Sunday the 25th of September began a bit differently to my standard Sunday's; 6.30 alarm, nerves and a big bowl of porridge, quite the contrast to waking naturally at 9.30 and lounging around in my PJs until around 11. This particular Sunday, I'd have 13.1 miles under my belt by the time I'd usually be thinking about getting in the shower and starting the day!
Different though it was, it was one of the best Sunday's I've ever had. It's the greatest milestone in my marathon training so far and a brilliant test of mental strength which has only left me better off when thinking about preparations for next years 26.2 miles. I now have full confidence I will be able to run the marathon!
I think back to when I started training for the event next April; when pushing for 6K instead of 5 was a real struggle, training was overwhelming and my legs would ache for days after an 8K run. I feel an overwhelming sense of achievement and for the first time I understand how people can get addicted to running marathons!
As my training progressed I was motivated by beating my previous times, I continuously ran faster 5K's and managed to shave a few seconds off my longer run times also in the run up to the half marathon. I know some people run the marathon and other events just to get round and complete it, after all, everyone's personal efforts are a great achievement and I'm not for a moment belittling this approach to running.
For me however, I am a naturally competitive sportswoman who is motivated by beating previous times and distances. Many of you who know me are probably nodding along in agreeance as you read this! I set myself the goal of running the half in 2 hours or less, and as you can see from the above image, I did it! The relief, happiness and pride of seeing that time at the finish line was such an amazing feeling, and definitely one I'm desperate to relive when it comes to the London Marathon in April! The top photo in this post is me crossing the finish line, you can tell by my face how relieved I am to have completed it! You can see my full results and race position
here.
For this post I thought about what I would have liked to have read before doing the half, so I'm just going to summarise the weekend, how I felt before and after the run and my final prep before the big day!
The week on the run up to raceday was busy. We had a midweek work party, several late nights, I had also been trying to prevent a niggling cold with tablets and lots of fluids but typically it all caught up with me on the Friday. I felt pretty stressed out, but the most sound piece of advice I received was that it was totally out of my hands, I just needed to relax and enjoy it. I'd had loads of fun in the week and if I'd sat at home each evening getting early nights and missing out on the fun, I'd have been even more gutted to catch a cold right before the day! So I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't take it too seriously - train hard, stick to your schedule as best you can but when it comes to the countdown just relax! The training has been done and you'll get out of it what you put in!
The day before the race, my lovely pal Jess came round with some little good luck treats for me. I can't even explain what a difference it makes to have supportive friends when it comes to an event like this. She brought me my favourite chocolate, cosy socks, bath soak etc and we sat and chatted with a cuppa for an hour - during which time, my nerves were totally gone.
For the rest of the day I just chilled. I went for a short cycle in to town just to get my legs going in the afternoon, I had a nice bath and a massive carby dinner of pasta before laying out my outfit and race number and getting in to bed for an early night.
The race was to start at 9am, so I decided to get up at 6.30, get ready and have my breakfast. The weather was fairly fresh but the sun was forecast to come out so I decided to wear capri leggings and a vest along with my running belt that I had trained in. I filled the running pouch with Dextros, tissues for my cold and a couple of energy gels. I was still able to fit my phone which was ideal so I could have my 'map my run' app on!
I cycled up to the race village which was in Cheltenham race course. This turned out to be the best decision I made, as the traffic was terrible and people struggled to make the start! I found my friend from work, Pete, had a quick chat to calm the nerves before making my way to my pen. I had my energy gel before the race began (Took me ages to find a nice flavour I liked, I went for
this one I got in Holland and Barrett in the end, It's pretty good if you are unsure which ones to buy!) I was in a pen that had the 2.5 hour pacer at the front - not ideal considering I wanted to do it in 2 hours! However this is another piece of advice I wish I'd have had when I signed up, always predict faster when it asks the time you want to run in! Luckily when the group warm up started the pens all joined and the pacer told me to start weaving in and out people while edging forward to the 2 hour pacer - which I managed!
I ended up listening to music around the route despite having trained with Audiobooks for longer runs. Something about the crowd and atmosphere made me want to turn up the volume and run to some good chart music. The sun was shining and each mile, the streets were lined with people cheering the runners on. I spotted my friends that came out to watch at mile 4 and 9 and then my friend Holly surprised me at the finish line which was literally the best! I had no idea she'd be there, so that was amazing. I felt like I was floating those first few steps after crossing the line!
I managed to Facebook Live some of the race which was great to look back on and update everyone how I was getting on. I'm sure everyone loved the notifications too!
The route was pretty good overall, aside from the final 2 miles around the racecourse at the end! I think that was enough of an endurance test in itself! Here's the route and my 'map my run' app route (I forgot to turn the app off until about 5 minutes after hence the time difference!) ;
Finally just a few tips on preparation - I ran 17km when I was home in Scotland 2 weeks beforehand and that was as far as I'd run until raceday - My pace wasn't affected and I managed to complete the run in my predicted 2 hours based on the pace of my 17K run. I had my sister cycle with me supporting and it literally makes running so much easier! Just to mention again my lovely friends & family who sent me texts, Facebook messages, liked my live videos, came out and cheered for me and captured photos of me crossing the line. - They truly made my day and gave me the strength to push for the sub 2 hour mark when I so badly wanted to stop running and walk on that racecourse!
Here's some pics of my training with my sister up in Scotland;
All in all, I had a brilliant day running the half. A great half way mark in my training and a sense of achievement that I needed to spur me on to strive for the best I can in the marathon next year.
My fundraising page has been set up since I started training so if you are inspired by my blog or just want to show your support then please leave a donation on the below page;
Also, this is the 3rd post in my marathon training blogs, so if you have just found out you've been successful in the ballot, or have signed up with a charity but don't know where to start, here's the links to my other posts;
Thank you again to everyone for your support so far!
Any questions about training or taking part in an event such as a half marathon, or about anything else, please leave them in the comments below!
L x
