Terra Incognita
Ran 90 minutes with Deirdre this morning at a bit faster than usual clip. I don't know if I could retrace the route we took, so conservatively I'll call it 12 miles.
My plan was to run the 2 miles that separates our houses, meet up with Deirdre, and we'd go into South Philly and at some point cross over to West Philly and get home at around 90 minutes, upon which Deirdre would run back to Center City. Ended up she took me through all kinds of funky South Philly nooks and crannies, mainly in far SW South Philly, that I'd never been to and which either had fascinating architecture or were quiet, shady neighborhoods with modest twin houses. Both were far from the blocks upon blocks of narrow streets and claustrophobic rowhouses that I associate with the area. Perhaps I need to target my runs more in that direction, although the shortest way to get there requires going down Grey's Ferry Ave, which is not the most runner friendly stretch.
So I'm feeling rested up for Paris. Weird thing about this marathon is how little info on it there is available on the internet. Fortunately however I got a call last night, out of the blue, from Joan A., who I know vaguely from PAC TC and who learned, through the running grapevine, that I'm going to Paris. Turns out her husband, who lives in Paris, is running the marathon as well and she's going over there too. She very graciously answered alot of my questions on the marathon (she'd run it twice) and offered to take Cindy with her to spectate. So now I know things like Paris marathon has a dearth of portapotties, part of the course goes through various tunnels, and water stops hand out bottles of water, along with bananas and orange wedges, that can make for very slick traction as everyone discards the related detritus. Hopefully I'll be far enough up front to where that won't be an issue, but I'll definitely pack my own GU.
Aside from the practical tips its good to know that there is some support out there in Paris and affirms, yet again and in yet another way, that it takes a village to run a marathon.
My plan was to run the 2 miles that separates our houses, meet up with Deirdre, and we'd go into South Philly and at some point cross over to West Philly and get home at around 90 minutes, upon which Deirdre would run back to Center City. Ended up she took me through all kinds of funky South Philly nooks and crannies, mainly in far SW South Philly, that I'd never been to and which either had fascinating architecture or were quiet, shady neighborhoods with modest twin houses. Both were far from the blocks upon blocks of narrow streets and claustrophobic rowhouses that I associate with the area. Perhaps I need to target my runs more in that direction, although the shortest way to get there requires going down Grey's Ferry Ave, which is not the most runner friendly stretch.
So I'm feeling rested up for Paris. Weird thing about this marathon is how little info on it there is available on the internet. Fortunately however I got a call last night, out of the blue, from Joan A., who I know vaguely from PAC TC and who learned, through the running grapevine, that I'm going to Paris. Turns out her husband, who lives in Paris, is running the marathon as well and she's going over there too. She very graciously answered alot of my questions on the marathon (she'd run it twice) and offered to take Cindy with her to spectate. So now I know things like Paris marathon has a dearth of portapotties, part of the course goes through various tunnels, and water stops hand out bottles of water, along with bananas and orange wedges, that can make for very slick traction as everyone discards the related detritus. Hopefully I'll be far enough up front to where that won't be an issue, but I'll definitely pack my own GU.
Aside from the practical tips its good to know that there is some support out there in Paris and affirms, yet again and in yet another way, that it takes a village to run a marathon.
posted by seebo | 2:49 PM
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