My First Marathon!
YESSSS I FINALLY DID IT!!
(Don’t worry, I’ll stop going on about it soon!)
At the beginning of last month I ran my FIRST MARATHON - THE LONDON MARATHON!
It was a long time in the making and a lot of cardio (that bloody assault bike who forced me to become friends with it!) but it actually paid off… and dare I say it… it was easier than I thought it would be… don’t get me wrong, there were times that felt tough, my legs felt heavy or I got a little bit bored but with the atmosphere of it all, a bit of company to keep me distracted and the fact that my body actually felt good (no niggling injuries… yay!) made it feel like an amazing experience!!
IN THE RUN UP…
Training the week of the marathon we did slightly tapered but I still trained everyday up until the Saturday to keep everything moving and feeling ready to go - me and my coach are of the same mind that if you rest completely you lose momentum and it’s hard for me to get going again so my training that week consisted of:
MONDAY : Weights session
TUESDAY : 3.5hr assault bike (yes you read that right… my soul disappeared for a while and returned a few hours later… but I did feel great having been able to go for that long!)
WEDNESDAY : Weights session
THURSDAY : Positioning work & 45mins assault bike
FRIDAY : Positioning work & 20mins assault bike
SATURDAY : Rest & travel to London
SUNDAY : RACE DAY!!
LAST TRAINING SESSION COMPLETE! ✌🏻
I headed up to London the day before with one of my best friends/birthday twin, who was also running, to pick up our race numbers from the running show (and a big flapjack while we were there - because carb loading right?!), checked into our hotel, set out my clothes for race day and grabbed dinner at Bills (No not a big bowl of pasta like people always imagine… we had some chicken skewers and mini sausages to share for starters followed by salmon, rice and the most amazing grilled miso aubergine.. nom nom!) before settling down in bed by 8pm with a coconut milk hot chocolate to watch ice age (we discovered there is an ice age film we actually haven’t seen… and it’s based in SPACE… how does that even work?!)
ON THE DAY
My morning started pretty much like every other day (minus the puppy cuddles!)
I woke up early like clockwork, had my usual protein smoothie bowl for breakfast which I had brought with me (we’re talking all the goodness of berries, spinach, matcha, protein powder, VSL3 prebiotic, almond butter, topped with walnuts - and treated myself to a little more energy adding a banana on top too!) … brought it in a shaker though and didn’t think through the bowl situation but thanks to my friend’s wise food choice from the day before we got inventive and used the plastic container that her mango was in and voila!!
Like breakfast, I also stuck with the same clothes I had worn for my long training runs - Long shorts, crop top, toe socks and running vest which packed in all my gels, water bottles and phone (that was fun in itself packing that as I’d never run with that many gels on me before!)
I must admit once all dressed and ready to go I found myself feeling rather nervous all of a sudden but after a quick call from my coach to see how I was feeling it gave me the confidence that I had done all the prep work I needed to do this!!
A packet of salted crisps, two cliff bars and I was all fuelled up & ready to go!!
…AND WE WERE OFF…
While waiting to start in my wave, I was lucky enough to randomly find someone in my wave that my husband knew and we ended up running together for the first 19 miles which made it all the more enjoyable to share the experience with… albeit I probably went off quicker than I normally would have done but hey… we chatted for the majority of it until we got to about 13/14 miles at which point he turned to me and asked “are you bored yet” to which I replied “yes a little bit” - not with his company but just the monotony of the running but you just have to keep pushing, keep putting one foot in front of the other and try and find things to occupy your mind with the atmosphere and looking out for Darren’s face (my hubby) popping up around the route to cheer me on!!
ME & PAUL LOVING LIFE JUST BEFORE WE REACHED TOWER BRIDGE
At just before 19 miles, while running through Canary Wharf, me and my running companion parted ways as his legs were really feeling it so he told me to carry on and run ahead… from this point I just remembered back to those runs and long assault bike sessions I did on my own, put my head down and it was GAME ON!!
In a weird way I felt a sense of relief running on my own for the last bit as this is how most of my training had been… just me, my body and my mind!
MY BODY
Physically I was feeling great, was lighter than I had been in a while and I hadn’t had any niggles in my ankle while running leading up to the race so things were looking up (oh apart from a few blistered toes… but I’ll take that!).
I started the race off a little quicker than I usually would have done so my heart rate was sitting slightly higher than I would usually like it to be but it was so easy to get caught up in soaking up the atmosphere of it all - as a result I was definitely feeling the legs getting tired earlier than they did in my longest run that I did before the day which was 17 miles.
