3 hours 2 minutes

3 hours 2 minutes from start to finish. And what a finish that was. I was up at 3:30am Saturday morning to psyched to sleep. Out the door with a kiss from the hubby at 5:00am. All the way to Newlands the place is buzzing like a carnival at that time of the morning! People are everywhere getting ready. I've got my radio cranked loud to get me even more psyched out in the car. The parking lots are all full I've heard by 4:30am! Guess I'm not the only one who's pumped about the race. So after stressing for 25 minutes I just park the car down a side street, make a note of the name of the street I'm in and join the throng heading for the starting line. The starting area is like a rock concert at 5:45am in the morning! It's rocking and rolling. What a great atmosphere. The mayor is there cheering us on. Shosholoza is playing and feet are getting antsy wanting to go. The gun goes off at 6am and it's hell for leather! I only cross the starting line at about 6:07am because of the 11,000 strong racing along Newlands Main Road. This is so great about running in the street when it's dark! Exactly what your mother warned you not to do. But it's hard to get a running rhythym because there are so many people. And thanks to the two guys from the Rhondebosch Running club for being the comedians/cheerleaders that time of the morning. It was absolutely magical coming onto Constantia Main Road as the sun was peeking through. Southern Cross was the mother of all hills. By this time I'd been run/walking for an hour plus, and it was beginning to feel like it. Slogging it up never-ending Southern Cross is a test of mental strength because the body is packing up, but the mind is what keeps me going. Now I know why they say it's the "World's most beautiful marathon." It really is. Sunrise on Rhodes Drive is magical and wondrous and it distracts me from how tired I'm beginning to feel. My dreaded calf muscle started taking it's revenge on me by the 16th kilometre so the last 5 kays were no fun. So I babied it and just jolly jogged and walked the whole way. Turning onto the finish line stretch at UCT the crowd was cheering us on like no tomorrow because we were so close to the 3-hour cut-off. I put ego aside and walked because by now the calf muscle was burning and I didn't feel like going for the glory and ending up with a strain, pull or worse yet, chronic injury. So I didn't get their medal, but what I got was a lot worth more than anything I could hang on my neck. I did it for the cause and for the kids and I finished it. The whole time in those last 5 kays I was saying "that's it. I've now done this thing and I can check it off my to-do list. Never again. This sucks, I'm in pain and I'm tired. What was I thinking." And as soon as I crossed the finish line and the reality of my accomplishment sunk in, I said, "of course I'm doing this again. I must make a note in my diary to sign up for it this year for next year." Swollen ankles, dehydration, overwhelming fatigue, burning calf muscle, legs that felt like granite filled wooden poles - it was all worth it. Now I know why people do this for years in a row. I'll be looking out for more running buddies next year. We can do it. Thanks to all of you who supported me. Thanks to all the children who inspire me every day by showing me what they can do and how this accomplishment puts all their hard work into perspective. Thank you to my husband for who he is. And thank you to Siyabonga, my trainer, for coaching more mentally than physically. You're all superstars. I'll pick this blog up again next Spring when training starts again.

April 9, 2009

It's here folks! April 11, 2009 is two days away. I'm off to get my legs massaged, my back adjusted and it's up at 4:15am on Saturday morning. Race time start is 6:00am. I'm about as ready as I'll ever be. I'll be blogging in next week about the experience.
The only easy day was yesterday.