Thoughts of Days Past and Days to Come
Fifteen years ago in July, I ran my first and only marathon (Gold Coast Marathon). Granted, I'd run dozens of half marathons and enjoyed them a lot. The full marathon was something I'd always wanted to tick off and so it came to pass. Only not the way I'd envisaged.
The day dawned bright and sunny, if very chilly. Tens of thousands of people were lined up, from all corners of the globe. Including me, from Brisbane :-).
The race kicked off and it took awhile before I could actually move through the swarm of racers. I kept up a good pace (in my terms) of a little over 10k/hr with the thinking in the last few kilometres I could push things to the end and hopefully get a good enough time for my first effort.
Things were going well, with bizarre individuals lining the course in all manner of dress, including a jazz band that I should have stopped and listened to for awhile - they were awesome.
I'd covered the first 30k in under 3 hours and was feeling pretty good and chuffed with myself. I was running within my boundaries and felt "I got this", especially after the months of training I'd laid down prior.
At the 36k mark my world came to an abrupt halt, with my right knee caving in under me. I'd always had major troubles with my knees since a teenager and despite wearing orthotics they'd never been a bastion of strength. Still trouble me today too.
The last 6k's were walked through a stream of sweat, pain and tears as the pain was excruciating. Still I wanted that bloody finishers medal and despite calls from some medical staff to stop, there was no way in hell I was about to do that with the finish line so close. As it was, I crossed the line in 5hr 15mins. I fell to the ground and after the pain subsided tried to stand to walk to the car, but that proved stupidly difficult as my knees were so weak and seized up.
But I got there. Crossed the line and I still feel proud of that effort, grit and determination.
So this time, I'm having another go, with better results I hope. Training so far has been going well and I have plenty of time yet to get some big miles in to test how my body will stand up.
Stay tuned for updates.
