Paris (April 08)

I was so lucky to have the most amazing fan club with me in Paris for the Marathon on the 6th of April! My best friend from DC, Shanon, 2 great friends from London, Mariana & Brent, and my biggest fan - my wonderful husband, Tim - all came to cheer me on and take in some of the great sites in one of our favorite cities in the world.

I kept myself thoroughly hydrated before the race...




And because early forecasts called for snow, I double-layered my "throw-away clothes" for the hour-long wait in the red corral before the race start.



Thanks to my awesome and dedicated training girlfriends, Mariana, Nicola, and Jany (with frequent guest appearances by Brent) I was well-prepared and even managed to keep with the 3:15 pace group for most of the way! (Guess we all trained each other well... they all have just done PB's of their own in marathons this month - way to go!!!)

I got myself across the finish in 3:16 (soooo close! one of these days I'll get that 3:15 I'm after!).

The official times & videos (don't worry, I can't find myself in some of them either) are posted here...
http://www.parismarathon.com/marathon/2008/us/top100FMDP.html (I'm #74)


That night, I attempted to make up for 2 months of alcohol-free living all at once ;) We had a great dinner, hit Budha Bar (finally!) and danced the night away. Despite the snowstorm (yes, that's right - snow, in Paris, in APRIL!) we posed in front of the Eiffel Tower to commemorate our visit.

The next morning Shanon toured the Louvre...

while my tired legs rested at a cafe on Champs Elysses... where.. much to our surprise we saw the Olympic Torch coming by! We had the rare opportunity to see it while still lit (Tibetian & Chinese demonstraters caused such chaos that the torch & athletes carrying it were put into a bus for security reasons for most of the route).

(It's there, I promise - you just have to look real close!)

Just a few crepes and a Eurostar ride later, and we found ourselves back home in London.

Until next time ... A bientôt, Paris!

PS, More pics here if you haven't yet seen enough...