Done and dusted! Here is my tale of the Brighton UK Marathon. A couple of days before the race I received this fabulous sparkle skirt in the mail from some friends. The sparkle skirt is supposed to bring you special running powers, so naturally I sported it with pride.
Two days before the race I took the kids to Brighton to pick up my race pack. When I got my race pack there was no t-shirt. I asked the lady if I was supposed to get a t-shirt and she told me that I needed to buy one. What? I run for the t-shirt! So I went and bought one. When I finished the race I learnt that you do in fact get a t-shirt, but it is a finishers t-shirt.......only finishers get one. Makes sense. No wanna be's are going to be sporting a Brighton t-shirt ;)
The day before the race cute Aparna came over and wished me luck and brought some flowers. What a sweet and thoughtful friend. Aparna pointed at John before leaving and said, "Don't you let anything happen to her!" I laughed.
The night before the race I put on my pijama's (yes that is what I wear to bed) and strapped bags of frozen vegetables to my hip/butt/knee/nerve pain. John reassured me that if I had Faith, and told me that I was in fact a woman of Faith, I would be able to accomplish my goal. What a great optimist and supporter he is......so very very wise.
I woke up at 5:30 got dressed and fixed up 3 packets of porridge. Mmmm. Belly full and carb loading complete I was ready for my Road Runner carpool to pick me up and head off to the race.
I met Katie in the carpool and her friend Sandra in Brighton. These two ladies are a total kick! I loved chatting with them. Strangely enough Sandra has been to UT many times with her family on ski holidays. They love UT. Chatting with her about my home State made me feel really comfortable and calm. So grateful to have met her and had a good chat.
As we moved toward the starting line I have NEVER smelled so much B.O. and garlic in my life! No joke. It was so pungent I could hardly breathe. When I applied to enter the race I was really unfit so I put that I expected to finish the race around 4:40:00, when in actuality my training put me finishing around 4:00:00. They put me at the gate for the 4:40:00 group, so I had a lot of people to pass to try to get with my pace. I felt really good running until I got to mile 22.5.
The weather was perfect! Sunshine, with some clouds, and a nice sea breeze. I enjoyed the beautiful scenery in Brighton and found it to be less hilly than I thought it would be.
My hip/back/butt/knee/nerve pain hurt from my very first step. I had been so worried about this because I know how hard a Marathon can be when you feel good that the idea of running on an injury was daunting. By mile 13 so many other bits had become uncomfortable I was no longer thinking about my hip/back/butt/knee/nerve pain.
When I got to mile 22 my quads started to contract like little muscle twitches, but by mile 22.5 they had completely contracted. When I say that they were locked I am NOT exaggerating, I looked down at both quads and they were completely disfugured. I had a guy run past me and ask if I was okay, I said yes, but really wasn't sure if I was. At this point I was scared to death about the way my legs looked and wondered if I would be able to finish in a timely fashion. I had to wait for the muscles to relax before I could even move. I could neither bend nor straighten my legs....they were completely locked. After the muscles relaxed I was able to stretch them and then keep running. The rest of my body felt great considering what I was doing and how far along I was, my body temperature was fine, my feet felt fine, my mental state was strong, but every half mile until the finish my muscles cramped and I was immobilised.
The funny part of all of this is that it was near the end of the race where the crowds of people are thick. When I would stop because I could not move the spectators would yell "just keep going, you are nearly there!" Honestly! Don't you think if I could keep going I would be? I was laughing. I would have to wait for the muscles to relax, stretch and then run some more, and when I would start running again the crowd would cheer. It was so dramatic and I laughed to myself, but I couldn't keep the crowd from feeling like they were really encouraging me when in reality my muscles had just come back.
I have NEVER in all of my running had muscle cramps like that before. I did a few things wrong this race and have learnt from it. First, I didn't eat as many carbs the week before as I should have.....I was so stressed about my injury that I comfort ate instead of eating for the Marathon. Second, I should not have waited until mile 16 to have a sports drink, I should of had one before the race and earlier on in the race. By the time I tried to replenish my salt levels it was too late. I did some research about it and found some good information HERE. Too much water and not enough electrolytes. Third, I should have been soda free the week before the race.....which I wasn't.
