Step by step

Last weekend I walked the Shine Marathon with my friends Claire and Rich around London at night. I've always wanted to do a marathon, it's one of those challenges that I think anyone who manages it is amazing. A few years ago I started going to the gym and running, but I found I got shin splints and a lot of leg pain, so had to stop. I went to the physio and got stretches to do, but I've never managed to get over it. So when Claire suggested the Shine Marathon I was very excited. I walk to work everyday, so at the very least I do four miles a day. I also tend to walk everywhere in London as I really dislike the tube, so I felt that this was a challenge that I was up for.

We did a training walk around Oxford about a month before of about 11 miles - more a mini pub crawl, but we got in some serious hill walking training. It also gave us a chance to test out the map reading skills! I also did a couple of 8 mile walks around the Thames, but apart from that there wasn't a lot of training. If I did the walk again I'd definitely make sure I stuck to the training schedule more!

We set off at about 20.15 on the night, everyone was really hyped up and excited to be finally getting going. The walk started and ended at Battersea Power station, not the easiest place to get to. The night was really warm, and apart from the two rain showers the weather was comfortable to walk in. The first 13 miles I found were fine, it was like going for a walk around London with your friends, and having a good gossip. After this though and my feet started to hurt. It also didn't help that I knew that I had to do another 13 miles, to walk what we'd just done again. The walk took us past all the sites, Buckingham Palace, the Tate Britain, 10 Downing Street, the British Museum, the City, the Tower of London... so it was a very interesting walk.

About 17 miles in I completely lost the power of speech. The pain from my feet mixed in with the tiredness walking through London in the early hours of the morning, it was all too much. At this point I really should have put my ipod on to take my mind off it, but I just couldn't do it, I can't really explain why. Everything just became a bit hazy, I was quite out of it. We had a brief sit down in Leadenhall market, and then it was off again. The latter part of the marathon was a struggle, and it didn't help that we had to keep stopping for traffic lights, stopping and starting again was agony.

The last 6 miles and I was completely out of it. I remember giggling occasionally, I think I couldn't quite believe I was making myself do it. All my energy and concentration was taken up making my feet step in front of each other one by one. I also tried to focus the pain away from me, it's hard to explain but it seemed to work.

Then Battersea Powerstation came into view, and we had a mile to go. At this point disaster struck and suddenly felt very dizzy, and wanted to vomit. I had to sit down on the pavement as I thought I was going to pass out. I was completely gutted. I thought that's it, I can't finish. Claire gave me a lucozade tablet, and I put my head between my knees, and this seemed to clear it. We set off again, and it was Claire's turn to feel sick. It's like the marathon distance is just at the edge of what your body can endure, and we were hitting it. We dragged ourselves over the finish line, and staggered into the tent, which we were then handed lots of freebies, and our pictures were taken with our medals. It was quite horrendous, there were people lying on the floor everywhere, and a few getting some serious medical attention. We then had to walk another half mile to the car, but I'm so grateful to have gotten a lift from Claire's dad - I wouldn't have made it home!!

In the end I've raised £698.60 for Cancer Research UK, this sum will go up as my company will give me a percentage donation to match this. I feel really overwhelmed by the support I got, and how generous people have been. It definitely kept me going through the pain, and reminded me of why I was doing the walk in the first place. Immediately after the walk I promised I'd never do it again. A week later though... and I'm tempted......