Happy Start of the 2015 Spring Running Season for those with races in their calendars! :)
Do you think you can run a marathon?
Do you think you can run from Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle, in a couple of hours, and arrive at the finishing line in 1 piece?
I’d never thought I could do that.
I’ve never got through the Athletics heats at school and was never a sporty person.
I was only forced to take an interest in Marathons when I started going out with a marathon runner, and supporting him is harder than running one yourself. At the Paris Marathon expo, I registered my mobile for alerts, which will send me a text message when he reaches the 20km and 30 km mark.
Saw him off at the start, got to the 25km mark with lots of time to spare, surveyed where I would stand on the course, and went to the nearest café for a croissant and a coffee. Beep! Came the text, I got my bill, eased into position and snap snap, got 2 nice close up pictures of my runner, then hop onto the metro, for the 31km spot at the Trocadero.
Having had to change trains twice, the 30km text came just as I was getting out of the station. I had missed him – so had to run to the finish myself.
So the following year, 6 of my friends decided to sign up for Paris –was I going to wait around for all of them to come through the finish? If you can’t beat them, join them…hence my number 1 tip to be able to do a marathon: Just Sign up first!
I had 6 months to prepare. They say, you cannot miss any of your weekly long runs, and build on no more than 10% increase in distance each time, so that you can one day complete the full distance. Regardless of how much running I did during the week, every Saturday morning I was up for my long run, the pressure was off as I was meant to go really slow….I enjoyed myself, getting to know more and more of the Thames Path as the weeks go on, but one day, I learnt the real reason why I was out there doing all these miles. After going for what must be 3 hours, I flew over a tree trunk and fell on my hands without gloves. The shock totally woke me up! It really taught me to: Do all your long runs properly, and do not fall asleep!
With less than 4 months to go in the New Year – I came to realize that I have never even done a half marathon– how can you do a full then? Watford was the logical choice, being on the 1st February and on the Metropolitan line. Unfortunately it was a very cold day, I thought it was best to rug up with a long sleeved running top, a fleece top, AND another jacket. A bandana to cover my nose, and also a beanie – I looked more like a bandit than a runner. Well I was more than equipped for a ‘rewarding course in country lanes with undulating hills’!
My water bottle fell off the belt, and I was almost trampled at the start. I soldiered on and my felt my vision getting blurry, because it started snowing and little wisps of it was landing on my eyelashes! I almost felt lucky that I have so many layers on, until the second half of the race, I was getting warm and sweaty, and had to choose between stripping everything off and littering the countryside, or carrying them around with me. I kept them on, but ended up getting a headache and had to walk at times. Which taught me another lesson – don’t wear too much for a race, you will definitely get warmer!
The Big Day came in April, I felt more than prepared:
I have one race under my belt,
done my longest run in 4 hours!
I have my gloves,
I got rid of that bandit look and
know that I cannot fall asleep.
I really enjoyed the run around Paris, it’s good to take in the Bastille, the Eiffel tower and the Trocaedro with my camera and on my two feet. I ran at an easy pace, until the last 5 kilometres, when I had to go slowly through the park. A nun offered me a glass of wine, which I gladly accepted and then spat it out as it was warm! That got me to rush to the finishing line in just over 5 hours and luckily, still in one piece!
My first marathon experience taught me not to do anything you haven’t done before on race day (such as accepting red wine from random nuns that appear in a park!) and remember what you learnt from each training session.
But it’s signing up and getting yourself onto the starting line that makes the difference. You are the winner of your own race if you put are willing to put yourself out there.
So move away from that couch…you too can become a marathon runner this year!
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| The Bandit Look - Watford Half-Marathon (my first!) 1/2/2009 |
My first Half-Marathon - Watford 2009
My first Marathon - Paris 2009
