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It's over ...wondering what all the fuss was about!
Apr27201010:50 p.m.
The day finally arrived as I lined up in pen 9 at 0915 on a wet Sunday morning in Greenwich. All those hours of training in cold, wet, icy, snowy, muddy conditions were behind me. My body had recovered from all those niggling aches and pains - shin splint, runners knee, ITB pain. I was ready for the off as were 36,000 plus fellow runners of all shapes, sizes, nationalities - some just for fun and to raise money for charity and/or attain their PB; others for the Guiness Book of Records for the biggest, silliest, fastest costume-clad runner to finish. I felt a sense of excitement and anticipation as I stood amongst this crowd of fellow humans as we were about to put our bodies through tremendous stress fo 26.2 miles.
My wife, Jane, my younger son Wayne and friends Dieter and Scott, were at the start to see me off, and to my surprise were there to cheer me on at 6 different points on the route (Dieter had run it 3 times and spectated many times so knew the area intimately). Their presence throughout the run really kept me going!
The rain stopped and we were off - it took 10-15 minutes to get to the start and difficult to get going behind so many bunched up runners, but after a couple of miles I was at my 10 minute mile pace and cruising along, complete with my 8 gel packs.
The crowds and the Sense cheerers along the route were fantastic - cheering,encouraging, playing music, offering sweets, fruit, high 5's......absolutely brilliant and helped me to keep going all the way.
At the halfway point I knew I was doing well - the time clock showed 2:30, so I knew I had improved my 4 year half-marathon time by over 20 minutes - I was on cloud nine!
The gels were going down every 4 miles with water and legs feeling tired but still plenty of power. I was hardly breaking into a sweat and breathing was normal - this was becoming just like a training run.....mmmm a bit premature.
At 20 miles I could feel some blisters forming on both feet - something that had never happened in training - so why now? Shortly after the pain was becoming intense and I felt like stopping at a first aid point to get them attended to, but thought otherwise in case I seized up! I'm glad I didn't - I walked for a little longer as I took on gels and water, and the crowd kept up their encouraging shouts "Come on Ian just a few more miles" , "Looking good Ian - keep on going". Little did they know how I felt.
At 24 miles I could sense that the end was near - I'm finishing this even if I have to crawl over the finish line!
The noise from the crowd was tremendous, I picked up the pace again and kept on running all the way to the finish line, raising my arms and screaming in triumph - I did it!
My time was a respectable 5:18:53, which was just over my target of 5 hours, but I'm pleased to have finished (ahead of thousands of younger runners
).
After picking up my medal and goody bag, having photo taken and congratulating some of my fellow runners (particularly "Evil Kenievel" as we were always passing each other at various points), I headed straight for the first aid tent for treatment to my blisters - ouch!
I and my cheering party then attended the Sense post-run reception, where I was treated to a welcome massage and a(nother) pasta meal, plus thanks from Sense boss and staff for all our efforts, which raised approximately £1,000,000 - amazing!
Today I'm resting, stretching, refuelling, hydrating and catching up on Realbuzz marathoners' tales of VLM. Well done to all who undertook this massive physical and mental challenge - whatever time you took - it was your race! The pain is temporary - but the pride will last forever.
Will I do it again? Probably not.
Will I run again? Eventually but I'll stick to shorter distances - 10K or half-marathon - after all I'm fitter now than in all my 60 years!
Thank you to all my RB friends for sharing your lives with me and providing encouragement and advice. Good luck to you all in your future running careers.
Keep on shuffling!
Ian
Previous Posts
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Apr2420109:28 a.m.
Visit to Expo and start area - but I've now got a blister : - (
Last post before the big day - on Blackberry as we've been in London since Thursday. What a day yesterday! After a huge breakfast at the hotel - well we are... -
Apr18201011:13 p.m.
Last LSR and into official taper week - one week to go!
This last week has been busy, working in Surrey all week, visiting children and grandchildren, and three short runs (30 mins, 20 mins, 10 mins). I was... -
Apr1020102:04 a.m.
Final LSR - 200 mins ....followed by another visit to chiropractor.
Monday's LSR of 200 minutes off-road was marred by cramping to right calf - but I finished it . I wore the 2XU calf guards to protect against... -
Apr0420108:41 a.m.
Back home after Cyrpus break and looking forward to 200 mins LSR...really!!
Got back yesterday after a week's R&R in Pissouri, Cyprus - what a beautiful, relaxing place to go. Weather was wonderful - warm +24 degrees and sunny... -
Mar2720103:15 a.m.
Short runs this week - now off to Cyprus!
I've had a particularly busy week working all over Midlands and North West - now looking forward to a week's complete rest (apart from VLM training) I've done...
Comments (2)
Firefly123 'Thats a really great post Ian and I'm so pleased you had a great marathon. Congratulations on getting to the end with all your blisters. I also developed them when I never had them in training runs and I can only assume it was because my feet were sweating more than in training. During most of my long runs, my feet struggled to even get warm! Good luck with future plans and why not dip in to RB from time to time to let us know how you're doing.' added 27th Apr 2010
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squa25 'Sorry for the delay in getting to your post. Well done and congrats Ian! What a fab day you had and damn those blisters. You ran a superb race, I hope your blisters are now a distant memory and you are fully recovered.' added 23rd May 2010
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