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Topic: I ran a marathon on Sunday!  (Read 1903 times)

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I ran a marathon on Sunday!
« on: October 26, 2012, 02:12:08 PM »
Yep, I ran the Amsterdam marathon on Sunday! It was my first marathon, and some of you may be thinking “oh, but she runs, I’m sure it was no problem for her”. Think again – that distance is no joke! I’d done all my training and got three 20 milers in, but it was still really tough. And up until this year, I’d never raced farther than a 10km, so keep in mind that this is four times that distance!

It was my absolute perfect running weather – cold, cloudy, and with a hint of drizzle, and I was nervous, but as ready as I’d ever be. I’d wanted to finish in under 4 hours, but my “gold medal” time was 3:45, and to achieve that I’d need to run at 5:20min/km throughout (that’s 8:35min/mi). So I started off at my “easy” pace, which ended up being 5:05min/km, and that felt good. I was a freaking machine, maintaining that up through about 28km, when it started to feel tough, and I slowed down considerably from 30-40km, just keeping the momentum going and counting down every single km marker. I had two cheering zones from my running crew on the course, but my GPS running app, Runmeter, lets my Dailymile and Twitter friends speak comments into my ear while I run, so I had cheers of encouragement from about 30 different friends from all around the world, including some who’d gotten up at 3:30am to cheer me on! I cannot stress enough how much this helped me to carry on during that stretch of 10km when it was a real struggle.



But at the 40km mark, we turned the corner out of Vondelpark, and I passed where I was staying and I knew it was only a short 2km to the finish, and that gave me the boost I needed to pick up the pace again, and – I’m still not sure where this came from – but I even managed a sprint finish into the Olympic stadium to finish in 3:48:23!! Which, umm, I’m stupidly happy with.

As long as they don’t change the rules, it means I should qualify for a Good for Age entry into London 2014, which is otherwise impossible to get into. I hobbled back to my running crew’s hospitality zone for recovery shakes and hugs, then back to where I was staying for an ice bath (my host brought me tea and chocolate truffles to make it easier! Bless!), which I really think did help with my recovery. I had a few spots of chafing and two enormous blisters on my toes, all in brand-new places, but I was otherwise intact.

Oh, and not only did I run a marathon, but I ran it in leggings I’d sewn myself, three years after I had a bone marrow transplant!

If I’ve inspired you to start running, I highly recommend following a Couch to 5K programme, and sticking to it. Running takes a good few months to become enjoyable, but trust me, it does eventually! And seriously, I owe this marathon completely and entirely to the amazing Run dem Crew, who have transformed my running and confidence and made me believe I could do anything I put my mind to.
Summer 97 - first visited friends in London
99-00 - studied at Uni of Sussex on exchange
Feb 02 - moved to London on BUNAC
Sep 02 - WP granted (IT skills shortage list)
Sep 04 - WP renewed
Sep 06 - WP renewed again (screwed by 4-5 year ILR change)
Sep 07 - ILR!
March 09 - Citizenship!
July 09 - bone marrow transplant :(
18 Sep 10 - wedding!
Mar 12 - half marathon in Paris! 1:47:12!
Oct 12 - Amsterdam FULL marathon! 3:48:23!


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Re: I ran a marathon on Sunday!
« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2012, 02:20:55 PM »
Congrats! What an amazing thing to do!  ;D
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Re: I ran a marathon on Sunday!
« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2012, 02:35:06 PM »
Congrats! That is a true accomplishment. I think the statistic is something like less than 2% of the population will ever run a marathon in their entire life. I ran a half marathon last year at a very slow pace. Just got the clearance to run again yesterday (thought I had a torn meniscus, just runner's knee). Hopefully I will get a marathon under my belt before i turn 40 in a couple of years!

Congrats again - and a spectacular time in my opinion!!


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Re: I ran a marathon on Sunday!
« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2012, 02:46:48 PM »
I ran a half marathon last year at a very slow pace. Just got the clearance to run again yesterday (thought I had a torn meniscus, just runner's knee). Hopefully I will get a marathon under my belt before i turn 40 in a couple of years!
Owww! If it makes you feel any better, I've got bad knees, too (old skiing injury) and I only ran my first half marathon in March this year. If you put your mind to it and give it time, a full is well within your grasp.
Summer 97 - first visited friends in London
99-00 - studied at Uni of Sussex on exchange
Feb 02 - moved to London on BUNAC
Sep 02 - WP granted (IT skills shortage list)
Sep 04 - WP renewed
Sep 06 - WP renewed again (screwed by 4-5 year ILR change)
Sep 07 - ILR!
March 09 - Citizenship!
July 09 - bone marrow transplant :(
18 Sep 10 - wedding!
Mar 12 - half marathon in Paris! 1:47:12!
Oct 12 - Amsterdam FULL marathon! 3:48:23!


