Nearly six weeks have flown by!
After I had caught up with everyone at the end of the race, we stumbled along to All Bar One on Villiers Street near Embankment for a celebratory gin, and also to get me warm as I was starting to shiver. I briefly contemplated a visit to Gordons but decided the stairs were going to be a bit much for me, however it turned out that the only place to sit in All Bar One happened to be....you guessed it....upstairs!! With a helping arm from my Dad I managed to get up and with much relief, plonk myself into a seat. To be honest, I had expected my legs to feel worse than they did, although looking back I think I might have been a bit out of it as I was feeling emotional and elated (and had also had a fair few drugs and some gin during the race!).
Pete went off to move the car as it was still parked at the hotel, and my brother appeared with a nice cold G&T for me - it almost looked as good as the one Mykey handed me at Fetchpoint 22 miles into the race, but to be honest I don't think any other gin will ever taste quite as good as that one did!!!
We were sat around chatting for a fair while (another gin) and I was managing to keep it together quite well, although I was feeling really emotional (by that read tearful). I had a few texts to read so I was doing that and replying, and then I saw one from Zeph saying well done and that she was proud of me. We had a little back and forth conversation and the messages she sent me were so lovely it completely sent me over the edge! I remember being mid-sentence and just having to stop and bawl my eyes out because I couldn't keep it in anymore! I had my second much needed hug from my brother and that helped to sort me out!
We left my brother and Kate to catch the tube home, and my Dad once again helped me walk to the car that Pete had managed to park literally around the corner from the bar. A quick drive to Maidenhead to drop my Dad off and also to see my Mum and Grandad who had been patiently waiting! When I walked into the lounge, my 89 year old Grandad was sitting on the sofa with his arms out for a hug. As I hobbled over I was thinking there was a distinct possibility that bending over to give him a hug might not actually be within the realms of my capability, but I did manage it!!! I did think to myself it may have been easier for him to get up than for me to bend down, such was the amount I had started to stiffen up by then!! I managed to shovel some dinner into me that my Mum had made, despite not really feeling very hungry, and then I just crashed. I had that feeling you get where you would give anything to just be at home in your pyjama's in your own bed, and so we didn't hang around for much longer.
When we got home I managed a shower and I even managed to bend down and say hello to the cats who were very pleased to see us, and then I pretty much collapsed in a heap into bed (after carefully placing my medal under my pillow!).
I spent the next morning in bed. I could feel how sore my legs were and the prospect of moving was not appealing to me a great deal, so I literally didn't get out of bed until 11am. And it took two attempts!! The first time I managed to get to standing position, I literally fell back down again as my legs were having none of it, and even when I did manage to get up I couldn't walk without holding onto things. Oh the pain!!! I hurt in unexpected places too - my ribs were agony and I had a bit of sunburn on the backs of my hands. I spent the day shuffling around the house rocking my pj's and my medal and just chilled out. Caught up on the hundreds of messages on facebook (often in tears) and had a look at my photos, those sorts of things. I was really overwhelmed with how many messages and posts and texts and so on I had received during the day. To all those people who tracked me or took the time to post to wish me luck or anything, thank you so much. It means a great deal to me it really does!
I was booked into a spa the next day with Sarah and Sui and I did wonder how on earth I was going to manage it as walking really was a struggle, but the more I did, the easier (!!) it got, and when I got up the next day I could just about waddle about inconspicuously! We were blessed with gorgeous weather so not only did we have a blissfully relaxing day, we even managed to sunbathe outside for a while. Sarah kindly paid for me to have a floatation treatment, which essentially involves getting into a pool of salty mineral water which you can relax and completely float in for half an hour. Apparently if you fall asleep for that half an hour, it is the equivalent of 3 hours deep sleep. I didn't fall asleep, but suffice to say that all of my limbs enjoyed the feeling of being completely weightless immensely! Once I had got over the slight stinging sensation caused by the chafing under my arms that is!!
Wednesday I was back to work, and I took my medal with me to show everyone. It was a shock to the system to be back into work after such a life-changing experience, but the first week was good as I was still on a real high, although still finding walking quite painful. If you can picture an OAP cowboy style of walking, that was me!! :-)
On the Monday after, the ballot opened for the 2014 London Marathon. Despite saying all along that I only ever want to do this once, and despite still not being able to walk (or sleep) pain-free, despite saying never again during training and the day after, and despite regularly using the phrase 'a marathon is a half marathon too far' I entered. I only went and bluddy entered. I have literally become certifiable! I am comparing it to childbirth.....there are so many similarities!
Seriously though, I know I did it and that is a massive achievement (although when the blues hit afterwards I took some reminding of that) but I am gutted about the fact that I picked up an injury with two weeks to go which meant I had to abandon my hope of finishing in 5hrs 30minutes, and relegate my plans to just finishing at all. I am gutted that it was so painful, and that I couldn't run it all. I know I shouldn't be, and I am proud of myself for the achievement - perhaps even more so given the added difficulty level! I know that I wouldn't have met Welli without the injury, and I am pleased I did and was so happy to run with her - I wouldn't change that for the world. But it still feels a little bit like unfinished business. So, you never know, I might be doing it all again next year! And if I don't get a ballot place? Well then I will be standing at Fetchpoint with a few tins of G&T and a bag of jelly babies, holding my hand out for high-fives and shouting in my best cheering voice to repay the kindness I got from the crowd every step of the way this year.
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