Finished the Paris marathon yesterday. My body is in bits, walking is a struggle and stairs are, again, my nemesis. It was definitely harder than anticipated. I think a lot of people would assume it would be easy after completing an ultra-marathon. Nope, much worse!

Firstly, I definitely hadn’t fully recovered from the race the week before (I’m definitely an idiot for planning them a week apart!), secondly it is twice as fast and third it is still 42km! (45 according to my watch!)

I started feeling incredible, thanks to the atmosphere the adrenalin was so much higher than I realised and I was running 3.40 min per km (way above my normal average) and my heart rate was in the 170/180s for the first hour, which is just insane for me. But I couldn’t seem to control it and I felt amazing!

Clearly that wasn’t sustainable and at about the 12km point the pain started to kick in. It’s so frustrating when your heart and your lungs are feeling OK but your body starts to fail you. Then you realise it’s a game of the mind; how long can you sustain the pain. It doesn’t really get much worse, but you know it isn’t good for you; your body is screaming at you to stop, to walk, but you want to keep going because you know it will be over sooner the faster you run.

I even started to choke up a bit at the 40km point as I really wasn’t having a good time and my aim of sub 4 had slipped by me. I just hadn’t been able to maintain the average pace I needed in the last 8/9km.

I think the official time was 4hours 8 minutes. Which, considering I really haven’t been able to train for this, is respectable. I realised the difference between a flat marathon and a trail ultra is that, on the ultra, you trade speed for time and really listen to your body. It is all about endurance so your discipline is stronger, you control your heart rate, you walk the inclines etc etc. On the marathon there is no respite from the flat and the impact from the tarmac is intense. I really didn’t want to walk (my ego did not enjoy the walking), especially when others competitors were still running past. But I didn’t have much choice at the time.

A marathon definitely tests your resolve. Next time I will train for this specifically!

On the plus side the atmosphere in Paris was pumping, the music and the crowds were incredible and genuinely spurred me on. I remember thinking: ‘isn’t it incredible what your body can do when your mind is persuaded to keep going’. And that is why everyone should try running, it makes you more resilient and determined in so many other aspects of your life.