Last night I suddenly came to the realisation that I am running a half marathon in the morning. Nervousness kicked in and I never slept so terribly in my life. I had weird Scabies-esque itching and a strange half awake/half asleep state to deal with; but the time soon came in which to wake up and actually do it...
I started well and was egged on by other runners but ran farrrrrr too fast for the first few miles. The heat was almost unbearable as the little training I had done was accomplished in temperatures below 5 degrees.
Almost 3 miles in and I actually felt like the task was out-of-hand, but I forced myself on as a drinks break was not far off (Remind me not to eat a banana just before I start running too..).
After some water, all was well!
The next couple of miles were hard but bearable; the crowds were very supportive (thanks for the jelly beans!). At 5 miles, I decided to give one of the gel sachets a go. Having never tried these before, I was told that they give you a 'buzz' that will keep you going and excel you! So anyway, I tore the cap off, only to taste what I can only describe as a flavoured glue. It was like swallowing PVA that was dowsed in pure orange juice and sugar. This continued for the next 5 miles as there was a LOT of gel...
The drinks breaks were coming in thick and fast, as were the sponge breaks. There was even a man in the stocks to throw your used sponges at! (Got him right in the nose. YES).
Around 10 miles my legs started to tire. It had been a horrible morning and the finish line could not come sooner. Forcing myself on, I managed to make it back to Paddock Wood high street, where Julie and Mikki were kind enough to support me for the last few yards. The bridge over the train line felt like Everest at that point.
But I MADE IT! And in a better time than the Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon!
Route for Sunday Week 21 (PW Half Marathon): 13.23 miles, 110 mins 17 seconds.
Estimated Marathon Completion Time: 5 hours.
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Absolutely chuffed to bits! A long way to go still until the big one (in terms of training, not time!). Looking forward to the London Marathon still but today has given me another realisation about how far 26.2 miles really is!
Final note, I'd just like to say that yesterday's post was wrong, I actually meant to say the following:
"Also, with only 14 days to go, I'd like to make a plea to all people who haven't sponsored us yet (or if you have and would like to sponsor us again!). It's for a great cause and we are not far off of our target amount now - this is the how much it costs to run the Hospice for:
1 HOUR (not 1 Day)"
Obviously, we would really love you all to donate what you can to this grateful cause, and with under two weeks left, we'd like to raise us much as possible!
Follow the link below...
Much Love
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