The Marathon!!! (the day after)

OK, after some mucking about, I have managed to get a photo up. That's me at km 21 (13 miles or about halfway, for non-metric folks) - and that smile is very genuine! I was having an absolutely great time, and although things got a lot tougher later on, that's basically what I remember about the whole race - it was far more fun than I ever expected. And that's a pretty meaningful thing to say, seeing as my legs are feeling quite rugged just now, and probably will for a few days...

Anyway... so, yes, I finished it - I'll post a finish-line pic with my medal in a day or so when the official ones come online. It's a great feeling to finish (and not just because your body has been screaming at you to STOP RUNNING for at least an hour or so) but I had extra reason to be happy: although I had been running without a time goal (first-timers should just aim to finish) I came across the line at 4:33:30 which was far better than I had dared to hope for on my first time, at my age and fitness level. Indeed, I hadn't been able to train as much or as consistently as I had hoped, and had been nursing along some borderline injuries too so I was really afraid that I would either have to a) drop out in pain and shame, or b) walk half the time and finish in 7 hours or something.

So, I was very happy to feel so good and have so much energy in the second half of the race that I could maintain a considerably faster pace than most people around me, pass a lot of them, and feel solid and smooth right through to the end. Well, almost... around km 35 it starts to get really tough and a lot of people are walking more than not. I slowed quite a bit for 3 or 4 km but by that point I knew I could finish and felt OK about saving a little energy for the last mile. Which I did - and was able to pick up the pace considerably and finish running fast (well, for me) and feeling good, and with a time I can be very proud of.

I should also mention that a big part of the fun is the atmosphere that is created, with thousands of people watching and cheering you on, bands playing, support at the water and fruit tables, all sorts of things. It's especially good if a few friends come out to cheer you on personally - Athanasia came out to a few spots (she snapped the pic above) which helped my morale immensely, and friends Ilka and Emma, Scott, Calvin and Paula, Gabrielle, Lutz and Gabi are deserving of mention. Thanks to all!

Finally, I am happy to endorse the training and running philosophy in Jeff Galloway's now-classic book 'Marathon - You Can Do It!' and heartily recommend the race to anyone who, like me, has always had a nagging feeling that they ought to try it someday, just to see if they can meet the challenge. The Galloway Method is to take short but regular walk breaks from early on in the race - before you feel like you need them - to allow the muscles to adjust and rest briefly and thereby get much further before 'hitting the wall'. Many people find they can actually speed up later on if they take the breaks early on. I am absolutely convinced that if I hadn't taken them, I would have been much worse off in the second half and would have added 20 minutes to my time at least. As it was, my second half was actually more than a minute faster than my first!

OK, that's probably more than enough detail for all but the very interested so I'll leave off for now. But I'm very much in the mood to say, whatever dream or challenge you have in the back of your mind, hey - have a go at it, it might be both easier to achieve and more rewarding than you think. And life is short!