Another long one in the bag. It wasn’t pretty but I was reminded yesterday on twitter some days you’re the kicker and some days you’re the ass. A marathon is tough even if you have a great run. I’ve only done three but I learnt the most out of this weekends Wally Hayward marathon. I had a serious lesson in vasbyt.

The race was a two lapper and according to the nedbank 2010 race guide its one of the easiest marathons you can hope to run. I think they must have been talking about a different race to the one I ran on Saturday.

The blister that I picked up at the Loskop Marathon 2 weeks earlier had kept me off my feet for a week and a half. I did a 5km time trial on Wednesday in a pb time and felt ok so decided I’d give the marathon a go. I took a bit of comfort knowing that it was a two lap race and if my foot wasn’t holding up I’d call it quits after 21km.

I felt a bit flat the morning of the race and although there was a huge threat of rain it thankfully remained dry. I started off at a pace of just under 7 minutes per km and felt ok for the first five to ten kilometres. The foot was tender but it seemed to be holding up ok. By the time I reached the 12km mark I was ready to call it a day. I had an internal argument going on, one part of me saying 21 it is and the other saying finish what you started. As we got closer to the 21/42km split I became more and more indecisive.

As I got to the split I turned right and watched the half marathon runners head towards the finish line. I’m not sure knowing what I know now if I’d do it again! By the time I hit the 28km mark I was broken. Both my feet were really sore and I was convinced I had developed some more serious blisters. As you do on these long runs you tend to go through patches and while you go through a rough bit now you know it will get better, you just need to hang in there.

I was blown away by the amount of runners that had seen my picture in the May 2010 Runnersworld and it really helped having their encouragement along the way. There were two patches in the 30′s where I got swept along with a couple of guys that helped keep my mind off the pain in my feet.

I managed to push through and finish up in a time of 5:18. What I took out of this race is sometimes you just need to bite the bullet and push through the pain. I was definitely the ass at the Wally Hayward but I’m proud of myself for not taking the easy way out and heading to the finish at the split. I’m learning that long distance running is very much a mental game and once you start taking the easier option it’s that much more difficult to push on the next time things get tough.

Below are the details of my run at the Wally Hayward Marathon on Garmin Connect: