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Published: March 17th 2009
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Our whole group
I'm between the "I" and the "S" and Matt is in the middle of the "R" If you've seen Forrest Gump then you may recognize the title of this blog as a quote from the movie. If you haven't seen it, well, you should 😊
Matt and I spent a short weekend in Paris from March 6-8...and anyone who knows me will never believe why we were there...
for a half marathon (that's 13.1 miles, by the way).
Yes, that's right, I ran.
On purpose. (No, no one was chasing me.)
And for more than a few minutes. (2 hours and 33 minutes, to be exact).
Matt and I and several of our friends ran the Paris half marathon on March 8th. We kept hoping for good weather but really weren't surprised when it was cold and rainy. I mean, it IS Europe in the spring 😊 So, the weather was 40 degrees, if we were lucky, and at some point during the marathon it started to pour. Murphy sure got his kicks that day.
The race started at 10am but when we signed up we had to indicate the time we were aiming for. Matt and I were in the 2 hours 10 minutes and more category so we
Monkey business
Matt, Joel, and Michael playing on the marathon sign were in the back of the race. There were 25,000 people registered so by the time we actually crossed the start line it was almost 10:20. Of course, standing around like we were, with not a port-a-potty to be seen, we ALL had to go to the bathroom by the time we actually got started. They had water stops every 5 kilometers (about every 3 miles) and we were hoping for toilets there. When we passed the first water station and there was no place to go, we made the decision to head for a public restroom. The race took place on the streets of Paris so there was no shortage of places to go...we stopped in a Starbucks 😊 Matt and I ran together the entire race, although he could have gotten a MUCH better time if he had left me behind. He's the best husband in the world 😊
The cold really didn't hit us until the race was over and we stopped running. I ran the majority of it in a t-shirt with my long-sleeved shirt tied around my waist but within minutes of the finish line I was freezing and put the long-sleeved shirt back
Sunny day
The weather was great the day BEFORE the race...of course! on, for all that it was worth since it, like everything else on my body, was soaking wet.
We found our friends at a brasserie (restaurant) near the Metro (subway) stop. We stopped there and ate and tried to dry off and warm up a little bit. It didn't help...we were SO cold! When we left the brasserie and started down the steps to the Metro and all had to laugh...we were walking like we were 80 years old! All of us had stiff legs, sore feet, and blisters. It was hilarious! The real kicker was by the time we got off the Metro to go back to our hotel the sun was shining and there was barely a cloud in the sky lol.
I don't know if we would ever do another half marathon. Neither Matt nor I have any intention of ever doing a full marathon. Really, I can't imagine doing double the distance that we did and living to tell about it. I don't find running enjoyable in the least so anything more than a 10K (6 miles) starts resembling torture to me. Matt said he might do another half one day just to see
In front of the Moulin Rouge
There's a wind tunnel grate in front of the Moulin Rouge...what a fun picture! what kind of time he can get when he's not running my 11 minute mile pace with me 😊
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Tot: 0.21s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 12; qc: 61; dbt: 0.1003s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Terrica
non-member comment
Funny
You are so funny! I would have been the same way (assuming I could make it past the first mile).