You guys! I ran a marathon!

In September 2015, after reading Tom Foreman’s My Year of Running Dangerously, I got it in my head to run the Two Ocean’s Marathon. For some reason I didn’t click that it was actually an ultra at 56km, and that I would need to run a qualifying marathon first. What can I say, sometimes I’m a little inattentive.

ANYWAY. Today I ran my qualifying marathon, the 43rd Buffs Marathon in East London (South Africa) – and my first marathon ever.

What an experience.

From my uterus deciding to attempt self-destruction three days ago, to having a serious case of tummy-butterflies yesterday and seriously considering over-sleeping by “accident”.

But along with my family, I was up at 04h00.

I ran the first ten kilometres with some club mates so that I wouldn’t exhaust myself too soon. After that, I just listened to my body. My running app was on silent because I didn’t want to freak myself out or push too hard.

It was good! The route took us through a lot of the really old areas of East London, places we really don’t see much of anymore, and some really gorgeous ocean views.

The wind was howling at 40km/h. A lot of the time it was a headwind, which was hard; but it did help to keep me cool.

What an amazing experience. I’m still on a high!

Now to keep training up… Two Oceans is in 34 days!

P.S: thank you to everyone that has supported me, especially during my moments of self-doubt!