An incredible time!

Almost a week on from the Loch Ness Marathon now and I can honestly say....my legs still hurt! It was an incredible, incredible experience, though: from the convoy of coaches transporting 3,500 runners to the start line way up in the hills, to the breath-taking scenery as we ran back to the event village, it was everything I could have hoped for with my first marathon. 

I was determined not to suffer from any gastric upsets caused by dehydration (like during some of my longer training runs), and also to be properly fuelled up so as to avoid early fatigue (like during the Dundee Half Dram). I therefore ate and drank pretty much non stop for three days before hand (of course, only the healthiest of carbohydrates and clean proteins, no unhealthy sugars or saturated fats at all.....ahem...). Anyway, it worked! I felt fantastic for the first twenty miles - in fact, I had such a grin on my face other runners started to give me sideways looks and wide berths. 

My playlist I so painstakingly put together so certain songs came on during the tough parts actually worked well. Eerily well. It seemed the right song came on just as my mind started to flag a little or just as my legs began to tire, while songs I wasn't as fussed about came on when I was feeling strong and at ease with the run - it was a bit freaky to be honest!

The weeks of training up and down hills came into play at about 18 miles with what one of the signs announced as "the monster"...and sure enough, just round the corner the road rose up steeply in front of us all. There must have been fifty or so runners around at the time and almost every one of them was walking. I even surprised myself as I bounded up the hill, barely feeling out of puff at the top....even with the warmth that had built over the morning. In fact, I'm pretty sure someone up there must have been helping me out because, as you'll know from previous posts, I do not deal well with warmth, never mind warmth and steep hills!

By 24 miles, though, I was starting to feel the fatigue in my legs and the emotion bubbling up as I started having to remind myself why I was doing this. I phoned mum and dad while still running and cried down the line "I'm sore, speak to me". They kept me going until my arm was too tired to hold the phone up to my ear (need to invest in hands free!), and I pushed on through the last two miles with tears pouring down my face for the majority.

I'm still trying to get my head round the fact it's over! My Virgin Money Giving Page is going to stay open till into November and so far it's raised £720 (not including Gift Aid) between sponsorship and the takings from the cake stall in June. This is such an amazing figure - I never even imagined it would reach £500! - and the ex-sevicemen and women battling horrendous mental trauma and struggling to get back to a 'normal life' after the ordeals of war, will benefit so much from this money. So, I really do mean it when I say thank you to everyone who has been kind enough to donate and show their support - it got me through the training for this marathon, it got me through the marathon itself and it's sure to have changed the lives of many ex soldiers.

It sounds cliché, but it's been an amazing, emotional, hard, fantastic journey to get to this point. As horrible as I felt at times during training, the high points definitely made up for it, and to push through the fatigue, the un-motivated slumps and the worry of not being able to do it, definitely makes you stronger. I'd encourage anyone to take up a sport or some form of fitness training - there are always goals to work towards and the rewards from it in the long run are fantastic - socially, physically and mentally.

So, possibly for the last time, it's goodbye from the incredibly grateful (and slightly emotional now!) runner xxx