One Month Later

One month has passed since I finished the London marathon. Looking back on it now, what did I learn?

-It is not shameless behaviour to tell every person you see that you are running/have run the London marathon. However, no one—except maybe your five-year-old son and your physiotherapist—wants to keep talking about it one month later.

-There is a time and a place when wearing your medal is appropriate. While you may be tempted to wear it to bed, it might post a strangulation risk. But at least the medics there to take your dead body away would say, “Look at that! She ran the marathon!” In addition, it could be considered somewhat audacious to wear your medal every day or even to carry it with you everywhere.

-Your feet will never be the same, and will never forgive you for having run. At last count, I lost four toenails, (Where did they go? Maybe I should check under the bed again), two turned black/purple and four survived. It was only a week ago that I was able to venture into a shoe store to get a lovely new pair of red pumps. Of course, it also gave me another chance to tell a stranger about what I’d done. (“Sorry about the feet, but I ran the marathon last month.”)

-Even if you’ve fully loaded your iPod shuffle, the only songs that will rise above the din of the crowd to make it to the front of your brain will be your three All-Time Favorites: “Born to Run” by Bruce Spingsteen (I’m a Jersey Girl. What can I say?), “Respect” by Aretha Franklin (Sisters of the World, Unite!) and “Clocks” by Coldplay (Nicholas and Andrew’s most favourite song, which they dance to every morning).

-Running 26.2 miles is the easiest way to make a 6.2 mile run seem like a walk in the park.

-It is impossible to wipe the smile off your face or the immense pride you feel when you think about finishing the marathon for the 1,784th time.

-It’s a great thing to talk about at cocktail parties, though, again, showing off your medal is frowned upon.

-The generosity of my friends and family, and even some strangers, astounds me. The combined donations of people on both sides of the Atlantic will be enough to send more than 150 African girls (and counting!) to primary school for one year. It’s still not too late to donate—click on the link to the right. For me, that’s an even bigger accomplishment than having finished the race. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to everyone who donated.