Yesterday was an overwhelming day - I had no idea what to expect and not much of an idea about race tactics - speed, food, water, etc. I spent the first 4-5 hours darting in and out of the toilet (5 times I believe) with bad stomach cramps. In the last quarter of the race though I bizarrely seemed to get a big energy spurt from somewhere and really enjoyed speeding up and running around the last 10 laps or so with relative ease (well that's what it felt like anyway I probably looked somewhat different - particularly looking at the picture on the homepage of http://www.roadrunpics.com/ !!).
I finished in 8:43 in 5th place - my aim was sub-9 at worst, happy with sub 8:45 and in an ideal world sub 8:30. Given all my stomach cramps though I was really pleased with the end result.
Rory, Arwel, Derek and Rachel were absolutely fantastic helping us out on each of the 42 laps with food, drink, painkillers and most importantly encouragement, so a MASSIVE thanks to you all.
All in all, other than the mobile and other mishaps the day before, it was a surprisingly enjoyable experience, helped along of course by the Celtic Plate win:-) Massive congrats to Emily on a stunning performance - I hope one day I can come close to her amazing time of 8 hours - awesome.
Right, having napped today and been spoilt rotten by Rory I am now going to chill out and watch one of our favourite films - When Harry Met Sally. To say I am a little relieved that I am not writing an excuse for a terrible underperformance would be a mild understatement!
Great result Jen, just be careful of taking too many painkillers they can cause stomach and kidney problems. I liked the bit about running the last 10 laps well, it shows that we should all hang in there when things get tough because it will get better. Edward
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