Paula Broadwell Planned To Introduce Petraeus To Lance Armstrong As Birthday Gift

Paula Broadwell, the biographer revealed to be having an affair with ex-CIA director David Petraeus, had ironically reportedly planned to introduce him to Lance Armstrong as a birthday present, according to new reports.

The sex scandal that has now enveloped another high ranking military general, Gen. John Allen, and led Petraeus to tender his own resignation, broke last Friday, just days after Petraeus celebrated his 60^th birthday. Two days later, as Broadwell was celebrating her own milestone 40^th birthday, Petraeus formally announced that he would be resigning from his post after “engaging in an extramarital affair.”

Officials have said that Petraeus and Broadwell had called off the affair months ago, but as of late July reports suggest that Broadwell had been going to great lengths to try and secure a momentous present for the former General.

Fitness played a prominent role in the lives of both Broadwell and Petraeus: like Petraeus, Broadwell is an avid fitness fan, and distinguished herself as a fitness champion during her years at West Point. While promoting her biography of Petraeus “All In: The Education of General David Petraeus,” Broadwell often talked about the five-mile runs the two went on in Afghanistan and back in Washington, D.C, between the Pentagon and the National Mall.

“This is a typical mechanism he uses to get to know young people, he’s done it throughout his life,” she told Jon Stewart, during an appearance on the Daily Show. "That was the foundation of our relationship.”

In an interview with radio host Bob Rivers back in February, Broadwell added, "I think that was a big part of the reason we had such rapport... I had gone to West Point, we shared this love of running and fitness."

According to a report by Time magazine, Broadwell had been hunting for the perfect gift for Petraeus over the summer and nearly sealed the deal at a security forum in Aspen on July 28. She had allegedly implored Facebook friends for a connection to the then-reigning Tour de France champion. “Can anyone introduce me to Lance Armstrong?” a source who spoke to The New Republic said she wrote.

Broadwell, a noted networker, apparently found that connection: just days before news of the affair appeared in the headlines, she bragged in a tweet that she was scheduled to meet Armstrong on a run in Aspen. “Heading 2 @AspenInstitute 4 the Security Forum tomorrow! Panel (media & terrorism) followed by a 1v1 run with Lance Armstrong,” she tweeted.

While attending the Aspen Security Forum, Broadwell began sharing her plans to introduce the two high profile figures, telling at least six people there about her scheme to hook the two up for a bicycle ride. But the meeting obviously never took place and ironically, much like Lance Armstrong, who has since been stripped of his seven Tour de France medals, the damage to Petraeus’s career now seems irreparable.

Broadwell, who reportedly once held political aspirations herself, has been keeping a low profile since Petraeus offered his resignation.