I ran a marathon!

I did it!!!!!!! I'm 50 plus VAT and I ran my first ever marathon yesterday.
I have to say that it was absolutely brilliant. I loved it even though there was a degree of pain towards the end. The atmosphere, the other runners, the spectators, the weather, the seaside, the music and Twitter all came together on the day and delivered the perfect combination to enable me to get around the 26.2 mile route with a smile. 

                People starting to gather on a fresh Sunday 

                morning in Preston Park

Me looking somewhat anxious at the start

26.2 miles...... 26.2 miles!!!! ..... I ran that! It took me 4hrs 39 minutes and 20 seconds with one loo break and a couple of minutes of walking. But in the main I bloody well ran the whole thing. It's the furthest I have ever run in my life. I did one 20 miler in my training and missed two weeks out of my schedule so didn't get as many long runs in as I was meant to but it was enough training to ensure I was less than 10 minutes over my goal of 4:30hrs so I am very pleased indeed.

It takes me a while to get into my stride and I could almost hear certain friends on Twitter shouting 'take it steady Jo, relax and enjoy'. Several friends had downloaded the very handy Brighton Marathon app for iphone and would be following my route from the comfort of their settees! 

Two things at the start concerned me, firstly I was bloody freezing and secondly I was concerned that I'd not run with a body belt attached before. I know I'm meant to practice in the gear I run in but I'd only bought the belt a few days before and so didn't have a chance. Right up until the last few minutes before I offloaded my kit bag I wasn't going to run in it but then I saw so many people with backpacks and all manner of belts that I thought what the hell I'll wear it after all. Plus I could tweet en route if I had the energy, the other motivating factor being that it was stuffed with my gelatine free gummi bears. 

Once we were off and after the first 3 or so miles, I settled into my zone and ran. Its really really hard trying to run slower than you feel like running in the first half the marathon so you have more energy for the second half but I did try and was thankful for my Garmin Forerunner watch which meant I could keep and eye on the time. 

There were times during the race when I laughed out load at the signs spectators were holding up. One said, 'If your feet hurt its because you are kicking ass' . I shouted,  'What about if you ass hurts?' 

Another sign held aloft by cheering friends of one runner said, 'Your arse looks big in that!' I thought about my own arse and smirked knowing that mine didn't look big at all! 

Talking of arse, at one stage I had a very very tall bloke in front of me with a very nice looking bottom perfectly rounded and toned in his black lycra. I so had to to smile. In fact I smiled quite a lot really. I smiled at Dave running completely in pink for a breast cancer charity..... he had even sprayed his skin pink. He told me he'd run about 30 marathons. I was very impressed. 

I saw a badger, a tiger and a rhino running!  I have a Twitter friend who runs in a yellow duck suit and I thought of her and the fact she will be running 5 marathons in 5 days! I can't imagine running in anything not designed to be run in. 

I overtook an alien and a couple of cavemen and I was full of admiration for a guy who was wearing combats and was carrying the backpack from hell and the knight in shining armour. 

By the time I reached the half way point I felt a surge of energy probably enhanced by a huge crowd of people along the seafront cheering us all on. I got my phone out and recorded myself on audio boo.

listen to ‘Strangeboo’ on Audioboo

The second half was a bit slower and I think I hit the 'wall' at between 15 and 18 miles or at least that is where it seemed to get very hard work. I stayed hydrated and scoffed anything that was offered to me and by the time I got to 22 miles I could imagine me crossing the finish line. There was music all around the route and at 22 miles some thumping musc was perfect for getting me back on the pace. 

listen to ‘Lonelyboo’ on Audioboo

The last two miles felt like another 10! They seemed to go on forever and by now my whole pevic girdle was aching like crazy and I could definitely feel my knees and ankles. There were spectators everywhere, on either side of the route cheering me on and offering encouragment. 

Soon I could see the finish and what a sight for sore eyes it was..... 

I'd done it! I felt very proud of myself as I wandered about in my space blanket scoffing a banana and smiling rather manically to myself. 

After collecting my kit bag I changed into flip flops much to the relief of my feet and after wandering around aimlessly for about an hour or so, then proceded to walk the 3 miles back out of town to collect my car for the 2 hour drive home. On the drive home I was thankful for a delicious raw chocolate energy ball followed by a manuka honey superfood bar along with a bottle of water. By the time I got home I did wonder if I'd be able to get out of my car at all, but I did and although in some discomfort it was rather less than I imagined it might be.

Today I have taken the dog out for a walk and I can feel my hips and top of my quads feeling stiff but on the whole I don't feel too bad at all. 

I have some thanks to offer people who have been very helpful in terms of motivating me and offering advice - I won't mention them individually in case I forget one... but suffice to say they probably know who they are anyway and that its people like you that make the challenges a joy to do. I thank you and salute you.

Now then, what's next? 

 

The day before my very first marathon!

Oh my giddy aunt, months ago the Brighton Marathon seemed forever away and I wake up this morning with less than 24 hrs to go until I pound the streets of Brighton with 18 thousand other bonkers people. 


I've said before I'm bonkers but I think it probably helps when you take into consideration that I'm no spring chicken! I mean something has to galvanise me into action and it seems being bonkers is the catalyst.


