I’ve never really liked Paris. I don’t know why. It’s always seemed a bit grey.

Rewind to early November last year. Lucy, a great friend of mine, didn’t make it into the London marathon but had secured her place for Paris. We started just running for run and that’s when the seed was planted. Maybe I could run Paris marathon with Lucy!

Now, I have run many marathons, in many locations and my last marathon was at the end of Ironman Vichy in 2017 and I vowed never to run a marathon again, famous last words. I know what that distance feels like – it’s a long old way on your legs. Anyway, before I knew it, I had entered Paris!

And so the training began in earnest in January.

We had a structured training programme of 3 runs a week. Building the mileage up very slowly to avoid any injury. Adding some tempo, steady and interval runs in as well as making sure our long runs on Sunday included plenty of hills. Hard to believe, but Paris is actually quite an undulating course.

We had so much fun during our training. Despite the weather on some of our long runs, including torrential rain and strong winds, snow – we got out there – as one coach once told me, it could be like that on race day. The furthest we ran was 30km – the marathon would be another 12km.

And then, the training was over and we were making our way to Paris.

There were things we had to do in Paris, collect our number, familiarise ourselves with the start and finish locations, which were conveniently, very close to our apartment. We ate plenty of pasta, drank plenty of water and chilled in readiness for Paris Marathon on 14 April 2018.

10.10 – our start time for the Paris Marathon. We were aiming for 4.30hrs and we waited patiently in our pen and then we were off. Time to put everything into practise that we had done on our training. The key thing was not to go out too fast, we had a long way to run so we had to pace it just right. We had our gels with us (all 9), our camelbaks (with 2:1 energy drink) and we could stop at the water stations for plain water if we needed to. The first part of the run was on cobbled streets and was very congested and seemed to be a very gradual climb. Bit by bit the kms ticked off. I don’t really remember much of the marathon to be honest. I remember running along the River Sienne, down and up through the under passes, and there being one big climb that almost had me, stopping at the Eiffel Tower to take a selfie and then for the last 7km or so, running through a park where it seemed like everyone had taken to walking. Not Lucy and I – we still had enough energy to keep our steady and consistent running to get us to the end. I was keeping a close eye on our pace and time.

And then, there was the end – we had done it. We had finished Paris Marathon in a respectable time of 4hrs 33. Lucy had gone from 10km in September, to 10 miles in February and to her first marathon in April. She was determined, focussed and did it!

The walk back to the apartment was an interesting one, a very slow one!

I loved running the Paris Marathon and would highly recommended it – superbly organised.

Maybe now, I do like Paris!

So, on 14 April, I will be in Paris, running the Paris marathon! I hate Paris! So, why am I running a marathon and in Paris?

My friend, Lucy – it’s all her fault!

Lucy wanted to run a marathon – I started to run with her before her training plan started (coached by me of course!) and we had a few chats and all of sudden, I am running Paris Marathon!

We’ve completed the first 4 weeks of training and this week we have started week 5!

There have been giggles on the way, there have been a few swear words too, there have been some very sore legs and bodies, but we’ve stuck to the programme and this weekend we completed a comfortable 13 miles training (half marathon to some) in a respectable time whilst keeping our heart rate under 150bpm (our Zone 2) and enjoying the lovely gels and Blok shots to keep us fuelled on our journey.

Lucy and I have a special friendship – we get each other and we are able to run at the same pace – it helps. We are open and honest with each other on how we are feeling – some days are better than others. We are able to motivate each other on our runs and the absolute rubbish we can talk about sometimes is something else! We put the world to rights, encounter some miserable car drivers on the way, we smile at other runners and try to enjoy ourselves.

My job is rather physical being a Personal Trainer, I won’t lie, my body does feel very tired some days and I do need to look after myself just a little better (note to self to add some more Pasta on my food shop!)

The flights and accommodation are booked for Paris.. and just another 72 days until we stand at the start line – Me and Paris running buddy, Lucy – we’ve so got this!

As I sit here and try to reflect on the year, a year that seems to have flown by so quickly, it’s been a whirlwind year with many great bits!  Have I achieved anything – is life about constantly achieving things – pushing yourself to try new things and to challenge yourself?  It’s a question I really need to think about.

Reflecting on the year, the most memorable was representing Great Britain at the World Triathlon Championships in Australia – always a dream and one that I got to live.  Memories were made and won’t be forgotten.   Thank you to all of you who supported me and helped me get out to fulfil my dream!

I found a lot about myself this year – I love to train for events, I love the discipline of a structured training plan.  I really don’t like the competing bit.  But without a goal I struggle to train so I need to work on my mindset in readiness for competing if I decide to race again.

My only fitness goal for next year is Paris Marathon in April.  I said I would never run a marathon again, but you should never say never.  I am looking forward to running with my buddy Lucy over the winter months and heading to Paris and doing some sightseeing whilst running a marathon!

My Personal Training business has grown in strength over the year, having only been running for just over 2 years.  I will be developing it further with some new and fresh ideas being planned for next year.   Watch this space!

I have my good health, my family, my friends as I finish this year.  That’s far more important than anything else.  The things I have done this year have made my life interesting and varied, but without my health, family and friends, I couldn’t have achieved any of it.  Thank you.

Do more of what you love!  Feel free to share what you will be focussing on next year – for me, I will be taking more time to look after myself, some quiet time, the simple things in life, long walks with my buddy Percy and Matt (he doesn’t know this yet!), cups of tea with cake, with no pressure to please anyone but myself.

Wishing you all a wonderful time over the festive period with loved ones.

Miss V