Lots of life stuff going on....leaving Leeds, moving house (twice), deadlines (the worst part), practical exams (oh no wait, they were the worst) etc etc...and so the furthest I managed to run in the 5 weeks since the ultra was 8.5 miles...
....oh...
...this was not looking good for the Orpington Marafun!
I entered this only a few weeks ago, whilst in a particularly deep depth of despair about uni work. I wanted something else to think about, so chose this, as I did it last year and really enjoyed it. I decided on entering that I would just go to enjoy it, and use it as a training run, and not go out to do a good time.
Of course, this was all theory, and I forgot it all as I stood at the start line and saw 26.2 miles ahead which needed to be conquered.
This was all very well, if I paid no attention to the fact my recent training had been dreadful, lacking structure and mileage. The last two days before the marathon I successfully ticked all the boxes for what not to do to prepare for a marathon....about 8 hours sleep in the 48 hours before the race, no stretching, eating all the wrong things, lugged my life around in a suitcase from Chorley to Leeds to London the day before (but this is a great whole body workout at any other time!), G&T the night before (but this was technically Andrew's fault, so I can't take responsibility for that) and no proper breakfast (as there were no oats left and the bread was moudly, and I hadn't caught up with what was happening and managed to do anything about it).
Well, I ignored all of that and set off, after a jam pastry and cup of tea I found at the start (I mean, I bought it, not that I just found a random pastry lying around somewhere). The route had changed for one thing and there now was a definite increase in hills. Embrace the hills! I thought, as I enthusiastically set off, destroying my leg muscles withing the first 2 minutes. Smart.
I was going on pretty well for the first 8 miles to be honest. The only problem I encountered was that I'd tied my shoelaces too tight and my right foot went numb. That was a bit disconcerting. Soon after that came the flaw in my plan, that I hadn't run more than that in quite a long time. Things went downhill fairly swiftly, stomach cramps, headache, hadn't brought any food/drink with me and it was HOT! Then, at 22 miles I got a stitch! I stitch! I've never had a stitch before! I thought I was having appendicitis it was so painful. I now have COMPLETE sympathy for anyone who gets these, I had never appreciated how much it hurts before, like a knife! It hurt so much I then felt sick so spent the last few miles trying not the throw up, while trying not to land too heavily on my right leg, as every time I did the Stitch Monster twisted the knife more deeply and aggressively.
I hopped over the finish line in 3:51:39 and I think I came first in the ladies as several people shouted that at me on the way round. So, pleased with all that! Definitely not my peak physical performance though!.
I have now recovered from the experience physically, although mentally it still hurts to think about.
I am much encouraged by the idea that you must make mistakes to become better.....
....so, by making a lot of mistakes...you can learn a lot of things.....and next time, you will know how to do them better :-)
