For the past 4 months, I have been training for my first ever full marathon. I had decided after running 9 half marathons, a 25km event over the Tararua Ranges and a couple of other organised events that I needed to tick a full marathon off my bucket list. I also wanted to make sure I achieved this goal before I hit the big 40! I decided Rotorua would be where I would accept this challenge and with it being in May I had to do it this year. As a family, we headed off to Rotorua on Friday to pick up my race pack and number and then we headed off to Cambridge for the night. All the way there I had felt a mixture of nerves and excitement. I really didn't know what the next day would bring. Somehow I went to sleep quite quickly on Friday night and it was the alarm that woke me the next morning telling me it was now 5.30 and time to get moving. By 6am we were on the road heading to Rotorua. I ate some porridge on the way and then stopped for a nice strong coffee to get the body a little more awake.
Master 6 in the back kept on asking when the sun was going to rise and just before getting to Rotorua we were all blessed with this amazing sight!
I watched the half marathon participates head off and then before I knew it, it was time for me to line up and head off as well. I had had a lot of people tell me not to head out too quickly and I was determined not too. I positioned myself right down the back and as the pacemakers started to put themselves into the line, I discovered I was standing near those planning on a 5:30 finish time. Great I thought, a good pace for me. It was almost a walk across the start line because of all the people and then the feet managed to move a little faster. For the first 2km I stuck with this pace but I really did feel it was a little slow for me and I struggled a little with it so I joined the 5:15 pacemakers. For the next 3km I plodded along with them and they were a really fun and enthusiastic. Once again, I felt I just wanted to go a little faster so I decided just to run along at my pace but made sure I did not push myself at all! By 10km I had climbed the first hill with ease and really enjoyed hearing the bagpipes when I got to the top of it. Then I headed down again and at around 14km there was my family waiting for me and telling me I was still smiling too much!
It was not long after seeing them that I got my first glimpses of the lake and what a stunning view it was. As the kms clocked up, I was still feeling great. The chaffing had started but at that stage, it was mainly on my lower back and I could tolerate it. By 20km the hills were back again and I was still running. I remembered getting to 22km and thinking this is the point I always hit a wall on training runs but I didn't. The legs and the feet just kept on going. I chatted with a couple of people as we encouraged each other along. Then the going did start to get tough. By 27km I was feeling it. I also knew my family was waiting for me at the 30km mark so I wanted to get there but the hill in front of me didn't want me to get there. This was when I decided I needed to do some walking. And I did walk up that hill. I think that was probably a very sensible idea. I also had some serious chaffing by then and it was hurting. Problem was, I couldn't do anything about it and just had to suck it up. It was knowing I would see my family again that kept me going. And there they were. I wanted to stop and talk with them. I even managed a smile for the camera but I was hurting.
Another runner encouraged me to keep on moving forward and not stop so that is what I did. Back onto one of the busier roads I headed and I just kept on trying to move forward. By this stage the 5:15 pacemakers had passed me and I knew that I would not catch them again but I also knew I was doing so much better time wise than I had in my long training runs. My legs were really starting to hurt at this stage and my thighs and butt kept on cramping. While I had no blisters on my feet to worry about, my feet were hurting and felt heavy and hot. It was around the 32km mark, just before an aid station where there were a couple of supporters standing on the side of the road. As I ran past them, I discovered one was Ann (I had met her through running groups on Facebook) and she gave me a BIG hug and told me I was doing great. What a boost to have. From this stage on, I just had to keep on finding ways to motivate myself along. Once again, other runners were great at encouraging me to keep on going and it really does show that as we all support one another, it does get a little easier. There were times when I was all on my own and these were the times I did it for those that couldn't, those that had supported me along the journey and even just the self-talk of "I have got this, I am strong" helped me along. And yes, lots of this was said out loud. By 37km, I was still ahead of the 5:30 pacemakers and I couldn't see them behind me either. This did give me some hope as well. I started to work out what sort of paces I needed to keep to get myself over the line to meet my goal. And believe it or not, I did send a couple of text messages and read some from my husband who knew my goal and was giving me some encouragement that I could do it. I also decided at this point that I wanted to run the end of this marathon and I can proudly say that I did run that last 3km. I crossed that line in 5:23:26!
I was in shock. I had done it. I had run 42.2km. Yes, I had blood on my clothes, I was sore, I was tired but I was finished. The tears just flowed! Such pride in myself for what I had achieved. I later found out that many of my friends had also watched me cross that finish line thanks to a live feed of the finish line. Later reading their comments and the support they had been giving me the whole way around the lake was just mind-blowing. I have spent the last couple of days now in a little shock of what I achieved on Saturday. I don't have plans to ever run another marathon but I do plan to keep on running. I did enjoy myself even though I struggled at times and even though it was a long way and a long time I didn't mind it. Someone once told me it takes someone special to run a marathon - I guess I can now class myself as someone special ...
