A couple months before arriving in Paris, I started looking for a running group on Meetup.com since we’d be here for a good chunk of time. There were two, and one of them took August off for vacation, so Let’s Run Paris was the winner. Like I said in my last post, I’m pretty shy in these types of situations, but I knew if I didn’t go I’d regret it, so off I went on Saturday morning. Jeremy and I left the house super early to make sure we wouldn’t be late for the meeting near the Jardin du Luxembourg. The only other time I’ve been to the gardens it was packed with tourists, so it was a nice change when there were barely any people there so early in the morning. I took it as an opportunity to take some pictures…
After we killed some time, I headed over to the café to meet the group. Everyone was so nice, and everybody spoke English. I talked to a few people who had moved to Paris from America, and after everyone arrived, it seemed like the majority of people there were expats. This also could have to do with the timing; lots of Parisians take August off for vacation. We took a group picture, and then were split up in pacing groups. I had to figure out which group I should run with; the options were 5 min/km, 6 min/km, or 7 min/km, which equals roughly 8 min/mile, 9:40 min/mile, and 11:20 min/mile. I’m in the middle of the latter two groups, but I went with the 6 min/km group, knowing that I could fall back to the slower group if needed. The plan was to do 15K (9.3 miles), running along the Seine, Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, and more. The pacing group I went with ended up being really big (probably about 25 people?) and we had to stop at a lot of stoplights, but I didn’t mind since it was nice to catch my breath. It was a great way to see the city, it was free, I met some nice people, and I felt great at the end of the run. Success!
Here are some pictures I took along the way:
And here are some from the Let’s Run Paris Facebook page:
Pre-run.
Running along the Seine.
Taking over the streets of Paris.
My “run happy” face.
Mid-run.
Stretching at the Jardin du Luxembourg after we finished.
Success!
I had such a good run that I decided to join the group on Monday evening for 10K in a different part of the city. I went with the same 6 min/km pace group, and we ended up going a lot faster than we had on Saturday. I felt great though, running with the group made me run faster and push myself more than I ever do, and it made me realize that I haven’t lost as much fitness as I thought these past six months. I heard that the course was going to be really hilly and I knew I needed to practice those for the Dingle Half coming up, so I was looking forward to that. There were some steep inclines, but it didn’t feel bad to me at all, which gave me some more confidence.
There were 27 of us in the pacing group this time, and our huge group ran by countless cafés where people were eating and drinking outside and it was funny to see everyone’s reactions as we barreled down the small sidewalks. We even got a bistro waiter in the middle of taking an order to run with us for half a block. Most people looked at us like we were crazy, but we also got some nice “Allons-y!” (“Lets go!”) shouts as well. I saw some new neighborhoods and some really pretty sunset views from Parc des Buttes Chaumont, but I didn’t stop to take any pictures.
I never run at night and I couldn’t really sleep that night, but it was worth it!
From the group’s Facebook page:
This Saturday, the plan is to run 21K (about 13 miles) and I’m a little unsure about it since that would be upping my mileage fairly quickly… but maybe if I join the slower pace group it wouldn’t be as bad. If anyone thinks it would be a big mistake, please let me know!
Lily Runs the World 
One of my best friends from college lives in Paris and I love running when I visit her! I’ve run in the Jardin de Luxembourg and along the Seine. Glad you found a fun running group there!
I’m convinced it is the most beautiful city to run in!
What a great running group and, of course, a fun place to run! I’ll have to check out meet.up the next time I’d like to run with a group.
I’m so glad I found it! I’m sure there are lots of running groups on the site, it’s been a great resource 🙂
This sounds like so much fun! I’m glad you went out and joined a running group in Paris. I don’t think running 21k would be too much since you have been doing a lot of running lately. You can definitely do it! I would just decrease some of the mileage before and after very slightly.
Thanks! I’m going to just take it easy and see how my body feels, I keep telling myself I can always hop on the metro and go back if needed.
Lily!!! I am so proud of you! What fun views and pictures!!! You did something that intimidated you and that’s such a huge feat (and so is that time)! xo
Thank you! I’m proud of myself 🙂
This looks like so much fun 🙂 I can’t even imagine running through Paris with a running group like this, but I bet it would be absolutely amazing. I would see how you feel for your 13 miler on Saturday. Definitely to easy, but if you feel ok, go for it. Just stick with proper recovery time too!
Thanks for the advice! Good call on the recovery time, there’s the 10k group on Monday night that I was thinking of going to, but maybe I should take it more easy after the 21k on Saturday.
Eh play that one by ear. If you feel good, i think Monday night is enough time between Saturday morning and another run 😉
Thanks again! How about you come here and be my coach? 🙂
Haha I’d gladly come run with you, but I don’t know enough to be a coach haha. I make it up as I go 😉
That looks and sounds so awesome, I’ve never run in a group that big outside of a race. 13 would probably be ok as long as it’s slower, at least I would think so. Have fun!
Thank you! It was quite the experience running with that many people through the streets of Paris, for sure.
This is awesome! I minored in French in college (and took French from seventh grade through HS), so I am a bit of a Francophile at heart. 🙂 Glad you had fun (and got to push the pace a bit)!
I want to move here so I can become fluent… and enjoy delicious cheese and wine and baguettes the rest of my days also.
That would not suck.
I think if you take it easy and listen to your body you will be ok, and just make sure you recover well! Looks like so much fun!
Thanks for the advice! Listening to my body is the most important thing, I think.
I’m so glad you went! Running through a city would be a great way to explore and the views look wonderful.
It is so fun, and definitely the best way to experience a new city (and what better city than Paris?)!
So you were that loud obnoxious group blocking the entire sidewalk! 😉
Haha probably!
This makes me happy! Glad you found a running group! Y’all look like my groups, but more Euro. I wish they were wearing neck scarves and berets.
I couldn’t stand seeing all your running group pictures and not being in one myself! It’s everything I thought it would be, and more.
How awesome that you found a group to run the city with.
I’m so glad I found them, the runs have been great.