SJ's London Marathon 2012 Experience

This week saw SJ complete the London 2012 Marathon! What an awesome experience! Fantastic achievement SJ - well done. Please scroll down to read more about SJ's run.


The week started great and finished great too. To start I took Florence out for her usual TTT 20 route and completed it in my fastest time yet! 2 minutes faster than my previous best time and 7 minutes faster than my first recorded attempt. Well pleased. Took my Heart Rate (HR) measurements and as expected both my average and maximum HR was higher than previous attempts.

Repeated the TTT 20 route again on Tuesday. Not as fast as previous day (what do you expect?!) and my HR was a little lower too. Weather forecast today was not good, but I fared okay. Heavy rain just before I set out but was fine during ride. Wore my new jacket which was great, kept me very snug and warm, however feel the arms could be a little longer. Think I will try and swap jacket for an extra large. Am also thinking of putting mud-guards on Florence and making her an all-weather machine.


Thursday saw me complete the TTT 20 route for a third time this week. Sadly, I noted a strange phenomena - the more I cycle the slower I get! This was my slowest lap this week - a whole 5 minutes slower than the first cycle this week.


On Friday I headed down to London with my folks to meet up with SJ and Lin. SJ and Lin had been out preparing SJ for her marathon. This preparation involved the buying of lots of gels, hydration drinks and the likes and, of course, registering for the event. 

Saturday was spent chilling out and Sunday was SJ's marathon - the London 2012 Marathon! Early Saturday morning, SJ, Lin, Ma, Pa and I took to the trains and tube and made our way to Greenwich. We dropped SJ off at her start point and then hooked up with my buddy Chris Hodge.


Whilst SJ was mentally preparing for her race, the rest of us were munching on some 'secret' bacon sarnies that Lin had made - delicious. So long was the wait for the start, we munched on additional cup cakes and drank tea. And then the race began!


We made our way to Cutty Sark to get our first glimpse of SJ, about 6 miles from her start point. Watching all these folk (about 36,000 of them) made my eyes go funny and I felt like I was tripping out. So much so, I didn't see SJ as she ran straight past! I knew she was there because the others had spotted her so I shouted out 'SARAH JANE' all the same. Raced around the course to another bend and caught glimpse of my wife this time and shouted her name again. It was awesome seeing her, she looked fit and happy and I was very proud.


We made an (un)educated guess as to what time SJ would reach the Tower Bridge and battled our way there through masses of people and utilised public transport. We didn't see SJ, she was running faster than we predicted. What a super star! It was good supporting others all the same. 'Come on Guss, you don't need a buss'. 'Go Jane you ain't feeling no pain'. Etc.


We made our way to the 20 mile mark. Whilst waiting and cheering on others, SJ phoned. SJ phoned me a couple of times during her run and assured me she was running at the same time. Crazy girl! About 20 seconds after this call, SJ spotted me, came over and gave me a big hug and a big big kiss! Wow. She looked great, happy, and appeared to be thoroughly enjoying this experience. 

SJ told me later that after conquering the 16 mile mark it was no real bother as she just told herself 'only 10 miles left, I can run that'. And run that she did! Never saw SJ run her final stretch, but she ran it in style - sprinting the last mile. SJ completed her marathon in a very impressive 4 hours and 51 minutes! Way to go SJ! She got a pat on the back, a 'well done' and a well deserved medal!

Thanks to everyone who supported SJ and especially those who sponsored her. She was raising funds for the BackCare charity and reached (and exceeded) her £1,500 target. Well done. Please visit SJ's own page here: www.virginmoneygiving.com/sarahbigrun


Big claps also go to Jas Payne and Simon Hook, 2 of our friends, for running and completing this marathon too. You can read Jas's story by clicking on the link to her blog on the right of the screen under 'the blog's that I'm stalking' section. Well done all!


Weekly totals: Cycled 60 miles; SJ ran her first marathon!