Whilst training for Paris, I noticed a twinge around my knee. I ignored it until after the race, then treated it by doing some special targeted stretches for two weeks. However, after the first week of intensive training again, this old injury returned, but this time it was much worse. With a week to go before my Yorkshire Three Peaks attempt, I decided to rest for that week and use it as an informal taper week.

That Three Peaks attempt has since put paid to any hopes of running in the next few weeks. I must have pulled a muscle or something similar whilst scrambling down Ingleborough, which I didn’t really notice at the time, but now it hurts whenever I walk for longer than fifteen minutes. It would be impossible (and foolish) to do any running in this condition, so until I can get this problem resolved, there will be no running for now.

All of this has left me tremendously demotivated. I definitely won’t be able to break my 10K PB in the Leeds 10K (in three weeks) and the length of time my recovery needs may seriously jeopardise my plans for PBs in the Great North Run and the Dublin Marathon in October.

So this week I’m starting my full training schedule. I’ve also decided, following my performance at the Paris Marathon, to use the non-linear periodisation system again. Hopefully I’ll be able to smash my marathon PB by running the Dublin Marathon in 4h30m00s – that’s my goal anyway.

Friday’s schedule called for 5 miles easy with 6 x 30 second fartlek intervals. The first time I saw what mileage I had to cover, I thought it sounded like a big ask. I’ve still got memories of how tiring this session used to be, especially with the fartlek intervals, which really knackered me out.

However, once I got out there I discovered I didn’t really need to put in any extra effort into running the five miles (except for running around the headland – the wind was quite strong and was a struggle to run against sometimes). What really pleasantly surprised me though was my peformance during the fartlek intervals.

The last time I regularly did this kind of session, I looked upon intervals with some trepidation because after each interval I was always exhausted. This time though I managed to breeze through them. I was even able to increase my pace in each progressive interval, which was something I definitely couldn’t have done last time. Previously I would start out running each interval really fast and then slow down through tiredness in each following interval.

So after the first week back to “normal” training, I’m generally quite impressed with my state of fitness. As usual, I seem to have underestimated my ability again, as I appear to be fitter than I give myself credit for. Using this training plan to train for Paris seems to have really boosted my general levels of fitness, aerobic endurance and stamina. Not bad!

I’ve been in near-continuous training for nearly eighteen months now, with the odd few weeks resting here and there after each marathon. So after Paris I wanted to really relax and recover and not actually train for anything. I’m not saying I don’t want to go running anymore – I just didn’t want to start training for another event so soon.

Unfortunately my Three Peaks attempt has put paid to that somewhat. It’s only four weeks away and requires it’s own level of training (walking the equivalent of a marathon over three of Yorkshire’s highest peaks). However, I’ve already committed to it and I don’t intend to renege on this promise.

If I started training for Dublin now, that would give me (roughly) six months to train. Considering that I’ve run several marathons before I think this is more than enough time for me. In fact, I’m even willing to gamble and not start marathon training until the end of May. Training for the Leeds 10K (on June 21st) will be in full swing by then anyway, so I hope I’ll be more rested and be back into that competitive running frame of mind by then.

At about 15:30, the website was replaced with a message saying “Due to unexpectedly high levels of demand, the website is temporarily unavailable”. This was no surprise, as there are only 120,000 ballot places available and, if last year was anything to go by, they’ll all have gone in two days. Indeed, a newsletter from The London Marathon sent at 17:30 on Monday confirms that 70,000 people somehow managed to register on the first day.

I gave up trying to apply after 15:30. I did manage to register though – by going onto the website at 06:30 on Tuesday morning.

At the end of that road, at the Place de la Porte d’Auteuil, we took a ninety degree turn onto the Route des Fortifications – which was a mild incline. Any incline at this stage, some 37kms (or about 22 miles) in is unwelcome though. Running with the pacemaker and running in a group of other people, really helped at this point. Not only was the pacemaker shouting encouragement (in French, of course) but at this point in my previous marathons I’ve usually found myself virtually alone, which saps your resolve. Keeping up with the pacemaker and the group helped me keep on track when I know that, had they not been there, I probably would have slowed down and fallen back at this point.

