With it being mid April and well and truly ‘Marathon season’, I thought why not post a blog on my experiences and motivations.
Since seeing my Uncle complete the London marathon (I must of been around 6, 1996 ish), I always wanted to follow in his footsteps and complete one. It was an amazing family day and I remember being on Tower Bridge with my cousins and a banner which said ‘Run Tony Run’! The Marathon day atmosphere and sense of togetherness is something special and very inspiring……
London 2011 was my first Marathon, ages 21. Having applied unsuccessfully through the ballot (I believe something like 1 in 20 people get in through the ballot), I decided to look around for potential charity places and came across ‘Tommy’s Babies charity’. Tommy’s is a charity with no particular relevance to me at the time but, having researched, decided to run for Tommy’s, £2,000 was the target. Tommy’s is a charity which provides research into pregnancy problems, helping to save babies lives.
The training was mentally tough – I think this is to do with going into the ‘unknown’, however, from what I remember, I got up to 18 miles which is the recommended training distance to get up to.
On the day, I had 2 of my close friends, James and Zane also running, which helped to build up the anticipation and excitement!
Anyway, I plodded away and got to 23 miles – my comfortable jog was now turning into a mix of jogging, skipping, walking and repeating, I remember passing the Tommy’s charity who were fantastic and very noisy with support for me. Chafing was also making life tough, one thing I changed from training was that I wore a vest on the day and had not done that in training, resulting in chafing under my arms. This forced me to run a bit like the Hulk (arms sticking out kind of like a chicken I guess).
The final bit of the race at the Mall, I thought would be amazing, however it was very tough and painful, as I turned the corner to see the grand stand, I managed to pick my legs up a bit and cruised home. I completed it! My first marathon, in a time of 4.19, raising £2,500 for Tommy’s charity.
From the 10th mile, my knee was starting to hurt, by mile 14, it had worsened and by 18, I was in a lot of pain – the paracetamol I had didn’t ease the pain. I was still with Mark, my strategy had however changed. I would run ahead (counting to 30 in my head), walk until Mark caught me and repeat, the pain was worse when I was just jogging away at one speed.
Somehow I managed to complete the race with Mark, I was so pleased and proud of him for completing the Marathon. The few days after, I used crutches, the pain eased and I then focussed on recovering and strengthening my Knee. Marathon 2 done!
The race was tough, however, I felt far better running than the previous Marathon and we all managed to complete the race with differing times. A lot of respect to Max and Steve – Max picked up an injury around the half way mark and Steve had damaged his ribs on a ‘light jog’ a week before the race, AKA got injured playing Football!
Brighton 2016 for My Grandad was done and we toasted a Whisky (Grandad’s favourite drink) afterwards. We went on to raise £3,500 for St Catherine’s hospice.
October 2nd (the day of the race) was upon me, my brother and a friend Chris, who had both also signed up for Bournemouth went for breakfast and a light walk down the seafront. The day then started with a bit of a surprise, my brother (who got engaged in August of the same year), asked me and Chris to be best men for him at his wedding, good start!
So we made our way to the start line and Ben Smith ( http://www.the401challenge.co.uk/about-401-challenge) was starting the race on his 398th Marathon in 398 days! He finished the challenge on the Wednesday in Bristol. Unbelievable achievement, I remember bumping into him in Brighton, over 6 months before, to think he then ran a marathon every day since is beyond me!
I felt surprisingly strong throughout the race. A particular tough point mentally is mile 17, where you run through the finish line and up a big hill – knowing you have 9 miles left and are running away from the finish line is tough.
For the last few miles, I counted 1-100 and back down slowly, I find this is a good way to keep the mind occupied, often the mind gives up before the legs. This is a tip I got from listening to Paula Radcliffe on TV.
So I completed the Bournemouth Marathon with a personal best time, which I was not expecting, considering the lack of training. Why a PB? I am adamant that this was because I had a GPS watch which allowed me to pace the race correctly, all of my splits were similar and a watch was something I hadn’t had in any of the other races. I finished the day in the sea and stretched on the beach – which helped the legs.
Finally, a stand out event (not a full marathon) but a half – Reigate half 2016, which came before the Bournemouth Marathon. This stood out to me because I ran with my Mum and it was my Mum’s first ever half Marathon! A few years before, I remember my Mum falling whilst running which knocked her confidence – however, I know my Mum and know she has a good mindset, with regards to work rate and determination so me and my brother encouraged her to do the Reigate half Marathon. There were a few family members completing this one – a great day…
Apologies for going on a bit, I didn’t expect to write so much – I hope you have perhaps gained a little inspiration from the read, if not, you certainly deserve a medal for getting to this point 😉