25.04.2010-26.2-04.54.53

My London Marathon 2010

5am I wake up having had a fair to good night sleep, though had to get up to go to the loo about four times.

6am My alarm goes off and I get straight up as I want an early breakfast in the hope that my digestive system will do what it needs to do before we set off. Have to take my own shredded wheat and raisins downstairs as the hotel breakfast didn’t really start till 7 and there was going to be no porridge available! Hardest decision was how many shredded wheat to have, don’t really feel hungry as eat so much yesterday but need fuel. Settle on 3 plus a slice of toast. One by one runners wonder down in search of a decent breakfast disgruntled that there is no porridge. Chat to one guy who was doing his 13th London Marathon.

6.40 Notice the time and I realise I better go get ready, just a few nerves but that is about being ready to go on time.

6.45 I start my routine to get ready for my race, shower, brush teeth, Garmin on, hair up, cup of hot water to drink, check my feet no sign of any new blisters pending, use nearly half a tub of Vaseline on my feet, use the other half going through my mental list of chaffing areas I have learnt need Vaseline, is getting to the stage where it would be easier to just get showered in it! Get dressed re arrange my gels, check iPod is working, check my kit bag, double check that I have my number and chip.

7.15 I am heading back downstairs to deposit my suitcase with reception.

7.20 Julie puts my chip on my trainer for me, check my kit bag again, mine looks to have so much more in it than anyone else. Nerves showing a little bit

7.30 Taxi arrives to pick us up but not all the runners are ready to go, am anxious that my digestive system hasn’t done everything it needs to do!

7.40 and we are on our way travelling away from the start line to charring cross, this seemed a bit weird.

8.00ish We get on the train and the logic of travelling away first repays itself as we are one of the first lot of people to get on the train and we were able to get a seat!

8.20ish, we get off the train at Blackheath and are directed in the direction of the starting area. Everyone alighting that train was also very reassured by the girl handing out flyers and shouting “The ........ Minor Injury Unit – will be open today”

8.30ish we are in the starting area with a good hour to spare, que about 10mins for a portaloo, put my bag with gels on, iPod in place, eat banana, relax. What can go wrong now? Nothing! Then it starts to rain! Fortunately for me some time ago Gill J had given me a little present for just such an occasion and I hurriedly search for it in my bag and when I unzip it out pops a hat and waterproof poncho type thing see photo! I looked ridiculous but I sent Gill a big thank you and hug! What I didn’t know till later is that she was actually somewhere near me as she was volunteering at the start.

Thanks Gill!

9.00ish – by now we decide it’s time to put our kit bags on the lorry and then try to find shelter in a tent, but there is none to be had, I decide I need the loo again and que for another 10minutes, I am a little anxious as nature has not taken its course yet and shelter in the loo for a while

9.30ish – give up trying to make something happen that just isn’t going to happen and leave the shelter of the loo to head to the start line, the rain has almost stopped. I am in pen 9 at the back and just join the end of the long line slowly but surely making my way into the crowds, there is a lot of excitement and chatter around me, but I pop on my iPod and find my own head space. After a while we start to slowly move forward and I conclude that the race has started, there is no other visible or audible sign that this is so.

9.55ish -10ish – I cannot be certain of the time but it didn’t seem too long before I crossed the start line. Now I have read the race reports of my fellow club bloggers and both Michael and Chris report early problems with bottle necks and a stop start stop start to the beginning of their race. I didn’t experience this and managed to find space to run at my pace, I was mindful and pulled my speed back though I was a little faster than my planned 11min mile pace.

Mile 1 the little bag clipped on to the waist of my shorts annoys me as it is bouncing on my hip, take some gels out which makes this better but means I have to carry them in one hand and my water bottle in the other.

Mile 2 a series of young men at the side of the road shout at me “Hump” at first I’m not sure if this is a question, an offer or an instruction, then I realise it is a warning about the speed bumps in the road! Check pace need to slow down

Mile 3, we merge with the runners from the other start, gets a little busier but still have room to run at my pace. Check pace need to slow down

Mile 4, 5, 6, 7, I can’t really remember anything defining about these miles, I just ran, I tried to look in the crowd for my niece, but looking for one face in the crowd made me feel a little dizzy so I didn’t look any more and just hoped that people would see me and shout loudly. I thought I heard my name called a few times but could never be sure. At one point I passed a lady called Ruth who was getting lots of cheers she reminded me of what is in fact my very long term goal to take part in a marathon when I’m 90 (Vikki told me later that the oldest runner on the day was 83 – I reckon this was Ruth). At some point I could see a pacer in front of me and though oh great that must be the 11 min miler maybe I can drop in with them but when I reached them it was the run / walk and so Ii kept going at my own pace, still a little faster than my planned 11min mile.

Mile 8 As planned I had my first gel, which I managed to have on the move, I’d also managed to run through all the water stations often not even noticing them until I started to kick the discarded bottles on the ground!