About a kilometre later the course entered the final phase in the Bois de Boulogne, another huge park. We took another turn onto the Chemin de Ceinture du Lac Supérieur. This was probably the hardest part of the race, not least because it was the last few miles, but also because there were relatively few supporters around this section and the tremendous strain on my legs was now impossible to ignore. I wasn’t just tired, I was getting that achy feeling where when you stop running for any reason, trying to get going again is twice as hard because your legs feel like lead.

The scenery had taken on a dull tone because we were running along a section of the park that was rather uninspiring and because the sun had gone in again. The only thing that broke the boredom of this section was the appearance of several marquees, set up by several different French marathons, advertising their races. Some even offered samples of local wines – but naturally, I didn’t partake. The course turned onto the Avenue de Saint-Cloud, which was another of those long stretches which never seemed to end. There were a few more people around the Chemin de Ceinture du Lac Inférieur, but it didn’t feel like we were just a mile away from the finish.

Within what seemed like just a couple of steps, we were back in inner city Paris again, running around the roundabout at Porte Dauphine, then along the wide boulevard of the Avenue Foch. When I saw the finish line a few hundred yards ahead of me, it all felt a bit sudden. It was a short distance from there to the finish. The pacemaker congratulated us all on running a fantastic race then allowed the pack to split up and run past the marathon photographers.

Finally, I crossed the finish line exactly five hours, twenty-seven minutes and five seconds after I started. Almost immediately the muscles in my legs started screaming and burning from over-exertion. I shook the pacemakers hand and had my photo taken by a defeated looking Frenchman sitting on a chair near the finish line.

Even though I completed the marathon under my target time of 5h30m and even though I beat my personal best (though only by a matter of seconds) it still felt a little bittersweet, because I felt that I could have run faster and shaved another half-hour off my PB.

However, I still stand by my decision not to try for a PB and to deliberately under-estimate my performance. This was my third marathon in less than a year, after all!

I suppose there is always next year…

Video: The final word

Running along the banks of the Seine in the sunshine, spotting all the landmarks, including the towers of the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower was possibly the highlight of the entire race. I was now feeling much better as I had overcome my tiredness and aching phase from earlier and was happily clocking up the miles (or kilometres).

The Eiffel Tower makes its first appearance

Whereas before I was running behind the Louvre, this time I was running on the other side of it, but I still didn’t get to see it, because the course entered the Tuileries Tunnel for about a kilometre.It got quite warm down there and I was just starting to sweat again when the course emerged onto the Quai des Tuileries and the daylight again.

Every time the course went into another tunnel, the pacemaker shouted encouragement and motivational comments like “Let’s attack this hill together” (in French of course) and every time we went under a bridge he shouted at the bystanders on top of it to give some words of encouragement. It all helped to keep spirits up.

Just after coming out of the third tunnel, we crossed the Place de la Concorde (again). After turning onto the Voie Georges Pompidou again, It became possible to see the Eiffel Tower appear from behind the trees lining the route. I saw it again as we entered the Albert 1er tunnel.

After crossing the Place de la Bastille again, the course followed the River Seine, running past some of Paris’ most famous landmarks, including the Notre Dame Cathedral and the Eiffel Tower. Watching the spire of the Tower appear from behind the trees and gradually running towards it was a genuinely beautiful sight. There were also plenty of vocal, supportive crowds in the centre as well, which helped spur me on.

Video: Passing the 30km point

Just before we got to the Trocadéro, we passed the 30km point. Now we were three quarters of the way round the course and the aching in my legs was becoming harder to ignore. Still, ignore it was all I could do and I ploughed on. I actually congratulated myself on feeling this good at this point. Getting this far whilst still feeling like I had enough left in the tank was an achievement in itself when compared to how I felt at this point in my previous marathons.

There was another water and food station opposite the Eiffel Tower where I took on another bottle of water. The discarded orange peel and banana skins made it very slippy and treacherous to try and run through and that wasn’t helped by the fact that this station was on a cobbled road. Once again I had gotten ahead of the pacemaker once I left the water/food station, so I slowed down for a moment until the pacemaker group caught me up again. However, my increasingly achy muscles meant it was becoming harder to starting running again after each walking break.

The course continued south-west down the Avenue du Président Kennedy, moving away from the riverbank and past the Maison de Radio-France. We crossed onto the Avenue de Versailles, then at the Place de Barcelone the course veered off to the right through another sponge station, down the Rue Mirabeau. There was no stopping this time, the pacemaker telling everyone to run straight through. All the sponges were long gone – none left for us – only the buckets of cold water which I willingly splashed on my face and neck. Running through the water/sponge stations always makes me feel like I’m going really fast, but the photos show that I was only moving at about a moderate jogging pace.

The next mile took me along the Avenue Daumesnil, which was another of those seemingly unending roads. It started out in the suburbs, running past some residents who appeared to be surprised by the 31,000 runners running down their street, then eventually opened into broad parkland, with trees lining the route.

At this point the pacemaker shouted something I couldn’t translate, but it became obvious when he darted off to the right and stood behind a tree. Some other runners followed him but I thought it a bit weird to go to the toilet at the same time as the pacemaker, so I carried on running. I suppose even pacemakers must answer the call of nature. This meant I was now quite far ahead of the pacemaker however and the fact that he had gone now made me feel like I had to go – so I did the same thing of ducking behind a tree and relieving myself. It also allowed the pacemaker to catch up with me and overtake me a bit.

Coming to the end of the Avenue Daumesnil, the tower of a castle gradually came into view. I didn’t know what it was as I approached it, but I know now it was the Château de Vincennes. In front of the château was another sponge station. I would have preferred another water station, but this was better than nothing. The sun had made me a bit sweaty, so I grabbed one of the sponges and cooled myself down.

The course continued down the Avenue des Minimes, entering a heavily forested area. The shade was nice and the atmosphere felt more secluded, with trees all around us and not many supporters on this part of the route. At the end of that road the course merged with the Avenue du Tremblay, which marked the most easterly point of the race. Then the course zig-zagged southwards until it joined the Avenue de Gravelle at the southern perimeter of the park.

Video: Passing kilometre 19 on the Avenue de Gravelle

The Avenue de Gravelle was another long road, but it was full of bends, so this time it felt like I was getting somewhere. At this point I was ticking along, enjoying the sunshine and the scenery of the park. As the course gradually left behind the park and moved closer to entering the city again, the number of supporters increased which helped lift the atmosphere a little.

Approaching the half-marathon point, the scenery of the parkland gave way to the more urban landscape again. The sun had gone in again, which made everything seem rather grey and dull. Still, when I crossed the thirteen mile marker and then the official half-marathon point, I was feeling good, but my legs were now starting to ache a little, which was becoming a bit distracting. This was a crucial point in the race for me – if I started feeling tired and achy now the next 13.1 miles would only get worse. I could only hope that this was a phase which I could run through.

Video: Passing the half-marathon point

For the next 1.5 miles, the course followed the Rue de Charenton, then the Avenue Daumesnil. The sun had come out again and there were more people shouting us on and some more bands were playing along the route. The further we made it into the city again, the better the atmosphere became.

Video: Soaking up the atmosphere on the Rue de Charenton

Once we made it onto the Avenue Daumesnil again, there was another of those unending roads. The relative boredom of running along the long, straight road was broken by continual encouragement from the pacemaker and the appearance of two drag queens – I nearly tripped over the kerb as we ran past them! By now it was obvious I was becoming quite tired.

