My First Marathon - I Did Something That I Said I Would Never Do!

The Atmosphere

The Edingburgh Marathon. What a mesmerising experience it is to run a marathon! The atmosphere that your immersed in, is something uncomparable with anything else i've done before! Crowds of people cheering you on regardlesss if they know you or not. Not a single person wants you to have a bad run. During my 23 years on earth, there have been many things that I have said I'd never I do. However, I did not expect to be writing a blog on how I ran 26.2 miles. Even though Edinburgh isn't know for its delightful weather, the amount of supporters there were was simply unbelievable.

How Did It Play Out? 

Sunday 26th May 2024, 10:00AM. Cold, Rainy & Windy the race begins. Before we've even set off I'm already soaked this didn't help my morale with 26.2 miles to go. I started the race at a comfortable pace for the first 6.2 miles by then I was warm & raring to go, I took at an average 8:30min/mile pace. First 6.2 miles complete in 52 mins 50 secs.

I patiently waited to go up the gears into my marathon pace which is anything under 8:00 min/ mile pace. For 13 miles I comfortably held my marathon pace. It felt surreal, I was absolutely flying through. At mile 19 I could feel my right hamstring twitching. I was worried that it could be cramp. I knew this would happen due to my naturally tight hips AKA anterior pelvic tilt

Anyhow I continued counting down the miles. Mile 20 is where it all went wrong. I went down with severe cramp in my right hamstring, a tennis ball formed in back of my leg. I was down for total of 15 minutes, I was so frustated with myself. With less than 6 miles to go, I got back on my feet and soldiered to the end. The loss of momentum allowed all the pain to set in. Mile 24 the pain started to get ugly & it was intense now. Finally I crossed the finish line. 26.2 miles complete. What a feeling. 3hrs 55 mins 35 secs. Something I won't ever forget! 

The Dark Side of Marathon Training

Training for a marathon is a unique experience to most people. You spend 12-16 weeks preparing your body for 1 day that's over in a few hours. Unfortunately if you rock up on race without adequate training, the chances of you meeting your maker increase quite a bit. You have to ask yourself these tough questions.

Are you prepared start your runs early doors so it doesn't disrupt your day? Are you prepared to run in the rain for 1 hr + ? Are you prepared to increase your calorie intake to maintain your weight?  Are you ready to potentially get blisters & other minor injuries. Are you willing to nail down your rest, recovery & sleep to get the best chances? Can you buck up the courage to throw your excuses to the side? If your answer is yes to all these questions then half of the work is already done. The majority of people are capable of doing what I did. 

REMEMBER DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT!

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