(A big part of this race and the blog is a song that is quite special to me and is the only thing that possibly allowed me to finish but at the same time nearly stopped me from finishing the race. Here is the video if anyone would like to listen to the song whilst reading, if not just enjoy the read)
It was a lot different to the previous marathon on the same course only two weeks earlier, I hit a wall at mile 1. This continued until around mile 15 not a great start and I just couldn't get going, I opted to run/walk it as I just couldn't get myself going properly into a good running pace. I started of following Dawn who I knew ran fast, alot faster than me and the first 4 miles were done at 9 minute mile pace then I started flagging bad and Dawn was a mere dot in the distance.
There was one song on my mp3 player that has held a lot of meaning to me over the last few weeks and I was determined not to skip to that song but wait patiently for it to come around and play on it's own. Having new songs was good and I was soon pounding away to different beats though 75% of it was power walking. I was having the previous problems with my foot which wasn't helping, plus there were no iced fairy cakes to keep my brain active and for me on that day 5 hours in my own head and mind was just too much.
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| Karens "this is not a sponsored walk" hoody |
At mile 18 'The song' came on and that was it, I felt completely relaxed, not really feeling anything but sad I guess and it made me start taking in my surroundings and set me on a bit of a downwards spiral, I continued listening to the song on repeat until mile 22 then switched to more upbeat songs and decided enough was enough I was going to finish this marathon and I was going to do the Milton Keynes Marathon in May and I was going to do the Grim Ultra in August in fact I was going to do anything and everything. The last lap was the hardest ever both feet were now suffering with this pain every time I took a step but I just had to get to the finish. I decided near the end of the last lap to put my song back on and this actually reduced me to tears, the people that were walking dogs or cycling around the lake must have thought I was a complete loon! I could have sworn I was last at this point as I hadn't seen anyone for ages, I kept looking behind me and no one, I got to the point at the underpass where the lake meets and you can see right over the other side of the course and I couldn't see any runners.
I had resigned myself to the fact I was last and everyone was waiting in the cold for me the girl who was blubbing and walking, walking and blubbing to round the final straight. I came to the final straight and decided enough was enough I couldn't cross the finish line crying so turned my music off and looked at my garmin. My last marathon time on that course was 5 hours 31 mins and somehow, god only knows how? If I sprinted the last bit I would have a new pb.
I ran for my life and finished with an amazing new time of 5 hours 20 minutes and 59 seconds! Millie was waiting for me at the finish to say how well I had done and check I was ok as she had noticed me crying. The great news was I also wasn't last!
In 8 weeks I have ran 3 marathons and knocked a total of 36 minutes of my original time. Looking back at the garmin connect site I walk faster than I run though the first 4 miles with Dawn helped a little!
I love running around that lake so much and all the friends I've made that comes with it that I've entered the Enigma 30 mile Ultra in July.
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