So yesterday was THE day of the marathon
that I’ve been training for rigidly for the last 16 + weeks. I had been getting
increasingly nervous over the last couples of week-all the usual doubts…have I
done enough long runs? Did I do enough hill training sessions? How do I taper
and what the hell do I eat to ‘carb-load’!!??
Along with the doubts were the niggles that
I kept getting, right up to the week before when on a 6 mile, relatively slow
run my left calf cramped up out of the blue and I was struggling to walk for 3
days or so! Luckily my knowledge (being a Physio) has been a godsend and I have
managed to come out completely unscathed and injury free- a miracle you could
say (I’m still slightly shocked and anticipating some kind of pain/injury to
set in!).
It’s all been a bit of learning curve for
me, but judging by the day, I think I manage to do all the right things……..
So it was an EARLY start, being advised to
arrive at the venue around 7:30 and no later than 8:15 due to road closures, we
were up at 5:30-for a Sunday morning this is no fun, but my dedicated husband
and parents were up an ready to leave by 6:30 (it was still dark!!). As all the
running literature advises, its best not to try ‘new things’ on a race day so I
had my usual brekkie 3 hours before hand, followed by my banana 1 hour before!
I had mega butterflies in my stomach the
whole way, Matt was trying to keep me calm and collected, we arrived by 7:30 to
a steady stream of traffic entering-everyone looked so elite but I guess that’s
how everyone looks when you start to doubt yourself! I visited the toilet, had
a wonder around, visited the toilet, agreed on a meeting place, visited the
toilet, and made our way to the starting pens, visited the toilet (yes 4 times
in 1.5 hours-must be record!) and caught up with my running buddy Jason before
having our ‘before’ photos taken, then we were there, lined up at the start, we
went for the sub 4 hour starting pen. The tannoy announced a few things and to
be honest I can’t remember any of it-other than something long the lines of
4000+ runners and perfect weather-then we were off. Jason and I had agreed to
stick together for as long as we could, running at an 8.5 minute mile pace.
Anyone who has done races before will know its pretty difficult to get into the
right stride for the 1st couple of miles, what with all the bottle
necks and crowds weaving in and out of one another, but once we were out in the
countryside we manage to settle to a reasonably steady pace slowing slightly up
a 2-3 mile steady incline around 12-15 miles. There were drinks stations every
3 miles and I had been told to take water at each one-even if I wasn’t thirsty
as once thirst sets in, its generally too late (I was a little worried about
this theory as, believe it or not I needed the toilet AGAIN before the starting
gun went off!!!) I’m not one for the isotonic drinks so stuck with the water
and my pouch full of jelly babies.
At 16 mile Jason decided to slow his pace
to 9 a minute mile as he was starting to feel it a bit, I was keen to continue
as I felt ok so we agreed to see each other at the finish. After this my next
few miles were all over the place some in the early 8’s and others in the early
9’s-its much more difficult to pace yourself on your own-even if you do have a
GPS with a virtual partner on it!! To be fair there were a few hills going
through the villages and few stretches with a lot of fab spectators cheering us
on-always helps give you a boost when energy starts to dwindle! Those next few
miles all seemed to blur a bit then I hit 22-brand new territory, a bit of fear
as I was wondering if I would hit the ‘wall’. There were certainly a few other
runners that did (one girls was running sideways for a few meters before
collapsing into her boyfriend’s arms-while insisting she was fine and could
carry on-he was having done of it!). My wall thankfully never came and at 25
miles I thought ‘sod it’ I can go a bit faster, my last 2 miles clocked in at
8:11 and 7:47 pace-adrenaline is awesome!!! (see pic above taken in the last mile by
hubbie cheering me on from the walls around Chester).
All in all a very satisfying race day and
first marathon, I think Matt and my parents were proud (and maybe a little
shocked) that I manage it in the time I did, I’m still grinning!
Now I feel ready for the next one-bring it
:o)
For anyone interested-here's my Garmin data...
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/120253459
For anyone interested-here's my Garmin data...
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/120253459
