Well done girlies....we did it!!

Just a mini blog......more will follow in next couple of days....

Tracey & I crossed that wonderful finishing line at 06.38am, completing the 26.2 miles in about 6 hours 45 minutes........the first 3 miles took about an hour...people everywhere....and as you know, it really is the actual finishing that counts, what an amazing achievement for us all!

Sadly however, we didn't finish with Trace & Dons....
We were separated just about mile 11-12...due to sheer volume of people. We did chat on the phone but were not always sure where each other were. We knew that at about 21-22 miles, they were only a few minutes behind us....so we tried to slow a bit & they tried to increase their pace a bit....very hard for both pairs to do.....you get used to walking at a pace & then it is very hard to change after so many miles...also, just a few minutes difference can mean a long distance walking.
I was also in a real dilemma...because I had slowed my pace, my knees started to seize up.....slowing was probably the worst thing I could have done, maybe it would have been better to keep on going as normal & walk through the problem. But, I really did want to finish with them but I didn't know if by slowing down more, I would actually stop & that would have been the worst thing for me to do. I felt really torn about what to do...
Throughout the training, we had tended to train as pairs mainly due to the times each of us could walk, me with Tracey & Trace & Dons together. So in this respect, I guess it felt almost normal to walk in pairs but, as this was THE walk, maybe we should have kept in touch more & found each other.
At mile 24-ish Trace said (thank goodness for mobiles, when they could be heard above the noise of the walk) that they had not really expected to finish with us & that it was ok...carry on...we'd meet the other side.

So, I tried to up my pace again which helped my knees & Tracey & I walked arm in arm (and yes, I cried) to the finish................

I have said all along that this was such a personal journey & challenge for each of us & you know how much so for me. I found the few miles where I tried to slow down so emotional & hard, but maybe that would have been like that anyway? The most we had walked was 20 miles, so we really didn't know how our bodies & minds would react to the extra 6.2 miles.
It was great to see Trace & Dons' faces as they walked hand in hand over the line shortly after us, they had walked brilliantly. We still managed to have the all important "medal" photo taken together.
Even though we didn't finish together, we will have wonderful memories to cherish forever.
XX

I will blog all of our special day soon......