After a hectic Saturday welcoming our guests and feeding 11 of us round the table in our little kitchen, Sunday dawned bright and clear. We were all up early and porridge was on my menu as usual. Andy did a good job of chauffeuring us all down, with Dave also driving in convoy. We made it well before 9 and parked on a side street, well actually I think it was Paddock Wood High Street! It become obvious very quickly that although there was still over an hour to go before the start, half marathoners are very organised souls and get there early! The whole little town was just swarming with people in lycra looking for the way to the start. Soon found the signs to the industrial estate and sorted out Nick's registration and collected our t-shirts. We weren't wearing them to run but had pre-ordered so bagged them up quick.
Before we knew it we were at the start, back quite a long way, under a lovely blue sky, best day for ages. Then the gun went, and after about a minute we crossed the line. The boys were way ahead but us 3 girls stayed together for a couple of miles then we lost Katie. It was so busy and so many runners! I felt that I was really taking part in a special event. After about 6 miles at a really good steady and pretty fast pace, Claire pulled away. Looking at my Garmin stats is interesting, as the second half was no way as steady and in fact my pace was all over the place!! Will have to get quicker to keep up with Claire... or stick to 10k runs - I would have had a great PB if I had quit at 6 miles - 55 minutes!!
I wont pretend it was easy but I did make it to the end, just about in one piece! It was brilliant to see the "400 m" to go sign and on looking at my watch, realised I was going to be just under 2.10 if I sprinted. So I did! It nearly finished me off and apparently I was really white at the end, I certainly was speechless for a few minutes! Even though I thought at the time that I had finished looking really strong...
I felt like a true runner though once I had got my breath back; my legs had never burned so much and I had never been so exhausted by a run. It was as if all the runs I had ever done before were nothing in comparison to how I felt just then. I know that is silly, I have done lots of running, but somehow the extra 3 miles made such a difference. And there I was, at 10 miles, thinking "ok its just a parkrun now!". Yeah right!
Once we had gathered everyone together, exchanged stories about the race, hugged, and taken lots of photos, it was back to our house for more food (thanks Andy) and more wine than I have had for months....
Lovely weekend with all my lovely family around me and supporting me. I really appreciated that so much. It was fab to see everyone cheering at the end and having support from PWR on the way round too.
