Half Marathon Jouney
I was full of confidence in the success and ease it would be to complete the Leamington Spa Half Marathon earlier this month; oh, how I was so wrong. No one can be blamed but myself when I had over a year to train for it, and what did I do? Went on my first-ever long run of the year, which was a whopping distance of 10k (6.2 miles), only five weeks before the big day. It felt easy, so that added to my delusions that I just had to run that distance twice and then boom, I have completed my first (and potentially last) half marathon. You probably assumed I took my training seriously after that run; sadly, I did not :( Work and life became busy, so running was on the back burner.
I felt confident leading up to the run as I didn’t put pressure on myself to complete it in a certain time frame; I just wanted to get it done and tick it off my massive bucket list. I knew due to my lack of training, I would run/walk the route, which I was fine about. I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve, as I was so excited to try this challenge that it took me so long to sleep.
I was actually meant to do this half marathon in 2021, but COVID-19 and lockdowns postponed the race. The main reason for doing it was to raise money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital, specifically the Cardiology department, because as a child, I was a patient there due to heart conditions I have, and the whole team supported me and my mum through the operations I had. And as an adult, I wanted to give back to such an amazing team – I managed to raise around £400 for them.
Once we got to the starting line, the nerves were extremely high and made me doubt if I could actually do this – especially the dreaded anticipation of waiting for the whistle to be blown. The first hour felt like it flew by as the crowds on the route were amazing. The hills weren’t too bad either, but then the hour-and-a-half mark hit, and I was in a tough patch. It felt like I was running well, mostly walking up so many steep hills, and I couldn’t see an end to it. But I carried on and had support from my family messaging me and did give myself a pep talk. Once we got away from the country roads and back into the town centre, the crowd gave me motivation for the last 20/30 minutes, and I pushed through. Near the finish, I saw my mum cheering me on, and I got really teary as it was so nice to see her again after such a mental and physical battle – I gave her a quick hug and carried on running. I feel myself tearing up again as I write this, as it was such a powerful feeling. As I ran to the finish line, I saw my younger sister and my boyfriend, and then boom, I had completed a half marathon mate!
I did cry a bit after as it all felt like a fever dream, and partly in shock that I actually did it. I also somehow did it in 2 hours 20 minutes, which is pretty good for my first half marathon on no training haha. To celebrate, I had a well-deserved wagamama’s, a warm bath with salts, and then a long nap to finish. The day after, I was surprised that I wasn’t extremely sore; the only problem was a small ache in my right knee from the constant impact, and that was it. I said I wouldn’t do another half marathon but I'm coming round to the idea of doing another one – only if it is not as hilly as the Leamington one. I am not sure if I have learnt my lesson regarding not training for the race but I guess only time will tell.