London Marathon, done, again :D

I'll write up a full report about the race a bit later (sleepy right now!) but just wanted to let you know I did complete today's London Marathon, and how I did.

Well, to be honest, it was a bit too much like hard work! I was really far off the time I'd hoped for. It was soooo hot and I managed to leave my Garmin watch at home, which meant I had no idea what pace I was running at.  I tried to find some pacers to follow but none to be found :(

Hey ho. I did manage to run a PB, and 46minutes faster than last year. Final time: 4hrs 55mins 17secs  

And the best news...I can walk up and down! stairs without any problems...a first for me after a marathon!

More will follow...

I'm so excited!

Can't believe it's only 5 days away now - I've been waiting all year for another attempt at the London Marathon, and to make up for my dire showing last year! The day is, finally, nearly here.

My kit's ready, my legs are feeling much better than they were yesterday, I've sent out my "please sponsor me" email, I'm going to pick up my race number tomorrow, and my massage is booked for Thursday - I'm ready! :D

Now, just need to run 26.2 miles over an hour faster than I managed 12 months ago.

....Oh wait, except I still need to write my name on my t-shirt, charge my watch and work out how I'm actually going to get to the race...

For the first time, I'm going to the start line on my own, so need to make sure I don't get lost & don't get there late!  That really wouldn't help my finish time....

More knee pain....arrrrgh!

This is not good - today my knee doesn't seem to work properly! :(

Very weak, painful, and not what I need 7 days before I run a marathon.

Panic!! A week left til the big 26.2 & I've hurt myself

I'm in the middle of my taper for the marathon which is now just a week away.  I'm hugely excited, and, up to yesterday morning, feel very ready for the run.  However, I seem to have done something pretty stupid.

It was a truly gorgeous day yesterday, and it was like a summer's morning rather than a day in early April!  My boyfriend and I were meeting friends in a pub garden for the afternoon, and we decided to make that pub garden a stop on a countryside bike ride.  I very rarely go out on the bike, although my boyfriend cycles every day - it's not really my thing - but when the weather is nice it's something I can really enjoy, especially as we're out there together instead running on my own!  And yes - the bike ride was lovely; the country lanes around where we live really do show off some of (what I think) are the best things about British countryside - rolling farmland, ancient woodland, tree-canopied roads and quaint churches and villages.

However, for all that beauty, by the time we were riding home, I was ruing the decision to go on a long bike ride with only week to go until the big 26.2 run.  My legs were aching, and particularly my lower inner thigh (the sartorius muscle) was absolutely burning.  I was experiencing more pain and doing more huffing and puffing than I when I run and I don't think I'm ever relied on my mantra more to keep going up and down the hills..."pain is temporary, pride is forever"...all the while thinking that I wasn't going to be proud about finishing this ride, it wasn't a run, and I just wanted to get it over with ;)

But finally I made it home, and gratefully dumped my bike.  I tried to stretch out my legs, but I've never felt my sartorius muscle before, and wasn't sure how to get to it as none of my usual running stretches got close! The pain unfortunately didn't get any better during the evening, and to get to sleep last night I had to take pain killers and anti-inflammatories, hoping that by the morning, the bed rest would have sorted me out. 

But this morning I'm starting to panic.  My legs, although no-longer beset by the burning pain, are still feeling heavy and uncomfortable.  I was meant to be going for a 10mi run today but really don't think it's a good idea, as I'm concerned I'll just compound the problem.

So, I'm going to spend the day resting my legs, maybe have a hot bath and then do some stretching and see how I go.  Ideally I'd like to get out for at least 5mi this evening, but will only go if I feel ok - I'm so annoyed with myself that I put myself in this position, and am just desperately hoping that I haven't ruined my taper!

Countdown: M minus 19 days

After months of thinking, training, and planning for it...it's now just 19 days away...the London Marathon.

One of the biggest marathons in the world - and my third time there.  I did finish on my other two attempts, and have the medals to prove it - I'm very proud to have achieved that, but with times of 5:00:12 and 5:41:46, I don't count either run as a particular success.  The first time, I wanted to finish - that was it, just get around the course, which I did and I had an absolute blast, but it doesn't take a lot of guts to just keep plodding round as slowly as you need to, to cross the line.  The second time, I wanted to improve on the first but obviously I didn't achieve that, really as a result of barely putting in any training, and being woefully unprepared for the enormous effort involved in running 26.2miles - the whole thing was a painful car crash of a run - an horrific experience that I am still trying to forget!  This time I'm determined it will be different.  

Although I haven't trained nearly as much as I had planned to, because, truth be told, I'm just pretty damn lazy sometimes, I have trained more than for either of my previous marathons, I've run many more races than I've ever done before, and I feel more confident about completing the distance, and doing well.  Although, when I say "doing well" that's relative - for me, doing well in my third marathon will mean getting round in under 4hrs 30mins.  That is my plan.  It's going to be tough but that's what I'm aiming for, what I'm ready for and it's what I'm determined to do.

I know though that there are some in the running community who would think why bother with aiming for completing it in 4hrs 30mins?

"...surely you should be aiming for at least under 4hrs to make it a worthwhile achievement...if you're really a runner..."

For many people, I'm sure that achieving a run of under 4hrs or faster is the only thing that motivates then and makes then feel like a proper runner, and then I know that for some people it's even under 3hrs...or for those select few it's whether they can make it under 2hrs 05mins that makes finishing the marathon an achievement for them.  But for me, obviously, it's very different. 

Completing the marathon the first time around, regardless of my time, made me a bone fide runner in my opinion and showed me I was a stronger, more committed and determined person than I had ever realised, and going faster doesn't change that knowledge that I will always have about myself.  But achieving this target of running in under 4hrs 30mins means that I've achieved something extra - it's a step up for me, and it doesn't matter that my target is lower than many other people's.  Sub 4hrs 30mins it's what I've had in my mind for all these months of training, and whereas in my last two marathons I really just needed to finish, this time, I want to fulfil this specific goal, for which I will have to work really hard throughout the run.  I'll have to keep on going, I can't walk when I get tired, I can't pull over to stretch when I fancy it, and I'm going to have to keep pushing myself like never before, and win the psychological battle that I know I will undergo.  If I manage all of these things, the 17th April 2011 will see me complete one of my biggest achievements.