I didnt do too well at blogging about my training for the London Marathon, but to be honest, i didnt do to well at training at all. With ankle and hip injuries, dissertation and final year university work, I came very close to quitting altogether. However, with one week to go and a trip to the walk in centre it was decided i would at least give it a shot and if I felt unable to carry on, at least i could say I had tried.
When we first arrived at the starting area, my mum and I met some people who were also running for Roy Castle and in the same pen as us; it was good to talk to them and hear that one had been in a similar position as me when it came to the training. Felt a bit calmer for it! The first few miles went really well and I became quite excited that there was minimal pain in my hip and i felt determination that i would be able to complete it even if it meant walking half of it! The only problem I did have was drinking wayyy to much and needing the loo , i stood in a queue for twenty minutes!
The best part had to be going over tower bridge and knowing my boyfriend, friends and family were all waiting at the edge to cheer us on. I pretty much sprinted that part to get to them! Chris had jelly beans ready, (although apparently had eaten most of them himself) and there were lots of hugs to be shared too.
Mum and I at Tower Bridge 😀
A mile and a half after tower bridge i needed the loo again so mum told me to run on to the next ones and she would carry on, with the idea that i would then catch her up after the massive queues. However, when I came out and had ran a mile she was still nowhere to be seen. I passed the Roy Castle cheering squad and they hadnt seen her either, so i just carried on, picking up speed now i was on my own and found i was able to run ten minute miles! Mile 24 it started to rain and i was getting a lot of pain coming from my baby toes, i thought the ankle strap may have got caught on it so stood to the side to try and sort it. It turned out that actually I had managed to get a massive blister covering the whole surface of the toe and it had popped. With two miles to go I was limping towards the mall and of course i had to run the last 385 yards! :p The people at the end saying congratulations were amazing, and being given my medal left me in complete disbelief that I had managed to complete that distance!
I just ran a marathon! Ahhh!
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 It was a bit of a nightmare trying to get away from there though to the meet and greet area, but so worth it to see Chris and Sarah waiting for me! Had a nice massage in the Roy castle tent before mum appeared and had one too. All other friends and family appeared around this time and we had a chat before making our way back to Euston. I completed the marathon in a time of 5 hours and 46 minutes. So an amazing day running 26.2 miles, and I would definitely do it again! So much so that just yesterday I entered myself for the Liverpool marathon taking place in October. With no uni work to distract me, lets see if I can knock off an hour from my time by training properly, and remember to blog about it!
Looking at the days photos on the way home 🙂
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