Marathon Magic

It has been three weeks since my first marathon and I am still realizing that I did it. I have been asked how it was multiple times and all I can say is "Awesome." I am not sure how to describe it, really.

 I have run a few times since, but nothing over 5k. Today was my first longer run. I slept in, had a good breakfast of steel cut oats with blueberries and greek yogurt. I then proceeded to get ready for my run. I decided to wear my Dublin Marathon "Proud Finisher" shirt.

As I pulled my head and arms through, I felt a surge of pride, exhilaration and energy surge through me. It came on like I had been sprinkled with fairy dust. "Wow", I thought, "I ran a marathon!"

In Dublin, you actually have to finish the marathon before you are given the shirt. That is a new experience for me as every other race I have run, I have received the shirt the day before the race in my race packet. I never wear it until I complete though; because not only have I not trained wearing it, but I have a race ritual that I like to earn my race shirt. I don't think that has anything to do with the magic I felt, but it is an interesting fact I wanted to share.

I saw the finish line

So out the door I went feeling all happy and glowy. I decided to run a route I haven't ran since I was training for the Sinister 7. It is a challenging 11.4km loop with a lot of hill climbing, It has a mix of trail and road which was perfect for today's fall day. It felt so magical to feel that something that was once incredibly hard for me today was incredibly enjoyable!
It is official!! I am addicted!

I want to work on my shorter distances a bit more this year. I am currently working on body sculpting, conditioning, flexibility and weight bearing explosive cross training. I have returned to my favorite DVD personal trainer Chalene Johnson (love her!) alternating her program with running.

This year my intention is to crack a 30 min 5k, a 60min 10k  a 2:15 21.1 k, and a 5hr marathon. I  encourage others to join in as I think this magic feels too good not to share.

I have already registered for the 21.1k in Vancouver in May and will be running the Okanagan full marathon in the fall.
Of course Barry will be with me for both of those. We plan to run some local races 5 & 10k in the area, and of course all the fun runs we can!