The pacemaker advised everyone to take on a snack if necessary as he tucked into an energy bar. I stuck to my strategy of taking energy gels every three miles. It felt like we’d been running down this road for ages when we finally moved onto the Rue de Lyon.

Update: Half-way through

In the distance I could see a column which looked remarkably like the one we had passed in the Place de la Bastille some miles earlier. Of course, it was the same one, but I hadn’t realised the course actually passed through the Place de la Bastille twice – I just thought we might pass a street behind it the second time.

Approaching the Place de la Bastille for a second time

The course took the second left from the Bastille onto Boulevard Henri IV. Just as we turned that corner, the pacemaker grabbed a handful of bananas and passed them out through the crowd. I declined, as I hadn’t eaten them during my training so I didn’t want to chance it now. A few metres later there was a another food station, where I took my next energy gel instead. After the Boulevard Henri IV, the course turned onto the Quai des Célestins, then the Voie Georges Pompidou, on the banks of the Seine. This phase was probably the most beautiful of the whole race.

Since I’ve never been to Paris, nor do I know it very well, what I didn’t realise was that the Rue de Rivoli runs behind some of Paris’ most famous buildings – the Louvre, the Tuileries gardens and the City Hall. There was plenty of support from bystanders, some Parisians were even game enough to shout “Allez Simon!” (Go Simon!) because my name was printed on my bib. It all contributed to the great atmosphere at the start of the race, helped along by the thousands of other runners that were still running past us.

At the end of the Rue de Rivoli, the tall buildings open out onto one of Paris’ squares, this one being the Place de la Bastille, with a huge column in the middle of it. This was also significant because it was the first refreshments stop. The Paris Marathon is the first one I’ve run where food (orange segments, bananas, raisins and sugar cubes) was offered as well as drinks, but because I hadn’t eaten anything but energy gels during training, I didn’t take any food. Instead I just took my first bottle of water.

Now I’m used to running through water stations, but the pacemaker slowed to walking pace whilst going the water stations and this time, I reluctantly did so as well. The intensity of my training for the marathon and how exhausted it left me, as well as the fact I took a three week holiday in the middle of my training meant I wasn’t trying for a personal best this time, but moreover, I wanted to make sure I completed the marathon comfortably, rather than like in Dublin last year, where I felt I nearly killed myself finishing it.

I didn’t feel like I needed to walk through the water stations, but I recognise now that it was a part of the negative split strategy – taking a short walking break to allow a little recovery and preserve energy.

I’d run a little far ahead of the pacemaker, so I slowed down until the group caught me up again. The course followed another side street of Paris, the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, to the next Place, the Place de la Nation. Around this huge roundabout was another station, this time handing out sponges. Hundreds, maybe thousands of filthy, discarded sponges littered the ground. I didn’t take one this time because I didn’t feel like I needed it.

The course then continued down the Avenue du Trône, though I didn’t see the two columns, because they were both covered in scaffolding and on for another kilometre down the opposite side of a busy main road. It was quite boring running down the Avenue du Trône because there was nothing but grey concrete buildings on either side of the road and the crowd had thinned out quite a bit now, so the atmosphere from earlier had evaporated.

However, the sun had now come out a bit which made it a little bit warmer and a bit nicer. At the next roundabout, the Porte de Vincennes, the course took a ninety-degree turn right onto the Boulevard Soulit, which would lead eventually to the next milestone – the 10km point.

The long stretch which led to that was the perfect time to record my next update…

Approaching 10km

The 10km point was on the corner of the road which took the course left onto Avenue Daumesnil and out of the city, towards a huge park called the Bois de Vincennes. After passing the 10km point, I was feeling alright. My muscles had taken a while to get warmed up, but with each mile that passed that stiffness dissipated.

