A Christmas Marathon

Yesterday was a happy day; for the first time I ran sub 5 hours. It was a 4am start, so I was back in the hotel before breakfast finished!

Chiang Mai was fantastic. I'm now on my way to Melbourne to have a MERRY time.

Merry Christmas!

The long run-32km

I tried to list all the things I was thankful for. I tried chanting "I am so lucky." But nothing seemed to help. Self- doubt had crept in and by KM7 I was already plotting an escape route by taxi. The beautiful sunrise , with its blood red and pumpkin bright orange helped to keep my mind positive for 10 minutes and somehow, by dragging one foot ahead of the other I finished my 32km training run.
Hopefully that is my bad dress rehearsal out of the way!
The Chiang Mai marathon is in 3 weeks!

 Not only did we have a beautiful sunrise, but the sunset was pretty good too! The sandpit has been looking particularly pretty this Winter so I have lots of things I can list during the run!

Snapshots from Seville

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved Seville.

I did everything that I wanted to do; ate churros, watched (and was completely floored by) flemenco pura, wandered in and out of one-off shops, stopped for beer o'clock, stopped for wine o'clock, did some touristy things, drank cava, had tapas with the locals and completed the marathon.

 

Kirsten and I did lots of wondering around in the old cobbled streets in the neighbourhood of the apartment we rented...(sometimes we actually knew where we were!) but lots of sitting too. My weary, marathon tired knees, could not quite manage taking me up the La Giralda...this just gives me a reason to go back.

 

Being in Seville (like some other European cities) makes you want to make-out like a teenager on the streets. It is where life is embraced and moments are lived. Life seems so much more than working for that dinar (or that dollar).

I was tempted to jack in my job and stay a while longer...I got on that plane though...

 

I'm still tempted...

 

Anyhow...this weekend I am off to the airport again and heading to Bahrain. A 10km race is the excuse, but the real reason is to celebrate my friend Sven's birthday with margaritas and Mexican food.

Seville Marathon...done!

5 hours and 3 minutes.

The holiday can now really begin!

(P.s. Things that went through my head that I will forget...
1. The half marathon is my distance.
2. I don't need to do another marathon just to break 5 hours!
Remind me of  these things.)

Destination running

 The night before the Dubai marathon, the lovely Debbie (my Kenya running buddy) texted me to ask if I had fire wood and cold pasta. This was what we had to do when we camped the night before the Lewa half marathon. I was so tired at the start of that race, that the finish could not come soon enough.

We all imagine having the perfect, relaxing couple of days before a long race...yeahhh right!

Things not to do before your destination race:

• Don't book flights (for destination races) on cheap, no frills airlines. It is asking for trouble. When there is fog, they are the only airline that seems not to be able to fly. I wonder if it is because their pilots don't have quite enough stripes on their uniform!?
• Don't stay awake in the airport for 8 hours two nights before the marathon. Try to get a good nights sleep, in a bed preferable.
• Don't check in your running gear.  (I carried mine, luckily, as I did lose my luggage and had to make do with the hotel toothbrush and shampoo...but I survived!) Said cheap airline inevitably lost it.
• Don't drink copious amounts of Prosecco the day before the marathon. Keep all corks in bottles until after the race...even if you think arriving in the country of the race is enough reason to celebrate!

Things to do before your destination marathon:

• Check your residency expiry date (for GCC residents). This might save a lot of hassle and teary goodbyes to running buddies at the airport. Don't worry-it all worked out in the end for my running buddy and I.

Last night I signed up for the Bahrain relay marathon (I'm doing 21km). I have checked the weather, booked an expensive and I am only taking carry on luggage!

All about the bling!

So..this was what it was all for...

 

The celebrating helped relax my muscles, but it was still hard to keep my eyes open the night of the run!

We booked the perfect restaurant to celebrate by the Dubai Fountains, where a special light and fire show was on. We ate haggis to celebrate Burns night and completing the marathon and we proudly wore our medals all weekend.

Pretty much perfect!

I did it!

 

 

I am just back from one of my favourite weekends away ever! I completed my first marathon and spent the rest of the time celebrating!

It wasn't easy (surprise!!), even with months of training, but my running buddy helped me get through it. We had a very foggy start in Dubai, but by the end of our long run, I had some very impressive tan lines...the back of my legs are quite hilarious! I am looking forward to a cooler run in Seville.

A few kilometers in the 30s were the worse, but actually, I enjoyed most of it, I really did. We met some great people along the way and the expat crowds were very supportive.

It is all pretty much a blur. The 5 hours and 17 minutes (Yes, it took me that long...but I don't care!!) went by pretty quickly!! Really!

My medal has hardly been off my neck since...I even wore it at school today!



PS- My Internet is too slow tonight to upload any photos of the bling! I'll post them soon!