The Finale: These violent delights

                                             

                                                                  Christ, I am an ugly sod 

  

Some things in life never lose their surreal status. Good or bad, significant or insignificant. Sometimes things just don't seem real. 

                                               I DID IT

That still doesn't feel real. I'm still working on believing how I managed to survived through twenty-six miles of travelling on my own two feet through London. The point is, I somehow managed it. I think it can be ranked up alongside Buster Douglas beating Mike Tyson, Wimbledon beating Liverpool to win the FA Cup and that bit where you find out Bruce Willis is......... wait I'll stop there. 

The day itself started with an decent enough sleep (especially considering that the week before didn't have the best results in that department), quick shower and then a walk down to get the train and from the journey in, the concentration of fellow runners increased until the train from Waterloo East got absolutely rammed. Now I get on a busy District Line train to work every day. This was twice as bad as I'm used to, and you'd be surprised that many of the runners didn't bother to shower that morning - deep joy. 

The train stopped at Blackheath and this is probably the worst I felt all day, walking up a steep hill to walk across the common - a complete and utter bag of nerves to queue up to get in (there was another delay because I didn't read something properly and overzealous security stopped me getting into the starting area) After a bit of a wait and some common sense prevailing, I finally got through the queue and into the starting area where there were queues for the toilet, refreshments amongst other things. I treated myself to water and Lucozade Sport (OK it was free) whilst I waited for time to tick down.

The start time eventually came and after being herded to the start line for what felt like an eternity, I was finally running the London Marathon - HOLY SHIT! Not much tops that for surreal.  The best thing about the day was that first 10k (smashed my PB by 9 minutes). When there are people encouraging you from the side of the road and wanting to slap five, it feels amazing and you can't help but smile, that atmosphere is amazing and the encouragement really does drag you along.

I won't go mile by mile, I'll just leave some bullet points:

• Mile 0-12 were a lot of fun
• I choked on a sweet 
• Someone gave me an ice pole about mile 9 - the best kind of person
• Seeing people who came to support me around mile 11 was the biggest relief ever
• Tower Bridge is a hell of a climb but that really is the moment to savour in the whole day
• Mile 13-16 I wondered what the fuck I'd got myself into + Saw a mate from University who had beer and pizza.
• Mile 17 I got overtaken by a guy in a Rhino costume 
• Mile 18-19 felt like the longest point between two given distances 
• Once I hit the Embankment I felt I might actually do it
• Mile 21- A can of Monster was a good idea
• Mile 23 I saw a friend who was a beacon of hope for those last 3 miles. 
• Mile 26 - I overtook that fucking Rhino during a genuine sprint finish 
• Mile 26.2 - I got my medal. I did it. 
• Mile 26.3 - I finally got a warm top and a T-shirt that wasn't in my size 
• Mile 27 - KRISPY KREME 

Mainly I crossed the line. I FINISHED THE LONDON MARATHON and nobody can take that away from me.

Some lessons I learnt that would have helped me and may help people doing it in the future

• I should have trained harder, hands up. 
• I shouldn't have trained alone
• Looking at other people's progress who are happy to brag doesn't help at all
• Performance enhancing drugs - Why not?
• Don't run and eat sweets at the same time (Choking hazard)
• I will probably not look at Lucozade sport with much love any more. 
• You don't get as many freebies as you think or hope you will. 

Best pieces of advice I received or had referenced 

• "Are you going to come in the top 10?, then just enjoy it"
• "consider Imodium"
• "Fear cuts deeper than the knife" 
• "It's your run, it doesn't matter what anyone else says or does"
• "Tower Bridge is a bitch of a climb, don't go too early"
• "Vaseline the inside of everything" 

Though all of my blogs there was a strong undercurrent of wondering whether I had it in me and things weren't helped last week when I had a bout of food poisoning which hit me from Wednesday and didn't let up well into Saturday.  I managed to find myself back into one piece on the Sunday but not at 100% if I was honest and coupled with the nerves I can honestly say i'd felt better. I had to dig deep and I had to suffer but I got there. Thank you so much to my family and friends who supported me on the day. Couldn't have done it without you and that medal is just as much yours as it is mine, but it's mostly mine, ok? 

Now, the most important thing. The fundraising. I managed to raise £2000 for Young Minds.

             THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SPONSORED ME 

I can't explain how knowing that everyone who sponsored me believed that I could do this helped me at times when things were tough. I had many days where I didn't believe in myself constantly fighting my anxiety. But, every little positive, every  penny and pound that was pledged meant the world to me and words can't express that level of gratitude.

Anyone waiting on raffle apologies for the delay I've still got admin to get through (so there's still time to get some tickets, prizes listed in previous blog) Please note that if you donated £20 or more you were assigned some tickets automatically and will be contacted in the event of a win.

If you would still like to donate, you still can because those lovely people at Young Minds will always be grateful of your help.

                                      https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SimondoRuns


                   Just in case you were worried, I'm definitely not doing this again next year

                                                         


So I guess this is me signing off from #SimondoRuns. Thank you for reading and being part of my journey to tick off a life goal. I hope there was a laugh or two along the way and I hope if I ever chose to blog about something that you'll have a read and share.
                                                     


 
                                                                          Simon 


                                                            

                                                                       Beautiful