Marathon Man

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I ran my first ever marathon last Sunday in Nottingham and it was a great success. One week later and I'm still high on endorphines!

The first half was a breeze (I've run four half-marathons before now) but things really got interesting during the second half. Aches, cramps, stitches... the whole gruelsome shebang.

And it was so damn windy. We had to run into the wind around Holme Pierrepont lake between miles 19 to 21. I swear I was running on the spot for most of the time.

The stitches were a serious nuisance, most likely caused by drinking too much on the go. In fact, I almost had to walk the final mile. Luckily, a random man with a ponytail gave me some advice towards the end. Basically, you can assuage a stitch if you clench-then-unclench your hand on the opposite side of your body. And it worked remarkably well. Definitely wish I'd known that from the start. In any case, it got me moving again and I nailed that last mile.

I finished in under four hours (3:55:53) which was my aim from the beginning. High fives all round!

All money raised went to the mighty Kids Adventure. And if you have any spare cash then you can still sponsor me here.

Looking back, two things are for certain: the marathon was one of the best things I have ever done and I won't be doing it again in a hurry!

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