The Half Marathon

I did it! I got in the zone & completed my first half marathon.
In planning my route I thought it would seem like a good idea to just extend my run further at the Borrowdale end of the lake, justifying it to myself that I can comfortably run 10 miles so another 3 is nothing.

It was not nothing; it was definitely something: At about mile 9, I really had to climb inside my mind palace & jostle my way through the range of emotions & self-recriminations that were darkly cast upon me. Albeit, they didn’t last long & from mile 10 through to 12, I was again euphoric; feeling strong & more me than ever.

I had my playlist pervading my ears (well, it’s not technically just mine; it’s a collaboration with somebody else who’s pretty cool) & I was getting little bursts of living as I pounded along, my heart pumping with the emotion &/or nostalgia that each of these tracks bring.

Shortly after mile 12, my stomach started cramping; I was hungry & trying so hard to maintain the discipline just to sip my water & not glug it back as though I was a dehydrated labrador, or suffering from the worst hangover known to man.

I stopped. I took a few deep breaths & plodded on very slowly. The stitch eased just as I arrived at mile 13 & as I came around the corner towards the homeward straight & hit the bottom of my driveway, I was good again.

I’d done it: I think I even let out a self-congratulatory & completely uninhibited yelp as I threw myself onto my front lawn.