Mile 9,10,11, I kept running, I was aware of the crowds and fantastic support, I was aware of the runners around me but if I’m honest I kind of blocked them out I was very much in my own place and it was very comfortable, I occasional burst in to song, for which I have to public say sorry to those around me! I started to feel like I could do with the loo but they all had long ques so I blocked this out and kept going. I caught up then passed the 11 min mile pacer and surmise I am going faster than planned

Mile 12 – 13, I can’t be sure of what happened where but I took on another gel and at one of the water stations I grabbed a bottle of water and while I was running took the top of my bottle, topped it up, lid back on sipped some from the other bottle, nice and cool – Oh yes forgot it had warmed up by now – and then threw this away, very impressed with myself that I did all this without stopping. I think it was about here that we went under an under pass and I had been told that many people stop here to relief themselves however there was a supply of portaloos and only a short que, so I pressed pause and joined the que jogging back and forth so as not to stop, there was also a block of urinals and I really wished I’d picked up a P-Mate at the start (a cardboard thing that apparently lets a woman P like a man!) I considered going behind the portaloo as stopping for a wee just wasn’t part of my race strategy! It felt like I was stopped for ages but the difference in my Garmin and chip time shows it was only about 4 minutes. Feeling more comfortable I was off again.

Mile 14 – 20 is a blur, I know I crossed tower Bridge because I am told I did (I think) this is where two runners stopped in front of me got their iPhones out and started to take photos! Eh? Guess this just demonstrated we all do Marathons for different reasons. I kept to my gel every 3 miles or so strategy, one of them I made a bit of a mess with and got it all over my hands and bottle Yuk! Mile 16 or maybe 17 I collected a bottle of water and walked about 20 seconds as I filled my own bottle up but according to Tom so long as you only walk during the length of the fed station this doesn’t count as walking (still I had managed to top my bottle up while running before). The course got busier for me during this stage and I felt that I continually had to slow my pace and run at the pace of the crowd, I was frustrated by this and I even swore at a few people who just seemed to stop right in front of me, urgh, I had to remind myself that we are all there for different reasons and are at different levels, none of them knew I had a target in my head which has been driving me on for the last 16 weeks, and at this point nothing else mattered!

Mile 20 eventually came, just two park runs to go, you can do this Kay, I looked at my arm where I had written “it’s not a walk club you know” on my other arm I had the words Awesome and Extraordinary, just two of the words that had been given to me to take with me! I smiled to myself and lifted my head, keep going just two more park runs to go!

Mile 21, legs getting heavy now take on my last planned gel; don’t think my tummy could take another anyway. I am still in my own little zone, both aware but unaware of my surroundings, the occasional shout of ” Kay” penetrates my thoughts and I am grateful to those that read my name on my vest and give me an encouraging shouts, thought I still haven’t seen anyone in the crowd I know and wonder where they all are.

Mile 22, kept going through the mantras and words you had all given me: Pain is temporary, finishing is forever: Bolt this was from young Kara who said to imagine I was racing Usin and he was behind me (now we all know if ever I was lucky enough to be running with Mr Bolt I would NOT be running away from him even if I physically could): Blue Balloon: inspirational: eye of the tiger;:go girl go: give it to em: and several more besides (I just didn’t have time to write them all on my arm and I didn’t want to get ink poising but I did use them all so thank you!

Mile 23, “Kay” I hear and look over my shoulder in time to just see TESS very cheery face, at last, this gives me the lift I need, then for some reason I decide to change side of the road, I’m not sure if this was to avoid slower runners (not that I am going fast) or to seek some shade but am I Glad I do as there in front of me is Debra & Harp and then Andy! Wow I knew Harp was out supporting but I didn’t know Debra and Andy were coming down, they had missed me earlier on in the course and were so determined to see me at this point that Debra was nearly stood in the middle of the road! Thank you

Mile 24, just 2 and a bit keep going, it hurts, keep going, my back aches, keep going, I’m hot keep going, there are lots of people around me walking, keep going . . . .

Mile 25, I grab a bottle of water and for only the second time I walk as I pour this in to my own bottle, but this proves to be a mistake! When I start to run again my legs don’t want to know, I am so close I want it over and without realising pick the pace up, but neither my lungs or my legs can cope with this increase speed and I walk for a few seconds, off again, in the distance I can see a sign saying 800 meters ,so close so so so close, again I speed up too much then have to walk, it is my mental side that lets me down, I just cannot find that extra something to keep me going through the pain and I have a couple of these very short walk breaks, then we round the corner, 400 meters my legs slow to a walk but I am not having this and get them going one last time, 200 meters I see the clock 5hours 7 minutes, I’m mort sure how long it took me to cross the start line but I suddenly worry that I might not make my sub 5 hours and to miss it by just a minute would be far worse than missing it by 10 minutes, I pick up my pace, I am not letting go of this and I sprint the last 2 hundred meters not sure where I find the power or energy to do this, but I do and I am finished! I stop my Garmin which says 4hr50min 08 sec but this does not include my loo stop and so I have to wait till Vikki texts me to know my official chip finish time of 4.54.53 – I HAVE DONE IT!


Sarah W - I don,t have many photos at the moment, but will post more when i get!

Sarah Q - No bubbly yet so feel  free to kick ar*s!