luck on the day

[suzieq]

Thought I would write a few notes on my London marathon experience. It was an experience - and not a good one! I had been hoping for cool, rainy weather and it turned out to be just the opposite. To give you an idea of how much warm weather running I’ve done; the day I left Calgary (April 22) the plane was delayed two hours to de-ice as we were having a snow storm. We had done all of our training in nice cool (sometimes absolutely freezing) weather. But London is known to be cool and rainy at this time of year so we were hoping…

Even sitting around waiting at Blackheath I was getting warm. I was down to my singlet before we even started. The first 10 miles were okay, but I was feeling the heat already. I was enjoying myself though as I love the crowds that come out to cheer everyone on. This is so different from races at home. And I really get a thrill running through the streets of London (one of my favourite big cities). By 16 miles I was really struggling. The heat was sucking all of the energy out of me; and my pace got slower and slower. And I couldn’t seem to do anything about it! It became a slow slog of just forcing myself to keep moving. The people cheering us on (hearing my name called out was incredibly motivating) and the bands did help; without them I may not have finished. I couldn’t seem to get enough water and was absolutely dying of thirst right up until the end. My memory of those miles is rather hazy, I don’t think I was thinking anything but trying to keep moving. I do remember a band along the Embankment playing Billy Jean – that actually put a tiny bounce into my step for a bit and got me another mile along the way. But the last 3 miles were shear hell; there is no other way to describe it. I was running, but was hardly moving…and those 3 miles seemed to go on forever and ever. I did finish, but well over the time I had anticipated. With all of our long run training, I had realistically thought I could come in around 4:30. And I was secretly hoping to come in under that. This was going to be my last marathon and I really wanted to finish well. Three weeks after the race and I’m still struggling with the disappointment. My disappointment aside, I still think the London marathon is one of the best organized races in the world and one of the best to run. I love the festive atmosphere of all the spectators (it still boggles my mind that so many people come out to cheer on people they don’t know) and the fact that this race can close down major streets in such a huge city.

Some of you have mentioned not being able to have a beer afterwards. I can say that the Guinness after the race (mind you, it was a couple of hours after) was the best ever!

Suzie