basking in my glory...

That's a terrible title really isn't it?  "Basking in my glory". I  hope I don't let all this go to my head and become worse than a Hollywood starlet!  Here is a photo of the half-marathon girls basking in THEIR glory!

It's been a week now since I ran (and completed) my first ever marathon and I still don't feel quite "normal".  While I only really hurt for about two days and actually felt really good all over, I think the fatigue has snuck up on me in a far more subtle way.  I have felt a bit spaced out all week.  Like… not really tuned in. Do you know what I mean?  And I feel I've not really had any down time as on Thursday, it was off to the Gold Coast again for three days to attend the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons meeting so the week basically has been a BLUR.  I have so many people to thank and so many emails to write and I just feel I've not had one second of spare time to do it!  So, perhaps that is all a side effect of a marathon.  What do you think?  I did manage to send a thank-you email to all of you who sponsored me to raise money for the Leukemia Foundation and I am very happy to report that we made $2300 for them!  Hooray!  

Here is my "official" photo from the run.  I actually got 29 photos and in almost all of them, I am smiling and laughing!  I had SUCH A GOOD TIME!  I've never had a good running photo of me either but I think the one I have chosen is not bad at all.  Almost covergirl stuff!  Ha, ha, ha!  Besides, it shows me running with my two hunky buddies, James and Jason, which makes it a bit more special - and we're all smiling.  Speaking of hunky men (!!) I forgot to mention in my last post the thrill I got during the marathon when overtaking youthful, strong-looking, fit men.  I couldn't believe it!  Eat My Dust boys!  I still don't really understand how I can be a faster runner than, for example, a 25 year-old, well-muscled, obviously fit young man.  It's quite a sensationally satisfying feeling, I have to say!  Next event in my sights is The Sydney Running Festival on 18 September.  I had thought I could attempt the marathon then, and go for a SHINY medal, but my coach Linda has suggested I re-consider and do the half marathon instead and you know, I think she is totally right.  Even though I had a great marathon run and found it FUN, I do feel it took a toll on me emotionally/mentally and I just don't want to risk that burn out when I will be mid-term into my uni degree and also when I am about to go on a two-week holiday.  It might just blow me right out and turn me into a complete vegetable, as opposed to a quasi-veggie, as I've been for the past week.  Now that I know I can run a marathon, I will do another.  I will just plan it for something scenic and possibly linked in to a holiday destination.  Austin, Texas?   Or Paris?  London? The problem I see immediately is that they are all held in the first half of the year, being in the Northern Hemisphere spring, which means I would be needing to train throughout a brutal Queensland summer but I guess that wouldn't really matter if I was just doing it for fun, rather than for a good time.  Hmmm, something to think about!