Overall, I stuck to my plan fairly well, but a couple of blips due to holidays and illness meant that I only managed to run 10 miles, twice, in the weeks leading up to the race...whereas in my schedule, I should have built up to the full 13 miles. I knew I'd probably be able to manage the extra 3 miles on the day, but that it would be tough.
The day before, I drank and drank and drank, determined that I would be well hydrated for the race. Race day itself started cool and rainy, but with a start time of 2pm I knew that could all change, and low and behold, at midday the sun came out, and I knew we were in for a warm afternoon.
Wayne and Jamie took me to the Racecourse in plenty of time, I made multiple trips to the portaloos, and then made my way to the starting area, placing myself in the section for a 2 hours 30 mins - 3 hours 30 mins finishing time. Soon we were off and running through Bishops Cleeve. There was lots of support along the way and the first 3 miles passed fairly quickly. The course was an "out and back" one, and at around 4.5 miles, the leaders started passing me, going in the opposite direction. I could hardly believe that they'd done almost 9 miles in the time it took me to do just over 4!
I passed my mum, who was parked up in a layby, at about 6 miles, then saw Wayne and Jamie at the half way point, then went back past my mum again at 7 miles. At that stage I was still feeling pretty good. Soon after though, the mile markers seemed to be taking longer and longer to appear. My aim was to finish in 2 hours 30 mins, and I could tell from my Garmin that although I was still on track, I was slowing down. By 9 miles, my legs were starting to really ache, and at 10 they were telling me to stop! I was telling myself I only had 5 km to go and that these days, that's a short 30 minute run, but in the end I had to stop and walk for a few minutes.
Those last 3 miles were tough!! I tried to run as much as I could, but had the odd walk break, each time wishing I hadn't because starting to run again was so difficult. At 11 miles, a man passed me with a slogan on the back of his t-shirt that said, "Pain is temporary, pride is forever". I decided to try and hang onto him for as long as I could and kept repeating the slogan to myself like a mantra. It helped a bit and finally we turned back into the racecourse with only a mile to go. I plodded on and soon I could hear the announcer calling people's names as they crossed the line, and finally the finish came into view. I'm afraid I didn't manage a sprint finish - it was all I could do to just keep putting one foot in front of the other. But I made it and finished in 2 hours 35 minutes...slower than I'd hoped for, but not too bad for my first attempt on a warm, sunny afternoon.
I think I'll do another half - maybe the Tewkesbury one next May...but I don't think I'd EVER do a full marathon! The thought of having to turn around and run the entire distance again...no way!!
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