Paris Marathon 2022
Background
After a few years of on/off running I completed my first marathon in Paris back in October. I half-followed a plan but quickly fell off the wagon and ended up going into it with about 200km total done in the 12 weeks leading up to it. Still it was enough to get me around in 4.31, and I mostly enjoyed the experiece. I quickly signed up for it again this year with the goal of doing it properly this time.
With Christmas and New Years over and no real running done since finishing the marathon in October, I realised I was in trouble. I had 3 months to go until Paris and was in danger of half-assing it again. I grabbed the Jack Daniels book that was gathering dust, looked at 2Q plan and figured 'Sure why not'. Jumped straight into week 12 as I was already too late to start at the start.
Full training log is below, but a quick summary is that it went pretty well. Starting off my Easy pace was around 6.50-7.10/km and at the end of the cycle it was dipping under 6.00/km on a good day. Got out running consistently (750km over the 12 weeks), no injuries, no covid, and only a handful of nights out. My last big workout was 24 km @ Marathon effort, where I averaged 5.35/k. It was a bit of a struggle to finish but I figured with a good taper on fresh legs I could keep that going for the full distance, close enough to have a good crack at sub-4 if I got lucky on the day.
Pre-Race
We had 7 people from our little running group over for the race so it was great to have some company. I was over on the Friday morning and got to enjoy a little bit of shopping, some nice galettes and a swim in the hotel pool. Headed to the expo with our group on Saturday to pick up the race numbers. Also got suckered into buying a massage gun, but I have no regrets!
On race day - forecast was 0C starting off, rising to 8C in the afternoon. I wasn't sure what to wear - but I settled on a light long-sleeve baselayer with a singlet over it, and figured I could drop the long sleeve if I got too warm. Stomach was a bit unhappy, but nothing I could do about that - jumped on the metro and headed to the start line.
I was due to go off in the 09.20 wave - with the rest of my group either in earlier or later waves so I was on my own at the start. I dropped off bag and got to the pen at 09.05. There was a huge crowd and I ended up somewhere in the middle of the wave. They were letting groups of people off every 5 minutes or so. Finally got to the front and kicked off at 09.45.
5km: 26:55 - 05:22/k
I figured I’d start around 5.35/k and figure things out as I went on, possibly speeding up in the second half if things were going well - and hopefully having some time banked if they weren't.
It was slightly downhill along the Champs-Élysées for the first km but even still I was surprised when my watched ticked at 5.19 and I felt fine. Slowed down a little bit when it flatted out around the Opera House and the Louvre. My right quad felt very tight from 2km to 5km and I was worried for a while that my run was going to be very short! Thankfully it loosened out and I hit the 5km mark well ahead of schedule with HR comfortable at the upper end of Z2.
10km: 27:23 - 05:28/k
Even though it was 2-3C I was sweating in the long sleeve at this point. I knew my wife was at the 8km mark, so I quickly shed the hat gloves and base layer at this point and went with just the singlet from that point. I lost about 30s taking off the top, but it was well worth it as it warmed up throughout the day. A slight uphill to Bastille at 9km brought the HR up to low Z3.
15km: 26:57 - 05:23/k
The next 5k brought us into Bois de Vincennes, noticed a much smaller crowd compared to October but still a reasonable turnout of flags, banners and bands playing music along the way. Felt great and was churning through the km markers. Breathing and HR stayed steady.
20km: 26:46 - 05:21/k
Slowed down for a bit of a hill at 16km and then opened up the legs for a nice downhill section. Enjoyed this part of the race the most, where everything felt great, the weather was perfect and there was an awesome crowd heading into the halfway marker.
Half: 01:53:37
At the halfway point I knew I was in a pretty good place. The sub-4 was definitely on barring something terrible happening, and with a minute and a half in the bank there was a chance of a 3.50 finish! I knew from last year that the second half was tougher (I was 4 minutes slower) - but that was now the goal time in my head.
25km: 00:25:49 - 05:10/k
The next few km ticked along nicely, coming out of the woods, back around the Bastille for the second time, and starting the section along the river. The sun was starting to intensify, and I noticed the HR drifting up to the top end of Z3.
30km: 00:28:36 - 05:43/k
Running along the river, up and down tunnels. Even though the temperature was only supposed to be 6-7C at this point, the direct sun felt like 20C+. Spotted a Dublin Marathon shirt and had a nice chat for 1km until we hit a tunnel and my HR dropped enough for me to pick up the pace again. The cool dark tunnels provided a nice short repreive from the heat, but were over too quickly!
35km: 00:28:17 - 05:39/k
I knew that passing the Eiffel tower at the 30km mark meant the toughest part of the course was coming up. A long drag to the 34km marker and then a hill up to 35km. I was struggling a bit here, and had to force my second last gel down as my stomach was no longer playing nice. A sigh of relief coupled with some determination when I crossed the 35km marker. The rest was flat but some quick maths let me know I needed to average 5:24 to come in under 3.50. My legs were tired, sweat was dripping off me, and HR was definitely in Z4 now.
40km: 00:27:01 - 05:24/k
This was the point where I knew I needed to just push through the pain and get to the finish line. The fun times were over, now was time to endure and suffer until the finish line. Where the first 5k seemed to go by in 5 minutes, this 5k took hours. The main thing that kept me going was seeing the kms tick over on target, 5.23, 5.21, 5.25, 5.22, 5.23. Choked down a gel at the last water station which I hoped would carry me to the finish.
FINISH 00:11:32 - 05:15/k
1km of struggle and then I knew I was going to make it. The last km was a victory lap and I was able to appreciate the crowd coming up to the finish line. I even had enough in the tank for a little sprint at the end! 2 others from my running group were already at the finish and spotted me immediately, which was great. Water and a banana and a bit of soaking in the atmosphere – and then on to the pub for a victory pint.
Final time 03:49:10
So a 40 minute PB after an intense 12 week cycle - turns out consistent training actually works! On to Berlin now in September where I'll try actually completing a full 18 week cycle, and starting from a much stronger base as well.
