So yesterday was one of the most challenging marathons I have run. I now have 4 of them under my belt and have now completed the current Sydney course twice. As Eleri can testify, by 25km I was pretty much a running zombie and was only still running because I couldn't give up. I was in such a state for 3 reasons; I had run the first half of the course at 4m 50s pace which was slightly faster than planned, I had drunk too much as I was worried about the heat and I had just run through some steep hills through the city. Over the next 5kms I slowly deteriorated and was feeling sicker and sicker until I took 2 jelly beans. The sugar rush made me spin out and I had to slow to a walk to prevent being sick. This was the turning point, I could stop and give in to the pain or keep putting one foot in front of the other and get up Leichhardt hill which was just round the corner. I don't know if it was the 5 people that passed me whilst I was walking, the minutes rest or the jelly beans kicking in that gave me the impetus to start up again but I slowly starting running again. From then on I ran each kilometer as it came and set myself little targets to run to the corner in 1 minute or keep running all the way up the hill or get a cheer from 3 people by the next junction. All these distractions kept me going and each time I got a twinge of cramp in my calves I backed off a little until I felt good and then pushed again. So, as this posts title gives away, I made it home in approximately 3 hours and 38 minutes which is about 15 minutes better than my previous best! I could not be happier with the result and want to thank everyone who has helped me on my way to achieving this through moral support, training and sponsorship.
This is an image based on the GPS tracking that my watch took, unfortunately the tracking stops slightly short of the Opera House as the watch decided I had already run a marathon by then and stopped recording, I can assure you I did carry on to the finish line though ;-)
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