photos, but overall well organized. We got our bib numbers and runner's kits in no time, then we went on to enjoy the rest of the expo, which they call the "Run Experience".

We saw and sometimes met a few known influencers/athletes and spent time browsing the many stands held by the sponsoring brands, such as Decathlon Kiprun, Garmin, Asics, Campus Coach, etc.

We took a few obligatory souvenir photos. All in all, we spent 3.5 hours there. After that, it was time to go home and get some rest!

Saturday

I woke up after a pretty good night. I slept for about 8 hours, which was an improvement compared to the nights before. I had had trouble falling asleep in that week, because of stress building up, but luckily the second to last night before the race was pretty good. Lights were out around 23:15 on Friday and I managed to wake up just after 8 am on Saturday.

Saturday morning was the shake-out run. A 25-min run, at 5'43"/km. Nice and easy.

After that last run, I took some time to reflect back upon the entire training plan and how it went. I realized that this time, I had suffered no injury at all. In the last few days (or last 2 weeks maybe), a slight discomfort had appeared in my left ankle, probably because of the ever-so-increased training load. I did not even feel it while running, only when resting at times. And the same for my right knee, a slight discomfort was present. I would not categorize them as pain or injury at all. The 90 kms I ran in a week just a couple of weeks earlier were probably the cause of that... But as I am writing these lines, a week after the marathon, everything is gone, no discomfort anymore!

The rest of the day was spent checking in to the hotel, then seeing an old friend at a cafe and another friend for dinner, and lastly preparing everything for Sunday. Lights were out just before 23:00.

Sunday morning

My recipe for a great race day breakfast? Muesli from LIDL, soya milk, Maurten Drink Mix, (half?) a banana, and a big bite of Gatosport cake (~1/4 of the whole cake - not on the photo below).

After that, I got fully dressed, went to the toilet one last time, wrote where to find aid stations on my hand using a Sharpie, packed an old phone and a jacket in my backpack, and I was ready to roll!

I headed out to the bag drop-off area first. I ran most of the distance (2 kilometers) from the hotel to there. I got there in a little over 10 minutes around 7:55. My start pen (3h15) was leaving at 8:15. Upon getting there, I realized that the bag drop-off was much farther away from the Arc de Triomphe than I thought. It was like 500 meters down Avenue Foch. I started running towards it, but the street was packed, and I quickly understood I would not make it there in time for my start pen. I needed to go through security checks before entering the area to drop my bag and then would have to go back to the Arc de Triomphe, before going down the Champs Elysées to enter my pen. I decided to stop rushing and start in the 3h30 pen.

I called friends that were nearby and we met at the bag drop-off. They were in the 3h30 start pen, which was supposed to start at 8:24. They too realized that the clock was ticking, and we all started to jog towards the start pens.

15 minutes before the race, I ate a Maurten gel. Then we split up just before the start. There were porta-potties IN the pens, as well as urinals. Very convenient! I took a last piss 2 minutes before starting, one last sip of water, threw away my bottle, and boom! off we all went!

Race

The conditions were not perfect but good nonetheless. Cloudy yet no rain, no direct sunlight, 13 degrees Celsius. However, it was a bit humid, as it had rained a few hours before. And it was a little windy.

50 meters after starting, I remember asking myself "what am I doing here?" 😂, realizing I had 42 kms to go...

I made sure not to start too fast. My first kilometer was actually 2 seconds too slow, but I'll blame it on the big pack I was running in.

Place Vendôme, Rue de Rivoli, beautiful Le Louvre. I remember the beginning very well. At Km 5, a friend was watching from the curb. I spotted him from a distance and high-fived him. That did put a big smile on my face.

We got to La Bastille. There were thousands of spectators, it was crazy! They were shouting, clapping, waving at runners! Unbelievable atmosphere. First ascent towards Nation, another big pack of spectators, and we were finally out of Paris, in Bois de Vincennes. There, it got quiet, almost silent. Few spectators. I could hear people around me breathing, some very loudly.

I had a bit of pain at some point, around km 18, that fortunately did not last. It was under the forefoot of the right foot, because I believe my shoe was not tightened enough, laces not fastened enough. So there was a bit of room around my foot, it was a little loose, and my foot was sort of smashing the ground at times, hence the pain. But besides a tiny blister under the foot (that I noticed after the race), nothing. And I quickly forgot about that.

Km 21, half marathon reached! As always I told myself, "halfway through, let's go home now." Mentally, it got easier from there on (for a while at least 😁).

