Recovering nicely

And we're at Thursday morning...
My calves are still abit sore and the top of my left foot is abit painful and my ankles are a tad tender, but that pretty much it :)

I reckon the top of my foot is sore because my trainers were too tightly tied. Aaah well.

I swam for thirty mins Monday at tri club but stopped when my right foot started to cramp.

I managed about 45mins of leg work at Runcamp before I felt a slight twinge at the back of my left knee.

Bike guy returned my bike Tuesday evening so I've done lovely fast commuter cycling.

I am though really really hungry and still quite tired. I'm also totally still buzzing from the London marathon,  wearing my medal whenever I can, decked out in my new London marathon jacket bought at the expo :)

Wahoooooooo xxxxx

I've run the London Marathon!

I'm writing this Monday evening, I can walk, I'm tired and a bit sore and managed 30mins of tri club swimming. Not bad for the day after my first ever marathon :)

6:41.05 - and I blinking loved pretty much every minute even when my feet really hurt and my calves were on fire and the sides of my knees hurt. The crowds, the atmosphere,  the history of the event, support teams Liz x2, friends running it as well, the amazing support of family, friends and colleagues following my race and sending good luck messages = the most awesome day out ever!!!

My plan of a 26.2mile sightseeing jaunt round London with 37,000 other tourists while 700,000+ people cheered absolutely happened to perfection.

Even when I hurt I was whooping and cheering and smiling and yelling out at each mile.marker from about five miles that I'd done it :) By the end I was yelling out 800m to go then 600m then screamed 26miles done and then I pretty much had my arms aloft from the top of the Mall right through the finish line. Awesome fun.

Travelled up with my running club Lordshill Road Runners and then found chums from the Solent Running Sisters and Eastleigh Running Club. Enroute I had my amazing support team of Karyn, Sharon (mile 8, 18 & 25) and Vik plus sister Debs, brother in law Mark and the girls Katie and Emily (miles 18 & 25) plus tri club buddy Suzanne and her chums at mile 15 and Pam from tri club at the finish handing out medals.

I felt extremely loved and supported by not only those that I knew but also by everyone in the crowds and it made such a huge difference.

Then pizza on the South Bank and a bottle.of red on the train back to Southampton. Such a fab day.

Food and drink - got through 6 gels, 2 jaffa cakes, half a dozen mini cheddars, a cocktail sausage, maybe half a dozen jelly beans, a biscuit, a handful of trail mix, water at about 10stops, lucazade sports drink at three stops. I may have drunk a tad too much as I must have used the portaloos at least six times!

What do I need to do for the Twin Cities Marathon on the 4th October??

1. Lose 20lbs - that should shave off 17mins from my finish time without having to do any extra training  just because I'd be lugging around nearly a  stone and a half less of me.

2. Get quicker - the cutoff time for the Twin Cities Marathon is six and a quarter hours so I need to get about 90mins faster. I reckon I'll prob spend at least 15mins chatting to mates while.on the.course.

3. Be stronger - my tummy muscles hurt so I.need to really strengthen my core and work on my overall strength and conditioning.  Luckily I've signed up.for the next Runcamp Level 2 course that starts tomorrow eve.

4. Keep running.

5. Work on my nutrition and hydration as I must have spent about 15mins of the 6:41.05 in a queue for the loo :)

Would I do London again?
Well probably not as I've done it now and there are loads of perfect city break / marathon running combination destinations out there not only in the UK but in Europe and further afield... However, let's see how I do in the Minneapolis / St Paul Marathon in October before I start thinking about any future membership of the one hundred club x

I think it's starting to fully sink in just what I've done. I've run the London Marathon. I'm a London Marathon finisher of which there are less than one million of us on the entire planet. I'm just so blinking proud of myself :)

Such an awesome day. Absolutely loved it. Brilliant brilliant fun. Honestly if you ever get the chance / opportunity to do London then grab it with both hands and don't let go till you cross the finish line.

www.everyclick.com/marathonliz

On the coach!

About to leave southampton sports centre carpark. To say I'm nervous and excited is an understatement :)

I've got everything I need, bags all packed. London here I come x

The night before the big event

It's 7:51pm, just over fourteen hours to go before I run my first marathon. I'm getting a bit nervous now.

Bag is packed, kit all sorted, nutrition in bum bag, race number pinned on vest, taxi booked. Think I'll have a shower and then maybe try and get an early night.

Gutted that I'm missing our first Southampton half marathon so London had better be fab :)

Expo purchases...

Loved the expo.

Just got back, unpacked bag, laid everything out, tried stuff on, put race number paperwork in my "I'm taking this to London" pile and then either put stuff away or popped on the floor so I can read / explore more about those purchases over the weekend.

Great fun. Now quite tired so time for bed.

Luncheon before tackling the Expo.

I've collected my race number etc... and am now having my packed lunch out in the forecourt of the ExCel centre.

Decided I needed to eat before tackling the expo. It's absolutely vast and I won't enjoy it if I'm rapidly losing years due to hunger. No-one wants to be shopping with a five year old trapped in the body of a forty six year old menopausal woman :)

I'm feeling fabulous. Calm yet practically popping with excitement. It's a totally different feel to the half ironman back in September 2014. I was very excited then too of course but also absolutely terrified and doing lots of silent weeping and whimpering inside myself.

