13.1

 Sorry for the radio silence. I've been in absolute disbelief / enjoying the moment / feeling of a fraud for the past week.. because

I HAVE RUN 13.1 MILES. 

Owner of some new bling
26.06.22

I think it has taken me this long to actually write these words because I still, cannot believe that I, the girl who can't run, has put one foot in front of the other and got around a half marathon! 

This is what this blog has always been about. The journey to 13.1 miles, The Great North Run. The pinnacle of my journey. If you read back previous posts, you will be able to see all the work, and the effort that has gone into getting to this point. Its not been easy, but - if it was easy everyone would be doing it, right?!

So here is how the most important week of my running 'career' panned out.

Don't get me wrong this was not my idea. My idea was to turn up to GNR and run the race of my life. But, I am so glad I have done the distance now, because I do not want my experience ruined by negative energy. 

You can probably guess who talked me into this; my dear friend Shelby. She is my running guru and one of my biggest champions and there is no one else I would have wanted to get me over that line. 

S: "I think you should do a half as a training run."

Me: "I don't."

S: "you'll smash it. you can check out your fuelling, and see how you feel."

Me: "I'm not ready."

S: "You are."

Me: "I've booked it." 

I didn't tell a soul until the week it was happening, mainly because I didn't want to set myself up to fail, I didn't want to put pressure on myself, it was a training run, it was to feel the distance. Not to focus on numbers. It is a training run.

Me: "Jess, I'm running my first half marathon."

Jess: "I've signed up." 

TWO people by my side who I love running with. My two biggest cheerleaders. 

Jess and I did a "slow"*  Lions run on Wednesday, the weather was humid but we were feeling good. 
*it wasn't slow

Lovely bit of green therapy for a Wednesday

We kept a good pace where we could chat and run at the same time. It was out and back, 20 minutes out, 20 minutes back and we managed to cover 7k.

No Parkrun on Saturday for me - the first one I have missed this year! Because I went to a gym class and then a gym social with Jess. I tried not to get too carried away in the gym. I was nervous of ruining my legs for Sunday.
At the pub (gym social) we discussed lots of running events and the big M word came up. I stayed very quiet in my corner sipping on my lime and soda. No way could I run a marathon. I've not even run a half yet.

                                       This information was confirmed on Sunday for me! 

However, the idea of Jess running under 10 minute miles was suggested with Stu. Jess was not best pleased, but guess what. She grumbled, but absolutely smashed the challenge and came in at an amazing 2hrs.09! 

All smiles at the bag drop!

Here it was. Today was the day I break down the barriers. I was nervous, I was excited. By the time I would get home I would have run 13.1 miles, and gained a new medal, T-shirt and distance. 

The weather had been wonderful all week, but of course; it turned on Sunday. It was almost perfect weather conditions though. We were out at Southport. A much better time to run in Southport compared to the weather conditions at Mad Dog. I had my vest and my shorts on, I was nippy on the start line, but as we were making our way through the course Shelby said to me "Its not cold now is it." - absolutely not!

Spot the lions

We settled into a nice pace early on, I kept checking my watch but I was a little worried I was going too fast. But it was okay. I was feeling good. We ran through a quiet Southport for the first 5k with a little bit of chatting, and noticing our surroundings. We reached 10k and we were okay. It was around mile 8/9 I started to hit a brick wall.

"I can't do this."

"I'm never running a full marathon."

Jess had very kindly given me a gel. I'd never taken one before, and I was trying to fuel on water stations alone. 

"Shelby I need that gel."

I took the gel - Oh.my.goodness, it was better than the best G&T, beer / liquid beverage I have ever consumed. I still stand by it. Shelby.. doesn't really agree and giggled at my thinking out loud.

We got to mile 10. "Just a Parkrun to go." It was the longest Parkrun of my life. 
I could keep my legs going, I could keep my breathing going. It was my mental state that was the hardest to defeat. My gremlins had come out and they wanted me to give up.

I need to work on my mental strength and believe in myself a lot more. I believed I couldn't achieve this today, my body showed me otherwise. 

I could see the finish after a very, very long slog. I could hear cheering and saw two very familiar faces smiling back at me. Stu & Jess were at the end, cheering for little old me.
"Shall we?" 
Shelby and I sprinted the last 20 metres. My foot touched the time pad and that was it. That T-shirt and medal was mine.

A smile I couldn't stop
Mick Hall Photos 

A. Half. Marathon.

I cried tears of pure joy. I smiled and laughed a lot. I heard the words. "I am so proud of you."
Do you know how that feels when you've been working so hard for 7 months and don't believe in yourself?

Had I just done that? No one could wipe the smile off my face on Sunday.
I was exhausted. I came home to see Mr. Coxy and just felt a complete fraud. Had I done that? I screamed:

"A HALF MARATHON. I AM A HALF MARATHON RUNNER".

Cannot believe that medal is mine.

I am a runner.

2hrs. 35. 

Lets get that 5 minutes off in September.

GNR. I'm ready for you.