Hanging out in Bali gives you lots of time to think. Probably more time then what’s really necessary… but then again is that really a bad thing? Either it’s good or bad, I’ve definitely had more then my fair share of time for reflecting and being with my own thoughts. As much as downtime is good for the soul and brain, so is goal setting and a sense of achievement. I need running and accomplishment to keep me balance – something that came up during the Balance In Bali retreat (more on that later) – being in a place to think only about me and what I want, what on earth have I spent all my time thinking about, besides the serious stuff like my purpose in life and what am I trying to achieve? Running! Naturally. And what my next big race will be??!!

After my first marathon was over I may have experienced a bit of the Runner’s Blues that the folks at the Running Room warned me about. Which makes complete sense given I just spent a huge chuck of time (my entire spring and summer!) training for one race. Just one! It doesn’t seem right or fair at all. Then to just stop after it’s all over? How is one supposed to quit cold turkey? What would I possibly do with my Thursday evenings not seeing Julie, or my Sunday mornings… was I supposed to sleep in? And not go out and run 30k before noontime? I was confused and sad. Just like that I missed running completely. I tried not to run for a little while at least, I didn’t want to do anything stupid like injure myself during post marathon recovery. I put my body through a lot, taking the time to recover properly was super important. But it dam well drove me crazy.

When I returned from Picton and back to my regular life (but now I was a marathoner!) I made a promise to do lots and lots of yoga until Bali and wouldn’t run until the retreat was over. I went to two of Brendan’s classes at MYD, one of which we dedicated entirely to me. Thanks, Brendan! Not only did my hamstrings love and hate you all at the same time, but my arms, quads, feet, brain, and athletic soul did too. What a grad way to come back to the yoga world.

The plan was set and so was I. But now over a month has passed since my big race and I have not run. At all! Now more then ever I am going run crazy. Since moving to Bali for some reason I’m finding it super challenging to do anything. Even yoga is so far from my mind I can’t justify going to a class. I’m not sure what is happening here. Before leaving Canada (for an undetermined length of time), I went for one run. It would be my last run with Julie and my last run with the Running Room. It was the Thursday night clinic immediately following my marathon and I made a promise to Julie we’d celebrate with burgers and beers (our favourite!) to celebrate my race. I also wanted to run with the Running Room one last time, and of course see Alice too before my trip.

Can’t wait to live this moment all over again! Even though it was unplanned. Sort of.

Letting all this time pass have stirred my emotions to the point of total disgust and being at a complete loss. From the retreat, to leaving all of my belongings behind, scattered between Erin’s house and my friend Cait’s apartment, having no idea what is happening to them, wondering all the time what is going on back home without me? It’s so overwhelming, I didn’t think this was possible. At this time of extreme turmoil Cecilley discovered a sweet little spot in France for us to WWOOF at called Medoc, which just so happens to have a marathon. I was golden! Sadly, Cecilley said no to running a marathon, but would run a half. One thing after another, sadly, the sadness wouldn’t stop there. This marathon does not allow half-marathoners – there isn’t a half marathon option or any other distance for that matter – it’s a full or nothing! What ever shall we do?! Conveniently, I knew Paris had a marathon… but our luck would fail us again. This was another marathon only event (which I should have know, knowing it’s one of the worlds biggest races!). After one more positive discovery and very little thought we hunkered down and signed up for the Semi Marathon de Paris! On March 2, 2014 we will run a race in Paris. The day before my birthday! Celebrating my 28th in Paris sounds pretty good to me.

The good news didn’t stop there. While all the excitement unfolded – reliving Cecilley and my California dream, moving to France to train/work/travel, zenning out at the beautiful eco village, Desa Seni, enjoying life on a yoga retreat, I may have registered for the full marathon as well. Oops! Thinking it was a lottery race, or one you would have to qualify for, I thought why the hell not submit my name and see what happens. I already created an ASO Challenges account to register for the half and I want to run another full, so here’s my chance. Plus it’s pretty much a month away from the half, so I could use the half as a training run. Prefect! But an excellent question for Alice.

Another marathon?! Oh goodness what have I done?

But sure enough that “Your registration for the 2014 Marathon de Paris is complete” email arrived almost a day later which included my bib number and everything. I guess the full isn’t a lottery race after all.

So that settles it. There’s one (or two rather) confirmed legs to this journey Cecilley and I are on, we’ll be calling Paris (or London!) home this spring. Which is not such a bad idea! But this marathon, that might be. And running a sub 4:00? I can totally shave 15+ minutes from my first and only marathon time, right? Well, here goes nothing! I better start running.