The race shirt and bib. Such a nice round number.

I was going to do the race recap for the Nice Half Marathon in the good, the bad, the ugly format I’ve done before, but I really couldn’t think of anything bad, and there is absolutely nothing ugly about Nice.  Instead, playing on the title of Haruki Murakami’s book What I talk About When I Talk About Running, I I thought it would be fun to share with you the Nice Half Marathon edition of what I talk (to myself) about when I’m running.

Much of the race course was along this famous avenue.

The start line

  • Le Meridian Hotel needs a renovation, non?  It’s looking a little shabby.
  • Is someone funky?  At the start line?!
  • Wow dude. Those shorts are tiny. Save the speedo for the beach. Or not.
  • Listen to this guy announcing the start of the 20th Nice “semi” marathon. Everything sounds so much better in French. Even the races.
At the start, with the Le Meridian behind me on the right. Shabby looking, huh?
Kilometer 1 – 7
  • I’m running on the Cote d’Azur. Un-freakin’-believable!
  • Look at that beautiful blue water.
  • There’s just something about a palm tree.
  • I really need to find a way to live here. Really. I mean, seriously.
  • Damn. I’m doing a 6:11 min/km (9:57 min/mile).
Kilometer 8-14
  • Am I the only black person not running as an elite runner?
  • I am definitely the only black person this far back.
  • I really need to work on my speed.  I already can’t dance. Black people are going to disown me soon.
  • 10k! Yeah, baby! Half way point. Well, almost half… wait, are those the elite runners heading to the finish already?
  • I love this Vanilla flavored Powerade gel. It tastes just like cake batter. Yum!
The all-important bling. Don’t you just love the palm tree?
Kilometer 15-21
  • This hat is really making me hot, but I need it for the shade since I don’t have sunglasses. Definitely time to break out the visor, get a little ventilation.
  • Maybe, I’ll stop here (kilometer 16) and just go to the beach. It is right there.
  • Is that Coke at the hydration station? Seriously? And warm Coke at that!
  • Screw the Coke. Get some wine out here. It is France, after all.
  • Kilometer 17, so only 4 more to go. So that’s, what, 3 miles? What’s the conversion, 1.6K is a mile or is it .62? Damn metric system!
  • Damn. I’m doing a 8:07 min/km (13:03 min/mile).
  • 1 km to go! Pick up the pace, pick up the pace, pick up the… aww, why bother? The finish line will still be there when I get there. I hope.
What do you talk (to yourself) about when you’re running?