I don't feel any of that with the London Marathon. Just total and utter excitement, joy and pride with myself and with all the other 37,000 odd of us who'll be running Sunday. It's a wonderful feeling.

Now it's time to finish my sandwich and get shopping x

Runner #8510 = last Virgin London Marathon training run is done :)

Training runs for London are in the bag. Last one this evening 5miles 1:01.01 and it felt great. Def still.a.few.twinges but having a Miche massage tomorrow morning so hopefully her healing hands will sort out any of my still sulking muscles so they're all smiles on Sunday.

Will swim Saturday and then my next bit of exercise will be a 26.2 mile jaunt round London!!! Omg it's really happening. Eeeeeeeeeeep :)

www.everyclick.com/marathonliz

Oh and I love the fact that I wore my twin cities marathon training tshirt on my last London marathon training run.

Taper time

Due to bike malfunction I didn't go to runcamp this evening which means my tapering is going great :)

Will run tomorrow though and swim Saturday but that's it.

Instead I drank red wine and ate malteasers with K&S who will be up in London and fingers crossed I'll see them at mile 3,8,17 and then horse guards parade under L for lizzie.

I'm number 8510.

Attached is a pic of my bike - and gang it could have been alot worse as I wasn't going at speed when it broke so I didn't fall off, I'm not injured and I can still run the London marathon on Sunday. Plus bike guy tobie will fix it so it's as good as new, which is fab cos I'll need the bike for the May day tri plus the cycling holiday to the Netherlands with tri buddies Katherine and Suzanne.

Eeeeeeeeeeep - one week to go!!!!

A tale of two days...
Saturday, lovely morning - decided to do parkrun instead of swimming. Met chums, lovely run, route D, felt great, good pace, bit of a sprint right at the end - official time 34.04

Sunday, again lovely day, did quite alot of cycling to chums, around Hampshire, beautiful countryside, picnicking and feeling fabulous.

And then I had a moment of eeeeeeeeeeek!!!!!

Today, Sunday, I cycled approximately 25 maybe 26 miles - my bike computer is busted hence approximation.

I'm running the distance I cycled today next Sunday in London. I was quite tired after cycling. How on earth am I gonna run it!!!??????

*hyperventilates into paper bag*

Hence why I'm now even more happy with my race strategy of... It's a 26.2 mile sightseeing jaunt round London with 37,000 other tourists while being cheered on by 700,000+ spectators :)

Seven sleeps to go x

www.everyclick.com/marathonliz

Booked flights to mpls/st paul :)

12 days out from London and I've just sorted flights to the twin cities so I can run their marathon on the 4th October. I'm so excited. I'll see as many chums as possible, run a top ten usa urban marathon then chill in the states for a week of hanging out with mates, shopping and pottering about. It's going to be amazing.

Oh, tapering going okay... Great tri club yesterday - loads of work on the strong push down of the stroke. I finally know why this stroke is the choice of triathletes as it's all arm strength and I'm not strong enough :( Great workout though.

Runcamp drop in this evening - six of us up at the track. Loved it. Yes I feel tired and def know I've worked out, but it's a fab feeling and I'm so glad I went.

Feeling much more positive about London. Think I've sorted my nutrition - five gels, ten trail mix pouches, jelly babies, apricots. Will drink the lucazade sport and water. This is a huge weight off my mind.

Absolutely delighted.

www.everyclick.com/marathonliz

Now it's all mental :)

Eeeeeeeeeeep - two weeks today I will have finished my first marathon!

I'm nervous :(
I'm four weeks behind on my training due to injury and illness which is a real bummer.

I've had a quick look at my training log. 47 runs, 17 swim sessions, 8 bike rides/stationary bike plus of course all my commuter biking and i'll get a few more runs in between now and race day. Mate Suzanne is right, it is now all in the head. It'll be fine :)

And bravo to old school chum Anna and her blinding brighton marathon run 4:41:41 - NB I will be at least an hour slower.

So I'm in the final fortnight, 13 sleeps to go...

Time for supper and a cup of tea.

I'm at T minus 19 days!

Ran this evening, paused after 2k to call an ambulance for a chap in his 50s who'd taken a tumble, hurt his knee and couldn't get up. Did lots of stretches while waited the just under 20mins for the paramedics to arrive. So many people stopped to see if they could help. Lots of good samaritans here in sunny southampton :)

5.5miles, 74mins.
Want to try and get out most days now for the next couple of weeks.

Hmmmmm... Well I'm not as fit as I wanted to be and def not as slim and obviously I've had more than the mini creme egg that's in the photo to eat this easter! But having said all that, I am really enjoying being a runner and I know that I will be alot fitter and slimmer for the twin cities marathon in about 5 months time :)

So basically, things really can only get better.

www.everyclick.com/marathonliz

First and last long run done.

16miles in four hours. Lizzie marathon plodder Carter isn't going to be winning any races in the foreseeable future!!  In fact I'm rather hoping I'll make it to the Mall within seven hours so I can say I did the whole race on closed roads :)

I'm now risking injury cos running so slowly (eeek) so will now just do 10milers then 8milers till the marathon.

Also I need to figure out what to eat. After four hours I just wanted to get home and have supper, plus it started to spit and my legs hurt. I'm SURE I'll be able to find another ten miles on the day...

Although I know it's going to hurt I'm still really excited.

Wahoooooooo. I'm running a marathon in 25days.

*whimpers* while slapping on more deep heat.

www.everyclick.com/marathonliz