Firstly I am raging I have no photos because the scenery at the Jungfrau marathon was absolutley breathtakingly beautiful. I took some on my phone the day we left, just views from my room but they don't do it any justice.
Anyway the race went well. I was very nervous before hand but that's normal for me; I get quiet and withdrawn the day before, can hardly hold a conversation and am forcing myself to eat. My stomach is usually churning badly the day before but I managed to force myslef to eat a little pasta at lunch and dinner. My phone hadn't been working in Interlaken but Tony phoned me on a friend's phone to let me know that he had to bring the 5 year old to hospital in the middle of the night because he couldn't breathe. Scary stuff, the other kids got a bit freaked out too so fair play to Tony for handling everything. Anyway all is good now and I tried not to think about it too much while I was there.
Race morning is always so nerve wracking, forcing breakfast down you at 6am when all you want to do is wretch! I get so nervous, I don't know why I do it!
Anyway we got to the start and dropped our bags off a few minutes before the off. I just walked virtually right behind the start line which is good because I hate being trapped in the crowds. The atmosphere was really good and like all races people just want to get underway. It wasn't too long before we were off! The race does a lap of the town first, taking up the first 4 or 5k. I think at this stage some people were feeling the heat. The race gradually continues on on roads with the odd hill at 10 or 15k, all the time you're waiting on the "big" climb which you know is ahead. I remember not feeling great at this early stage, still had a jittery feeling and legs were sore. I know that that happens from the sun though, your muscles dehydrate much faster and get crampy, no matter how much water you drink. There was a big town at about half way (21k)that I remember feeling I was tired but that didn't last, because I had some of my fastest kilometres after that.
It's always at this point in a marathon that I start to feel good and this one was no different. I really wanted to get on with it and eat up those kilometres so at this stage I knuckled down to ploughing through these flat sections, dying to get ahead and start the job of the big first climb. It wasn't long coming!
As we headed into the climb I noticed that I was running while those around me walked so that gave me a boost to keep going. It wasn't long before the hill was unrunnable as it got too steep and the turns were sharp as we ascended. It went on for a couple of kilkometres maybe until it eventually turned into gradual hills that were runnable.
I really started to sort of enjoy myself than, the views were incredible and the hills were runnable for the most part if I put my head down and just knuckled down. They start to mark the course in quarter of kilometres at this stage which I though was great because each kilometre was broken down into four maangeable distances and before I knew it I fell like I was heading for home. I can rememeber a feeling at about 35k that it was time to start racing, to take down a few more people ahead of me, to get past all the walking competitors that were now blocking my way. At the 35 to 39 k mark I remember that it was only myself and 2 other women, from those around us, who were actually still running. This is always a good mental boost and as the trail turned into a single rocky track I was skipping around all the walkers to get past! Great feeling! As it gets closer to 40k the track gets very steep and walking is inevitable but I knew I wasn't far from home. The steepness continues till 41 when suddenly you're on a downhill kilometre to the finish. I was flying at this stage and feeling great! I crossed the line in 4.19 with a big smile on my face and was so happy to just have enjoyed the whole experience. I really felt that for me I was only warming up and starting to enjoy myself and suddenly it was all over! Awww!
The finish area had hot showers, hairdryers, massage and was a bit crazy with people so I didn't hang about, the train down to where I had just ran from took two hours! So I only took twice as long to run uphill than the train took to go down! Ha ha!
I never bumped into Mick but I was thinking about his brother Tony along the way. When you're in the middle of something like this and you get those "good to be alive" feelings you realise how lucky you are not only to run but to experience something as incredible as this event. The views and the toughness make it unique, it really is one to do if you run!
After a marathon I usually try and pick out a "marathon moment" but it takes a couple of weeks for certain memories to stand out as the most unique so I will think about it for a while. Thanks to all the commenters who left support, it was great. I had been saying ovber at For Nine Pounds that I had a sore foot that was worrying me, well you know for those 4 hours and 19 minutes there wasn't a bother on my foot, so the sleepless night was for nothing, as they usually are!!
I felt fine afterwards and have had very little stiffness or soreness. I'm gonna make sure not to run too much this week because (and you won't belive this because I hardly can) I'm back in Switzerland on Thursday to run on Saturday in the World Mountain Running Championships so the green knickers get an outing again! I often get a bit low two days afetr a marathon, it's just coming down from the buzz afterwards I think does it, but I'm not feeling that today so all is good!
Interlaken wasn't a great town for shopping but of course, being Switzerland my biscuit box now looks like this:
