Paris..Done! Anyone for London Marathon 2009?

It was great to wake up this morning around 9am, coffee and croissants for breakfast and settle on the couch. Normally it would be eating at 7am and out the door for our long run. Now our Paris Marathon is over we are watching the London marathon in comfort.


Paris was excellent, we Eurostarred it there on Saturday morning which was a pleasant trip and found our little 2* hotel close to the train station. Our check in was very easy and surprisingly friendly given the reviews I had read about the hotel. He even went as far as showing us the best route to the expo to get our number. We got to the Expo just in time, beating the rain. After walking round the expo there was a free "Pasta Party", party being a bit of a strong word it was a bowl of pasta with some tomato based sauce on it. I wolfed down mine and went for seconds as I was worried about getting enough carbs.




The morning of the race we got up early and had some cereal followed by a peanutbutter and banana sandwich. The atmosphere at the start was amazing but the toilets were a bit of a disaster. We ended up queing for ages and got to our starting pen about 4 minutes before the gun went off!

The race started well for me, and I enjoyed the crying of Allez Allez which I found out was Go GO, not run you British Pig. So that spurred me on. Sarah had left me in her dust by this stage. I got to the 35km mark and really started battling. More long runs in training would have helped but now it was a case of getting round. Sarah did a great time of 3:21 while I was slower at 3:49. Our split times show how I started going backwards later on.

Km	Jason	Sarah
5	00:24:52	00:24:07
10	00:49:42	00:47:10
15	01:14:20	01:10:31
21	01:45:02	01:40:31
25	02:04:53	01:58:52
30	02:32:55	02:22:39
35	03:04:15	02:46:43
42	03:49:34	03:21:23

Crossing the finish line was brilliant, you got a medal, rain poncho thing I did not put on and as much fruit and water as you needed. There was even red wine on offer about 2km from the end, which I did not see anyone drinking.

After the race we showered and met up with a group of strangers from the Runnersworld.co.uk forum that I had been chatting with at the Auld Alliance. A scottish pub in the middle of Paris serving Guinness. 6 of those and I woke up on the Monday worrying more about my head than my legs. We even got to see the Olympic torch on the Monday before it got attacks by protestors.

Now we are back I will definately run a marathon next year. I have been diagnosed with a very mild heart condition called Acute Cardiomyopathy so will try and raise some money for them next year. The registration for the London marathon opens today at 12 so if anyone feels up for the challenge please register - London Marathon 2009

So here ends the Marathon updates till next year, thanks to everyone who read this and especially to everyone who donated. We managed to raise £750 for Starfish which is an Aids charity - http://www.justgiving.com/jasonsarah

See you at London next year!

Jason & Sarah

voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir?

Two days till the marathon and I am getting nervous about heading to Paris. Although as I type this I am on a train back from Leighton Buzzard which has made me look forward to Paris. A small market town with market folk in it. Same surnames, smell like cabbage folk. As mentioned in the last posting its tapering time and carbo-loading. Had a huge pasta dish yesterday for lunch followed by a baked potato covered in Sarah’s secret sauce left over from our spaghetti blowyournose the evening before. Been really good in terms of drinking as well, although on Wednesday night Sarah brought home some wine we had ordered from the Sunday Times wine club and we got stuck into an Argentinian Red.

We Eurostar it to Paris tomorrow incredibly early, when we leave home the kebab shops will just be closing and tube engineering works over-running. Once we arrive we are going to have a short jog then find the expo to pick up our race pack. Then a relaxing evening carbo-loading and not drinking. Sunday morning we are up early to eat and get to the start. I know nerves will be playing a big part so they better have a lot of porter-loos. One of the features of this years race is the ability to get txt messages of how runners are doing. I have registered my phone so I’ll get the splits for the two of us. I’ll post those on here so you can see if I kept in the same postcode as her throughout the race.

Been reading an article on race tactics and it talks of visualisation and repeating mantra’s to yourself for motivation. Got Chariots of Fire stuck in my head still. The clip below is how I picture myself finishing. Again this is a motivational thing so my finish will be a little different, 1. It won’t be the final of an Olympic event, 2. I will not be trying to win the race 3. I will not go into the history books and have my race immortilised in film. But on the positive I’ll have comfier shoes on and cooler looking clothes. I also have a problem with “is he famous” syndrome. Given my Scottish Sean Connery type looks, tall well built frame and very fluid running style a lot of people see me and think “Isn’t he from the TV”, “Is he not a famous celebrity running for charity”. I have had to learn to live with this much the same as someone like Matt Damon, etc. But don’t worry I will focus on the run and dream about that drink after the race.

In case your wondering about the doctors note, I have had to self-certify myself for the race. Dr. J Bourne. The cardiologist said I was in perfect shape to run but did not give me a note in time, so I have created one which hopefully will get past the French officials. Luckily with 35000 runners doctors notes I should be okay. I’ll let you all know how I get on when I get back on Tuesday unlessyou see me on the news for streaking up the Eiffel Tower after too much to drink.

Chariots of Fire Clip

Snow Patrol

One week till the marathon in Paris and the nerves are kicking in. The past 7 days have allowed me to test out all my running gear. Last Sunday woke up to snow coming down which was a shock. I had to put the long tights on and jacket. I have lost one of my running gloves so instead of moon-walking 11 miles I put my cycling gloves on and ran in those. A surprising number of people were on the run, must all be running either Paris, London or Edinburgh. The good thing about the run was the very tasty birthday lunch Sarah’s sister put together. It was the twins first birthday. Your first birthday is like your last birthday, people have to gather your friends for you, you just kind of sit there, they have to help you blow out your candles....etc.

The rest of the week was left to getting a doctors note. To run Paris you need your doctor to sign approval. My medical file has an issue on it from years ago and my GP got cold feet and said I need more recent tests done! So spent Tuesday waiting to see a Cardio at Kingston hospital. I was the youngest person in the whole hospital wing by 35 years and even had an old women come up to me asking if I was Tom? Senile old bag although she may have just seen Top Gun and got confused.

This past weekend saw us doing our last longish run. 11 miles in much warmer weather. It was almost warm enough for me to wear my white string vest, but due to my lack of a tan I stuck with a t-shirt. The run along the Thames had us jumping puddles and dodging beer and cider cans left behind by the Boat race the day before. I think Fort Hare University beat Staines Polytechnic by 3 lengths. The run did not do us any good at all with us both feeling a bit stiff the next day. We have now been planning what we are going to eat before the marathon on Sunday morning. I have a feeling asking for lukewarm porridge with walnuts and seeds, sliced banana and topped with honey and washed down with strong black coffee might get us kicked out the hotel. Thinking of freezing some milk and taking muesli or perhaps taking some pasta and pesto to eat beforehand. Any suggestions welcome although currently with no doctors note I am going along as Sarah’s coach and will have croissants for breakfast!