Wow! What happened?

Officially this blog (and FoodMuse) should be enjoying a well earned retirement. I went to Paris, I ran the marathon, and I came back, so now what?
Well, let's just say that I got hooked on the cooking thing : ) I can't imagine just not doing this anymore, and I actually got a bit depressed after returning and realizing that there really wasn't a reason to continue. First let me tell you about the marathon, which is sadly overdue.

The marathon was anti-climatic. I arrived in Paris on Friday morning (Paris time), navigated Charles de Gaulle airport and found the train that goes into the city. The ride takes about 45 minutes, at which point I got out at Chatelet and took a metro to the stop near the apartment that I had rented. Of course no was there - (yes, it may be possible for Madame to do the "sheck-in", but you must call). I rolled my luggage along the cobblestoned sidewalks festooned with my various appendages (a.k.a. carry on luggage), found a cafe, and waited. Of course it all worked out. I was cold and bone tired from the trip, but eventually I was able to leave my stuff with Yazmina, the Serbian cleaning lady, found the Monoprix (local supermarket), and eventually found myself alone in my very own (albeit temporarily) Paris flat!!!!!!

After a nap and some food I felt much better, and finally went out to explore the neighborhood. I was close to the Tuileries garden and the Louvre, off of Rue St. Honore, an ideal base for exploring the city. On Saturday I went to the Expo and met up with another couple from Austin who were also running the race. I walked along the Champs Elysee and tried to get the lay of the land, since the race would be starting from here.

The next day I woke up and tried to get ready. I had set my alarm for 6:30 AM, ate, checked out the weather (sunny and beautiful), made decisions about what to wear - gloves, no, arm warmers, no, sunscreen, yes! Soon it was time to go. I took the metro up to the Arc de Triomphe, tried to find my gate (all the way at the back), and got in line for the port-o-potty. (Can I just talk about the potty options for a minute? OK, there were TWO TWO TWO (2) port-o-potties for CONSERVATIVELY 2,500 people in my gate. There was also a 4 sided contraption that men could sidle up to and relieve themselves - a stand up urinal with concave sides that more or less covered the urinating male from view. Not a prepossessing sight.) Anyway, the race finally started at 9 AM, and I was STILL in line for the port-o-potty.

So I finally started out. The first quarter mile was an obstacle course consisting of all the garbage bags and extra clothing that all of the other runners had discarded. I managed to clear the starting mat without breaking anything and set out at a comfortable pace. OK, did I mention the cobblestones? Let's just say that cobblestones are not a known running surface for this runner from Austin Texas - they HURT! My feet HURT, and this was only the beginning of the race... There were beautiful stretches of scenery and many moments where I almost felt like I had to pinch myself so that I could feel like it was really happening. (Here I am RUNNING THE PARIS MARATHON!!!) Running along the Seine, the Left Bank, the Bois de Boulogne... Amazing. The crowd was great, and so many people came out to cheer us on, and believe me, that really helps! Things were actually going pretty well, and then the front came through - about 11:30 or so the wind sharpened, and the temperature dropped precipitously. I checked after the race, and the temperature went down to 34 degrees with a wind of 18-22 mph. Ouch! The lack of facilities continued to be an issue as well, and I spent 30 minutes in line at a McDonalds waiting to use their bathroom, only to return to the course and find that there was a set of port-o-potties about 5 minutes further along the route. (Yes, I asked the volunteers, but they had no idea if there were facilities much less where they were located.)

Between all of the unscheduled stops and the cold, my time was a whopping 5 hours and 47 minutes. I think I could have crawled faster. This was really disappointing since I had hoped for about 4 hours and 30 minutes - this is not exactly fast either, and based upon my training times should have been achievable, but it was not even close. Instead of being proud of my achievement I was embarrassed and reluctant to talk about it. I am trying to work through this by attempting to realize that results are not the issue. I got to try something that I had wanted to do, I finished the course, and I was upright at the finish and still running. Not so bad after all.