Funnily enough I do actually feel nervously excited about tomorrow. I'm expecting it to be great fun whilst also hard bloomin work. I have done one 20 mile run as part of my training and survived to tell the tale and was even able to run the next day. So psychologically speaking I have told myself another six miles is hardly here or there! I've practiced some EFT tapping on myself and have visualised myself crossing the finish line with a smile and still being upright! 


I've had some fab support from lovely people on Twitter and some good kicks up the bum in terms of inspiration and motivation. If you are reading this and recognise yourself then please accept my thanks, you rock! 




My charity race t-shirt arrived and it looks a bit big so am considering whether or not to hack it about with scissors. The jury is still out on that one. 


I've discovered the Brighton Marathon iphone app and so have already added a few people from Twitter I've found runnng tomoz. 


I'm off to Brighton later today and have found a fab B&B in Preston Park near the start. The hotel prices in central Brighton have been inflated for the weekend and I'm not subscribing to that nonsense if I don't have to. 


I'm cooking corn pasta (not doing wheat) for lunch today and will have something small tonight plus some Green and Blacks choccie before bed to ensure my glycogen levels are not depleted in the morning. Thats deffo the best excuse ever for muching choc before bed. I promise I'll brush my teeth afterwards though :) 


So I must rest now, drink lots and pack my bag. 


See you tomorrow! Arrrrgggghhhhhhhh

Be the change you wish to see

There is nothing like leaving things to the last minute and preparing for my second Toastmaster speech was no exception. I knew, weeks in advance that 3rd April was the day I was to deliver my speech but it wasn't until the afternoon before that I actually set about writing it, but would I be able to deliver a coherent speech the next evening without clinging on to my notes for grim death. 

The second speech in the Competent Communication manual is designed to show people that you can organise a speech that leads the audience to a clearly defined goal. It has to have a beginning, a body and conclusion so that listeners can easily follow and understand. It has to have a clear message with supporting material directly contributing to that message. It must have appropriate transitions when moving from one idea to another and the whole thing has to last between 5 -7 minutes.

I used a brilliant online tool to try and help me memorise the speech. You print out and read just the first letter of each word...apparently it forces your brain to practice recalling the speech or text even before its fully memorized. Its brilliant and it works! Try it here for yourself How to memorize verbatim

So then without further ado herewith my Toastmaster speech.

Be the change you wish to see

The choices we make now have the power to change the world. The decisions we make today impact not just ourselves but the world around us. 

Toastmaster of the evening, fellow toastmasters and guests, my speech tonight will explore the notion of change.

The world as we know it is constantly changing and evolving, and we are edging nearer and nearer to the point where it may become too late to influence what our planet looks like for our children and children’s children. 

Change is scary, change is challenging and yet change can be powerful and liberating. If you think for a moment of some modern change makers, who springs to mind? 

Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King? They all had some qualities in common.

They were people friendly, they were self motivated and passionate, they understood themselves and the world around them and knew that they could be the change they wanted to see in the world. 

They could be the change they wanted to see in the world. 
They could be the change they wanted to see in the world. 

You may have heard that expression many times, but what does it really mean? 

It was actually Gandhi who first said, "We must be the change we wish to see." He was speaking after a prayer meeting in India and people kept saying to him that the world had to change for people to change. Gandhi replied that the world will not change unless people change. By that he meant that we are always looking for others to blame for everything that happens, its never our fault. 

Gandhi implied that we are each as much at fault as the next person and unless we change ourselves and help others to change, nobody will change as we will be waiting for someone else to make the first move. 

If we are each to be the change we wish to see in the world how on earth will we do it? 

Firstly we need to understand our world. That means understanding ourselves and how we  behave and make our choices. Understanding the things that influence our behaviour attitudes and decision making. Its also about education. We need to educate ourselves so we can make informed choices. For example what products we buy and how they impact our environment. 

Secondly we have to align our purpose. This is where we follow our true path and do that which fills us with passion. 

What are you really passionate about? 

We each have to learn to accept that we are responsible for our own lives and become confident to live to our full potential. Can our purpose be for the greater good? If we find solutions to our own problems so we can use that experience in the world. 

Thirdly we have to be the change we want to see. Knowing our place in the world and understanding and accepting responsibility for ourselves, we can now start to transform ourselves, the environment around us and then we can move forward to transform the world. 

For example if we each took responsibility for buying degradable plastic bags we would see the global plastic waste mountain decline instead of grow. 

So the choices we make now have the power to change the world. It starts with us.

One bold step at a time we have the power to change the world. We can find out more about the issues that affect our lives and do something about them. We can become passionate and happy and spread that passion and happiness to others. It’s contagious.  

I’m going to hand each of you a degradable plastic bin bag..... we can be the change we want to see in the world, right here right now! 

Thank you and now I shall hand back to our Toast Master for the evening. 

Well that was it! I did it in 6 minutes 10secs. So within the allowed time. I didn't hold my notes I left them on the lectern but I did check them out now and then. I didn't feel as prepared as I should have been but the comments I recieved back were so affirming that I soon stopped the self doubt. 

I've made a jolly word cloud so you can see some of them :) You have to click here to see them though.