Day Three of 3 marathons in 3 days: The final marathon!

At the finish

Finally!  I've got around to writing up my blog for the 3 marathon challenge.  It's going to be hard to relive all of the emotions I've gone through in the last couple days.  I've been procrastinating about it.  When I finish this blog post, it'll all be in the past.

I managed (just about) to run 3 marathons in 3 days, a goal I set out to do.  

My dad ran the marathon today with me, which was a massive boost.  I was tired at the start of the race, really tired, but set out at quite a quick pace (11 minutes a mile).  By the time we were 4 miles in, I realised I really needed to slow down to conserve energy.  My body was shot!  I slowed down to 14 or 15 minute mile pace, and dad carried on.

After 5 miles, I couldn't let myself think about what I was doing too much.  If I had, I'd have quit.  I just concentrated on the tiring miles, and allowed myself to feel a sense of achievement.  The achievement was that after 2 marathons, I was still running.  Like Elton John sings, 'I'm still standing', sometimes it's more than good enough that you're still here and you're still fighting the good fight.  If you'd have said to me on the evening of day one that I'd still be running, I'd have shaken your hand.

As the miles went on, things changed.  At mile 13, I started to feel really sorry for myself, not sure what I was doing or why I was doing it.  But the thing was, it just seemed to be about making progress, about just keeping moving.  Pace or speed did not matter one bit.  All that mattered was that I kept moving.  At the end of lap two, I grabbed a 9-bar, a bottle of hyrdation fluid and a massive scoop of haribo!

As I was on miles 17 and 18, my spirits started to lift.  I suddenly became very aware of what I was trying to do and the significance of it.  I also started to have a feeling of 'treasuring the moment'.  This marathon running would soon be coming to an end.  Even though I was hobbling along, it was still liberating and freeing to be alone with my thoughts.  I thought constantly 'Why am I doing this?'  The things that spur me on kept coming back to me.  I thought of Peter and his amazing love for life.

As I got to mile 18, I was listening to music on my phone to keep my mind occupied.  I spotted an elderly couple reading my running vest to see what I was running for.  I took my earphones off and said, 'Yeah National Autistic Society'.  Then in my best 'Eddie Izzard' voice I said, 'This is my 3rd marathon in 3 days.'  I think I can be humoured in copying one of my heroes.  We all need inspiration!

As I plodded on and on, I realised that this epic challenge of mine was about to come to an end.  The previous day's finish had been an incredible feeling, and I was determined to finish strong.  At mile 24, I looked at the time.  6:30pm!  If I didn't get a wriggle on, I wouldn't even make it a sub 7-hour marathon!  All of a sudden, the race to make it a good finish was on!  I'd been running 16/17 minute miles before, and now needed to run 14 minute miles to do it!

I knew there was pain in my knees (the nurofen was slightly hiding it!) but I was able to ignore it, knowing the finish was near.  I was almost sprinting near the end, the pain in my legs telling me that I couldn't keep up the pace any further than the finish line.

As I finished, I held my NAS t-shirt high above my head, shattered and victorious.

My dad had finished about an hour before me and it felt so fitting to have our picture taken together at the finish line.

Two proud marathoners!

The timing of the run finishing was uncanny.  That night, a documentary was shown by Panorama which highlighted a case of systematic abuse at a care home near Bristol.  Those with learning difficulties and indeed autism were abused by their cares regularly over a long period of time.  It highlighted to me how crucial the work of the National Autistic Society is.

My justgiving site is www.justgiving.com/runclimbmather