… Oh, but then… CRAMP CRAMP CRAMP…
Just after running over Tower bridge at about the half way point, the first of the cramp in my calves kicked in and was the first time in the race I felt like stopping to stretch them out - but I resisted this urge and luckily it eased off for a bit. It wasn’t until about 20/21 miles that the cramp kicked in again and this time didn’t want to shift so I ended up running the rest of the race with cramp in my calves - oh how badly I wanted to and thought about stopping so many times in that last 5/6 miles to stretch it out but no… I was determined… no stopping… no walking… just running all the way!! I said to myself before the race that I didn’t want to walk or stop at any point during the race so I just kept going but unfortunately the cramp also meant I couldn’t push myself at the end quite like I felt I could have done otherwise which was frustrating as the rest of me was feeling good, energy was still there, smile was still on my face and breathing felt easy!
As say everything was feeling good and I managed to finish with relative ease but it wasn’t until I start walking once I crossed the finish line that my legs felt it… I think the hardest bit physically was walking myself back to our hotel after finishing… what should have been less than a 10 minute walk I think ended up taking about half an hour!! Yep… the legs started ceasing up!
The stiff legs I think were the most I actually ended up with though which I was so pleased about (and those slightly blistered tootsies which didn’t surprise me!)… I actually finished without any injuries which was the biggest win for me… and I walking around London on Monday and was back to training on the Tuesday with no problem at all!! How good is that after running a marathon?! (Well I was pleased with myself anyway!!)
MY MIND
Oh wow… don’t think I’ve felt so many emotions in one day...
Excited, nervous, buzzing, bored, happy, sad, emotional, hungry, thirsty, sick at the thought of consuming any more gels, thirsty & couldn’t seem to get enough water in me, I had a moment where things didn’t seem as I had expected (I hyped it up so much in my head!) but throughout I felt like I had a constant smile on my face and like this was my day… I was finishing that marathon!!!
My mind is something that I think is pretty strong when it comes to doing something I have my heart set on, I get myself focused and I get very determined with myself so nothing was going to stop me… especially on that day!
My long stints on the assault bike during training did not just train my aerobic capacity… they also trained my mind to switch off when things get tough (whether it be mentally or physically!) so the body just takes over and does what it needs to do…. So for this I thank you Arnie… you have taught me well!!
But finally crossing that finish line I had so many emotions running though me… I was so happy that I HAD DONE IT…. But also sad that it was over and no one was there to share it with (at that point I just wanted someone to run over to give me a big hug and celebrate with me!) - it was at this point I called Darren, had some happy tears over the phone and attempted to compose myself, pick up my belongings and shuffle to try and find the hotel!
FUEL ME UP
I had trained using the SIS Gels (orange… must be orange!!) so this is what I stuck with on the day - I had worked out that I needed one gel at least every 45 minutes so took 6 gels with me in the hope this was be enough… actually only ended up using 4 as I put two in the back of my running vest and didn’t think through how I was going to reach them when I need them… these two probably wouldn’t have help for the last push but by the point I was not going to struggle to get them out and after 4 gels, I’m not sure my stomach would have stomached anymore!
I also took two water bottles in my running vest with me that I used between water stops and took on water from the water station as and when I felt I needed to… although towards the end one my water bottles in my vest were empty and the water stations couldn’t come soon enough so definitely should have taken a bit more on earlier in the race!
THE AFTER MATH
I ended up completing The London Marathon in 4 hours & 42 minutes!
If it hadn’t been for the cramp in my calves I think I could have definitely pushed to get under the 4.5 hour mark but I had said before I ran it that I wanted to get at least under 5 hours so I’ll take that as a win for my first marathon!
Once I made it back to the hotel after finishing the race, it was about time for a shower, a Five guys and a stein of beer (after being clapped as I came into the Munich cricket club with my medal on - how embarrassing!!) before attempting to get a good night’s sleep with some very restless legs!!
Would I do it again?
I was asked before I ran it whether I would do another one after to which I replied “let’s wait until I ran this one shall we” as it always seems to go one way or the other… people either seem to run a marathon and never want to run again or they loved it and want to do more!
I can confirm that I was definintely the latter…. I LOVED IT!!!
I want to make a special mention and say a big thanks to my Coach and mentor of Fitness Rebels, Nick Daniel for being an absolute legend - helping me get over those niggling injuries in my ankle and making me into an cardio bunny just long enough to get me ready for the marathon - couldn’t have done it without all your help!
I can’t believe we ran the marathon by only starting running back up again 10 weeks before and that was just one run a week at that point too… and 2 runs a week from about 6/7 weeks…. that’s MENTAL!!! (Did give me ALOT of cardio mind… it worked though so I won’t complain! 😜)
…And there will definitely be more from me… BRING ON 2022 where we’re going for under 4 hours next time!! 👊🏼
WATCH THIS SPACE!!
