Laura's Paris Half Marathon 2013 - The Day I Ran For My Mum
On Sunday the 3rd of March I ran my second half marathon with 1/3 of Food and Lycra, Kim and our Run Dem Crew friend Karis. It was their first race ever!
It took place in the most important city in my heart…Paris. It's my home city - the city I was born and brought up in, until I moved to London 7 years ago.
You must be wondering how it feels to run a half marathon. Whether it's my first or second half marathon, I still felt the same amount of stress and I had the urge to pee right before it started as always (You know that little drop that needs to go, yeah that...ahah)
Up until race day I wasn’t sure how I would cope through 13.1 miles without stopping. I currently have some issues with my left leg as it is slightly weaker than the right, making me experience some bad pains around the shin area whilst running. My physio (she’s a magician) advised me to simply enjoy my run and not aim for time as I would hurt myself if I went too fast.
So I listened to her, did just that and decided to enjoy the scenery during my run back home. Even though it was supposed to be a stress free run, I still feared the potential pain which would force me to drop out.
I put myself under a silly amount of pressure by the fact that I was running in my hometown too…stupid isn’t it? I realised it was as soon I started the race.
Ahhhh the race…question time to myself in my head…yep I speak to myself when I run. I’m not crazy.
You must be wondering what I’m talking about. Well these are some of the things I told myself during this Paris Half Marathon:
“OMG I can’t believe I’m running in Paris” “I hope my mum is here” (and she was…tears of joy) “I can’t believe I’m running a half marathon again” “Go on Laura don’t stop, you nearly there” “Oh I remember this place…” “Oh crap, I can feel the pain coming…please go away. It’s ok…you’re fine, you’re fine”
There are plenty more like this, but the ones that kept coming back were “where is my mum?” and “Run with your heart Laura”
I ran with my heart but it let me down up hill…SOOOOO PAINFUL! I tried to meditate and control my heart beat…ermmm FAIL. So we walked the hill and ran again.
We ran until kilometer 18 where the highlight of our run was: CHEER DEM CREW, FOOD AND LYCRA sisters and MY MUM. There was only 3km to go and these guys gave me the biggest boost you could ever wish for.
I was so overwhelmed that I almost forgot where I was and it was only me and them. I was high with happiness and felt really loved and supported. It was such a beautiful moment, but it went down straight away as I didn’t see my mum (she was on the other side of the road).
I felt lost for a moment, like a little girl. I had tears coming to my eyes because I didn’t get to see her whilst running but I knew she was there.
After talking to myself again to get myself back together, I put a smile back on my face and ran until Mile 13 and this was it - I completed my second half Marathon.
That day I ran for my mum.
And guess what, she announced that she will be running with me (she’s 67) next year and she told me that she was really proud of me. That’s all that matters!
Oh yeah, I got a PB (personal best) I ran 3 mins faster than my first race…I don’t understand how but oh well!
Big Shout to Kim who completed it like a boss. So proud of her...onto the next one!
