On Wednesday the 1st of May 2013 we ran our marathon (42.2km). The Wally.
It was a fantastic feeling to finally achieve what we've been training for the last three months. We trained and trained, and suffered and lost some weight and finally ran the race. Got the t-shirt and the blisters to prove it. The race ended up being really tough as Carl struggled with de-hydration and low blood sugar, so we worked hard for our medal and still, despite the set-back finished in 4:47 (sub 5 hours is what one needs to qualify for Comrades).
For a first attempt, I am proud and happy and I know we have scope to improve our time significantly. So, just to prove a point, on Sunday (5 May) we decide to test our legs and we ran the Colgate 32km race. The second half was the toughest running I've done. Although I suspect that one's mind is a fickle thing and I have just blanked out the pain I felt up those steps last year during the Great Wall Marathon for example, but Sunday's running was tough. Three rest days was perhaps barely enough, although we probably would have be fine if we had stuck to 15km. But anyway, we ran fairly conservative during the marathon and on Sunday basically had not choice. The body was just tired, my legs ached and complained and I had to dig deeeeeep. The good thing is that I feel we've ticked another box on our "Shall we do the Comrades next year" checklist. We've achieved a few firsts: We ran our furthest distance together and we ran 74.2km in a week. So we've demonstrated that despite our impediments,
I am contemplating the next challenge. The problem is that now, with June looming, very few races are available and with the loss of light we tend to struggle to do distance in the week. So inevitably the fitness level drops a bit. I am focusing on getting to goal weight - no more cheating (because I deserve it after the run). Just refocusing after all the "carbo-loading" I permitted myself the past two weeks. It was a holiday from being good. I am now focused to get the last 3 kilos off and get the certificate. Carl got his life membership and certificate yesterday. I am so jealous. Cannot help myself! I want to get the secret book that tells you how much chocolate you can eat and stay at goal weight :-)
This week we've started to put the normal routine back into place. Running Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. This week we are doing short and light running, but slowly we will get back to +40km per week and keep up the good work. It was so hard to get this fit, I refuse to just let it fade away. I refuse! I leave you with my one of my favourite running quotes:
"I run to feel complete, to feel alive, to feel happy, and to feel free. I run to visit beautiful places, to overcome my fears...And to remind myself, and others, that our limits may not be where we think they are." - Chrissie Wellington
