I, along with two girlfriends, have places in the Paris Marathon on 11 April 2010. If I’m honest I can’t recall why we decided to enter. I’m laying the blame firmly at Claire’s door. I ran my first marathon with Claire in 1997 and we always look back fondly on our training (which to be fair we took seriously) and the event itself. Fast forward 12 years and our lives have changed considerably but the desire to run remains (although the time for training seems to have all but disappeared!).
Having researched which events we could do between now and April I found (via the very helpful race directory section of Runner’s World) a series of marathon training runs organised by Gade Valley Harriers in Hemel Hempstead. The first one (which was yesterday) was 12 miles and there are two further runs of 17 miles and 20 miles at the end of February and March respectively.
Early yesterday morning Claire and I made our way to the event. Sadly our third runner is currently injured and so couldn’t join us. The journey from Euston was easy and we were pleased to see a number of other women on the train who were clearly running too. Registration took all of 2 minutes and then we were off at 9.30.
Despite the cold (and it really was freezing) it was great to be out running in an organised event. The club do an amazing job marshalling the course which had mile markers and water stations (at miles 4 and 8). The first 3 miles were along the Grand Union canal towpath, the next 8 miles along quiet country roads and the last mile back along the towpath. What their website didn’t mention were the hills which came as a bit of a shock. Miles 4 to 5 and 7 to 8 were up-hill and were surprising steep in places. I just kept thinking that what goes up must come down and was very relieved to find mile 10 to 11 all down-hill.
The run was a huge wake-up call for both of us because although we’ve been training, our legs just weren’t prepared for that distance. From about mile 8 everything started to hurt particularly my hips and knees. The mental preparation is just as important and I was disappointed at the voice in my head telling me that it would be ok to walk for just a bit.
On a positive note, we both kept going and finished in respectable times. Our efforts were rewarded with a warming cup of tea and mammoth slice of cake!
In a nutshell:
Highlights
• The friendly atmosphere
• Spotting someone at the start looking great in her Chill hoody
• The famous Jelly Baby station at mile 9
• Finishing without stopping (because I really wanted to)
• The number of women running of all shapes, sizes and abilities
• Cake!
Lowlights
• The cold
• That voice in my head
www.thoosa.com
I am Claire, think of me as Thoosa Non Running Girl. Thoosa Running Girl is my great friend and is for the record a much, much better runner than me. People (mistakenly) think of me as "a good runner" because I talked about the one and only marathon I have ever run (New York 1997) a lot. Talking about it sort of made up for only doing one!
ReplyDeleteI have two children and spend my time juggling work/home/school routines, pairing socks and wiping noses but have decided that this is no excuse for not getting my marathon boots out again and so, the idea of doing the Paris Marthon was launched. However, with 10 weeks to go until the 2010 Paris Marathon, we had done no training at all. The Gade Valley Harriers fun and informal training run was the kick-start we needed!
It was at mile 4 (just after the mile long hill noone told us about) that both of my knees started to scream in pain and I slowed down from a jaunty jog to a trudge. It was at mile 5 that my tracksuit bottoms started to feel heavy and uncomfortable (note to self: buy some Thoosa "chilly tights") and my fleece started to rub in places I did not know I even had (second note to self: Maybe I need a "chilly hood" too?). It was at mile 6 that I started to question my friendship with the Thoosa Running Girl and think of ways to get out of the Paris Marathon. It was only at mile 12 that things started to get easier!
Towards the end, lots of people overtook me which was demoralising, but it did cause me to think of a business idea for Thoosa; motivational messages on the back of Thoosa tops. "Just do it" does not greatly inspire you when you are watching someones back disappear in to the middle distance. How about "Hurry up, or I will eat the last piece of cake" or "last one home buys the first round". I think that would have motivated me more. Thoughts?
I am proud of myself for not stopping or walking and for staying the distance but given the stiffness of my legs and the chaffing today, more training and some proper Thoosa kit is required for the Winchester 10km on 21st February 2010.
Highlights:
Finishing
Lowlights:
Starting
It's lovely to take a vicarious part in your running efforts. Part of me thinks I'd love to be out there too. Part of me thanks my lucky stars that I'm sitting at home watching a film instead....
ReplyDeleteGreat post - really get a sense of the run and how exhausting marathon training is. Look forward to hearing more soon!