Let's try to run a marathon!

A while ago, my husband Euan suggested we try to run a marathon. We've done a few half marathons, and I finally cracked the 2 hour mark (just) earlier this year. Last year I also did my longest ever run - at 24km. However - a marathon, at 42km is much much further and did seem rather a crazy step up.

However, when we first started out running a few years ago, we started out with the Pyramid Race which is a tough race up a mountain. We didn't do a lot of training for it, and at the time it was one of the hardest things we'd ever done - but we had so much support from friends who came to watch, and we completed the race - exhausted but victorious!

So run a marathon? Why not!

We figured we're pretty fit, and could always just walk when we needed to. It would be an adventure and as always nice to be able to run together.

We started out at 6am up at Palm Cove. A friend drove us up there, which was great as it meant we wouldn't have to drive back up there later in the day to collect a car!

It was a beautiful morning and we set off from the end of the pier in good spirits, with our plan to just jog at a slow sustainable pace.  

Euan had worked out the route which would be around 42km, but I had my phone with Runkeeper on to track and check our distance to make sure we ran the full marathon.

Most of our run was alongside the highway. For a lot of it there were paths off the road, with trees and shade and even wallabies!

About halfway in we reached the Esplanade, which was a welcome relief after running along the side of the highway for so long.

At this stage we had started the walk a little, run a little, which soon deteriorated into just walking as we needed more fuel.

A stop at McDonalds provided us with some much needed salt, sugar and carbs!

We managed to keep on with the jog a little walk a little until about the 34 km mark, when we found even a slow jog was too hard.  Everything hurt. I felt that it wasn't really my muscles that were sore and tired (although I'm sure they were!) it felt more like my joints were struggling - my hips and knees were just exhausted and aching.

Those last 8 km were some of the hardest we've ever walked.  It was hot, we were exhausted but determined to finish what we'd started. We did talk about what we'd do if a friend happened to drive by and offered us a lift home, and agreed we'd have to say no, and complete the marathon distance, no matter how long it took us and how much it hurt!

We finally finished the 42 km in just under 7 hours. We managed a slow jog together to cross our imaginary finishing line.

It was so nice to walk through the door at home to our waiting girls who had been cheering us on with supportive text messages along the way! 

I don't think I've ever felt quite so exhausted and the rest of that day was spent resting and recovering, grateful for our pool!

I think my body took a good week to recover from this marathon attempt. The aches went after just a couple of days, but the fatigue was still there. 6 days later we did one of our regular 10 km trail runs which was much tougher and slower than usual!

Would I do it again? Absolutely - but not for a while.

We probably could have walked the marathon distance in much the same time at a steady strong walking pace, but it's made me want to build up to be able to run for that long and that far because right now I can't even imagine being able to do it.

We have a goal to run the Great Wall of China marathon for my 50th birthday in a little over 6 years time.  I'd like to be able to complete that strongly and enjoy the experience. I know I have a lot of work to do between now and then to get to that stage, but I do like a challenge and it's good have goals to strive for!

Let the training begin!

Have you ever run a marathon?  

Cairns Ironman 70.3 Run Leg - my first sub 2 hour half marathon

This year I competed in the Cairns Ironman 70.3 (Half Ironman) as part of a team with my friend. I ran the run leg which is 21.1 km (a half marathon). As the runner of the team I got to wear the nice tattoo with our team number on!

I've run this distance a few times before, with my best time being 2 hours and 9 minutes in last year's Great Barrier Reef Half Marathon in Port Douglas.

This year I've been concentrating more on trail runs as most of the races we do are trails and I felt I needed more uphills in my training. As a consequence I've done fewer longer runs just on the roads than I did in my training for last year's half marathon.  

Road Running Vs Trail Running

I find running on the flat for longer distances harder than running up and down hills as I feel it's more of a mental challenge. With trail runs there is always variety in the terrain, incline and muscles you're using. It can be a relief to finish a flat section of a run and go into an uphill just for the change.

However, when road running there's no such change and variety, it's just flat, and flat, and more flat.

The half marathon in the ironman 70.3 was dead flat.  It was also a looped course with a couple of dog leg doublebacks in there too.  This made it feel like I was going round in circles a bit. At least the course was on familiar ground where I've walked and run lots over the past few years. Familiar courses are always easier to run I find.

The course was along the esplanade here in Cairns and the whole course was lined with people.  This again was another change from the trail races I'm used to where often I'm running totally alone on a bush trail up in the hills!

I enjoyed having the support of crowds along the way, people constantly cheering and holding up signs. I touched every sign that said, "tap here for power" ! I figured anything was worth a try!

Drinks stations

There were plenty of drinks stations along the road, offering water, ice, flat coke, Endura, watermelon, bananas, energy gels and protein bars! What a smorgasbord of delights! I mostly stuck to water with the occasional cup of coke. Again different to the trail runs where you have to take your own hydration and I now run with a CamelBak . 

Team race vs Individual

Another change was running as part of a team. When running as an individual, you start the race at the beginning and run for yourself. This time I just started when my friend finished her bike leg, so not with a crowd of other starters.  

Being part of a team also helped mentally when things got tough and my body wanted to give up. More than just my own time was at stake, I had to do the team proud.

Having just done one leg of the race also meant a strange feeling at the end in the recovery area. I'd given the run my all and was totally exhausted, yet I was surrounded by people who had swum, cycled AND run. I somehow felt a bit of a fraud having done only a third of what they had and felt that I shouldn't have been quite as spent as they were!

1 hour 59 minutes, 20 seconds

For my time in this race I was hoping to go under the 2 hour mark. From my training runs I knew I was capable of it but just had never actually done it.  

The day was cool and a little wet, and with a totally flat, familiar course I felt I had a really good chance to go under the 2 hour mark.

I started out really strong, and went through the first 10 km in just over 50 minutes. At that stage I was feeling great and that I was running at a pace I could keep going at for a long time!

However, by the 14 km mark I checked my time and realised I'd slowed quite considerably, but still was on track to go under 2 hours.  

By 17 km I was exhausted. My legs wanted to stop, everything hurt and it was only my mind that kept me going. I found myself chanting in my head, "don't stop, don't stop, don't stop."

When I reached the end of the race and the finishers chute was in sight, I figured it was about a 2 minute run to the finish. Checking my watch I saw 1 hour 58 minutes and dug as deep as I could to sprint (or so it felt) that last couple of hundred metres!

Crossing the line and checking my watch to find I'd done it was the best feeling - you can see how happy I was!

The medal is one I'm really proud of.

And one thing I was really looking forward to at the end was the cool towel they give to all race finishers!

I loved being a part of the Ironman this year, The atmosphere is amazing, the race takes over Cairns for the whole weekend, and after several years of being a volunteer at the finish line, it was a good feeling to cross the line as a competitor.

I'm so happy to have broken the 2 hour mark for my half marathon time. My goal is now to get that down to 1 hour 50 minutes - which would be to run the whole race at the pace I ran for the first 10 km of this one!

I'm already back on the trails though, with a race next weekend as part of the NQ Games.