Sunday, April 18, 2010

THE GREENBELT HALF MARATHON



Well here I am post Greenbelt Half Marathon tired, sore but very very happy. Happy that I had the guts to give it a go. Happy that I achieved my goal of running without any walk breaks and very happy that I bettered coach's time goal of 2:30 - 2:40. I crossed the finish line in 2:28.

I promised to blog the good, the bad and the ugly so here it all is for anybody who may be interested.

Two days before the race I was feeling the worst I've felt for a long time. I was in a bad place emotionally. I was run off my feet, feeling overwhelmed, tired and cranky. It was my son's birthday and we had a family dinner to celebrate. I felt so crappy that I stayed in my trackie pants and T-shirt without bothering to dress up (I would normally NEVER do this). What a piss poor effort, Magda.

Saturday was better as I knew I had to pull myself out of my hole and I managed this ok. My emotional state improved and I was more aware of my food and trying to keep some balance. We had another birthday party and fortunately our guests didnt stay late so I could get a good night's rest. I slept pretty well :-) and woke up feeling quite good.

The weather was glorious. I couldnt have asked for better as it was mild with only a light wind. I felt rested and quietly confident. Peter drove me to the start and I was shocked at how many people were there. I was told between 700-800 - ah the world is full of more lunatics who think that running 21.1 kms on a Sunday morning might be a good idea LOL.

Miss R from work was at the start to give me some moral support. It was a lovely surprise to see her there and again as I battled out the hilly stretches that formed the first 5 or so kms. I took it easy in the start as I knew the hills would be hard. I was near the start line when the gun fired and for the first 5 or 10 minutes I just watched 600 people overtake me. I didnt care. This was about me doing my best and not comparing myself with anybody else. I just ran. And I ran each and every hill, albeit very slowly up some of them but my goal was to NOT walk (except at the drink stations while I had a drink).

As expected the first 5kms were very undualting but this time I was mentally prepared. I thanked God that I had attempted the Good Friday Bun Run even though it was an awful and disastrous run, it had prepared me for today. The bad was behind me and todays was going to be good.

At 11kms to go and having just had a drink I hit my "zone". The endorphins started coursing through my body, a great song came on my iPod (sorry cant find/remember its name) and I comfortably upped my pace and started to overtake other runners. "I am a distance runner" I told myself and I was on fire!! However after a few kms I knew that I needed to be a bit more conservative if I was gonna make the 21.1kms and slowed back down to a nice jog.

As coach had predicted the last 6kms were pretty hard and the last 3 felt like they were 10kms long. The countdown markers seemed to take forever to appear. At the 5kms mark I'd had a bit of Gatorade which I'm not used to and it gave me a stitch. I was running in pain. My right ankle was also getting really sore from the slope of the pathway and I tried to run on as flat a surface as possible. But the bottom line was that I ran a few kms near the end in total pain, yet determined to push on and not let such a short distance beat me.

Finally the finish line appeared and my family were lined up on the final stretch with cameras ready. My son waved a big happy "Mummy!" and my mother-in-law and Peter were smiling for me and taking pics as well. I crossed and only then did I look at my time - 2:28. OMG I had beaten coach's goal or prediction that I would take 2:30 -2:40. I WAS OVER THE MOON. I had always secretly hoped that I'd do it in less than 2:30 but had after the Bun Run I had no confidence at all of achieving that.

My post race reward was a breakfast of pancakes with berries and ice cream. I inhaled it but I did enjoy every mouthful. After all, my glycogen stores needed replenishing LOL.

So here I am having completed a half marathon. If you'd have told me 12 months ago that I'd do this I would have told you that you're insane. Isnt life a funny thing and yet again I say "never say never". Thank you to some special people who helped me to get where I am: Pat Carroll was a fantastic coach. We never spoke in person but he sent words of wisdom and encouragement at just the right times and I knew I was in great hands. If you're considering running a race or just wanting to improve your running, Pat's your man. My wonderful husband Peter for rearranging his schedule to allow me to do all my long training runs on a Sunday morning and putting up with my moods swinging from total elation to total lack of self confidence. To Hilde from Get Active on Line who encouraged me back into running near the middle of last year. Then when I moved house and I wasnt set up for weight training she just gently encourage me "keep up your running".  Well I'm so happy that I did.

Thanks to all for your words of support and encouragement. They always mean a lot to me and helped me get over that finish line today.



I'll be off line for a while now. We are moving house this week and then I want to take some time to work through some personal stuff that has gone off the rails for me lately. I need to do this privately and at my own pace, in my own way. I may share down the track but not just yet.

:-) Magda

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats once again Magda. That's a huge effort and yet another goal you set and achieved. You must be feeling pretty awesome about now. I know I would be if I you were and rightly so. ;o) xxx

Shar said...

WELL DONE MADGA!!
You should feel really proud of yourself!!

Shar x

PS - you look great in your picture!!

SeLiNa said...

Congratulations and well done Magda!!! YOU DID IT! And you did it well. Pat is an amazing coach - I'm glad all went to plan for you both :)
And you earnt those pancakes, my mouth watered reading that!
You're looking really good too :)

Kristy said...

Fantastic result Magda and great photos. Isn't Pat fantastic! Pancakes sound delicious :)

Hilds said...

WELL DONE MAGDA!!! I've been hanging out to hear how you went. I had NO DOUBT that you would do it and do it well. You seriously underestimate yourself sometimes and I'm sure you will continue to go on and achieve many more great things.

Enjoy your success and you should be REALLY proud of yourself.

Raechelle said...

That's really great Magda! Good for you!
And you're looking quite fit in your pic too! ;-0

Kerry W said...

What a milestone achievement for you Madgda! :P Congratulations, and I'm glad you persisted and found out what us fellow bloggers knew all along...you could do it, and YOU DID IT!

What things could you be achieving in the next 12 months hey? It's exciting to think of the possibilities! All the best with your move, and I look forward to hearing from you when the dust has settled. Looking great too BTW! ;)

Kerry XOX

Kerry W said...
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Unknown said...

Congrats Magda! What an awesome effort :o) Love the pics.

Gillian said...

Congratulations Magda!! I am so pleased everything went so well. You had a great race plan and stuck to it, so well done. Thanks for the great recount of the run. I was really looking forward to hearing about all the details.

All the best with everything else.

Gillian xx

LizN said...

Congratulations Magda - you should be amazed by just what you can achieve. I thought of you all day yesterday. Enjoy your victory and looking fantastic BTW!

Charlotte Orr said...

Congratulations Magda!

Amanda said...

Congratulations Magda, what an achievement - you are very inspirational! Cheers, Amanda

Pip said...

Magda................that is an AWESOME achievement! And beating your coaches 'goal time' must have been the total icing on the cake! I do know.......doing a half marathon makes ya feel like an athlete! Well done!
BTW you are looking great, - fit and trim and like a seasoned long distance runner in your attire! I'm planning on the Perth half marathon this year on I think 8 August, - a bit of work to do!

Pip :-)

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