I have (finally!) added Tim Wilson’s running blog to the list of running blogs I have on my own blog. Tim ran his first marathon around the same time I ran my first one and he already outran me! His last blog entry talks about trail running, which I don’t do at all (yet). I think I might like it as I always enjoyed going on the trails with my parents when I was younger, whether it was walking or biking. I never really went for a run on trails yet (except for a race which used half trails) and I’m sure there is nothing like running in the forest/nature.
Tim’s latest blog entry here: Running The Trails & Win a Pair of YurBuds!

For an additional giveway entry I’m supposed to mention it and link here, so done!

Happy training to Tim and good luck to me

sundays afternoons are the perfect moment to go out in broad day light to make my legs going. So, just after the webcam session with my parents, I put my runner outfit on.Zachary came to me and asked: “Papa, I want to go running with you!”. Difficult to resist, even though I planned a nice run by myself, my son wanted to run with his Dad was priceless. He wanted this so badly so I said “go for it, Son!”.

I have to say he did Read the rest of this entry »

I did it. I ran my first marathon in Detroit, last Sunday October 18^th, 2009, in 4 hours, 20 minutes, and 25 seconds, and I finished it. I still can’t believe it. I ran the mythic distance. I would have never thought I would be able to do it, and I just did it. What a sense of accomplishment! It’s the best feeling in the world!

Weirdly, I feel like that race didn’t feel as long as my longest training runs, perhaps because of the adrenaline, perhaps because of the crowd, or both. I have to say the crowd in Detroit is just phenomenal! So many people, not always all along the course, but so many people cheering so loud and so constantly even for slow runners like me! That was incredible. They were such a big help, and especially towards the end. I don’t remember it was like this – and it probably was – last year when I ran at the exact same place my first half marathon.

Ok, get prepared to read, there is lots to say about it. I will probably need more than Read the rest of this entry »

That’s it. My training journey for my first marathon has officially come to an end. It started on Sunday June 21st, and ended yesterday night, Wednesday, October 14th. I will list here a few statistics just for you to have a rough idea of what I went through. Seriously, I never thought it would have been so intense, so long, so many hours of running, and I didn’t even fully stick to the program due to injuries or to the fact I don’t have a 20 years old body anymore. For more details you can have a peak at my training log on the Blog 26.2 Infos page.

So, a few results:

- 17 weeks long, Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday night we met an incredible human being at the Running Factory: Doug Curtis, marathoner and former director of the Detroit Freepress marathon. He has been running for 45 years and ran a total of 197 marathons so far. His last one was the “Marathon du Médoc” near Bordeaux, France.
He won 40 marathons (won!), including 5 times Detroit.
He detains the record of Read the rest of this entry »

Pains and injuries of the last few weeks happened because of my running shoes. The ones I bought to start training had only 350 miles (560 km) but I didnt’ realize how worn out hey were. It looked like the first Read the rest of this entry »

The longuest run during my training. The scary big one before race day. THE 20 MILER. Hoooo. “Only 2 more miles than what you have already done!” would say certain runners to make you feel better about it before having to deal with it.

Yeah, only 2 more miles than 18, which was already 2 more miles than 16, which was already 2 more miles than 14, and then there is the 12 miler, not that scary after all. Oh, and a good comparison as well: “Tell yourself 18 miles, it’s basically only three 10 K’s one after another“. Right. I have already raced 10K’s, or even did quite a few 10K runs during my training. Alot of them in fact. I still needed 24 hours before running again after them. Read the rest of this entry »

Some of us consider the number 9 as a lucky number, thus today is supposed to be the luckiest day ever. September 8^th, 2009 = 09/09/09. And it seems that in that case the luckiest moment ever was at 9:09:09 AM.

Well, not for me.

The top of my left foot is sore since my 16 miler last Sunday. I thought I had tied my shoe perhaps too tight last Sunday but I don’t see any bruising at all. Pressing down on the top of my foot and I feel some pain/discomfort where the bone is, right on top of the foot towards the ankle. It worries me quite a bit. I’m in discussion with a bunch of runners on Twitter. It might sound weird to talk to people you don’t even know, but Twitter is a great source of information for all kinds of subjects, and I have to say that the runners community on Twitter is pretty significant and very helpful. All distance runners Read the rest of this entry »

I guess it’s part of being a runner. Sometimes you’ll have great runs, and sometimes they won’t be great at all. Sometimes you will complete an amazing running week. This happened to me a couple of weeks ago when I had my first 18 miler. It was from Sunday August 23^rd to Saturday August 29^th. That week I ran 48.14 miles. The most I have ever run in an entire week so far. I ran 6 days that week including my first track workout and my first 18 miler. My body seemed to have been ok with it although the track workout had a pretty big impact on me. It took me 7 hours and 40 minutes to run these 48.14 miles and my average pace was 9:34. I was proud of that week. I am still proud of it. Read the rest of this entry »

Map of my first 18 miler

This morning I went for my first 18 miler run. I was obviously nervous about it as it was the longest distance I have ever ran in one shot, but I am surprised how not that bad it was.

I guess I had a not so good experience with my last longest distance, which was a 16 miler a couple of weeks ago. Most of it was done under rain, and under poring rain especially at the end. It was also very humid that day (95%) so very hard to breathe and I got dehydrated very fast. Combine with that troubles in my drinking and eating along the way, and it’s the perfect cocktail for a hell of a run. Read the rest of this entry »