Around km 25, I noticed a girl named Sophia that had been running close to me for about 10 kms or so. Like, the exact same pace. I knew her name because a lot of spectators cheered us on using our names, as they were written on our bibs. I went on to talk to her. We realized we had the same goal, sub 3h15. We chatted a couple of minutes and decided to stick together.

Then things became harder...

The first tunnel was at km 28. Our first tunnel. 1 km long. Flat but stuffy air. I knew that one by heart, as I used to commute every day by bike through it 6 years ago, back when I was living in Paris. The first tunnel of a long list (4 or 5). The following ones, albeit shorter, were not flat. Descending then going up. As we were getting closer to the Eiffel Tower, I asked Sophia how she was doing. She said it was getting harder. I remember telling her to enjoy the scenery, because I had just noticed the Eiffel Tower. To be fair, I had stopped paying attention to my surroundings a long time ago, way too focused on my run. I completely missed Notre Dame, for instance.

As we were entering one of the last tunnels, I saw the km 30 mark. I did some quick math in my head: "we're running faster than 12 km/h, sooo... we'll be done in less than an hour!" I shared the good news with Sophia, but she did not seem to enjoy it as much as I did 😅. That was the last time I saw her... I lost her in the tunnel, as I was making my way past slower people on the steep way out of the tunnel.

I had multiple side stitches (like 3 or 4 times throughout the race), especially in the second half of the race. Some would come and go away immediately, some would last longer. One lasted about 2 kms. That was really painful and had me slow down a bit. Emptying my lungs fully or contracting my abs like crazy would usually help and make them go away. Not sure whether those were lung-related or stomach-related.

Km 31, Pont de Bir Hakeim, that was CRAZY. Massive crowd, felt like a Tour de France stage, going up a mountain pass. So many people that the street had become very narrow. It was less than 2 meters wide, barely enough for us to run. I was running centimeters away from spectators, as I was overtaking runners. I would even sometimes touch them or their cardboard signs. Everyone shouting. INSANE. Very motivating!

In total, I ate 7 Maurten gels during the race, spaced out by 4 or 5 kms (~20 minutes). I planned for 8 but skipped one towards the end, as I did not feel any need for it and my side stitches were intensifying. However, I grabbed 1 or 2 water cups at every aid station, except at the one at km 37, where I failed to grab a cup twice. One slipped through my hand, and the other one I could not grab because of people around me - because I made it a point to never slow down for water. 🙈

Kms 34 to 40 went through the 16th arrondissement and Bois de Boulogne. It's basically a looooong climb (a sequence of flats and short climbs) with few spectators. Very demanding on the legs. A lot of people were walking or stopped on the side. Some were yelling in pain, probably because of cramps.

And finally, the last 2 kilometers. I told myself to go all in, but I couldn't, my legs were too tired. I was only able to maintain the pace. The crowd around us was growing again, as we exited Bois de Boulogne. One last massive ascent towards Trocadéro and then Place Victor Hugo. Then, we went down Avenue Hubert Germain. There were giant screens on both sides of the street, flashing green with messages like "500 meters to go!!!" Brilliant! People were slapping the fences with their hands like a Tour de France stage finish. I could not hear myself running anymore!

And finally, the very last turn. Km 42. 195 meters to go!!! I did put on my best face for the photo 😆. Last few meters... I raised my arms up in the air aaaaaannnd we were done!!!

What a race!!! 3h12'42". Personal Record!

Post-race

After crossing the finish line, I had to stop a few minutes to catch my breath and let my body recover. I waited about 2 minutes and then saw Sophia cross the line too. We congratulated each other, and then I made my way out. Grabbed my medal, drank plenty of water, ate loads of food, got my bag back, and I was out.

My right knee was sort of lightly swollen for 2 days afterward, and it would be painful when I'd crouch. Then it went away. Maybe the right knee is a bit weaker than the other one? Or my strides are not exactly the same on either side? As I wrote earlier in this article, I had a niggle there before the race. But besides this, ABSOLUTELY no injury! 🎉

With hindsight, I will better plan next time how to get to the bag drop-off, as this got quite stressful when I realized it was much farther away than I anticipated it, and that I would not make it in time to my start pen as a result.

But overall, I am EXTREMELY happy with my training and my race. My Garmin pace is 4'31"/km, so I missed my primary goal by 1 second but hit the other goals. I feel like I've got room for improvement, like I haven't yet reached my maximum potential.

That's a story to be continued. 🫡🏃