The Truth

So….I have a confession to make. While nothing in my last post was fabricated I missed out one major detail and that is that my general overwhelming feeling about the marathon was………that it was boring! I had listened to so many stories about how great it would be so (although all my training had been with my ipod) on race day I didn’t listen to music as I didn’t want to miss a thing. I wanted to hear every cheer and really embrace the experience. Turned out this was the wrong decision, it didn’t work for me! I NEED BRITNEY!!!

As I crossed the finish line I was expecting to be exhausted, overwhelmed and definitely to cry! I had been told by many I would definitely cry as I crossed the finish line. “It’s SO emotional!” However, somehow I was not that tired (no idea how I pulled that one off, my guess is a mix of training + carb loading? I was later told by BTUK that several supporters didn’t believe I had actually run it all as I stood about chatting while their offspring lay on the floor exhausted! I felt fine, a bit tired but not too bad); I was not particularly overwhelmed (I had every confidence I would complete the 26.2 miles feeling strong, I had trained HARD); and I definitely didn’t cry. I felt a bit like a terrible actor being told to cry and trying really hard to be overcome with emotion but it just didn’t happen! I was left feeling a bit short changed….had I missed my marathon experience?!

I had run 4.38.01, I’d not reached my goal and didn’t have anything to compare this time to, but as time went on and I spoke to more runners I became more and more pleased with my time (especially given how hot it had been). I’d done OK. Now I reckon you can run a marathon with two mindsets; that of a normal person who secretly thinks they are mad for attempting 26.2 miles; or that of a runner who has trained and KNOWS they can run 26.2 miles. I realised that what I’d done was that I’d run as a runner! I was most surprised as I definitely did not consider myself to be a runner. It was a race and that’s how I’d approached it and run it. I seem to remember that I was one, if not THE fastest HPH female! How on earth I managed that I don’t know but when people asked me I remember simply saying “I just kept on running”. For me Forest Gump was right, it really was that simple!

I hadn’t entered the Leeds Half as it was only 3 weeks after London and I was told (by runners much faster and more experienced than me) the rule is you need a days recovery for each mile you have run; so to recover from a marathon you need 26 days recovery (but I felt really good). I kept going to run club and I was running well….I wanted to run Leeds Half. It was full. Race entry closed 3 days ago. I called the organisers and was told I was about the 30^th person to call and ask that Monday! I reckoned they’d all run London and got on well too. Luckily for me all it took was one post on the HPH website and I had found a place. A lovely lady (Sarah Farnell) who was injured had a spare place so I ran and it was great. I smashed my PB by 5 minutes, had the best support at Lawnswood roundabout as so many marshals were HPH’s and then on Kirkstall Road (as well as some lovely Kirkstall Harriers) there was Sarah, who I’d not yet met shouting “THERE’S MY NUMBER!” it was great!

I had previously decided that 2011 was going to be my ‘Year of Running’. I was going to run 5 half marathons as well as my first ever, 10 mile race, 20 mile race, and marathon. All this was to include the UK’s 2 biggest races; the GNR and the VLM. The gap between the VLM and the GNR was 5 months and in those months I suffered the post-marathon blues. This peaked at Eccup 10 miler. I entered this race as it was a club race so loads of HPH’s were running, turns out this is not enough motivation to get you round a 10 miler! I walked A LOT and was very, very grumpy! It just wasn’t for me. On that day I was the slowest HPH overall! I learnt that my head has to want me to run! Luckily I found my mojo in time for the GNR and really enjoyed that race. This may have been because we started the race by hi‑fiving the awesome Mo Farah!

After the GNR I started entering races again. Chris and Vicki Taylor had entered the Woodland Challenge 10km and couldn’t run but they wanted their T-shirts. Enter Team Forwood! We ran in their places and that day I allowed myself to be bullied into entering lots of other races by Kay Jefferies. In the next few months I ran the beasty Guy Fawkes 10 miler, got a massive PB in the Abbey Dash (55.06 VERY PLEASED!), ran Norwich Half (for the second time this year! I got a PB despite the terrible conditions) and I bought my first pair of xc shoes. The thinking behind this was that the PECO series was coming up and I REALLY didn’t want to do it…..but if I bought the shoes then I wouldn’t really have a choice…….