First marathon done! such a relief!!
It's come about so quickly, but the first marathon is now well and truly done and out of the way.
I must admit that I wasn't quite as prepared for this marathon as the previous in november owing to a few niggling injuries over the christmas holidays that unfortunately still haven't quite gone away. My mileage in the approach to the first of the 12 marathons this year was somewhat lacking and there was definately a strong apprehension as to whether I would be able to complete the race or not.
My diet has also been a bit off what with the normal excessive food and alcohol consumption that comes almost by default with the christmas and new year period, although it is starting to get back on track at the moment.
Race day itself was very pleasant, the weather was perfect for the start of the run, although became quite cold as my race took a turn for the worst, but there was always the worry that we would have a cold period after the frosty whether we had been having in the run up to race day.
We stayed with Emi's sister, Vicky, the night before the race so that we had the minimal amount of travelling to do on race day and the night before was spent relaxing which was much needed and definately calmed my nerves, and so a big thank you goes out to Vicky, Carl, and their housemates!
Race day morning followed the usual routine with me waking up far too early than should be allowed for a sunday, but I needed to make sure that I had a good breakfast for the task ahead, so armed with a large bowl of porridge, I managed to watch 3/4 of Indianna Jones and the Crystal Skull whilst waiting for Emi and Vicki to rise.
I'm not sure about other runners, but I get a great sense of excitement about racing, be it 5km parkruns on a saturday or marathons, and i'm like a child at christmas! It's a bit of comfort to me knowing that despite the challenge that i've got ahead of me, I can still get into this state of mind and it reminds me that running is something that I genuinely enjoy, but with that said, I still get just as nervous about the distance in front of me.
The race itself was much bigger than I expected. I had been given number 74 which made me think that the event was going to be quite low key, although from looking at the results sheet, there were about 400 runners or so doing the marathon distance, and another few hundred doing the 50km race as well.
Organisation wise it went without a hitch, although I did hear a few comments that the race layout was slightly unorthodox, but I found the loop's quite nice as it kept everything in perspective, and the route was through various country lanes so there was always a bit of scenery to keep me occupied.
The race itself started very well, the first 4 miles comprising of two loops around a few housing developments, most of which was closed off to local traffic meaning that the pack was not overly bunched up and people had a good chance to find their place in the crowd.
Emi and Vicki came along to cheer me on and were screaming "good luck"'s as I went past towards the back of the pack. I prefer to start towards the back as then I can get a feel for my pace without inadvertantly setting off too fast and paying for it in later stages.
There was a great local turnout which crowds of supporters lining corners for the first two laps which was a real spirit lifter, a lot of people had brought banners and were cheering loudly not only for their friends/relatives/spouses/etc but everyone who went passed, creating a nice atmosphere and setting a positive tone for the rest of the race.
After the first 4 miles, the race enters the first of 3 loops of roughly 7 miles each around country lanes and contains 4 hills which over the course of the race go from pleasant and bareable to soul crushingly steep! I think I speak for a lot of people when I say thanks to the gentleman who was standing at the bottom of the first who cheered on every single person as they went passed, and the group of volunteers who manned the water station at the top of the third hill who always had a word or two of encouragement for people as they stopped.
My race went relatively to plan for the first 10 miles or so, my garmin log reports that for the first 25km or so my 1km times were between 5mins and 6mins and I felt pretty good about my prospects of achieving a sub 4hour marathon.
Unfortunately disaster struck at about 16miles or so. The niggling ankle injury that had plagued my training since christmas had been bareable up to this point, and despite a background "nagging" it hadn't caused too much of an issue.
I suddenly found myself unable to put any real pressure on my right foot, and adopted a run/walk approach, hoping that it would ease off after a bit of rest. My hopes were in vain and it soon became apparent that I would be "walking" for the rest of the race. Walking in this sense was a mixture of speed hobbling and hopping whilst trying to ignore the pain radiating from my right ankle.
I was lucky in the sense that my first 16 miles had been at a pace that I could still make it to the finish line before the 5hr cut of time expired, as long as I didn't slow too much.
I began to count down the miles hoping that I would be able to carry on to the finish, turning down the offer of the marshalls calling the sweeper vehicle to come and pick me up, and the private medical firm's offer to look at my ankle as they passed doing their sweep (by way of an explanation, if I had of stopped at this point, I don't know whether I would have been able to start again, but also the time I would have lost would have meant I wouldn't have reached the start line by the cut off).
All the runners that passed me were absolutely amazing, offering supprtive words of encouragement and good wishes and checking that I was alright and didn't need any assistance, so my thanks go out to all of them.
Emi and Vicki met me towards the end of the second lap, at which point I tried to run again, but it was quite obvious at this point it really wasn't happening and I began my walk/hop hybrid round the third and final loop.
The third lap was a mental battle rather than physical. I'm quite lucky insofar as I haven't hit "the wall" in my races yet, although i'm sure that it will happen at some point, and probably when I least need it to happen. Most of my thoughts during this lap revolved around my overall goal and the people I was running for.
I'm quite lucky in that no major tragedies have affected me or my loved ones, and with the exception of my current injury, I am in relatively good health. But, not everyone can say this.
The children that Make-a-Wish deal with cannot say this, and the affect on both them and their families is something I don't think I will be able to fully comprehend. I reasoned that whilst my ankle was painful (by this point it had reached a concerning level of agony) it didn't really come close to the level of suffering that some of the children have to go through, and ultimately a few hours worth of pain would be far outweighed by the benefit in terms of sponsorship and awareness this challenge will hopefully generate.
I reached the end of the third lap with about 2 miles left to go before the finish line. Emi and Vicki met me at this point and I am truely grateful to them for supporting me throughout the race. Despite the late hour, there were still supporters cheering runners on and as I approached the final turn before the 150meter straight to the finish line, you could hear the cheering and clapping growing louder and louder.
I was tempted to try and put in a last attempt to run across the line but common sense dictated otherwise and I crossed the line in 4hours and 48minutes, collecting my medal and heading straight for the medics that had stopped for me about an hour earlier!
Overall it wasn't the start I was hoping for for this challenge, but in hindsight i'm glad that this race happened the way it did. The experience has been both humbling and fortifying, reminding me that a race can change course at any time but also that I have the mental strength to keep going when it gets tough.
I'll be taking a week off to rest my ankle and try and get a few physiotherapy sessions in before hopefully returning to training next week. The next race is on 19.02.2012 giving me 4 weeks to (hopefully!) be better prepared and make some minor tweaks to my training routine.
On that note, its 1 down and 11 more to go!