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Re: I ran a marathon on Sunday!
« Reply #4 on: October 26, 2012, 02:49:21 PM »
Awesome.  You are just a true inspiration SP.  Congratulations to you!!!!!!!!!!!   :)  :) :) :)  [smiley=balloon.gif] [smiley=balloon.gif] [smiley=balloon.gif] [smiley=balloon.gif] [smiley=balloon.gif] [smiley=balloon.gif] [smiley=balloon.gif] [smiley=balloon.gif] [smiley=balloon.gif] [smiley=balloon.gif]
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Re: I ran a marathon on Sunday!
« Reply #5 on: October 26, 2012, 03:06:10 PM »
Well done!  ;D
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Re: I ran a marathon on Sunday!
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2012, 03:33:34 PM »
Awesome!


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Re: I ran a marathon on Sunday!
« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2012, 03:46:51 PM »
Well done, congrats!
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Re: I ran a marathon on Sunday!
« Reply #8 on: October 26, 2012, 04:17:11 PM »
Holy moly, girl!! So impressed! AMAZING time! Is there a "bow down" smiley on this forum? ;D Congratulations!

So... what's next? :P

P.S. Are you in London? I'm doing the Movember 5k in Battersea on Nov. 11th with DH. We need to meet up at a race or something one of these days! :)
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Re: I ran a marathon on Sunday!
« Reply #9 on: October 26, 2012, 04:56:45 PM »
Well done! I'm so jealous!  :P


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Re: I ran a marathon on Sunday!
« Reply #10 on: October 26, 2012, 05:10:31 PM »
That is soooo fantastically awesome! I would love to be able to do something like that!
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Re: I ran a marathon on Sunday!
« Reply #11 on: October 27, 2012, 12:11:52 PM »
Nice one... yay you! :)


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Re: I ran a marathon on Sunday!
« Reply #12 on: October 27, 2012, 05:04:30 PM »
Wow! you are amazing! Congratulations!


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Re: I ran a marathon on Sunday!
« Reply #13 on: October 27, 2012, 09:24:17 PM »
Is it weird to say that I'm jealous? Especially of your time. I can barely break a 9min mile for a 10k!

Congrats - you have me thinking of restarting my goal to run a marathon in next year's season.


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Re: I ran a marathon on Sunday!
« Reply #14 on: October 28, 2012, 07:32:00 PM »
Thanks so much guys! :)

So... what's next? :P
Ha! I'm resisting the urge to sign up for any more races right now. I want to take some time out with my physio/trainer and improve my gait and form and run a bit "smarter" so my old knees will last for another 30-40 years of running. So it should be time well spent I hope.

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P.S. Are you in London? I'm doing the Movember 5k in Battersea on Nov. 11th with DH. We need to meet up at a race or something one of these days! :)
Yes, I'm in London! A bunch of my running crew are running the Movember race in Greenwich Park. I was sorely tempted (see above!) but I'll probably go down and cheer instead.

Is it weird to say that I'm jealous? Especially of your time. I can barely break a 9min mile for a 10k!
Aww thanks! 9min/mi wasn't far off my pace last summer - running in a group has made a huge difference to my speeds, seriously!

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Congrats - you have me thinking of restarting my goal to run a marathon in next year's season.
Go for it - book a race, tell people, and then you'll HAVE to train and run it to save face! Worked for me. ;)
Summer 97 - first visited friends in London
99-00 - studied at Uni of Sussex on exchange
Feb 02 - moved to London on BUNAC
Sep 02 - WP granted (IT skills shortage list)
Sep 04 - WP renewed
Sep 06 - WP renewed again (screwed by 4-5 year ILR change)
Sep 07 - ILR!
March 09 - Citizenship!
July 09 - bone marrow transplant :(
18 Sep 10 - wedding!
Mar 12 - half marathon in Paris! 1:47:12!
Oct 12 - Amsterdam FULL marathon! 3:48:23!


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