After the Race

 

Four frillies and the accountant -
no sign of Phil at this point

Brighton Marathon 2011 - Well I'm not a marathon virgin anymore but I still have a long way to go.  We crossed the start line at around 9.08 and it was cold and crowded to start.  You might notice the long sleeve top is missing in the finish line photos.  My lovely running companion has it in the backpack.  I think he runs with me because he knows I will stop and walk part way through if he's not there to police things and I think he is right.  I hate him for making me keep going at the time but love him for it afterwards.

That extra 3 miles makes quite a difference that I was a little unprepared for.  I found the first 5 miles okay.  I pretended they were kilometres to make the end feel a bit closer and that worked until mile 8 but then I started to feel my tank was running low and I haven't practised refuelling on the go.  Eating a jelly baby is quite difficult when you have no moisture in your mouth.  The next water station couldn't come quick enough, I understand now why runners carry a bottle of water.  Of course is not enough just to carry it (which I have tried), you have to keep taking a sip.  I still have no idea how you eat on the go, I'll just have to work on that one.

 


at the finish - no crowds at the font or the back


Having got a bit dehydrated and low on fuel, miles 10-13 were really hard and I had to stop a couple of times to have a sip of Lucozade energy drink, which is disgusting. 

Here I go over the finishing line with an official time of 02:10:10 still within medal time.

The last half mile was really tough.  I knew we were nearly at the end but I couldn't see the finishing post clearly and then when I did it was 200m further away than I thought and that was a long 200m.  I was still standing after crossing the line but shunned the proffered silver blanket as I could only focus on receiving a medal at that stage and failed to realise the photo opportunity in a large sheet of reflective foil.  At least I was still standing and in better condition than at the end of the 10k in October 2010.  I even managed to get my foot onto the bench for the electronic tag to be removed. 



  The shoes, the number,
the medal.......

Noone could be more surprised than I that I have actually done this.  Thanks to Lyn Perryman who started it all with our tribute to her last Spring when we decided to run the 5k Race for Life in her memory.  We've come a long way since then and Jo and Tray are running the full Brighton Marathon in 6 weeks.  That's a step (30,000 steps actually) too far for me I'm afraid but I'll be signing up for the the Great South Run in October and plan to do the Brighton Half Marathon in the Olympic year of 2012.

I just need to practice eating on the run and go and get myself a water bottle now.   Must run.