My greatest moment was when I was bent over frozen in a muscle cramp and a couple of guys ran past me and said "she's hit the wall!" ME- "Oh no you didn't!!!!" Finger wagging. My face burned with fury and it was on like Donkey Kong! I hadn't hit the wall, but my legs would not move. I said a little prayer and when the muscles had relaxed I ran past them. I was able to cross the finish line bettering my time by 8 minutes. I was on schedule to finished sub 4hours, but the muscle cramping cost me about 10 minutes. I have learnt a very important lesson about race nutrition from this Marathon. I need to be smarter about what I put into my body and how I fuel it to do crazy things. Despite my problems at the end of the race I was really chuffed about my time and felt a great sense of accomplishment.
My Ads was so very very proud of me. I am grateful that I have been blessed with a will to do things that can be difficult and that I can be an example to my children that with hard work, perseverance, and determination anything really is possible. I am not a slight woman, but I get out there and I push myself as if I were light as a feather. Maybe one day I will be light as a feather, but that day was not today.
Ads was 100% convinced that I had won the Marathon, she even told me that every ones medals said that they ran the race, but mine said that I won it. You can tell in her face that she is so proud. She has begged me to let her take my medal for show and tell.
The kids just after the finish line. Because there were 18,000 participants in the race it was difficult to get to your family. By the time we met I had changed out of my race shirt and put on my t-shirt and fleece to keep warm. Will was a trooper and Ads was a really big girl today. I was very proud of them. John and I believe in supporting all of our families accomplishments all together, we feel that this teaches us all how to love and support each other as a family unit.
My proud piggy!
When I was nearly finished I looked down at my arm and saw that it had blood on it. I had chaffed from my iphone in a few places and it had broken the skin. No pictures of the bra chaffing.
After the Race Uncle Fred took us for an ice cream. Uncle Fred is in Brighton for work and is such a great Uncle that he came and supported me in my race. Not only did Uncle Fred support me, but he filmed me at the start, and then found John and the kids and watched me at various locations. He seriously is the coolest and I really feel the love that he has for me and my family. We are lucky to have an Uncle Fred. The ice cream made me quite ill. Dairy isn't the best after a long run on an empty stomach. I was pretty ill the rest of the day, but it was fun to go out with him and the kids.
Uncle Fred walked with us up to the Brighton train station. From there we took the train to Three Bridges in Crawley and then we got in our car and drove the rest of the way home. As soon as we got in the car I took off my running shoes and slipped on my flip flops. To be perfectly honest I had no idea that I had blisters because so many other parts of me were in pain. When I got home I was able to lance them. They squirted. In case you wanted to know.
Hubby was super sweet and bought me these beautiful roses and cooked us up burgers and chips. Just what I like after a good long run.
This Marathon journey has been different for me than the others. The past two journey's have been about overcoming emotional struggles where as this one was about over coming physical challenges. I really felt my injury play with my confidence, rightfully so, but I am glad that I was able to focus myself enough to push through it. I have a lot to learn about exercise nutrition, especially with my kidney failure. That has really played with my mind and I need to be careful of dehydration. I also need to discover more foods with anti inflammatory properties in them so that I don't need to take ibuprofen and Tylenol. I have never been a pill popper, but with my kidney problems I really need to get all the things my body needs from natural sources. What a great journey this life is in teaching and refining us.
I am well pleased with my race, but as always I am looking for ways to try to better myself. I can't imagine living without trying to find ways to make myself better or work harder. Anyone else feel this way? OR am I crazy? Now, I have been told about a really great Half Marathon and Marathon in Disney World where if you do both the Half on Saturday and the Full Marathon on Sunday you get 3 medals......Donald, Mickey, and Goofy (of course only a real goof ball would attempt this). Now that it is in my head I MUST do it :) Maybe 2014? Who knows. Until then I am going to keep on running, but just a little......and not for a while.
