When I initially signed up for the Manchester Marathon in April I KNEW I was a million miles away from where I needed to be. Only a couple of months into my return to running, still very overweight and hitting that button to sign up made by bottom clench.
I knew I needed an interim target along the way. Something to work towards.
Redcar 1/2 was the next race I entered so that by September I’d be half way there.
I hadn’t run a 1/2 marathon for 16 YEARS – 😱
I didn’t know what I was capable of anymore.
I was kinda an A race for the year and I took it semi seriously.
As we approached race day the weather forecast was so far away from favourable that it was ridiculous. In fact it was another moment of making my bum clench a bit.
Turns out that whilst it wasn’t anywhere near a nice day it wasn’t as horrendous as the forecast had had us believe.
I lined up. Hubby was gonna run with me. What did I want to run? Well I’d be happy with sub 2hrs 30, I’d be really pleased with sub 2 hours 15 and I’d be fucking over the moon with sub 2 hours.
At this point my expectations were managed and we’d go with the “happy” place. I wasn’t yet in shape for the sub 2 attempt.
😂😂 Sniggers 😂😂
Race morning! Overnight oats & a gorgeous cup of coffee started my day, a little energy drink and a protein bar were going in just over an hour before the event and a cold and lightly dampened by drizzle field assembled.
1 hr 57 min 44 secs finish time – that’ll do badger – I was over the moon
Hubby had kept checking in with me during those early miles and reminding me of the pacing goals but I had felt REALLY good and decided to trust my body and take a punt.
In the later miles it was more about letting me know what time I was on for and keeping me going towards the line.
My tank was absolutely EMPTY as I crossed that line BUT I was super proud of myself.
Bloody good goodie bag too.
I did suffer with some gastro issues on the way home and found it really difficult to get warm again during the afternoon so some BIG lessons to learn out of the other side of it too.
#alwaysrunwithasmile
