In just one week at the time I am writing these words, Olivier, Alain and I will have – surely, well, hopefully – crossed the Paris Marathon finish line. The 3 of us ran the course last year but this year’s marathon will be special. More importantly than our individual performances, we will be “running for MARGO”; Olivier’s daughter. This adorable 13 year old girl has recently found out that she had a brain tumor. She is in therapy and from what I have seen she is fighting like a tiger and doing remarkably well. On Sunday, Margo will be at the finish line and we sure can do nothing less but fight like tigers ourselves. The 3 of us will be wearing Margo’s color and we hope to hear a lot of “Allez Margo” on the course. Plus, we will look darn pretty in pink.

 

Since there is no excuse to run slow let’s talk objective. Last year’s I went for 2h45 but I was hoping for the low forties. Despite a good winter – I averaged 68 miles a week – I choked on the last 5 miles. I finished walking in 3h02. I tried 2h45 again 7 month later in New York after a difficult summer – I averaged an appalling 41 miles per week – and predictably I could not do better than 2h49. I already wrote why breaking the 2h45 is such a personal thing for me therefore my primary is again 2h45.

 

I am optimistic despite going through a difficult patch from mid January to mid March. I managed to get the flue, bronchitis and 2 back injuries in that period. I had planned for a 70 mile weekly averaged and I could only do 58. Also, the mileage that I did while sick or injured was of poor quality. On the positive side, I did a good long run on march 6 – 23 miles including 18.5M at 6’20 pace – and I ran a fast 15K in 53’50 on march 22nd (5’47 per mile, 3’35 per Km). These are encouraging but I can’t help remember how optimistic I was last year before the race and how disappointed I was after. This time, I will try to do a better job stating hydrated and for the first time I will take energy gel during the race. I hope this will do the trick and that I will have great news to report in a week. Stay tuned…