Once I’d eaten, I returned to my room to put on the rest of my clobber: A waist pack for carrying energy gels, an arm wallet for carrying my MP3 player (just in case I needed some musical motivation) and my race number and timing chip.

I just had enough time to do some extra stretches before I met with the other runners in my group in the hotel lobby at 7:30am. Waiting in the lobby left a few minutes to chat to the other runners. Most of the runners I talked to were marathon newbies, some had run half-marathons before whilst others had only started running two months ago – and now they were attempting a marathon! Once everyone was assembled, the guides led us out of the hotel through a subway and then we all walked down the Avenue de la Grande Armée.

A few metres before the Arc de Triomphe, where the race pens were, the guides gave us our final instructions to leave any bags in the baggage area at the finish on Avenue Foch and then to make our way to the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, where all the start pens were.

Now I had registered in the pink time zone of runners who expected to finish in a time of 4h30m. However, I have said before that I would be trying for 5h30m again this time. The only reason I registered in the pink zone was because that was the slowest group offered when I registered originally. So I stayed at the back of the pink zone, planning to fall back as soon as possible to my own 12m per mile pace, which would lead to a time in the region of 5h30m.

In the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe, I recorded my first “piece to camera”…

Start line update

At about 8:45 French time, the announcer kicked off the 2009 Paris Marathon with a very fast countdown. I discarded my plastic vest, but soon wished I hadn’t, as I would be waiting another fifteen minutes before I would be able to jog over the start line. Just walking up to the start was a tricky business – the road was covered with the plastic vests, discarded clothes and walking down the left edge of the road, where the crowd was less dense, there were hundreds of discarded half-empty bottles of water.

Walking up to the start line of the Paris Marathon 2009 - another ten minutes to go from here! (View full size version)

Even though the crowd was tightly packed, it started to thin out a little as people got to the start, as everyone wanted to jog over the start line rather than walk over it. Eventually I crossed the start line at about 8:57am (French time) and started my Paris Marathon attempt.

Right from the beginning my plan was to run at a steady 12-minute per mile pace. Fortunately for me, the Paris Marathon employs runners to act as pacemakers. Their sole aim is to run the race in a certain time. So, as I ran down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, I kept on looking behind me for each pacemakers’ trademark flag. I felt like I couldn’t settle down into a good rhythm until I found the pacemaker – and when I passed the first kilometre marker I knew I had to slow down a lot more and that my pace was too fast.

Seeing that kilometre marker also got me worried about how the distance would be counted – France, of course, uses the metric system, where a marathon is 42.195km, not 26.2m. If the distance was only marked in kilometres, I would have to do some pretty quick mental arithmetic to work out when I’d passed each mile. Not something I wanted to do whilst running a marathon.

Finally the flag of one of the pacemakers appeared, but to my surprise it was the 5h00 pacemaker. So I had to slow down even more until the 5h30 pacemaker passed me. At the end of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, the route turned left, crossing the Place de la Concorde, then making it’s way down the Rue de Rivoli.  I didn’t actually see much of the Place de la Concorde because I was on the outside of the pack of runners, so I couldn’t see much over the top of them. Then the course continued down the Rue de Rivoli. It was whilst running (slowly!) down here that I finally “caught up” with the 5h30 pacemaker group. I stayed with this group for the rest of the race.

Now that I was following a pacemaker, I didn’t need to worry about kilometres vs miles, because all I needed to do was just keep pace with the pacemaker. I was surprised just how far back the group was at the beginning, but it just goes to show how much of a mistake I could have made by getting caught in the moment at the start and by continuing at that starting pace. With hindsight I understand now that the strategy of the pacemaker was a classic “negative split” – that is, by running deliberately slower than your race pace in the first half of the race, then speeding up in the second half, you can run the distance much more “comfortably” – though that’s not a word I use often when talking about running a marathon.

I’d just like to thank those that have sponsored me again this time round.

I’ll be posting a full report soon, this time with photos and video clips. Stay tuned!