My first marathon by Bonners aged 41(ish)

What a day, sat here in a state of exhaustion looking back on a cracking day.

The day started off very badly, not sure why but ended up with really bad stomach ache overnight and spent half the night on the loo and had very little sleep. Was 50/50 as to whether to do it, but things seemed to be settling down so decided to go for it.

I had a full complement of supporters with the wife, Mil, Fil and SiL and our friend Judith, all with Team Bonners t-shirts!

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...I mean what is not to love, the trouble I have is choosing what ten lovely things to put to the list:

1. Ice baths, mmmm lovely, that scream when I get in to one is obviously something of pure delight.
2. Food, ah yes, all that lovely healthy food, lots and lots and lots of brown pasta, stupid amounts of veg, and porridge, lets not forget porridge. It is all beautiful and varied, honest.
3. Injuries, I mean they just add character right, what is not to like? Cracked rib, quads

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Okay, week 9 to 13, this is where it starts to get really serious and you begin to wonder if you're cut out for this stuff. My whole life is now taken up with running, whether it be checking schedules, looking at mileages or just sniffing my stale running kit to put on the least smelly top!

I am also beginning to discover just how small Stockport and Manchester actually are, I'm going all over the shop, discovering new park trails, county parks, river runs etc...

My whole ...

...it's strange how your diet starts changing when you do these peculiar things. I have now taken to eating porridge before all my long runs with a few blueberries mixed in, I think I'm actually enjoying it, i mean who in their right mind eats porridge?

Not only that but after each long run I finish, get home, spend about 10 minutes stretching and then let out a girly scream as I get into an ice cold bath for ten minutes before my shower. Is this supposed to be fun, or is this a testing ...

Well it has been a fun couple of weeks in the running stakes. I said that I was feeling fit and healthy which was why I chose now to do a marathon. Well the training has been a little poor lately to say the least......

Where do we start, ahhhh, that thigh problem mentioned in my last post. That was starting to get really tough. Did my last big run 3 weeks ago and the pain was getting worse and worse. The whole point about running (to me anyway) is to embrace the aches that it brings ...