Well, the race is over, and I had a blast!
I made it the distance - but my time was a bit longer than i had hoped for. Of course, I hadn't done the training required to get my 'ideal' time (somewhere in the 4:30 range), so i'm not sure what I was expecting. Now that I understand how training works, I won't be making that mistake next time. It's hard to express the psychological breakthough that Paris represented for me. In a nutshell, it means that the distance is a possible one for me (none of our training runs went over 18 miles) - and the spectre of those last eight miles hung over me in the weeks before the race. Now, I can do pretty much anything (very very slowly, at least!)
The mind plays tricks, I've found. I was doing all kinds of dumb things before the race (buying a silly arm-wallet so I could carry my phone, changing the way I laced my shoes unnecessarily, deciding that I didn't need my knee brace at the 14th mile, and realizing that I DID need it on the 16th mile). I didn't even start listening to my music until the halfway point. I'm chalking most of these errors up to the sheer overwhelming-ness of the occasion.
All in all, though, it was a good run, in spite of the technical errors.
I should thank everyone who donated to Get Kids Going - you all donated almost three hundred pounds to a worthy cause, and I know that they very much appreciate your support - almost as much as I do.
I think I'm hooked. anyone fancy doing the Toronto Marathon? October 18th, 2009! Let's go!
(edit - it's been two weeks since the finish, and I think I'm ready to start again...I'm looking at you: kaley, milena, dominic, gareth, catherine, susan, and natalie!)
