London or Bust! by Chect

First of all - there is actually a movie called the spirit of the marathon - who would have known?  http://www.marathonmovie.com/film.html. Anyone who google films about marathons would be my guess.. check it out ...I must watch it sometime.  

Second of all - congratulations to all of the CHECT and other runners who ran in the Virgin London Marathon 2011!  I have the upmost respect and admiration for you plus my sympathy for your aches and pains at the moment.  First timers especially must be a bit dazed at the moment.   

I've had a while to think about this entry you may think but in actual fact I haven't.  Sorry not to have blogged sooner but let's just say Sunday didnt exactly go to plan for me.  I've gone into reboot mode!  I should explain...

It all started well although there was a sense of foreboding when I saw the sunshining at approximately 9.45am!!  And it did get hotter.  But apparently the hottest part of the day was to be around 2-3pm which in my mind translated as run faster,finish earlier!  Mmmm I wonder about myself sometimes.  With a pb always in mind (its the curse of a club runner I tell you - publicly we say we "just want to get round and enjoy it", privately its "you've trained well,you can do a pb no bother".  I didnt say we were a sensible bunch!

Anyway I love the start, the crowds were AMAZING - what a buzz!  All the way to 11miles really in fact most of the way round it was far busier than I have ever seen it - and I've been supporting or there in some capacity for the last 5 years.  So I waltzed the first half - high fived the crowds, yelled at my friends and waved to thank them, stopped to kiss my mum and dad (special thanks go to them - more on that later) and generally soaked it all in.  And then ...

Something changed at mile 12/13.  I was shattered, my legs felt sluggish and I felt like I wasnt even running anymore.  It was weird.  Not really like hitting a wall just a feeling of being totally overwhelmed with the 14 miles that I had ahead of me.  Mentally I knew I had done it before but I had a real moment when I panicked and thought it wasnt going to happen for me this year.  So I did what every runner did that day and gave myself a good talking to.  "Pull yourself together", "You havent done all this training for nothing" and more importantly "what will you say at work on Monday if you dont".  After that I relaxed a bit and just set out to enjoy the race - I had gone out too fast as it turned out and needed to slow down a bit (Schoolgirl error or what?!)

I carried on Miles 12-18 were not great and 18-22 were worse.  I stopped looking at the crowds but kept my head down and ran on.  My friends were great - yelling when I didnt see them and running on with fluids (thanks Christian), Mum and Dad did their own mini marathon spotting me 4-5 times en route (I think) thanks also to Jacky, Giles and Anthony support team no 2!  CHECT Cheering teams helped loads too.  Carbo gels spurred me onto mile 25.  Thinking I was over the worst I speeded up because unbelievably when I checked my watch I was doing alright?!!  So I battled on to the end only it wasnt the end... I had no idea where it was.  I stopped and thought I'd finish but no "Keep going!" Yelled the crowd - "No, YOU,keep going" I thought rather unfairly!!  So I trotted again seeing big ben and beamed as I thought I had finished.  Still No!  "Just a little further" - You have got to be kidding!  Round another bend and then I saw a sign..800m to go - "Now you are having a laugh"  So to cut a long story short my ending was thus; sprint, stop, sprint, stop wince, sprint and then collapse!  There was nothing at all left in me.  I ran my socks off and finished in 3h51 and 39secs.   

From then on (well actually from mile 25 on) it was a bit of a blur.  Medics came to my rescue - a rather nice chap named Steven and then a doc who looked about 12 years old.  Stretchered me off and checked my vital signs.  Bemused, confused and utterly exhausted I was in no position to argue.  Let it be said fellow runner, that this is not typical.  It was a hot day and there was a reason for my delerium (and I really was drunk with tiredness at that point), I had thought I was dehydrated.  The medics sorted me out with first aid and sent my on my way but it wasnt until later that we knew what had gone wrong. 

To cut a very long story short; I went to A&E later (proud parents standing close by) and was put on a drip - tests showed I was overhydrated.  Bizarre and totally unexpected for me.  I was also probably suffering from heatstroke too!  A lesson learned and probably not the best one to share with the world but truth be told.  This is an endurance event and you do have to get everything right on the day and listen to your body.  I pushed myself to the limit, for all good reasons.  I feared dehydration I always kept fluids with me whilst running I realise now I did that too much. 

I said in this blog before and I'll say it again; it's a fine balance- how could I have known how true that statement would be.  So the end result is that I have a shiny new medal, a very respectable time under my belt and a very proud heart. My parents never fail to inspire and support me and they were with me every step of the way on this marathon journey.  So to my Mum and Dad -much more than my jelly baby support team - thank you for everything! 

N.B. Proud parents Pictured here centre with me and my adopted English family too!  Thanks to all the amazing supporters who helped us get round. 

With much love and congratulations all marathon participants - keen to hear your stories too 

Linden

xx